5 years on

I have been trying to sit in front of the computer for the past two weeks and blog about a few tasty meals we have eaten. However, every time I manage to peel the kids from the computer I find an invoice I'd forgotten to write, a quote that needed to be written.....or my mind goes completely blank when I begin to type.

While trying to get my mojo happening once again I started flicking through some older posts and it hit me that it has been 5 years since I first started writing my blog! A part of me thinks I had a better voice way back then when live wasn't so hectic (mind you I bet I thought it was hectic with two young kids).

 Thankfully I have improved on my photo skills, though acknowledge I still have a long way to go!
I first started this blog when we lived in Lexington, Virginia. The boys were 2 and 5, and it was back in the days of leisurely baking, vegetable gardens (despite the rabbits always getting to it first!) and cocktails on the front porch. Five years on I have an almost 7 year old and a 10 year old who constantly eat me out of house and home, no veggie garden, barely a cake in the oven and a much smaller kitchen filled with pots, pans and bakeware that could easily feed 100 people in one sitting (I think my husband puts up with a lot).

I also got to thinking that five years ago I launched my first website. It was flimsy, unprofessional and a bit out there if I was to be brutally honest (it was a do it yourself job). Then we moved back to Australia where I was fortunate enough to meet a new friend who built websites and who just so happened to be in need of recipes....lots of recipes. Camillabaker.com got a facelift and suddenly grew up into something that was useful! Now three years on and living in Sydney, starting my own catering business and developing a cooking school it was time for me to evolve once more in the world of the web. I am excited to launch my brand new gorgeous website Camillabaker.com

Kim Rahi did a fantastic job of capturing my style and food footprint, then turning it into an online site. Kim and her husband Henry are a fantastic team when it comes to the web and I couldn't recommend them enough.

Looking back I can see the cultural changes in my cooking style, I found a few forgotten family favourites recipes I'll be digging up and making again and I have also seen changes in the boys. Seeing them go from no green vegetable passing their lips without a fight to gobbling down a garden salad in 10 seconds flat. Memories I would of forgot if it wasn't for my blogging efforts.

It's been a bit hard this past month to tap out a few food moments but I love that I have reached five years as a blogger. I have met some fantastic bloggers online (still to have the pleasure in the flesh) and have read some funny, delicious and heart felt stories over the years, stories I will continue to read and enjoy. Here's to another five years on the web and seeing where it takes me. Thanks for reading x

Beautiful bread

One of the best things happened to me when I moved to Virginia last year. We moved into a great house next to a wonderful couple- Bruce and Wendy.  The moment we arrive, Wendy sends Bruce around with a big bag of home grown tomatoes welcoming us to the neighbourhood- our friendship blossomed from there. 

Max and Alex provided plenty of entertainment for them to sit and ponder, while I popped across the fence on more than one occasion to help Wendy weed her beautiful English garden and catch up on the in's and outs of Lexington. 

Wendy is a fantastic baker and always has some delicious cake/slice on the go for when her grown kids come home from college- however Max and Alex assumed the 'snacks'  as they like to call them were for them alone! Whenever I couldn't find them, they were usually drinking Wendy out of milk and eating whatever she had to offer. Being the good English lady she was, Wendy was an advocate of fresh bread with lashings of butter and jam- one of the boys favorite afternoon snacks and still is. However Wendy use to make her own bread and once you tasted it, you couldn't go back to eating toast with 'cotton candy' bread (meaning the texture dissolves in your mouth). Ever since I made my first batch a few months ago my whole family has been addicted and I haven't stopped. It makes a lot so I store one loaf in the freezer and then pull it out when needed. It usually lasts two weeks and really is fantastic toasting bread. When it is fresh out of the oven, you cannot resist spreading it with what ever you have on hand- the last batch got delicious golden syrup. Don't let the three day recipe scare you off- it is very easy to follow and the results are well worth the input.

I have taken images of what the bread looks like after each day- just to keep you on track- Good Luck!

