House full of blokes

I love making Christmas treats to give as gifts. These truffles are dark chocolate, cranberry and orange with a touch of rum. The white chocolate and glacé cherries make them look festive and add a nice bite and touch of sweetness.  This recipe makes about 40. Ingredients  150g dried cranberries  Grated zest and juice of 1 orange 1/4 cup rum (dark or white rum) (use more orange juice if you don't want to use alcohol) 5 cups chocolate cake crumbs (I use a store bought chocolate trifle sponge) 250g good quality dark chocolate 150g white chocolate melts 1 tsp oil Red and green glacé cherries  Method  Chop cranberries and place in a sieve. Pour boiling water through the cranberries. Place in a bowl with the rum, zest and juice. Leave to stand while you crumb the cake and melt the chocolate  Stir melted chocolate, cake crumbs and cranberry mixture together.  Roll into walnut size balls and place on a paper lined tray o...

Came across this link for 10 basic meals. Worth saving to try these with lummoxes 2 & 3 before they join lummox 1 in the post living with your mum world.  http://m.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11481461&ref=NZH_FBpage

The youngest lummox is still basketball obsessed but has shifted allegiance to the Miami Heat.  The cake is a chocolate cafe cake. The black icing is chocolate buttercream with black food colouring.  The other decorations are cut from rolled out fondant icing and painted with food colouring with a little bit of icing sugar mixed in.  The little basketballs to hold the candles are painted fondant balls to hold the candles. 

This is my go to weekly baking recipe to add a treat to lunchboxes. This makes a nice big slab cake so there is plenty for after school snacking too. It is always moist and delicious and super easy to make. Ingredients  6 large over ripe bananas  250g butter - at room temperature & cut into chunks 1 1/2 cups sugar 4 eggs 2 tablespoons milk 3 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder  2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt Method Preheat the oven to 180C Line a baking dish with baking paper approx 33x22cm Place bananas, butter, sugar, milk and eggs in a large bowl and blitz with a bar mix until smooth Sift dry ingredients into the wet Mix with a large spoon to combine wet and dry ingredients.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the mixture.  Place in the centre of the oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden, risen and a skewer comes out clean.  Cool on a wir...

Lummox number one has left the teens - well on the way out of the lummox years and becoming a lovely young man. This simple black and white cake marked the occasion. The cake is a chocolate cafe cake - iced with chocolate buttercream with the addition of black food colouring. Lettering and stars are cut from white fondant icing 

Joe - age 14 - otherwise known as lummox no.3 has chosen cooking as the skill he is learning to gain his Duke of Ed Bronze award. He's doing Sunday night dinners for the family and decided he'd try his hand at meatloaf. After a bit of research we amalgamated some ideas and this was the result. It was a delicious meal and was great cold in sandwiches the next day.  Ingredients  For the meatloaf  1kg beef mince 500g sausage meat 2 onions finely diced 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs  2 eggs 1 cup mixed frozen veg 1 clove garlic crushed 1 T curry powder 1 T chopped parsley  Salt and pepper to season 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup milk For the glaze 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce 1/4 cup BBQ sauce 1/4 cup soy sauce 2 T brown sugar 2 T vinegar 1/2 cup water Method Preheat oven to 180C Prepare a baking tray with baking paper Place all meatloaf ingredients in a bowl and use hands to mix everything together. Shape the mixture into a lon...

The autumn chill has hit hard in the last couple of days and a hot, creamy pumpkin soup is just the thing to warm us all up. This soup has some spice that is mellowed out by coconut milk. Perfect served with cheese and bacon on toast. Ingredients A medium pumpkin A medium onion 1 litre chicken stock 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp garam masala 1/2 tsp cumin A pinch of chili flakes 1 medium can coconut milk  N.B Ground spices can be replaced by a tablespoon or two of your favourite curry paste.  Method Cut pumpkin into chunks. Remove the skin and seeds and place in the slow cooker.  Add a chopped onion Add the stock & spices Put the slow cooker on low and head to work.  When you get home blend the soup with a stick blender or in a blender.  Add the can of coconut milk and stir through.  Check seasoning and add salt & pepper to taste.  Serve with hot, fresh cheese & bacon on toast.