The secret is out (to my very yummy french toast)

It is possibly too good to keep a secret any longer.

We have a family breakfast together once a week, for no particular reason and on no set day. Normally it's just at home, with me making something that is a little more decadent than oats or cereal or toast. Sometimes we make gorgeous scrambled eggs or even a big breakfast or pancakes. But one thing that has to be planned for, which makes it a little more special because of the anticipation of the next morning's breakfast, is french toast.

If you haven't had french toast made with cream and orange zest before, well, you don't know what you are missing out on. I stumbled across this idea somewhere along the way to becoming a fully functioning adult who cooks and cleans and gardens. Today I made the decadent version with cream, but it does still work with all milk. I use 4 eggs, but the average egg size from our chooks is 75-80g, so you may like to use an extra egg or two, depending on the size eggs you get.

French toast
1 baguette or vienna loaf, sliced
butter, for cooking

egg mix
4 free range eggs
½ cup cream
½ cup milk
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract

strawberry syrup
250g frozen or fresh strawberries
¼ cup orange juice
zest ½ orange
1 tbsp sugar
1 tspn cornflour mixed in a little cold water, optional

to serve
maple syrup
2 oranges, sliced
8 short cut rashers bacon, pan cooked until crispy
thick yoghurt such as Gippsland fruit yoghurt

Method
Whisk together ingredients for egg mix. Dip in slices of bread into the egg mix, ensuring the mixture seeps through the bread.

Place a small amount of butter into the pan and heat. Place eggy bread into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked.

Meanwhile, place the ingredients for the strawberry syrup, except the cornflour, in a small pan and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the strawberries have defrosted and collapsed and a syrup is forming with the juices. To thicken the juices, stir in the cornflour and stir gently until thickened.

If cooking the french toast in batches, keep cooked toast warm on a plate under a large upturned bowl.


So while there are oranges hanging on the trees, get out there and give it a try.

Time to chit

July is the time to be chitting potatoes. Chitting is basically testing to see whether something will grow. Some people chit saved seeds to see what the germination rate will be.

So, have a dig around in you potato bag and see if there are any potatoes that are starting to turn green, with little ‘eyes’ sprouting out. Well done! You have chitted some potatoes. Ok, perhaps you didn’t do that on purpose and are now wondering what to have for dinner tonight instead. Well, there is a bright side.

Instead of tossing them into the compost heap, pop them back into the cupboard and let the sprouts grow a little bit. It is a good time to think about where to plant the potatoes as they are a long crop to mature and can take up a bit of space, you can ‘double up’ an area and plant corn amongst the potatoes if you wish. Soon you will have potatoes ready for sectioning. You will need cut the potatoes with a clean sharp knife ensuring that each section has a nice sprout growing from it. When planting your potatoes, it is useful to know that they grow up the stem. So if possible, dig out trenches or furrows, pop the sectioned potatoes spread along the rows and cover with soil. As they grow up and sprout through the soil, gently cover them over again, repeating this till you have used up your available soil. This way, the stem is longer and you get more potatoes.

But we’ll get into that more later. For now, chit away. And if you are really keen, you might even like to try some gourmet or heritage varieties. It is often a good idea to use certified disease free ‘seed potatoes’ available from garden centres and home improvement stores now.

Planning the dome

Planning the dome is quite exciting. My brother is putting pen to paper and searching geodesic dome designs and use on the net. I, too, am searching, dreaming and planning.

My husband sees the building process as something to look forward to, plus he knows all if the great things it will bring. He even has some fanciful ideas that won't eventuate because although having an entertaining area and fireplace sounds good, it simply won't be that big. And those things are best left for outside.

Mum and I look forward to the serenity of the space and my plant choices will be guided by her as well.

We plan for the dome to be well insulated, with some form of double glazing, probably polycarbonate. There will be a high opening window and some low opening windows, creating air flow, which is especially important to let out the scorching Summer heat. The south side will probably have a section that is thicker or painted or otherwise made to be a better 'heat sink' to keep it warmer in Winter.

I am so keen to start thinking about what I can grow. I have ideas about tropical plants, but it's probably just wishful thinking. I actually don't know what kind of temperatures will be possible to maintain in Winter.

A few degrees above the 0.9 degrees overnight that my current green house experiences would be good. Although that means I can keep some frost tender things alive (like my marigold seedlings), just a few degrees more and the possibilities are endless!

This year we ate the last of our fresh home grown tomatoes at the end of June. Perhaps we can have home grown fresh tomatoes all Winter next year...

I love planning!

A house in the tree

Well 'kid land' has had its long anticipated addition. The grand plan for the tree house has been consuming my husband's thoughts for some time. This week the paper and pen plans were left inside and a 'plan on the go' attitude was taken in the creation of what can only be described as an awesome tree house.

Using reclaimed timber and metal posts the vision has become a reality. For the cost of a few bags of quick-set and some screws the building was in full swing. It soon became apparent that the splurge on a big slide would be very fun and well used.

It is not yet complete, with roof, hammock and basket pulley still to come but this really is the tree house of my husband's childhood dreams. And mine too.

Keeping out those pesky birds

I love our chickens, we all do. But how they love to scratch. And eat. And scratch.

My search for appropriate bird netting has continued. The wire and plastic mesh frames I have shown earlier are extremely effective, but also rather costly and they don't give much 'head room' for the plants. So I have been trialling a much cheaper and roomier option. 'Anti-bird netting for pesky birds'. Seems to be working!

Dreams do come true.

The past few weeks have been so full.

I went on a very affirming and interesting 'train the trainer' course a few weeks ago, which took me away from my family much more than they, or I am used to. Then my body succumbed to sickness and the last week of term was a write off. My Masters study is tantalizingly close to completion, with my Winter term subject drawing to a close and then just one more unit to go.

Yet, with my eyes bleary from work and my body aching from lack of sleep and bickering children, my heart and mind are overflowing with love and thanks. I have been so well supported by my family and friends. I feel so fortunate.

I actually feel like a dream is coming true. And quite literally it is.

My dreams of a biodome. The wistful thoughts that I spoke of mere weeks ago of building a biodome have been met with a resounding call of excitement.

My brother has also been coveting the idea of building a geodesic dome. With his study and impending career in architecture well underway, he is interested in designing and building a biodome. My husband, who is rather handy with tools, has found several potential places in the garden for me to selects from (even if we do need to move garden beds or shrubs to fit it in). And my Mum, well she is keen too and will be helping with the significant investment that it is.

As I said, I am so very fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life who make my dreams come true.