Recipe: Roast Sweet Potato, Broccoli & Basil Quiche

 Recipe: Roast Sweet Potato, Broccoli & Basil Quiche

Summary: This is a slightly unusual but delish group of flavours. I can’t take credit for this one, this is all Mummy Ask. As a shift worker she likes to make something like this to take to work for lunch. Of course you could substitute the veggies with what’s in your fridge. This is a fairly large quiche tin, it’s a great shape for lunchboxes as its easier to wrap than a wedge.

Ingredients

  • 600g sweet potato, cut into small cubes (1-1 1/2 cm)
  • 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 bunch spring onions, chopped
  • 1 bunch basil, torn
  • 1 small head broccoli, in small florets
  • 100g fetta, cut into small cubes
  • 6 eggs
  • 100ml light sour cream
  • 1 tblsp Australian mustard
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 100g shaved Parmesan

Instructions

  1. Pre heat the oven to 180C.
  2. Place the sweet potato cubes on a baking tray and cook for 30 mins or until cooked through.
  3. While the sweet potato is cooking, microwave the broccoli for 1-2mins or until crisp tender.
  4. Line a loose based tin with puff pastry and top with the 2/3 spring onions and basil. Then add the broccoli and fetta in an even layer. Add the remaining spring onion and basil, once the sweet potato is cooked add it too.
  5. Whisk the eggs, sour cream and mustard together and season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mix evenly over the veggies. Top with Parmesan cheese.
  6. Turn the oven down to 160C and cook the quiche for 30mins or until set. Allow to cool in the tin for 10mins before serving.

Recipe: Raspberry Margarita

Recipe: Raspberry Margarita

Summary: Today I am sewing with this awesome margarita print fabric, so of course I was in the mood for a margarita! I am also a little raspberry mad at the moment. Combine the two for a girly, fruity, raspberry margarita – it’s even pink and pretty!!

Ingredients

  • 60ml raspberry syrup
  • 1 lime, juice
  • 30ml cointreau
  • 60ml tequila
  • Salt for rim
  • ice

Instructions

  1. Pour the raspberry syrup, tequila, cointreau, and lime into a shaker filled with ice. Shake until the shaker is frosty on the outside.
  2. Rub the rim of a margarita glass with a lime wedge, then dip in salt. Strain the cocktail carefully into a cocktail glass.
  3. Garnish with a raspberries and ENJOY the weekend!!!!!!

DIY: Good Morning Body Polish {A Solid Peppermint, Coffee & sugar Scrub w No Nut Oils}

I have been using a scrub made of equal parts oil and sugar on my legs and it’s been great but of course I wanted something easier to manage in the shower. So I created this solid scrub with sugar for exfoliation, coffee for cellulite and peppermint for a fresh start to the day! Please note that this recipe will vary greatly from others because I wanted to avoid soap and nut/seed oils that The Bestie is allergic to. I just love how easy to use this is, rub the scrub, wash it off and your legs will be soft and smooth. It’s almost scrub and lotion in one. I used wind up containers I found here, as this is not solid enough to set into a mould. You could also use an old wind up deodorant container that has been well washed. This made 6 wind up containers.

DIY: Good Morning Body Polish {A Solid Peppermint, Coffee & sugar Scrub w No Nut Oils}

This really is very easy to make, the instructions and info seems long but I want to give you the benefit of my experience. If you google these sorts of things, they have few instructions because they are geared towards people who do this sort thing all the time. I’ve worked out the easiest ways to set up, clean up and keep things safe, so of course I want you to know those things too.

DIY: Good Morning Body Polish {A Solid Peppermint, Coffee & sugar Scrub w No Nut Oils}

When I work with beeswax (or anything I don’t want to clean off my bench) I cover my bench with paper, I get mine from Ikea on a roll but newspaper works well to. I also like to write the recipe on the paper so I can tick them off as I go. It saves so much clean up time, I really recommend it. I never use food containers or spoons with beeswax either, so use dedicated containers or disposable ones. I use Popsicle sticks to stir and dedicated containers because I prefer them to have pouring lips but takeaway containers work fine. It’s really important to melt beeswax safely; there is a great article on it here. I have a professional leg wax pot I use as a sort of double boiler, I put the wax in a metal measuring cup and place that in the leg wax warmer. You might want to use gloves or take off your rings before you start this as it gets a little messy at the end.

