This Week's Baking, Part One - Peanut Butter & Oat Slice

I came across this tasty-sounding slice recipe in a recent Taste.com.au newsletter decided to bake it up for our snacks this week.

A few things went wrong... but it ended up not mattering!
- didn't have enough coconut. So I added cacao nibs instead. Win!*

 - accidentally added way too much honey, as a result of a brain snap that had me thinking it was a good idea to pour the honey out from the 1-kilo tub (instead of doing something sensible like scooping it out with a spoon)...into the same bowl as the peanut butter was already in. Whoops. So there was about 100g of honey in the slice instead of 60g. However, it is by no means oversweet, so that was ok too.

- got caught up with Pippin and overbaked the slice by about 10 minutes, resulting in a slightly drier texture than I think it should ideally have, but it's certainly not a disaster, especially because the edges are really nice and crunchy now.

It's really yummy. I'll be making it again. Very simple and potentially quite versatile... you could use different combinations of nut butters and seeds (or chocolate bits or dried fruit even as well). Substantial, comforting and, despite the additional honey, no sugar crash from this one.

Stay tuned for some sourdough baking news! Things have been going well so far!

*yes, we are the kind of people who just happen to have more cacao nibs than desiccated coconut in our pantry. It's just how things are round here.

Look, I've Started!

Remember the other week when I was feeling inspired to start doing something crafty...

(

nice colour isn't it?

I've made a start on a plain knitted square... not sure what I'll turn it into when it's finished, and it's going to take me quite a while to finish it unfortunately, but it's something to be working on when I don't want to (just) bludge and watch DVDs or read!

I've got some new socks put aside for making a sock friend as well... but I'll need to work up my courage before I take that plunge!

Things REALLY don't always turn out like you expect.

What a week.

Trying to get Pippin to bottle feed, or even to drink from a cup, or to spoon feed him, has been a disaster.

I had no idea he would be so stubborn, so uncooperative, so downright uncoordinated about the whole thing! It got to the stage where I basically had to make a choice between breastfeeding him or taking him to hospital because he was not getting anywhere near an adequate fluid intake.

So I am back to breastfeeding, having got some advice from a nurse at the Children's Hospital who specialises in baby feeding problems. I need to be on the lookout for signs that he might bite, and be really strict with him if he does. I'll be taking him to see her at some point, hopefully next week, to discuss options for weaning. In the meantime, I've got mixed feelings... On the one hand I am desperately glad that Pippin is getting the nourishment he needs and I am also glad to still be breastfeeding. On the other hand I was just getting used to the idea of NOT breastfeeding... Then I had to change back.

I feel kind of jerked around.

Also I am terrified of being bitten again. Especially since, on top of everything else, I came down with mastitis a couple of days ago; I have been SO SICK and in so much pain. If Pippin bites my affected breast I swear people in Canada will hear me screaming. Fortunately the antibiotics are just starting to really kick in, but I still feel relatively dreadful. Ironically (although also luckily) regular breastfeeding is actually helpful because it drains the breast properly.

It has been a rotten, rotten, rotten week. I could not have made it through without the amazing support I have received from my husband, my family (especially my mum), my friends, the mothers at playgroup, the maternal & child health nurses...

 'Rescued' by klbaileyART - just how I feel!

Everyone has been beyond wonderful and I am so, so grateful. Thank you all!

This Week's Baking - Easy Oat Bread, and a Sourdough Starter!

Earlier this week I made the Easy Oat Bread from Kneadlessly Simple. This is just about my favourite bread from that book, or at least the one I make most often; it's simple, very versatile, and makes two loaves in one go.

This time I opted to make one plain and then decided to experiment by adding a chopped-up apple and some cinnamon sugar topping to the second loaf. It turned out well, although I could have done a better job of incorporating the apple.

I think next time I will have a go at flattening the dough out into a square, sprinkling the apple over and rolling it up... that might work better.

I am also making my first-ever sourdough starter, a rye-based one. Look! Bubbles!

I took this photo on Sunday when it was 2 days old. It's looking pretty good now, smells quite sour but ok, and I think it will be ready to use in another day or so. I'm a bit confused about the right feeding schedule, but it seems to be going ok, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing (feeding it once a day) and change if I need to.

Flavour of the Week - Blackberry Ripple

My husband, herein to be known (for reasons well-understood by our intimate friends) as The Stressed Chef, is an avid maker of ice cream. (He is also an avid consumer of ice cream, a habit which I consider a most peculiar perversion at this time of year, but to each his own.) Most weeks of the year he churns a batch and takes it into work to share with his colleagues, and time permitting alerts them to the presence of a new frozen delight with an appropriate email. I'll be sharing these with you as they are produced).
 

Dear Colleagues,

In the grisly annals of heinous crime no greater enormity can have been committed than that lately visited upon the unfortunate berries of the infamous Freezer District downstairs.  A discovery by horrified yet oddly peckish police inspectors has shown that the series of disappearances that had roiled the close-knit blackberry community was but the first step of a gruesome design.  The person or persons responsible, of unknown identity but demonstrably diabolical culinary criminality, had evidently plied the missing blackberries with vanilla-laced vodka, rendering them insensible to the merciless pulping that ensued.

The crime came to light with the delivery of an insulated package to the unsuspecting functionaries of the constabulary.  The container inside proved to hold an icecream within whose rich confines were strewn the mortal part of the former blackberries, arranged in a layered display of fruity gore that left transfixed onlookers unable to decide whether to weep or fetch a scoop.  Affixed to the top of the container was a note claiming responsibility for the evidence of “my funny little games” within.  Chillingly written in juice, the note was signed “Jack the Rippler”.

Investigations into the matter continue, though the gradual and inexplicable disappearance of the icecream has led increasingly plump detectives to issue public appeals to the perpetrator for further samples.  In the meantime, unaccompanied berries are subject to a curfew, and members of the public are encouraged to examine the custardy-fruity evidence for themselves while it lasts.

Dietary information: this icecream contains milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, blackberries, vanilla, vodka, lemon juice.

Yours ripplaciously,

The Stressed Chef

Things don't always turn out how you expect (or hope)

I've been breastfeeding my little son since he was born nearly 8 months ago. As of last night, I'm not. To cut a long story short:

He has four large, sharp teeth.
He likes to bite things.
Those things include (for whatever reason) my nipples.
The last few bites have drawn blood and I cannot stand the agony any longer.

It wasn't meant to end this way. Yes I have complained about breastfeeding - it's not 100% easy after all, takes practice etc - but I really wanted to go the full 12 months. I didn't want him to go to formula. Nevertheless it looks like that's how it's going to be. I'll keep expressing as much milk as I can for as long as I can, but it is - obviously - not the same. The next few days will be really difficult too, I anticipate - Pippin is not used to a bottle at all. My husband is trying to give him one now, I'm not sure how successfully. I'll look in on them shortly.

I am really grieving. I have been crying and crying and crying. I guess I didn't realise how important breastfeeding is to me until it has been suddenly taken away.

Sesame Yoghurt Face Scrub & Mask

Here's another easy face scrub/mask that I made for myself the other day: 

1 tsp polenta (cornmeal)

1 tsp plain yoghurt

1 tsp tahini (sesame paste)

Mix all ingredients together to form a thick paste. Spread onto clean skin, rubbing in gently, then leave on for 5 minutes. Wash off with warm water. 

This scrub/mask is great for exfoliating and deeply moisturising congested skin, and is also a really good hand scrub. However if your skin tends to be delicate, sensitive or blemished, it might be too abrasive - use finely ground rolled oats or almond meal in place of the polenta. 

Happy pampering!