winosandfoodies

HHDD Anniversary Drinks

Thanks to everyone who contributed there drink creations to Hay Hay It's Donna's Anniversary drinks challenge. Here are the entries.

From Arfi at Homemades a Lemon, Vanilla and Strawberry Cooler. Perfect for a warm spring day in New Zealand.

After a busy day with work and family Bron relaxes with Lemon Balm, Sorbet Gin Slushie.

Cheers to Vanille @Down Under who celebrates the warmer light filled days with her Orange and Rhubarb Granita.

In the Philippines Joey at 80 Breakfasts combines the local lime dayap with cucumber to create a refreshing  Cucumber Dayap Cooler.

 

Hay Hay Its Donna's Anniversary

It's Donna's anniversary. Donna Hay magazine are celebrating 10 fabulous years.

I remember buying  the first issue.

The issue I gave away as a prize for the best  Peanut Butter Cupcakes  at the very first Hay Hay It's Donna Day back in 2005.  In 2008  Bron took over from me as   facilitator.   Bron in turn passed the baton to the current facilitator, Denise at Chez Us

Denize has been caught up in life and hasn't had the time to devote to  HHDD.  As it's been almost a year since the last HHDD event, I thought it might be fun to join in the 10 year anniversary celebrations with a special HHDD event.

So let's celebrate with some drinks  from Donna's 10th Anniversary edition. If you own an iPad you can download the issue.

Bring on the drinks. I made the Rhubarb, Vanilla  and Lemon Cooler. You can make this or any other drink from Donna's web page.....or design your own drink. It's easy. The drinks are made of  fruit flavoured syrups and a mixer (soda water, ginger beer, lemonade etc). Alcohol is optional.

 rhubarb, vanilla and lemon cooler

INGREDIENTS

• 500g rhubarb,trimmed and chopped
• 2 cups (440g) caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 cup @250ml) water
• 1 vanilla bean,split and seeds scraped
• 3/4 cup (180ml) lemon juice
• 2/3 cup (160ml) gin (optional)
• 4 cups (1 litre) soda water
• crushed ice, to serve
• 250g strawberries,hulled and thinly sliced

METHOD

• Place the rhubarb, half the sugar, water and vanilla in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.  Increase to high and bring to the boil for 5 minutes, or until thickened slightly.   Allow to cool completely before straining, reserving the syrup and vanilla bean. Set aside.
• Place the lemon juice and remaining sugar in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.   Increase heat to high, bring to the boil and cook a further 2 minutes or until thickened slightly.   Allow to cool completely.
• Place the gin,lemon syrup,soda water, rhubarb syrup in a 6 cup capacity (1.5 litre) jug and stir to combine.   Add the ice and top with the strawberry slices.
• Makes 6 cups.

Strawberry and lemon ice blocks

Place  sliced strawberries into ice block trays and cover with water. Freeze overnight.

Place pieces of lemon with rind on into ice block trays and cover with water. Freeze over night.

Place ice blocks in glass and cover with mixed drink.

Rules of Entry…

1. Hay Hay it’s Donna Day is open to all food and wine bloggers.
2. Entries submitted for HHDD must be made specifically for the current round of this event, although photos may be submitted to photo competitions such as “Does My Blog Look Good In This.”
3. The host will select, make and post an original Donna Hay recipe without any changes. Participants may make that exact same recipe as is, or put their own spin on the recipe by altering the ingredients whilst remaining with the theme. Or if they prefer participants may share a well loved recipe within the same theme.
4. Entrants must include a link to the host (winos and foodies) and the facilitator (Chez Us)  in their entry post.
5. Entries can be made at any time once the event has been announced, but must be posted and emailed to the host by the closing date.
6. The host then assembles all the entries together into a roundup, from where the participants of the round vote to elect a winner.

 It is optional for the host to give a small gift to the winning participant. This should be something inexpensive and can be as simple as a pre loved, no longer used item from the host's kitchen drawers. (I've been culling my linen napkins and will  be giving away a couple to the entry with the most votes).

