Tasmanian Scallop Pies

"Now I'm sad." says Uncle Tom when he finishes a particularly good meal and that's just how Joe and feel after eating our home-made curried scallop pies. I'm getting the recipe written down here before I forget how I made these scrumptious pies.

As usual my presentation wouldn't win a wooden spoon but inside...oh my giddy aunt!

We ate 3 scallop pies in the 2 weeks we were in Tasmania, this recipe tastes just like we had there.

4 small pies or just make 1 big one, I based this recipe on this one

2-3 squares of ready rolled puff pastry...I patched my tins to make sure nothing escaped
300-400 frozen scallops

2 egg yolks and the juice of half a lemon whisked together

2 T each of butter and flour
1 cup of stock, I used chicken
1 heaped teaspoon of Keen's curry powder
parsley, salt and pepper
3 T cream or sour cream

Start by lining your pie tins

 Melt the butter in a saucepan and blend in the flour, cook a couple of minutes then add the curry powder and cook another minute.
Add the stock and whisk until it's creamy and lump free, season well

Set aside to cool a little while you quickly sear the scallops in olive oil or butter, only a minute each side. Take off the heat

Now beat the egg/lemon mix and the cream into sauce and fold in the scallops

Fill up your pies, get the lids on and into a hot oven at 220C for around 20-25 minutes

Make jam pasties with any left-over pastry and cook them too!

Joe took the lid off his pie(is it a Canadian thing or was it to cool it down a bit?)

Here's one of the pies we had in Tassie, at the Richmond bakery, their scallops were much bigger than ours, I'll have to try and get some fresh ones next time...

We are looking forward to tomorrow's lunch now :D
I'm sad because I have lots of dishes to wash so I'd better get that done then I can sit and watch the women's soccer Matilda's vs USA that was played this morning!

Love Sue
xx

Knitting and a Bus

I seem to have been knitting these squares forever, at least 2 years, it's 100% wool and very heavy, very random too, knit 6 varied squares, join them end to end and add them to the side it suits best. This is the first time I've knit a border too, size 5mm needles and 12 stitches;start sewing it to the edge once it's nearly long enough as you will have to stretch it slightly to keep it tight...I also finished a pair of 8ply socks for Wendy, my SIL...it gets quite cold in Albany in Winter...

  This is a free pattern and I made these last year but hadn't given them away, the pattern is from Joyful Toys and is called Peter Rabbit, it uses very little wool...

Joe's chemo is going well and his brother is on the same treatment in Canada...it's to stop the basal cell carcinomas associated with Gorlin Syndrome that they both have. Enough with all this cutting them out, Joe looks like a patchwork himself these days and it's very painful.

Elizabeth has finally been in position to buy a smallish bus which she plans to gut and turn into a camper and then hit the 'frog and toad' with her 2 younger boys....she's had enough sorrow recently to last a lifetime so let's hope this is a turning point in her life...she will never be homeless again anyway!

Lots of work ahead but it's so good to have a goal isn't it?

Dad has gone on a holiday too...he's gone down to Albany to my brother and SIL's home for a few days. He'll come back on the bus which takes about 6 hours, quite an adventure for an 85 yr old.

I've tried some new recipes since we got home, this eggplant curry is particularly good, frugal and easy too and I made some basil and spring onion pesto with basil from the garden that had grown so much while we were in Tassie...I added a few roasted cashews too...one jar is in the freezer to keep it very fresh...

and how's this for colourful...a white chocolate cake with white chocolate buttercream made by Bree, it had 2 little troll dolls on top later!

So that's all for this quick update, I hope all is well with you,
Love, Sue
xxx

Tasmania and More

Hallo Every-one, Joe and I have just been to the state of Tasmania for a lovely holiday. We hired a car and after 4 nights in the capital, Hobart, we set off around the island to see as much as possible(I had in the mind the Griswolds heading to Wally World via The World's Biggest Banana etc). It is a relatively small state and it was almost like being in another country at times. The western areas are mountainous temperate rain forest and we enjoyed a steam train  ride through wilderness, here the engine is being turned manually

the King River Gorge through the train window...