DIY: Good Morning Body Polish {A Solid Peppermint, Coffee & sugar Scrub w No Nut Oils}

 

  • 70g beeswax
  • 300ml grapeseed oil
  • 1 tsp vitamin E oil
  • 1/4 tsp peppermint essential oil
  • 35g ground coffee
  • 1 cup castor sugar
  • Equipment
  • Something to stir with
  • A container to melt in that will fit everything
  • Containers to fill

  1. Set up your area with all the ingredients, measures, stirrers and containers, even the ones you will be filling. You are less likely to miss an ingredient if you have the recipe in front of you.
  2. Melt the wax and add the grapeseed oil. The wax will start to solidify again, continue melting until everything is liquid.
  3. Remove from the heat and add the vitamin E oil and peppermint and stir well.
  4. Add the coffee and sugar and stir until smooth but work quickly as the mix will solidify very quickly.
  5. Pour into the containers. Clean any drips from the outside and chill for an hour or so till set.

To clean your containers etc, wipe them out with paper towel, removing as much gunk as possible. Rinse the containers off with hot water, then fill with hot water and a squirt of dishwashing liquid. Allow to sit for a few minutes before washing as usual. I also like to do this after to keep my drains flowing nicely!

DIY: Good Morning Body Polish {A Solid Peppermint, Coffee & sugar Scrub w No Nut Oils}

If you make this, please let me know what you thought xxxxx

Recipe: Warm Lentil, Cranberry & Haloumi Salad

Warm Lentil, Cranberry & Haloumi Salad

Summary: Mr Ask has always said he doesn’t like lentils. I am a nice wife and never serve them, even though I love them. But the other day I really fancied lentils and Mr Ask sagely said, ‘My tastes seem to have changed since I met you’. So, with that invitation, I got cooking! Mr Ask was floored by this flavour packed dish, he felt it had an amazing balance of flavours, the freshness of salad but yet the depth of a cooked meal and was pleasingly filling. I too adored it and was thrilled when Mr Ask wanted this recipe in regular rotation. Lentil lovers and lentil sceptics will enjoy this as a side or dinner salad. I used tinned lentils but feel free to cook your own. If you are not into chilli heat, reduce the amount by all means but please don’t omit the chilli altogether.

Ingredients

  • 2 (400g) tins lentils, drained
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder, more or less to taste
  • 50ml olive oil
  • 1 tblsp maple syrup
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 lemon, zested
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 250g haloumi, sliced
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 red onion, finely sliced
  • 1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped

Instructions

  1. Make the dressing by whisking together the oil, lemon zest & juice, garlic, chilli, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Set aside.
  2. Place the drained lentils in a microwave container with 1/2 the dressing. Stir well and microwave for 2-3 mins or until hot through. Place the warm lentils in a salad bowl with the cranberries, onion and parsley and toss.
  3. For the haloumi, heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add the haloumi and fry on each side until golden. Arrange the haloumi on the lentils, drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.
  4. Serves 2 for dinner or 4 as a side.

If you loved this lentil dish, why not try my Curried Lentil Pies, Red Lentil Wedding Soup, Lentil Bolognaise or Lentil Shepherds Pie?

Sew: DIY Perfect Pin up Pencil Skirt {Tutorial Links- Drafting the Pattern, Inserting the Zipper &Hong Kong Seams}

I wanted a pencil skirt. Badly. I wanted it to be high waisted, form fitting, pegged (narrower) at the hem and of course I wanted it to fit perfectly. I knew that I I would never find a ready to wear skirt that would do all of those things, especially with my unique figure variations (that is an absolutely for real sewing term for any body that does not look like a sewing mannequin)! In fact it’s pretty hard to find a non stretch plus size pencil skirt. So, I drafted a pattern and made one!

