Twirly wirly garlic and herb bread (home-made of course)

Who would have thought that I could make such a fancy looking garlic bread??  Normally I would have scared away from something like this - well, actually truth be told I would have just popped into Bakers Delight and bought it!  However this recipe is so easy that you can't go wrong, and you know exactly what's in it too (I'm trying to steer clear of all preservatives at the moment.)   It's also a great one to take to a BBQ or picnic as it looks so pretty.

A few people have asked me for recipe so here it is - it really couldn't be simpler.  I have made it in the thermomix but I am sure you could just adjust it if you don't have one.

Start by making the garlic & herb butter:

• Add 500-600g of fresh, chilled cream into the TM bowl (not thickened) and using the butterfly attachement blend for 1-3 minutes on speed 4.  Once the butter is separated pour off the buttermilk (pop it straight into the fridge and use it to make either pancakes or scones - SO YUMMY and much tastier than using normal milk).
• Strain the milk off one more time using ice cold water and you are left with beautiful butter.  (you could of course just use butter from the supermarket if you don't want to make it)
• Add chopped garlic and herbs of choice (I used rosemary and thyme) and mix it into the butter for 30 seconds on speed 4.  There you have it - beautiful garlic & herb butter.  Just set it aside in a bowl (not in the fridge as you don't want it to go to hard).

homemade garlic and herb butter

Bread Ingredients:

450g luke warm water

4 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

750g bakers flour

5 tbsp oil

• Turn the oven on to 180 degrees (I always forget this part!!  It's SO annoying).

• Put the water, yeast, salt, flour and oil into the TM bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 7.  Then set the dial to the 'closed lid' position and knead for 2 minutes on interval speed.

• Tip the dough out and wrap it up either in some cling-film plastic or your thermo-mat and leave it to rise for about half an hour or until it has doubled in size.

The Fun Bit:

• Roll the dough out into a bit square - about the size of the thermomat (approx 50-60cm long).  I find that if you rub some olive oil (or any oil) onto your hands and then press the dough out it is so much easier to handle and doesn't stick.

• Spread your garlic & herb butter across all the dough.  You can use a butter knife or spatula for this, but I just used my hands (clean of course) and spread it out.  A rather messy job but it does feel kinda nice squidging butter between your fingers!

• Using a spatula or a knife cut the dough up into 3-4cm wide strips and roll each one up like a snail.

• Arrange each little snail in a pattern inside a 26cm springform cake tin.  Sprinkle a little rock salt and a few herbs on top and pop it into the oven for 40-45 minutes.

before.....

After!!  (sitting on my lap in the car on our way to a BBQ with friends)

Simples!!  It really was delicious and oh so easy to make.  If anyone tries it without the aid of Thermie, let me know how you got on........

*(This recipe can also be found on page 20 of the Thermomix Festive Flavours Cook book.  The pictures are all my own)

The sun must have his hat on

A stunning spot for reading our books on the way home from
the library

Even though I spend my childhood in a hot, sunny climate on the coast, the majority of my life has been in England, especially my first tastes of motherhood.  Therefore it is true to say that over the last six months we have had to do A LOT of acclimatising. Sydney’s Northern Beaches are so incredibly similar to the Natal Coast of South Africa where I grew up as a kid, that I get hit by a huge sense of nostalgia almost on a daily basis.  It’s funny the things that come back to me – the weather and landscape is an obvious one and I think there really is something to be said about the ocean having a calming effect on ones soul.  Every time I see the beautiful blue, I get this amazing feeling of calm that rushes right through me and just makes me want to smile all day. It’s a feeling that’s quite hard to put into words but it’s almost like my soul has come home.    