Wendy's Delicious Bread

Day 1 (top picture)

2 cups very warm, hot water

1 tsp active dry yeast

2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large stainless steel bowl, add water and sprinkle with yeast. Stir briefly with a wooden spoon then add flour- mix well then cover with plastic wrap and set aside to prove over night.

Day 2 (second picture)

2 Tbsp salt

1 cup tepid water

2 cups whole wheat flour

Sprinkle salt over your flour/yeast mixture. 

Add water and flour, mix well with your hand to combine.

Cover again and return to a cool place to rise overnight. 

(see so far these steps shouldn't take but 5 minutes of your day!)

Day 3 (third, forth and fifth photos)

1 & 1/2 cups tepid water

7-8 cups all-purpose flour

Add water and about 7 cups of flour (reserve one cup for kneading).

Kneading in the bowl until it combines into a sticky ball.

Sprinkle a little flour over a wooden pastry board or bench and turn out the dough.

Knead thoroughly for 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary until smooth and elastic.

Rinse mixing bowl, dry and dust with flour then place kneaded dough back in and cover with plastic wrap. Prove at room temperature until it is 2 & 1/2 times it's size. This usually takes me two hours if I leave it on my stove top.

Once risen, punch down dough (for those of you who don't understand- give it a good punch in the middle to push out the air) and knead just to knock out air holes.

Form 2-3 log shapes, place on a large cookie tray with cooking oil on the bottom of the tray and place logs in a warm place to prove- approx 30 minutes.

(I usually put them back on my stove top with it turned on to 500 seeing as you have to preheat oven anyway).

Once oven is preheated to 500- slash the tops of the bread with a sharp knife and bake for 15 minutes, turn down to 350 for the remaining 25 minutes of cooking.

Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Day 3 is a little time consuming so I try to make sure it lands on a Saturday, so I can have the bread prove while I get the house straightened out and washing done. Give it a go, you'll be really happy you did and if you have teenagers, this will surly fill them up for at least 10 minutes!

Thanks Wendy!

The Picky Plate

It is pretty much standard practice in our house to have sandwiches/rolls for lunch every day. Although they are packed with salad and sliced meat (bar Alex's, he will only entertain the idea of cucumber, cheese and ham- a bit of work to do here!) they do get a little, how should I put it- boring. So every weekend I will come up with something different and exciting. 

When we lived in Virginia we had a garden, so I grew my first crop of lettuce. It was a great success and even more successful with the kids. Alex as I have mentioned HATES lettuce, but when he planted the seed, watered the garden and chased away the rabbits I think it made him realize how much work was involved in growing veggies (I planted peas also but we had a family of rabbits who feasted one night and ate the lot!). Alex managed to eat a few leaves of lettuce knowing is was from our garden and did so with out gagging, sadly this has not continued and we are back to getting the performance of a lifetime with salad eating again.

Our favorite lunchtime meal would have to be the 'picky plate' and a great way to introduce new flavors and use up leftovers (another thing I don't understand, Nic and Max seem to have an aversion to leftovers??).

Lima bean dip is a favorite in our family. I puree a tin of lima beans with lemon zest and juice of a lemon. Pop a handful of parsley leaves in, salt and pepper and then blend it with extra virgin olive oil. Really simple, very good for you and Alex of all people LOVES it- maybe he is color blind and can't see it is green?

Mix that with what ever sliced meat I have around the fridge, olives (always in our fridge), cheese, hummus (bought from a fabulous little shop up the road because I like to cheat when I can) and what ever left overs I have from the week. This week I had some pinto beans left over from tacos and half a bunch of rappini. It doesn't matter what I do to the rappini, my boys hate it, but that is OK. I combined the beans with rappini, tomatoes, lemon and a hint of dried red peppers. They eat the beans, pick out the 'green stuff' and Nic and I enjoy the whole flavor. 

Even thought they wont eat the bitter green leaf I am happy that they are enjoying the flavor without realizing it.