Had a car accident this morning, thankfully nobody was injured, but my fault and is gonna set me back $1000, which I don’t have.
So, anyone know how I go about selling a kidney?
I’m totally nuts about macadamias. If the almond is the everyday Ford of the nut world, the macadamia would probably be the equivalent of an Aston Martin - smooth, sexy and ridiculously rich.
Have you ever tasted a macadamia before? I’m not talking about idly popping one or two into your mouth, I’m talking about enjoying the experience and giving it the attention it deserves. Give it a try - get an unsalted macadamia nut, close your eyes and slip it into your mouth. Your first sensation should be that smooth, silky exterior, perfect, ridgeless, slightly slicked in oil. Close your jaw around this edible pearl and feel the sharp crack as it splits in half, releasing a few tantilizing drops of macadamia oil onto your tongue. Savour the texture and delicate flavour for a minute, then masticate away till your jaws reduce the macadamia fragments into butter in just a few chews, the firmness of the nut giving way and becoming a paste with the smallest amount of pressure. Enjoy the slight fragrance, the taste coating your tongue and once every part of your mouth has enjoyed this macadamia experience, swallow and repeat with another nut.
Definitely the luxury nut of the nut world, they bring a whole new element when incorporated into baked goods, their oily richness adding a touch of decadence while their firm texture providing a lovely crunch that quickly dissipates in the mouth. While their high oil content means that they, like any other oil-rich food, should be enjoyed in moderation, when you do enjoy a macadamia, you should savour the experience in as wonderful a way as possible, and what better in these deliciously crunchy white chocolate & macadamia cookies!
DID YOU KNOW:
Did you know that there are 8 different varieties of macadamia trees, and that 7 of the 8 species are native to Australia, with just two of those bearing fruit that is edible? The trees won’t bear fruit till they are usually about 8-12 years old, but after that point can bear fruit regularly for up to 100 years!
Though the macadamia is one of the fattiest tree nuts in existance (up to 75% oil content in a kernel!), almost all of this is monounsaturated fatty acids, so while they should still be consumed in moderation, they make a far better snack than your peanut butter cup! Not only that, but studies have demonstrated that a diet with macadamia nuts can result in a significant improvement in markers for oxidative stress, clotting tendency and inflammation. Persons with elevated cholesterol levels showed an improvement in cholesterol and blood fats.
So go on, put down that Snickers bar and pick up a few macadamia nuts instead!
Sources:
- Blundell, R. “Australia’s Most Delicious Bush Nut“, The Australian National University, 27 October 1998
- “Macadamia“, Purdue University, 7 January 1998
- “Australian Macadamias - The Healthy Nut“, Australian Macadamia Society
When K came over for our baking/dinner/movie night, she had initially wanted to bake choc-chip and macadamia cookies, so we made sure to include a bag of roasted unsalted macadamia nuts on the grocery list. Upon getting back to mine, she repeated her desire for these cookies while browsing my cookbooks, to which I hesitantly replied that we’d have to look a recipe up as I couldn’t recall seeing any such cookie recipe in any of my existing cookbooks.
K laughed and brought one slender cookbook over, page opened and pointed to a recipe. “Yes you do! It’s right here!”
Well, bugger me!
Was it fate that had led me to buying the macadamias though I hadn’t known about the recipe? Perhaps it had been stored somewhere in my subconscious? At any rate, we mixed up a batch and eagerly awaited the first tray out to cool down enough for us to enjoy them. And oh, did we ever! This cookie is a proper cookie, one that a certain fuzzy blue beast would enjoy, all crunch and crumbles with occasional bursts of sweetness from the white choc bits and smooth buttery moments courtesy of the chopped macadamias - it is a perfect cookie for dunking in milk as the firm dough doesn’t disintegrate upon contact with liquid, instead soaking it in like a sponge so that biting on a dunked cookie is an explosion of milk and cookie in perfect proportions.
And trust me when I say that it doesn’t get much better than that!
White Chocolate & Macadamia Cookies
(from Donna Hay - Chocolate)
Ingredients
125g butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
220g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
150g all-purpose flour, sifted
150g self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup chopped unsalted macadamia nuts
250g white chocolate, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper.
2. Cream the butter, vanilla extract and sugar, then slowly add the egg and beat till light and fluffy. Stir in the flours, nuts and chocolate till the dough has come together into a smooth ball.
3. Roll heaped tablespoons of the cookie dough into balls, then place onto the lined baking tray and flatten slightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or till the edges of the cookies have turned golden.
These are firm, crunchy cookies that withstand a hearty dunking, so enjoy with a glass of cold milk, to have a good dunk ‘n crunch!
A random poll - I’m curious about how you guys made your way over to this blog, so if you have a second, please let me know via this poll
Technorati Tags: macadamias, nuts, tree nuts, Australia, recipes, cookies, biscuits, baking
Okay, so this is a way overdue post as I actually made these cookies as part of our Christmas cookie hampers, but that’s just one of the things that can happen when you’re baking almost every weekend and the glut of recipes and more exciting photos keep pushing old ones to the back of the pile (the number of recipes I’ve made and not blogged would make quite a decent list of its own).