The vast and endless blue skies have a similar effect on me, as do the sound of lawn mowers buzzing or humming far away in the distance.   The lawn movers actually take me right back to when I was around the same age as Master J or Miss H and my mum used to make me have a lunch time nap.  I remember hating it and thinking how mean she was to make us go and ‘lie down’ after lunch when we would much rather have been out playing in the garden.  We used to lay on our beds, wide awake for what seemed like HOURS listening to lawn mowers buzzing away in the distance waiting for mum to come and open the bedroom door so we could be free again!!  All I can say now is “Mum, I FINALLY get it”.  Those lunch time naps keep my sanity in check these days and I do chuckle to myself every time I tell Master J “I know you’re not tired, and I really do understand that you don’t want to, but……….we’re still having ‘quiet time’ after lunch!  Poor love, I guess it’ll be another twenty odd years before he gets it too! 

taking in the view

Living in the sunshine has given me a new found respect for it.  Skincare has always been one of my passions and I’m very aware of how dangerous the sun can be.  Working with some amazing skincare ranges in the past,  I thought my skin care knowledge was pretty good and my own skin was well protected and looked after, so you can imagine my horror when only a week after we arrived in Sydney an unexplained rash appeared on my face.  In the worst place too, on my forehead right in between my eyes!!!  At first it was just a small, slightly raised rash (about the size of my fingernail) and I just assumed that it was my skin reacting to the glycolic in my moisturiser now that I was more exposed to the sun (glycolic and UV don’t like each other much).  So I stopped using the glycolic for a few days and it didn’t disappear – in fact it became more inflamed and incredibly itchy.  Thank god for make-up as by this point me and the rash were not friends!  It was really baffling me too as I didn’t know what it was and I’m pretty sure I can recognise most skin ailments by just looking at them.  So one afternoon while the kids were playing in the rock pools I started to Google the rash on my iphone………….this probably wasn’t the most sensible thing to do as by the time I got home that evening I had managed to convince myself that I was dying of cancer!!  Ok, so maybe I was being a little over dramatic but the frightening thing was that it did actually match the symptoms of a form of skin cancer (thankfully not the dangerous one) but still it was CANCER!  Well so I thought anyway.  The next day I booked an appointment with the doctor and off I went with the kids.  I showed the doctor my rash (trying really hard not to rattle off my self diagnosis) and she took a closer look under a big magnifying glass.  She didn’t say anything for what seemed like ages and I just couldn’t help but blurt out “Have I got cancer??”  “Yes” she said, totally matter of factly  “It is a form of skin cancer”.  Oh my god I’m going to die, was the first thing that flashed through my head (I’ve always been a bit on the dramatic side), but “Oh right” was all I could muster.  “OMG– I have cancer!  CANCER!” was what I was actually thinking!!  “It’s nothing to worry about” she said.  “It’s very superficial and it’ll just need to be burnt off”.  I had so many questions – When will it happen? Will I have to go into hospital? Will I be referred to a skin specialist? Will it leave a scar?  Will it come back? 

hat and sunnies on

She then offered to burn it off for me right there and then – which threw off guard a little.  I’m used to the British NHS system where you have to wait at least a month or so for anything and if you’re lucky enough to have private cover you still have to wait a few days for the paperwork to process.  Of course I accepted - no time like the present!!  She took out what looked like a little blow-torch and explained she was going to burn the area with liquid nitrogen (gulp).  I had almost forgotten the kids were with me, until I had to explain to Master J why the doctor was about to burn my face with a torch.  “It’s because mummy didn’t put her sun cream on” I told him.  “Will it be really ouchy?” he asked, “I hope not,” I said.  “It may sting a little,” the doctor then told me!  "Oh great" I thought, as I gritted my teeth, not knowing what to expect.  Luckily I had no time to think about it and it was over in a few seconds, but “sting a little” was a serious understatement!!!!  We then went home to explain to Mr D that yes I did have cancer but now it’s all gone!  

I have since seen a skin cancer specialist (I needed a second opinion) and luckily for me it really has all gone.  I also discovered that having whole body skin cancer checks every 6-12 months for the whole family is as normal as going to the dentist in Australia.  So Mr Sun, I will be having my hat on from now on –thanks for the wake up call!!