We saw waterfalls, tree ferns and amazing fungi at Nelson Falls,

I visited the replica of Mawson's Hut at Antarctica on the Hobart waterfront(and cried, the 18 men were so very young and brave) and the beautiful replica sailing ship, Lady Nelson that brought early pioneers from England...

 Douglas Mawson's corner of the hut, the others were crammed into bunks around the edge

so very small for such a long sea journey

Beautiful deserted beaches on the east coast where it was dry farming land ...Marion Beach

had so much fabulous food and wine...seafood platter at Port Arthur...

We visited the  UnZoo and saw kangaroos, wallabies and most uniquely 2 Tasmanian Devils which are an endangered species these days...the female was eating a wallaby hind quarter...

Himself was snoozing in the sun...

This is a section of the Port Arthur Penal Colony, one of Australia's first settlements, well preserved but with a sad and violent history..

We saw mountains and historic houses, the oldest bridge and oldest hotel, markets and farms, ate scallop pies for the first time and walked miles every day. 

At the main museum in Hobart I learned more about the appalling genocide that went on in the this state in the 1800s when most of the native population were with slaughtered or imprisoned where they died in awful conditions. This was thought provoking to say the least.

I have so many more photos and stories but this will give you a hint of our holiday...here are some links to some of the sites we visited...

West Coast Wilderness Railway

Mawson's Huts

Tasmanian Devil Unzoo 

Nelson Falls

Port Arthur

Salamanca Market

Tasmanian Scallop Pies (on my to-do list)

We'd love to go again!!!

xxx

Using Icing Colouring to Dye Wool

Hallo every-one, it seems I've been knitting non-stop for weeks, one thing was different though because I dyed my first a skein of 4ply merino wool with icing colouring! This is the technique, the dye is very thick and you only need a little, DIL Bree is making beautiful cakes with the dyes too*

using Wilton's icing colouring to dye wool

When it came to applying the dyes, purple and royal blue it looked as if they'd just mixed together to become one dark blue mess so I didn't agitate the wool in the dye...this surprised me by leaving pretty parts un-dyed, and some parts with varying degrees of colour...

 drying the skein before rolling it into a ball, a 100gm skein is enough for a pair of short socks...

it was a bit of a struggle to wind the ball as towards the end it got tangled, I sat and persevered to make sure none was wasted...it doesn't look enough but it was...

  ta-da! my new socks, I used Winwick Mum's Basic 4 ply Sock Pattern again, it's simple and knits up quite quickly...

This is Charlie's new jacket made with that lovely soft Jeans yarn and this pattern  , you will have to join  ravelry to see it but it's all free and wonderful over there...the buttons are wooden

  another pair of socks made with Spotlight's 'Not Just Socks' yarn, the pattern is on the ball band, again 100gms makes one pair of socks

Mum's collection of matchboxes from the days that they were complimentary and placed in a clean ashtray in restaurants and hotels, thank goodness those days have passed, some of these are from her overseas holidays...

Will finish off with yet another photo of this stunning hibiscus...
Love from Sue

* just some of Bree's gorgeous cakes using the Wilton's Food Colouring,
for more pics look for Bree's Cake Creations on FB

A Lovely Weekend

Well I think this says it all, the maximum temperature reached 42C on Sunday after a hot Saturday so we stayed indoors with the air conditioner just set on 'dry' and 24C which is very comfortable. I watered the garden and filled up the bird bath early in the day.

This pretty candle holder from the op-shop reflects the blazing sun...

For Christmas I made bunting with thread and dry gum leaves, if I'd had more time it would have been nice to write a wee note on each one...

while watering I spotted this big pod on my Bower Vine...friends have advised to put a paper bag over it to collect the seeds when the pod bursts as it will eject them far and wide...