Fresh cranberries are almost impossible to get a hold of here in Australia (in fact, I’ve never spotted them myself, but then again, I tend not to visit the trendier markets where growers have 30+ varieties of potatoes…?!), and dried cranberries have also been a bit of a mystical beast to me for the past few years, till one day I spotted them on the shelves of my local supermarket. However, the next thing I checked was the price, and I had to give myself a bit of time to recover from the shock of my eyeballs jumping from my head. Uhh, over $4.00 for a 125g packet of cranberries (and WTF is with labelling them ‘craisins’, stupid marketing wankers). You have GOT to be kidding me. However, I was curious about the taste, so I forked over my cash and brought a little sachet home with me to sample. I tore open the foil packaging and cautiously placed one on my mouth. I hmmed and hawwed, chewed on the tiny ruby morsel thoughtfully, and swallowed.
10 minutes later, I sighed happily and tossed the emtpy package into the bin.
Damnit. They tasted good! But at that price, I’d send myself broke if I incorporated them into my fruit & nut snack mix, so I woefully cast them from my mind, shielding my eyes from their siren call as I passed them on my frequent trips through the baking supplies aisle at my local supermarket, sighing wistfully as I imagined their lovely ruby-red, shrivelled little forms beckoning to me as I scurried past.
Oh, if only I could convey just how much it pained me to do so!
Now, late last year I had a brief squeal of joy on this blog as I mentioned a local independant supermarket which had opened directly next to the local store, and apart from their biodegradable plastic bags and dedication to only stocking quality produce and reducing waste. This supermarket has become my first stop when grocery shopping, as though there are no fancy signs, no ’sale’ cataloges and no cereals and virtually no processed foods, they have the most wonderful selection of fruit and vegetables. And the nut and dried fruit aisle! Oh, be still my heart! I usually take about 10 minutes browsing just this one aisle as I control myself from buying every good available to me, having to restrain myself to just what I need. And when I spotted their bags of cranberries and their price, I did in fact let out a squeal of joy that prompted a lady further up the aisle to come scurrying down to see what it was that I gripped tightly in my hand.
“Oh, cranberries” she sighed longingly, “I’m allergic to those.”
Once I got home with my treasured dried cranberries in hand (as well as a few other bags of groceries), I plonked myself in front of the computer to find a cranberry cookie recipe that I could try. While there were some interesting ones I came across, most featured oats as an ingredient, which I didn’t want to bake as the hampers were already going to contain ANZAC biscuits, a very oaty type of cookie indeed.
I finally managed to find one that looked and sounded like exactly what I wanted, so I printed off the recipe and darted to my kitchen, eager to give it a try. Once the first tray of cookies had cooled and hardened up, I picked one up and eagerly took a bite.
Uhh, way WAY too sweet. Especially with the added sweetness of the white chocolate and dried cranberries (though they did have a lovely tartness about their flavour as well). I grumbled and accepted that we’d have to give all of these away in the hampers as they were far too sweet for our tastes, and as soon as they were done, I set about mixing up another batch, reducing the sugar to what I thought was a far more reasonable amount.
The end result? A lovely cookie that won’t overwhelm your tastebuds with sugar, crunchy around the edges but with a slightly more chewy centre, flecked with white and ruby red gems peeking out from the cookie dough. Easy to make, even easier to consume, if you plan on making these for your Christmas hampers at the end of this year, just be sure to make extra for yourself too as otherwise you may find that you’ve eaten the ones intended for the hamper recipients!
Oh, and to the oh-so-clever marketing folks who sell dried cranberries in colourful packages at exorbitant prices and rename them craisins, don’t try to be so clever. You may find it works better for you. Bastards.
White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies
(Adapted from here)
Ingredients
110g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar till smooth and fluffy. Gradually add the egg, vanilla extract and lemon zest and beat till well combined.
3. Sift together the flour and baking soda then mix into the creamed butter mixture, then add the white choc chips and dried cranberries and mix well.
4. Line a baking/cookie tray with non-stick baking paper and carefully scoop tablespoons of the mixture onto the tray, at least 5cm (2 inches) apart as these babies spread!
3. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven (less if you prefer your cookies chewy, more if you want a little crunch), till they are well puffed, golden on top and nicely browned underneath. Remove the baking tray from the oven and leave the cookies to cool completely on the tray before removing them to a wire rack (be warned, these cookies are EXTREMELY soft and delicate till they have cooled down).
Technorati Tags: Christmas, cookies, biscuits, baking, desserts, cranberries, chocolate, sweets
*Rude sound of a telephone ringing*
“Gnnfraffrgh”
“GOOD morning! How are we?”
“Gnnergafffrgaghg…”
“I didn’t wake you up now, did I?”
I sighed. “No…it’s cool…I should get up anyway, the sun’s coming through my window. What time is it?”
“Oh, about midday?”