Sew: DIY Perfect Pin up Pencil Skirt {Tutorial Links- Drafting the Pattern, Inserting the Zipper &Hong Kong Seams}

I drafted my pattern using this tutorial, I pegged the bottom of the skirt about 6cm. I wanted my zipper to be centre lapped because it’s neat and very easy. If you haven’t tried it, here is the tutorial. I decided I wanted a pretty interior so I used black satin bias binding to make nice, neat Hong Kong seams. If you are unfamiliar with Hong Kong seams , this is a great video tutorial. See, doesn’t the inside look pretty?

Sew: DIY Perfect Pin up Pencil Skirt {Tutorial Links- Drafting the Pattern, Inserting the Zipper &Hong Kong Seams}

As the skirt was quite pegged, I left the two back seams open at the bottom, to create a vent. That was another reason I used Hong Kong seams, if you got a flash of the inside everything is neat. I was super happy with how this turned out, what do you think?

Sew: DIY Perfect Pin up Pencil Skirt {Tutorial Links- Drafting the Pattern, Inserting the Zipper &Hong Kong Seams}This skirt was made as part of my Me-Made-May 13 pledge. To read more about Me-Made-May 13 click here or if you’d like to see what I’ve been wearing, visit me on facebook xxxxx

Recipe: Champagne Cobbler

Recipe: Champagne Cobbler

Summary: I’ve no idea why they name this cocktail a Champagne Cobbler. It is a little fruity but maybe it was just something the cobbled together? Either way, this is just what I needed after a day of cleaning out my wardrobe.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp blue curaçao
  • Champagne or Australian sparking white
  • Crushed Ice

Instructions

  1. Half fill a large goblet with crushed ice.
  2. Add lemon juice, curaçao and stir.
  3. Top with champagne or sparkling wine.
  4. Gently stir and ENJOY the weekend!!!!

Sew: How To Draft A Pattern From Your Fave T-Shirt

You know that favorite t shirt that you wish you had in every colour? Now you can! This method allows you to make a faithful reproduction of any tee you like. Being able to clone a much loved tee is fabulous and also fabulously easy. It works on any garment but the more complex the garment, the trickier it gets. If you are interested in learning more about this method, check out this craftsy course. To get started on your tee, you’ll need a surface you can pin right into. I used my ironing board because it’s really well padded and was wide enough, but foam core board from the news agent or even cardboard will do. I use Ikea paper that comes on a roll (in the kids department) for pattern drafting but brown craft paper, the white side of decent quality wrapping paper or even baking paper will do the job. Paper patterns tend to rip easily, so if I like it once I’ve sewn it, I trace my patterns onto McCalls pattern trace from Spotlight, most fabric shops will sell this or something similar.

You’ll need:
Pins
Paper
Pen
Ruler
Scissors
Pinable surface

Prep your favorite tee by first gently pressing it flat, being careful not to stretch it out of shape. Fold the tee in half, being sure to match all seams.
Sew: How To Draft A Pattern & Copy Your Fave T-Shirt
Lay the paper over the pinable surface, with the carefully folded tee on top of the paper. Pin all along the seam lines of the tee, sticking the pins just into the pinable surface so they stick upright.
Sew: How To Draft A Pattern & Copy Your Fave T-Shirt
It’s up to you how many pins you use. It’s wise to keep the pins pretty close together when pinning the curves and less on the straight lines. You’ll see I pinned underneath the neck band because I knew I would be adding my own neck band later. If you are not adding a neck band, just pin right on the edge.
Sew: How To Draft A Pattern & Copy Your Fave T-Shirt
Remove the pins. You now have little pin holes marking the shape your your tee front.
Sew: How To Draft A Pattern & Copy Your Fave T-Shirt
Join the dots with the smoothest line you can make – don’t stress too hard, there will be other chances to smooth them out.
Sew: How To Draft A Pattern & Copy Your Fave T-Shirt
Choose a seam allowance and add it on, I love this seam allowance ruler that makes adding seam allowance super quick. I didn’t add a seam allowance to my neckline because I knew that I would add a neckband to the top when I sew it. Don’t forget to mark the fold, name if pattern piece and what size seam allowance you’ve added.
Sew: How To Draft A Pattern & Copy Your Fave T-Shirt
Repeat for the back and sleeve pieces. You can leave the sleeve as cut on the fold or trace it out a second time and tape the two pieces into one sleeve piece. All that’s left to do is sew up your tee!
Sew: How To Draft A Pattern & Copy Your Fave T-Shirt
Once I had the pattern sorted out, I sewed up this stripey little tee from it. I think it turned out beautifully, what do you think?
This tee was made as part of my Me-Made-May 13 pledge. To read more about Me-Made-May 13 click here or if you’d like to see what I’ve been wearing, visit me on facebook xxxxx