Entries can be posted at any time up until Thursday 10th November. I will write the round up over the weekend with a voting page up on Monday 14th November. You will have a week to vote. Voting is only open to those who submit entries.

Send your entries to me at -  pinotgrisATgmailDOTcom with HHDD in the subject line.

Include

• your name
• blog name
• URL to your HHDD post
• a photo 250 x 250 px

Hay Hay Its Donna Day should not be confused with the styling and photography challenge over at Junglefrog Cooking.  They are two seperate events.

CHEERS Donna! Happy 10th Anniversary. Here's to another 10 years.

Pea Soup for Hay Hay Its Donna Day

Juls Kitchen, last months winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day has chosen Pea and mint soup for the June event.

As I didn't have any mint I replaced it with garlic chives. It was so -so, I think I'd prefer it with the mint.

Pea Soup with Garlic Chives

• 3 cups frozen peas
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1.5 litres water
• 2 teaspoons vegeta stock
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic chives

Place the peas, potato,water and vegeta in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until potato is soft. Remove from heat, add the chives and blend soup with a stick blender.  Taste and add salt and pepper to season.

Serve with a dallop of sour cream and some chive flowers.

Orange Cheesecake for Hay Hay Its Donna Day

Hay Hay Its Donna Day is back, overseen by  Denise at Chezus . This month, host Mardi at Eat.Live.Travel.Write has chosen Donna's Blackberry Cheesecake Pots. As blackberries are out of season in my neck of the woods  I replaced them with our new seasons oranges.

ORANGE CREAM CHEESE RECIPE

250 grams cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cream

zest of 1 orange

segments of 1 orange, pith removed

METHOD

With a blender mix the cream cheese,sugar, cream and orange zest until smooth. Chop half the orange segments and stir through the mixture.

Spoon into pots, decorate with orange slices and serve with a biscuit or cookie.

Zucchini Salad - HHDD

After a short break and with a new facilitator Hay Hay Its Donna Day is back. Overseen by Chez Us, this months event is brought to you by Priya at Akshayapaatram. The theme is summer salads. Here is my zucchini summer salad. Use quantities to suit the amount of people dining.

ZUCCHINI AND FETA SALAD

Zucchini

Feta cheese

pine nuts

Bunch of mint

Lemon zest and juice

salt and pepper

Olive oil

METHOD

Slice zucchini on the diagonal, brush with oil and grill on both sides.

Layer onto a serving platter.

Sprinkle with chopped mint, grated lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Crumble feta  cheese over.

Sprinkle with pine nuts.

Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.

Serve.

Hay Hay Donna Is Back

I am pleased to announce the blog event Hay Hay It's Donna Day is back.  Hay Hay Its Donna Day began life in October 2005 with Donna's Peanut Butter Cupcakes. 

The cook, Denise, and the critic, Lenny, at Chez Us have taken up the baton as the new facilitators. Thanks to Bron Marshall for her good work as the previous facilitator.

Read all about the latest event at Chez Us.

Donna Day Pancakes with Blueberries and Raspberry Sauce

Suzana at  Home Gourmet, a second time winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day, has chosen pancakes for the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day.  Thanks for hosting a great theme Suzana.  I served mine with a blueberry and raspberry sauce with a dollop of yogurt.

Pancakes

Makes 15

2 cups (250 g) plain flour, sifted
3 tsp baking powder, sifted
1/3 cup (85 g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup (375 ml) milk
75 g butter, melted
pinch of salt

Place the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Place the eggs, milk, and butter in a separate bowl and whisk until combined. Combine mixtures and whisk until smooth. (Add extra milk to get the right consistency, if necessary).

Heat a greased medium non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Pour 1/3 cup of the mixture into the pan and cook, in batches, until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn the pancakes and cook for 1 minute or until golden. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Topping
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon cornflour

Place blueberries, raspberry jam and half the water in a small saucepan and heat through.
Mix cornflour with remaining water. Add to blueberry mixture and bring to boil and stir until mixture thickens.

Serve over pancakes with yogurt.