I finished my first socks using the Not Just Socks yarn from Spotlight...the pattern is on the ball band and it uses one ball per pair of socks...normally sells for $13 so I watch out for it coming on sale and buy a few at a time...it's quite fascinating both watching the colours develop and also the intricate construction of shaping the sock...

On Sunday I also made this 'back pack' from a curtain remnant and some cord...I needed help from Marie at the DTE page as I couldn't visualize how the cord worked...this pattern is similar if you want to have a go, they would make useful gifts too...

filled with a cushion...I would prefer to use this than a shoulder bag while walking around town...

I made a yummy lamb curry and rice for Joe and I but Dad needs something mild and soft so I made him a quick seafood meal, wild caught salmon and prawns, a potato cake and some soft broccoli...this is a bread plate as he needs to eat small meals now...he loves his seafood and would happily eat fish and chips for every meal!

That's my round-up of recent happenings here, today I am going to see Elizabeth and the boys and get the paperwork started for C to start secondary school next month. Just the cost of the uniform is mind boggling and I have no idea how many families can afford it at all. At this new school there is a Student Support set-up where you are sent if you turn up out of uniform. They will lend you a complete uniform until the end of the day when you go and change back into your own clothes...the humiliation of that makes me cringe.

Bye bye for now
xxx

A Rainbow In My Garden

Hallo there, I'm just 'playing' with the camera and trying to improve my photos ahead of a holiday soon, I've walked around the garden and found a rainbow of delights...would like to learn to use a collage 'thing' for Windows 8 but Joe is at the dentist and I'm scared of downloading a virus etc even though we're fully protected by Norton!

Let's see what this looks like anyway, the camera is a Fuji Finepix S4000...

Red rose~Papa Meilland

Orange hibiscus~unknown name but it is as big as a plate!

Yellow~ pansy

Green~passion fruit leaves

Blue~ that sky today

Indigo and Violet~lobelia and a pansy, these are my favourite colours I think.

At school we learned to remember the order of the colours of the rainbows by remembering this gent's name~~~ Roy G. Biv. It still works for me after 50 years 😉

Aren't we fortunate to be able to see these delights?

Love from Sue

xx

Knitted Hearts

I made a few knitted hearts last month to decorate gifts...they can then be kept as Christmas tree decorations or as I like to do hang them from door handles around the house...they are quick to knit and use minimal wool...

these are gifts for our grand-daughters, musical tins of shortbread from Aldi...one kept tinkling even when it was wrapped up! Can you see that one is wrapped upside down too...never a dull moment around here lol I used wrapping paper this year because I found 3 full rolls at Dad's house that Mum bought years ago...

  The pattern I used is here: it's a ravelry pattern by Amanda Berry. Have you joined ravelry? It's completely free to join and has thousands of free patterns, tutorials and groups for knitting and crochet, I love it.

I did like this Christmas Day photo, Charlie is obviously tall enough for me to lean on now and Bree never stopped laughing, we had all sorts of treats for dinner, oysters, king fish that Bree treated with lime juice and served raw, prawns, ham, turkey, gozleme and our favourite salads of course.

 The top of the china cabinet looks like a museum setting, the clock is from around 1905, the photo from 1955, the robin is by Beswick China and is rather battered these days, the china on the right is from the UK in 2000, Auntie Brenda bought me the watering can. I don't know how old the crystal vase is but it's quite unusual in that it has a crystal base or foot...the card was Joe's anniversary card to me...he excelled him himself this time ;)

I took Dad to see the specialist on Friday about the hernia that was noticed last time he was in hospital in October....it appears that most of his stomach is above his diaphragm now instead of below it! It's not causing any pain and the surgery would be too risky at his age but he will need to get to hospital very quickly if he feels ill or pain. Old age is not for sissies is it?

So on that cheerful note I shall leave you...oh! our new neighbours have planted some roses...these almost match the ones on my china...

Bye bye xxx