(o_O) <- surprised face
The night before, I had gone to see American Gangster with a few girlfriends (yes, girls can enjoy seeing violent movies too), and during the movie, K and I had a brief chat about how lovely and warm it would be the next day, and whether we should go on an excursion. Yes, I know this is TERRIBLY bad form, but we were sitting next to each other so we were just muttering into each other’s ears, the movie had hit a rather slow spot, and women are wonderful multitaskers.
Well, that’s what they tell me, and I like to believe it, even if its not necessarily the case with me.
ANYWAY, the decision was unanimously yes, but unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to discuss the finer details as I had to quickly dart out of the cinema before it ended in order to pick up my brother from a rather dark and dingy train station. *sigh* Brothers, what can ya do with ‘em, ey?
Once I’d gotten back home with my brother safe and sound, he made himself dinner and we stayed up for a few hours chatting and watching the more than usually idiotic idiot box (as happens once the clock ticks past midnight). We parted ways at some ridiculous hour of the morning, and hence I’d slept in till midday the following day, making a beach or picnic excursion just a tad late…
“Well,” I mused down the phone, “if you want to make your way over to my amply stocked kitchen, we could bake some cookies, make dinner and watch a few movies…how’s that for a plan?” K agreed that it sounded good, and after some further discussion she headed on her way over. I met her at the bus stop and we went grocery shopping, at which point K asked me if I had baking chocolate at home. I answered in the affirmative, and once we got back to mine, I pulled out my “baking box” and showed her the stocktake:
- 1 bag of walnuts
- 1 bag of macadamias
- 1 bag of sultanas
- 1 bag of dried cranberries
- Flaked and slivered almonds
- 4 different types of flour
- 5 different types of sugar
- Blocks of dark, white and milk chocolate
- Chocolate chips in dark, white and milk
- 1 bag couverture dark chocolate
Of course, that didn’t include the kilo bags of farm-frozen raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in just one of our 3 freezers.
After K’s eyes popped back into her head, she very slowly replied “So…when you said you had chocolate for baking…you meant it, ey?”
I grinned and popped a few cookbooks in front of her, which she started flipping through before she announced “This! This is what we’re making!” I wandered over to have a look, and admittedly I had to refrain from wrinkling my nose as I’m just not much of a brownie fan, but I have to admit that these little suckers did quicken my heartbeat, and with a dollop of freshly whipped cream, went down real, real well
Raspberry-Studded Brownie Bars
(Adapted from Donna Hay - Chocolate)
Ingredients (makes 12 mini loaves)
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
250g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
200g brown sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
200g all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
50g cocoa powder
Approx 1 1/2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Butter and flour a mini loaf tin (or a 23cm/9″ square cake tin) and set aside.
2. Place the chocolate and butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt together over a low heat, while constantly stirring. Set aside to cool till lukewarm.
3. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa into a separate bowl and stir in the walnuts. Once the chocolate mix has cooled, stir in the eggs and sugar till combined, then mix together with the sifted flour.
4. Carefully fill each of the mini loaf tins till about 3/4 full (or your square cake tin), then carefully press raspberries into the surface of each mould. Bake for approx 30-45 minutes, or till they have set and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out with moist crumbs.
5. Serve these with freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to cut through the rich chocolatey-ness, or if you’re a bit of a chocolate hound, enjoy as is!
Technorati Tags: brownies, Donna Hay, recipes, raspberries, mini loaves, chocolate, dessert, baking
Those of you who’ve been following my beginner’s photography posts from the start will remember that this was actually the first post of the point-and-shoot series many many months ago.
In that post, I explained that all light has a colour tint (referred to as ‘temperature) and I also covered the basics of how to manage the white balance of your photos. However, what happens you’ve done your best to manage your white balance (or forgotten all about it…as can happen!) but the image has still turned out with an alien blue hue or glaring orange cast?
Well, that’s what post-production is for
I need to reiterate here that Photoshopping (which appears to have become a generic term for digitial photo manipulation) is not magic - its not going to be able to take a burned out orange flash image and make it into something with the richness of colour of a daylight shot - its more possible for those who shoot in RAW format, but if you’re using a point-and-shoot and stuck with JPEG compression, I’m afraid that its gonna be a touch more difficult. However, that’s not to say that we can’t vastly improve things!
In the first installment, you received a brief introduction to both the levels and curves adjustment panels, though we used them only to manage the luminosity/light levels in the images. Today, I’ll take you a bit further into each of these tools in order to show you more of how they can help to correct an image!
(Photoshop users have a third tool at their disposal called photo filter, but since I don’t know if that’s one that GIMP has, I won’t cover it unless anyone says they’d like me to add a section on that too!)
Above you can see a rather extreme case of unmanaged white balance. I took this picture rather late in the afternoon before sunset, when the light has quite a blue tint to it, and in my impatience I didn’t set my white balance before taking my shots.
The result? Every single image that I took had this ridiculous blue tint through them.
Mmmm, blue chili. Looks tasty, huh?
Thankfully, I knew how to use my image editor to take it from the awful blue-cast image on the left into the much lovelier balanced image on the right, and I’ll take you through two methods of how you too can fix this all to common mistake!