I'm off on holiday for a week. See you when I return. You have until the 8th September to get your pancake entries to Suzana.

Hay Hay Donna It's A Deconstructed Tiramisu

If I hadn't already eaten this I'd redo the photograph after moving the spoon holding the mascarpone. It needs to point more to the left to balance the photo.

Sweet Tooth at Addicted Sweet Tooth  is the host for latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day now overseen by Bron Marshall. I don't usually stray far from the  original Donna Hay recipe...but today I have.

After the two weeks of birthday celebrations I wanted a Tiramisu that was a little lighter in calories. This recipe is for two people. If I share with Bryan I can't eat one today and none tomorrow.

There is no set recipe. I used 1/4 cup mascarpone mixed with 1 tablespoon icing sugar, 2 sponge fingers, 1 orange and dry marsala.  You could replace the fruit with strawberries and  a favourite liqueur.

Peel and segment an orange.

Mix icing sugar and mascarpone.

Pour your favourite liqueur into tiny glasses

Eat how you like - maybe a bite of liqueur soaked sponge finger , then a little mascarpone and orange, more sponge finger...a sip of liqueur.

This was so delicious and so easy to make I'll be making it again.

Green Tea Choux Pacman for Donna

My choux pastries look a lot like a Pacman.  This a less frightening photo of them. Believe me when I say some of them looked quite scary Pacmans with green tongues.

Suzana at Home Gourmets is this months host of Hay Hay Its Donna Day and she has chosen choux pastry as the theme. I remember the first time I made choux pastry. It was a disaster. Now I'm always careful about how many eggs I add. Go just a half an egg too far and you will have flat choux. I grew  up calling these cream puffs, unlike today where they are called profiteroles.

I used Donna's recipe but stopped at four eggs. I thought about filling them with green tea ice cream but I was far too impatient to wait for ice cream to set. These are filled with a green tea blancmange and topped with a lemon green tea icing.

Green Tea Blancmange
2 cups milk
2  tablespoons cornflour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon matcha tea powder.

Place 1 1/2 cups milk and the sugar on stove and bring to boil.
Blend green tea and corn flour with remaining 1/2 cup milk.
When milk boils tip a little hot milk onto green tea mixture. Pour all back into hot milk and stir until it thickens about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Lemon Green Tea Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon matcha tea powder
Juice of 1 lemon

Blend matcha with a lemon juice.
Add sifted icing sugar.
Thin with a little milk if needed to obtain right consistency.

To Serve
Cut profiteroles in half and place a spoon of blancmange in base .
Top with second half.
Drizzle with glaze.

Hay Hay Donna Has Left Home

There comes a day when you have to let go of your children and send them out into the world. Hopefully if you have brought them up well, they will continue to grow and become better people.

I have decided it is time Donna left home. Born on October 20th 2005, she came into the world with a jar of peanut butter in one hand, a jar of nutella in the other.  Since that day she has traveled the world spending time in Asia, America, Canada, Italy, New Zealand and Australia.

Like all young people she has done her fare share of youthful experimenting. She has tried them all -  cupcakes, macaroons, biscuits, bruschetta, tarts, fritters, risotto, souffle, cheesecake, mousse, Caesar salad, sorbet, gnocchi, tarts again, terrines, pizza, coconut tarts, clafouti. No doubt there are more experiences she has in mind to try.

I said she could leave home but only if she bases herself with my good friend Bron Marshall. Bron is the earth mother I have never been. She has a garden, bakes everything from scratch, is kind to animals, has pets and home schools her children. I think Bron will be a good influence and help her to grow into someone pretty special.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day will continue. Bron will be overseeing things now. She will contact the winners and help them host each event and answer any questions you have.

It has been a privilege to introduce Hay Hay Its Donna Day to the world.  I thank you all for helping her reach the stage where I  am happy to let her go. I'm moving on to complete a  couple of personal projects I've been working on recently. I'll still be around to enter events and keep a motherly eye on Hay Hay Its Donna Day.

