Apple fritters on a Sunday Morning

Well.... I was going to make waffles.... but after all the cleaning from making naan bread last night, it was certainly time for something that used less bowls and cups and measuring spoons.  So back to the quest to make the best apple fritters in the world.

Mum used to make great apple fritters back-in-the-day, but they were the kind that was filled with butter, sugar and very little apple!

The picture makes them seem more golden than they were.  Oh well.

Basically thus....

1 apple - cut into small cubes
1 egg
1t baking powder
1T honey
1/2 c flour
Milk- dash thereof to turn into a batter.

Basically mix into a bowl from the top of the list down.
Fry in a dry non-stick pan
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar

Success rating?  Well...... they were ok.  Next time I think I will use yogurt instead of the milk, for a creamier fritter.  Other than that, pretty darn tasty.  Finally I have the apple to the size and shape that cooks well in a short time.  Just have to sort out a way of making them even tastier..... :D

Saturday... lunch in a hurry

With music lessons to get to, and reports to be dropped into school, lunch had to be a rush.... shame I left my sewing machine at school..... I wanted to try something this afternoon with it.

Divided platter, with:
1.  Pear, nectarine and strawberry slices (Giant strawberry actually!)
2.  Gingernuts - chocolate and regular for comparison.  Prefer the regular.
3.  Fruit of the Forest yogurt with M&M's... must get rid of them!  Grrrrrr.
4.  Bagette rings with cheese and Indian Chutney.

Thursday..... ARGH!

The day of the school Cultural Awards evening... so it was going to be a MAD day setting up the auditorium, checking certificates, polishing trophies etc.... sigh.

This was designed to be snacked on at the big table where we were organising the certificates....

Bottom layer.... nectarine, pears and mini M&M's.  In theory, a good idea.  However, the M&M's melted.......... and the blue ones stained all my fruit...... I am not a fan of the mini M&M's anymore.  I shall go back to the peanut ones that don't seem to run like that......

And in the top layer, cowboy eggy with his herd of almonds, in the pizza corral...... yes.... I was ready for a show-down! 

(The awards went off reasonably well...... but I misplaced my iPhone.... hence the lateness of the current blog entries......... finally found the phone in the sound booth.... weird.)

Wednesday.... food in a box....

A particularly wonderful lunch, I may add.  Noms all round.  In the green tupperware container- 2 vegie wraps, an apricot yogurt tub.  In the bottom bento layer, waffles with peanut butter and cashew pieces with a run of grapes (which in retrospect should have little legs to become ants or something... time for ones thinking cap)..... and in the top layer, pear and nectarine slices.   All eaten while delivering a tutorial.  :D

Easy like Tuesday morning?

I wish!  Yesterday was a public holiday here in good ol' New Zealand.... so the day was a total relax-fest.... not.  With gardens to overhaul and school reports to write, there was not a lot of time for chillaxing in the sun.

And on Tuesday morning.... well.... it's rubbish day, so out goes the wheely bin, and I start morning duty early.  Oh, and did I mention reports are due?

So this was lunch.... I was impressed anyway.

Here in my gorgeous wee pink strawberry bento we have.... pizza bites on a bed of lettuce (vegetarian), an assortment of grapes, almonds and mini-toffee pops for snacking on during lunchtime tutorial sessions... and some ambrosia on the side.  All pretty in pink.

Review #2: "School Day Lunches"

Ah, here was a book that held great possibilities....

However... after reading through the beginning part about making sure foods would stay safe to eat, and some good advice about keeping food cool, then the recipes began.  After reading many recipes with the phrase, "looks like cake, tastes like pizza" or "looks like soup, tastes like pizza".... or the dreaded "tex-mex flavour".  I am a keen Tex-Mex fan, but the recipes left out all of the spices that would normally flavour the dishes, leaving them bland.

Another of my concerns was that the recipes were so similar, with a lot of things wrapped in cheese or bread, and using a lot of pastry.  There was also plenty of ingredients that I thought were just unnecessarily included.

This was the ranch style avocado dip with wedges.  This was one of the few vegetarian recipes in the book (along with jelly that had zucchinis in it).  However, the avocado dip could easily have been made with just the avocado and lemon juice- the sour cream and ranch dressing were totally surplus.

So, my opinion:

Information:  2/5 points
Recipes: 1/5 points
Originality: 1/5 points
Pictures: 2/5 points
Overall: 2/5 points

8/25.  Maybe a little harsh, but the information was average, the were no recipes that were original and still appealing... the pictures were accurate, but not overly appetizing.  I just felt let down really, as the book had too many recipes that did not travel well, or were uninspiring at the least.

Muffin Tin Monday - Halloween

Ooooo... spooky.  Now, I have never really been a Halloween kinda gal.... so I had to google Halloween to find out more about it.  And in the end, this is what I settled on.

At the top:
1.  Caramel sauce and apple slices
2.  Dragon toenails (okay, so they were potato wedges)
3.  Toxic ooze complete with Zombie.  (Avocado dip and skeleton pick)

On the bottom:
1.  Wicked Witch Waffles with yogurt and bats (That was totally the name of the recipe... sans bats)
2.  Evil ghost eggs
3.  Giant insect lavae (grapes......)