Australia Day weekend

It is that time of year again when we get out the eskies (coolers), load them up with sausages, marinated meats and beer then head off down the coast for a camping expedition. We have been lucky enough to tag along on Claire & Johnny's regular camping extravaganza!  We were told to bring a tent, chairs, loads of food and beer and the rest will be looked after (considering we have a lot of C&J's camping gear as our daily kitchen equipment I thought we got off lightly).

  I have to admit I want a stress free weekend and because it has been so hot today I didn't want to do much cooking, the size of my chopping board doesn't get me into a creative fluffy either!

 I found a great butcher shop, (my American friends- I have to tell you it is just like the good old days where you can still shop at stand alone fruit/veggie and local butcher stores- love it!) anyway our 'local' had a great array of snags (sausages that are NOT pre-cooked) and I opted for the lamb and mint ones and then a good amount of chicken thighs to marinate so all I have to do is whip up a salad and cook the meat- just as I remember mum doing when I was a kid.

All this talk of no cooking isn't quite true- I did decide to make some pasties for the trip down. You really can't go wrong with a pastie. You have your vegetables (on this occasion I threw in 2 potatoes, 1/3 cup squash, 1 lge stick celery, 1 medium carrot and 1 medium onion- all veggies diced small) mixed with ground beef, finished with some fresh herbs (parsley & basil) and then an egg and salt & pepper to tie it all together. Once you have the mix, get you hands in there and give it a good mixing before you pop a handful of the mix onto puff pastry sheets you cut out with a small saucepan. Wrap it all up together, just like a massive won ton or 'pop over' then cook them in a 400 degree oven for about 20 odd minutes. As you can see from the finished result above, a delicious lunch that is pre-made and all-in-one. The kids throw these down like candy, little do they realize I always put more vegetables in than meat. With this batch I made 10 pasties from about just under a pound of ground beef.

So if your not in the sun having fun- sorry about that or if you have an hour to spare in the kitchen, whip up a batch and throw the leftovers ones in the freezer for another time. They are well worth the effort!