Recipe: Homemade Refried Black Beans

 Recipe: Homemade Refried Black Beans

Summary: I know that refried beans seem like something you wouldn’t bother to make but OMG these are good. No, really, really good. Imagine how good nachos with these beans, this salsa and this nacho cheese sauce would be. The idea makes me want to run down to the supermarket for corn chips! I know that black beans can be hard to find in Australia and pinto beans are traditional but kidney, navy or cannellini are fine choices too.

Ingredients

  • 1 tblsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 (400g) can black beans, drained and rinsed or 3 cups cooked beans
  • 1/2 cup vegetable stock
  • ½ tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a fry pan adding onions, garlic and jalapeño, cook until onions are softened, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the salt, chili powder and cumin and cook until fragrant.
  3. Add the beans and stock. Use a potato masher or the back of spoon, mash beans into liquid. Continue cooking until liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes.
  4. Enjoy in tacos, enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, toast….

Recipe: Nacho Cheese Sauce or Dip

Recipe: Nacho Cheese Sauce or Dip

Summary: You may have noticed my cheese addiction. I love fondue, cheese dips and con queso. Try this on nachos, you’ll be in heaven! This works really well with a fondue pot too but fondue pot or not you should really give this a try!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp taco seasoning
  • 1 jalapeno, finely chopped
  • 120g Colby or Cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 tblsp plain flour
  • Hot sauce
  • spring onion, chopped to garnish

Instructions

  1. Add the water, seasoning and jalapeno to a small pot and bring close to the boil.
  2. Toss the grated cheese in the flour, to coat.
  3. Add small handfuls of cheese to the water and whisk till smooth before adding the next handful. Add hot sauce to taste.
  4. Once everything is combined serve in a fondue pot or just in a bowl, top with spring onions and enjoy.

Vintage Cellars International Wine Fair {TICKET GIVEAWAY, Sydney Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 May 13}

Vintage Cellars International Wine Fair {TICKET GIVEAWAY, Sydney Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 May}

What better way to relax into the weekend that with a glass of wine? An International Wine Fair of course!  Actually, this Wine Fair is more exciting than relaxing, I am super excited but since I can’t make it myself, I have two free tickets to giveaway, courtesy of my friends at Vintage Cellars. Before we get to the GIVEAWAY  first, let me tell you all about this amazing event…..


With more than 45 wineries from nine countries, offering tastings of over 300 wines, the Vintage Cellars International Wine Fair is one of Sydney’s most important wine events. The experts at Vintage Cellars have travelled around the world and handpicked a stellar line up of international producers, who will come together for two days only at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, creating an event unlike any other in Australia. 2013 marks the fifth year of the Vintage Cellars International Wine Fair, and to celebrate, this year’s event will be bigger and better than ever before.


Whether you’re a genuine connoisseur, or just starting on your wine journey, this is an exciting way to discover new wines, experience emerging regions and meet the people behind the labels.




Now is your chance to secure tickets to the Vintage Cellars International Wine Fair.

Date: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May, 2013

Venue: Overseas Passenger Terminal, 110 Circular Quay W, Sydney

Time: Saturday: 10:00am–5:00pm, Sunday: 11:00am–5:00pm

Tickets: $30 – valid for 1 day. Tickets are strictly limited, so buy yours now HERE


If you’d like to WIN TICKETS, follow these easy steps:

  1. Click on the Giveaway tab here
  2. Fill in the form being sure to include your mailing address & use the message field to tell me why you want to win
  3. Click send
  4. Tell everyone you know by sharing the link to this post – http://www.asksarah.com.au/vintage-cellars-international-wine-fair-ticket-giveaway-sydney-saturday-11-sunday-12-may/

Entries open 1.30pm ACST  3/5/2013 and close 11am ACST 6/5/2013.

Please see this post for official rules and conditions.