Hay Hay A Brilliant Clafouti Or Is That Clafoutis

That's how good my Clafouti was. It didn't look so pretty though 'cos I added too many plums.  A 'tad too brown on top, but so good I ate three slices before dinner, one after dinner and one more at breakfast this morning. I've decided clafouti makes a brilliant breakfast. Next time we have guests for breakfast I plan on serving clafouti.

I don't like to mess with my clafouti  too much.  I'm sorry Donna I would never ever put chocolate in my clafouti. Cherries - mostly , plums - yes, even blueberries -  once , but chocolate never.

For the perfect clafouti (or clafoutis, an "s" is acceptable), I use Julia's recipe. She does pit her cherries though and pitted cherries in clafoutis is an ongoing arguement amongst traditionalists. Cherries are way out of sesson here so  today Bron I used yellow plums.

The Recipe

As many yellow plums as you want

Mixture
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3  cup sifted all purpose flour

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In an electric blender place all the above mixture ingredients in order as written. Cover and blend 1 minute at top speed.
Pour a 1/4 inch layer of batter into 7 - 8 cup lightly buttered fireproof baking dish or Pyrex pie plate 1 1/2 inches deep  (I used my tarte tartin dish ).

Set over moderate heat (use an asbestos mat if dish is not fire proof) for a couple of minutes until the film of batter has set in the bottam of the dish. Remove from the heat. Spread the plums over the batter. Pour on the rest of the batter.

Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about an hour. It is done when it has puffed and browned, and a needle or knife plunged in the centre comes out clean.

Sprinkle top with powdered sugar just before bringing it to the table. It need not be served hot but it should still be warm. It  will sink slightly as it cools.

Thanks Bron for hosting this round of Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Deadline for posts to Bron is Monday April 21st.

Hay Hay Bron Made Clafoutis

Last month's winner and this month's host  Bron Marshall  has announced the next Hay Hay Its Donna Day theme and it is Clafoutis .  Last day for entries to Bron is April 21st.
 

Hay Hay Bron Bron Won Won

Bron's a second time winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Congratulations Bron Marshall . Looking forward to an exciting theme from you. Thank you to everyone who participated and especially to  Bordeaux at Marita Says ,the host of Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Coconut Chocolate Tarts.

Hay Hay Donna My Tarts Broke

I wish I'd listened to Bordeaux . He wisely put his coconut mixture into paper cases and removed the paper after they had baked.  I put mine straight into a pan and all but 3   broke as I removed them from the pan. So I ended up with  three tarts and a mass of broken coconut shells. Which I turned into layers with the chocolate cream and mango.

I used a 70% cocoa chocolate which is not very sweet. It needed the fruit to lift the flavour.  The flavours and textures  of the mango, coconut and chocolate were a perfect combination.

Visit Marita Says  for the recipe. If you are joining us at Hay Hay Its Donna Day you need to get you entry to bordeaux76ATmailDOTcom by 02 March.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Marita Says Coconut Chocolate Tarts

Bordeaux at Marita Says is our latest host for Hay Hay Its Donna Day and she has chosen Coconut Chocolate Tarts.  Last day for entries is March 2nd.

Hay Hay Spanako-Pizza's A Winner

 
Congratulations to Bordeaux of Marita Says  with their Spanako-Pizza which has been voted top pizza in the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day. We'll be announcing the next event very soon so stayed tuned. Thanks to Joey for hosting Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza.

Hay Hay Joey You're A Star

Joey has posted the round up of Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza . Don't forget to send your votes to Joey at  eighty_breakfasts(AT)yahoo(DOT)com!

Fig Balsamic Shallot with Fetta and Proscuitto Pizza for Donna

During a recent discussion over dinner I asked my children which of my cooking endeavours would they remember the most. They both said my pizza crust. Even I think I make a great pizza. My standard recipe of 3 teaspoons yeast, 4 cups flour, 1/4 cup oil, 1 1/4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt makes 2 big pizzas.

For this pizza I used Donna's recipe as Joey posted when she announced the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day. It was adequate but not my best effort. That could have been  the flour I used. Donna said all purpose and I saw a packet of flour for bread and pizza in the shop and decided to try it out.

