Internationally renowned scones... with a twist

I am a scone maker. Ta-da!

I love a scone. Even my little Freckle who doesn't eat sweet things and cries when we try to make him eat birthday cake (because really, peoples, this ridiculous behaviour just has to stop!) loves a scone (sans jam).

I would love to say that I got this recipe from a one-armed lady in Cunamulla who had been baking them for centuries but alas, this is not the case. The truth is that I have no idea where I got the recipe from... I think that someone just told me one day, when I was whining that my scones never turn out soft and fluffy that "It is as simple as 1,1,3".... for all you scone novices out there, like I was - that is 1 cup of lemonade, 1 cup of cream, 3 cups of self-raising flour. That's it! I have for your printing pleasure done a lovely little printable recipe so you can put it in your recipe file, along with Grandma's Nut Roll and Aunty Shirley's Butter Gems, or you can just remember 1+1+3.

So, after I have made these delicious morsels... practised a bit, actually, they were perfect the first time but I had to try them another 20,000 times just to check, I started to pull out the good 'ol scone at functions. And the requests for the recipe came flooding in, and now I believe that my recipe has gone international and made it all the way to Essex where a sweet friend of mine is humming 1+1+3 away in her kitchen. I am actually awaiting Masterchef calling me in the next short while to be guest judge on their scone episode.

Even Baby Freckle got in on the scone making act today!

My Yr 8 Home Ec teacher told me to put scones on the tray like this... she made us use a ridiculous recipe that made my fingers hurt from rubbing in the butter but this trick of putting them all on the tray touching is actually a winner as they rise higher. Thanks Mrs Brown!

Another tip: if you aren't serving them straight away wrap them in a tea-towel. Keeps the steam in and stops them from becoming little rock cakes.

But great, I hear you say, what is the twist? The twist for these little morsels of joy, is that the secret ingredient actually, does not have to be lemonade. This time I used orange mineral water just because it was what I had in the fridge to be used up, but you could use whatever bubbly (haven't tried champas but hey, give it a go and let me know!) liquid you have lying around. 

Want to make savoury scones? Add some salt, herbs and a little cheese and use soda water instead of lemonade.

Want a little zing of lemon? Use lift or solo. 

And it works.

So here once again, is the link to the recipe on my website, I even have a thermomix version and an ol'school version. Or you could just remember the scone-algorithm for perfect scones, every time - 1+1+3!

Happy afternoon tea-ing,

Felicity xx

BTW - We had these particular yummy scones after school today. One of my Freckles told me he doesn't like scones. I believe this is actually genetically impossible but he disagreed, refused to try the scones and settled on a slightly floury apple instead. I had even made blueberry jam!

My "Every kid in the World will eat this" Spaghetti Bol (and only $10 for 3 meals for 4+)

If there is one meal that bores more homemakers than any other it is Spag Bol. So boring, so tedious but yet somehow the kids love it. Like most Australian families who have adopted the modified-Italian method of cooking spag bol, mine has evolved over the years. A bit of my Mum's old Leggo's cookbook that was splashed with so much tomato sauce that you could barely read it, a bit of Maeve O'Meara from back in the good ol'days of Better Homes and Gardens and a bit of Masterchef all rolled into one Aussie staple.

This is my version. It is, like my Chicken Soup, a slapdash, give it a go, not exact ingredients then throw in whatever you have and give it a stir recipe. It is designed however for those days when you are running after kids and are completely sleep deprived.

I love the slow cooker but I do find that when I have the time to brown everything off in the pan and get some bewdiful colour on the meat, creating a jus from the pan juices blah blah blah I can make some superb dishes. But everyday in my house is not Masterchef and I really need things that I can throw in and if I don't have time for all the mucking around I can still get something delicious on the table and most importantly something that I don't have everyone whinging about!

The secret to this spag bol is getting the slow cooker nice and hot before you add the onions, then leaving it for a while before adding the meat. I recommend putting a few loads of washing on the line or grabbing a nanna nap or even having a dig in the sandpit in between steps... don't worry about it - this baby is gonna cook all day long!

The other secret ingredients (we all have a few don't we?!?!) is cinnamon and milk. Gives it a nice spice without heat, and the milk makes it creamy. And you an use any wine that's leftover in the fridge.... although I hear you ask, "What is leftover wine?".... good point!

The other important thing about this Spag Bol is that it could put the family budget back into surplus in no time. It is super budget friendly (I buy my fruit and vege from a budget shop so for me, I think, it works out to around $10 for the pot) and it serves my family as Spag Bol twice, then I chuck it in a lasagne and freeze it for later. So that is pretty much three meals (for 4 -6 depending on appetite) for $10!!!! It's also really, really healthy. And I think it is quite delicious, and so do my kids......

So give it a go next time you need a incredibly simple dinner, and let me know if it beats yours!

Felicity xx

Nom nom... get it here

My famous (well now it is!) Emergency "Everyone in the house is sick and I still have to cook dinner" Chicken Soup

Oh man, I hate it when the kids get sick. Colds and flus are one thing but when it is a vomiting bug it sends shivers down my spine. When there are so many of us it is like we are just waiting for the next victim to fall.. and hoping and praying that it won't be all of us at once!

This time the Freckles managed to get away with it quite well... although the little Freckles would not agree with me on that one. Only two out of seven is not a bad statistic! So while it was still a 36 hour marathon of next to no sleep, bleach, buckets, washing and vomit  - it could have been much, much worse.

So with one Freckle calling out to me every few minutes and another hanging from me needing "cuddles, Mummy, cuddles" and with about 3 hours sleep under my belt it was time to bring out the emergency chicken soup.

It must be bad when Chicken Soup is called for.....

In my wisdom I thought that you may all like to know my recipe for the chicken soup that everyone will eat, is good for recovering tummies and takes all of about 15 minutes to make enough to serve about 6-8 depending on appetites. When we have sickies in the house this can last us a couple of days.

My trick to getting it still to taste yum is in the onions. Most slow cooker recipes require you to brown off the onions and the meat in the pan but I didn't have time for this and if someone starts vomiting I knew I would need to go to them and not leave the hot pan on the stove burning the house down! So I heat the slow cooker first with a lug of olive oil in it and then add the onions when I remember... then leave them there till they smell good... then add the rest of the ingredients.

 I also do the veges in really big chunky bits... it doesn't matter because they get blended down later.

and voila! Dinner is served.

Check it out on my website to download the recipe here.

And update... all Freckles are back at school today! Hooray! Must have been the healing powers of the soup ;)

Felicity xx