What is your favourite way to eat asparagus?

We are living in a bach at the moment and wonder of wonders… we have asparagus growing in our back garden!

They are quite well camoflaged so we didn’t spot them straight away, but now we know the location of every single spear and inspect them every day to see if they are big enough to cut… You can buy the crowns from Country Trading… so I am definitely going to plant a few at my new section.

Have you ever eating asparagus raw? It tastes great! I was carefully cutting the first ones and handing them to Jack to hold… and he was eating them as we went along… so when I looked up to ask if we had enough for dinner all that was left was a slightly guilty look and a load of woody end pieces! Oh well, plenty more spears coming up…

More some ideas than a recipe really…

Ingredients

a bunch of asparagus

choose a few things that go well with asparagus.
Here are some suggestions:

• salt
• bacon
• lemon
• capers
• eggs
• salad leaves
• tomatoes
• Hollandaise sauce 

Method

1. Wash the asparagus, if it has come from the garden and is a bit muddy
2. Snap off the woody end (the asparagus should naturally break in the right place)
3. Eat raw or cook (steam, sear in a cast-iron pan with no oil or butter, roast in a hot oven)
4. Add your favourite ingredients and enjoy!

Happy Spring!

How do you rise to the challenge of catering for a children's birthday party?

Children’s birthdays in general can be a bit of a minefield... expectations are so high on behalf of both the child and the parents and one of the biggest challenges is how to make a birthday cake that will compare favourably with those that have come before…

We go for the morning or afternoon tea option in terms of timing and I always serve very simple food (and always the same things every year): small ham and/or cheese sandwiches, mini meatballs, hummus, carrot sticks and crackers and real fruit kebabs. The only sugar hit in the whole event is the cake... but the cake is the piece-de-resistance and I try to impress...

Last year I made this one with a digger theme:

The year before I made this one with a pirate theme:

Then before that, a train theme:

But this year, I was getting over a nasty bout of flu and I decided that a six year-old birthday party was going to be an easier ride…

Jack, following in my footsteps, has been compiling his own recipe book and found a photo of a chocolaty slice that his liked the look of… ‘Done’, I said, ‘let’s make it for your birthday!’

I hadn’t read the recipe at that point, but it turned out to be a 15 minute no bake slice and one of the easiest things I have ever made… the only downside, is that it uses raw egg, so you need to use eggs you can trust. I buy mine from Yvette in town here, so I know her chooks are healthy and happy.

The kids loved it, the adults loved it and you could only eat little pieces at a time as it was quite rich… and it certainly took the pressure off Mum this year!

Chocolate Fudge Slice

2 packets vanilla wine biscuits

½ cup sultanas

¼ cup walnut pieces

250g butter or Olivani

1 cup raw sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup good quality cocoa

2 large or 3 medium eggs, lightly beaten

1. Crush the biscuits in a food processor or in a plastic bag with a clean rolling pin. Line a shallow cake tin (square or rectangle).

2. Melt the butter or Olivani in a saucepan, take off the heat and then add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa, sultanas, nuts and eggs. Stir well.

3. Pour this mixture over the crushed biscuits and mix together very thoroughly.

4. Spoon out into a the cake tin, press down well and refrigerate.

5. After a couple of hours it is ready to serve. Cut into small cubes… and that’s it!