Here is the Donna Hay recipe:
Pizza Dough
(from Modern Classics I by Donna Hay, page 186)

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• Pinch sugar
• 2/3 cup (5 fl oz) warm water
• 2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

- Place the yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Set aside until bubbles form.
- Add the four, salt, and oil, and mix to form a smooth dough. Knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
- Place in a clean, oiled bowl, cover, and allow to stand in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Makes one quantity.

Here's how I topped it.
Slice 3 shallots and soften in a little olive oil. Add a couple of tablespoons of fig balsamic vinegar* and evaporate over high heat, watching so it doesn't burn. Cool
Top pizza with some slices of mozzarella cheese, spread with shallots and crumbled feta cheese.
Drizzle with oil and bake in hot oven about 15 minutes.
Top with thinly sliced prosciutto to serve.

*Fig Balsamic Vinegar: this is my latest favourite condiment. The one I used in New Zealand was from a Middle Eastern importer and much nicer than the supermarket product I purchased in Australia. Fig Balsamic is a mixture of fig puree and balsamic vinegar so I have plans to make my own after I've done a little research.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day Pizzas is hosted by Joey at 80 Breakfasts

Deadline for all posts to be up and submitted is January 26, 2008. You can email all your entries to eighty_breakfasts(AT)yahoo(DOT)com on or before January 26, 2008. In your email, please include the following information: your blog name, your name, your location, your recipe name, and the permalink to your entry.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza

I've braved the dial up connection to announce Joey has the latest HHDD challenge out. Show us your pizzanality with PIZZA .  Visit Joey for the details.

Hay Hay Joey - You're a Winner

Congratulations to Joey at 80 Breakfasts . You voted her terrine tops in the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day  Thanks  Tami at Running With Tweezers  for the great theme and hosting.  We are taking a short break over Christmas and Joey will announce the next Hay Hay Its Donna Day in January.

I made Joey's terrine this week. Mine doesn't look as nice as Joeys but it did taste good.

Hay Hay Tami Rounds Up Terrines

The Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Terrines presented by Tami are in her round up.  Check them out and vote for your favourite.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day Won By the Queen of Tarts

Trini Gourmet  has announced the winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day #15 Tarts.  Congratulations again go to the lovely Queen of Tarts, Tami, at Running With Tweezers with her Chocolate Tartlets With Candied GrapeFruit Peel. Drop by and congratulate her and watch out for the next Hay Hay Its Donna Day announcement.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Tarts #2

Here is my very quick entry to the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Baked in some one else's kitchen and downloaded on some one else's computer. Even on holiday Hay Hay Its Donna Day is important... although I've had a few computer problems.

There is no set recipe, just cut out some squares of puff pastry, prick with a fork, bake in a hot oven till puffed and golden. Cover with some sliced strawberries, sprinkle on a little sugar and caramalise under the grill till bubbling...or use a chef's torch if you have one.

Thanks to Sarini at http://www.trinigourmet.com/ for hosting this months Hay Hay Its Donna Day. You have until September 29th to get your entries to Sarina at [email protected]

Hay Hay It's Donna Day - Tarts Mark 2

Trini Gourmet has chosen this Donna Hay Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Tart as the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day challenge. You may make the recipe as posted over at Trini Gourmet or by adding your own spin to the original recipe.

Deadline for entries is 29th September 2007. After you post, please send an email to [email protected] with the following information: your name, the name of your blog, your recipe’s name or title, your location, and the permalink to your HHDD post.

Hay Hay TriniGourmet's A Winner

Lynn at  CaféLynnylu has announced the winner of the Hay Hay Its Donna Day #14 - Gnocchi. Congratulations to Sarina of TriniGourmet , who you voted the best HHDD entry this month. Her beautifully light Gnocchi Pomodoro looks so appealing. 
Thanks to Lynn for hosting and selecting gnocchi as the theme.  I'm looking forward to Sarina's choice for the next event. Thank  you to everyone who entered.  As always every entry was special.