A Happy Mother’s Day

Celebrating Mother’s (Grandmothers) Day. 

Every year I speculate as to wether these will flower in time for Mother’s Day and they usually do. I took three bulbs from a house in 1983 and planted them. Over the years they have multiplied so much that I have to thin and remove. I adore the bright orange colour and the contrasting yellow throat. There are several clumps of these in the garden providing a splash of colour and setting the tone for a bright and cheerful day.

So blessed to have my family close by to celebrate. What more could Nanna want? Morning tea with my little prince, Oscar.

And then a selfie ( I guess we both need to focus on ‘working’ the camera)

The first course of our shared dinner. A very quick and easily made starter. I used some char grilled panini bread but any bread, toast, crouton or cracker would work just as well. The cheese spread can be topped with just about any flavour combination but I like the combination of tomato and onion or some finely chopped cooked beetroot.

Cooked for me -  dukkah crusted chicken with a salad of roast pumpkin, beetroot, caramelised onion, spinach, goat cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds. So delicious!

A new book for my collection. I have the first of the Chin Chin books and have made just about everything in it. Really looking forward to using this one. 

Cheese Spread

250 g Cream cheese

150 g strong flavoured cheese. I used a combination of Parmesan and aged cheddar

1 clove garlic. I used 2 cloves of smoked garlic

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy.

Store in refrigerator.

To Assemble

Char grill or toast some bite sized pieces of bread/panini/ciabatta/breadstick

Prepare topping

I remove the middle (pulp and seeds) and then dice the flesh.

Spread each piece of bread with the cheese spread, be generous. Top with diced tomato flesh or topping of your choice. Scatter with finely sliced spring onion. Splash with a little olive oil or lemon olive oil and a some freshly ground black pepper.

Smoked garlic,

Use as a butter and cheese alternative. Spread a roll with the cheese spread and have it with soup.