Pumpkin soup with lime pickle

If I eat another chocolate egg I think my teeth will fall out.
With half my chocolate collection scoffed (yep, a big kid at heart!) I am needing, wanting, craving food of the savoury kind. One of the benefits of having this Easter at home is having the complete use of my kitchen.
Although the cool weather hasn't set in, I was still in the mood for soup, and what soup do we make more than any other soup at chez Baker??? Pumpkin soup!

To give it a little bit of a kick start I sautéed the onions and garlic with a bit of Keens curry powder. I then added the pumpkin pieces, sweating them off a bit and finally adding the water (but only to just cover the pumpkin pieces).
It is a delicious soup as is, and the boys were stoked when I served it up with a crusty loaf of olive bread. I was craving a little more and added a dollop of natural yoghurt to mine and then topped it off with some lime pickle- Perfect!
I got a creamy, rich pumpkin flavour that was studded with the hot tartness of the lime pickle.
A savoury kick that was a hit with the whole family, with or without the pickle!

Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns,

Hot cross buns,

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns...........

They weren't quite ready for breakfast as I decided a sleep in was required, however, morning tea was graced with delicious hot cross buns. 

I used the recipe I adapted in 2009 and am pleased to report it worked it's magic for another year.

Don't you just love the look of raw dough once it has finished proving. It reminds me of a fluffy pillow that smells of yeast and sugar.......so good!

Happy Easter and take care over the break

Easter lamb with yummy greens

In our house, it really doesn't feel like Easter unless we have lamb and go camping. Sadly last years camping trip ended at 1am Easter Sunday with us packing up the boys and our drenched tent, then driving through the night back to Sydney.

Even though it has rained every Easter since we have been back in Australia we still love packing up the tent, esky and loads of food to go and hang out in the bush or by the ocean somewhere and just enjoy our beautiful country. This year is a little different.

We threw our sodden tent in the bin when we arrived home from last years camping trip because it was the second year it let us down and we haven't gotten around to buying another one.
At first I was really devistated we were staying in Sydney but then I remembered the coast is but an hour away and we can still relax and enjoy the weekend and maybe I might be able to whip up a batch of hot cross buns tomorrow?

Anyway enough about that!

I got a bit ahead of myself last week and bought a beautiful leg of lamb at my new favourite butcher down in Glebe- Glenmore Meats. It was the second time I'd visited and picked up a 2.2kg leg of lamb for $20!! It was a bargin and tasted fantastic.

I love lamb on the BBQ, the smokey flavour mixed with my favourite herbs and spices rubbed all over it (dried thyme, cracked pepper, cumin, smoked paprika and salt) then spike the leg with big pieces of garlic- YUM!
Once the BBQ is at medium temp place the leg in a tray that is heavly layered with thickly sliced onion and eggplant, pop the leg on top then lower the lid on the BBQ and cook for about 2 hours depending on the size of leg and your barbie.

To serve the leg I whipped up some very simple beans and asparagus cooked with one roughly diced tomato and a squeeze of lemon (and yes, that is half a lemon in the with the beans, gives it more of a citrus flavour), salt and pepper. A very light and easy side dish that compliments the lamb beautifully and if you have any left over they go really well on an antipasto platter.

I think my kids are spoilt

That's right, I think I have gone to far in the world of food when it comes to my kids.
Starting out as a parent, you hope your child is going to be a good eater and not be to fussy; When they are toddlers you pray they at least try what is on their plate instead of saying no to everything; When they are school age, you hope they are eating some sort of vegetable(s) and able to eat a family meal with you without world war three breaking out before even trying your latest creation.

The other night I had some extra portions of eye fillet left over from a function I was doing, so I decided to bring them home for dinner as a bit of a treat. I don't know about you, but we very rarely eat eye fillet steak and I think it was the first time I had offered it to the boys.
To make it a super yummy dinner I decided to go all out and make a mushroom and red wine reduction (sauce), creamy mash potatoes and zucchini fritters (I'll blog these later).
My sauce was looking fabulous, the potatoes had a good stick of butter folded in and the steak was cooked to perfection. I was thinking to myself 'This is a winner for sure'.

After pouring a glass of red for Nic and I, I placed the meal in front of my family and waited for the oohs and ahhh's.....and I waited.
Nic of course was pretty excited to be getting such a delicious meal- that was to be expected. What I wasn't ready for however, was the 'Oh mum what is THIS!?' 'I don't want it and what is that disgusting red stuff on top?' (thanks Alex!)

EXCUSE ME?????

"THIS IS EYE FILLET BOYS....EYE FILLET STEAK!! It doesn't get much better than this in the world of succulent, delicious, melt in the mouth steak"

After picking myself back up from the floor and tasting the meal just to make sure it was OK, I asked them what they thought of it after they had tried it?

'It's ok' (mind you Max didn't leave anything behind!)

Yeah well you know what else is OK- the fact that I am not waisting anymore eye fillet on these two boys until they actually understand what a luxury they have before them. To say I was traumatised from this event is an understatement.

It is all well and good to get your kids eating well but seriously, I think I missed a step somewhere that teaches them about appreciating fantastic produce so I am going back to the drawing board and god help any of their girlfriends who want to cook for them one day!