Sausage rolls...

As I always seem to have a freezer full of venison mince, venison sausage rolls was floated as an idea.
I wanted a recipe that did not need extra mince, such as pork mince as that requires purchasing things.
I found this recipe for Venison Sausage Rolls and went ahead without the juniper berries.

 This recipe uses one whole package of frozen puff pastry that has 6 sheets in it.
They are tasty and don't leave a greasy feel in your mouth like some rolls can.
I have made them about three times now.

Other baking that has been happening...

Nigella Lawson's chocolate cake from How to be a domestic goddess is a mainstay in my house, I make it fairly regularly. It gets better on the second day if allowed.

I was asked to supply a large cake for a friend and found this recipe.
I had to make another one for home as I sent it out without tasting it, and another for a the biggest morning tea held at work.
This is a large cake and took a while to be eaten at home.

This was the state of my sewing room before clean up. The desk, while amazing was very narrow and the rounded end did not fit my cutting board neatly. Everything is cramped and hard to get to.
I have since purchased a lovely dining table for $60 from the online classifieds which sits across the window. I have room to move!
The old three spool overlocker just visible in the bottom corner is at the machine shop getting serviced and threaded. This was a gift from a work friend who hadn't used it for years and I am looking forward to creating skirts in 30 minutes!
Photo of updated room to come.
I am also waiting for the big fabric sale to update the curtains in this room and the lounge room behind me in this picture.




And this is winter at my house.

Until next time,
Scotia

6 month round up.

Looking back at my pinterest post I mentioned that I wanted all of my photographs off the wall and onto shelves.
Voila!

A lovely thread holder I got for Christmas.
 
A granny square cover for my hat rack.

We have had snow and bonfires.
Amazingly this week the Aurora Australis has been able to be seen in Canberra.
Will try to get there tomorrow morning, just out of town on Mount Tennant.

Have been de-cluttering and trying to get my sewing room in order. I have slowed down on quilts I think due to no space to work. I am currently on the lookout for an old dining room table to become the sewing table. New curtains for the lounge and sewing room when the big yearly sale starts at my favourite curtain fabric shop.

Sausages

Venison sausages to be precise...a quick trip to the butchers on my way to work for pig fat and sausage casing and I was ready to go for it that night.

Using the honest-food recipe found here /venison-sausages-with-basil-and-garlic/ I bought garlic, wine and fresh basil on my way home.

As the venison was pre minced I chopped and minced the fat with the herbs and garlic, and with help mushed it all together. Having no idea how much sausage skin I needed I took to much off but that's okay. Our mincer is totally inadequate for stuffing and so a proper stuffer will need to be purchased if Wal is serious about sausage making.

A quick taste test of some mix fried up and we were ready to go.

They definitely needed more basil but that was my error. But overall, a success.

Snowy Jerangle

Winter has finished and Spring is Canberra is glorius! But to back track a few months to July -
we managed to get some snow out at Jerangle, but a very small amount compared to most snowy places.
We had gone to Aldi for their yearly snow sale and got new gear for the kids, along with half of Canberra but it was well worth it.

 

The dam was frozen and the ducks walking on it, the water froze for a week or two and we all had fun.

Fun for me is sitting in front of the fire reading while taking in the view from the window.

Venison Jerky

One of my more visited websites is Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.
From here I get many recipes including one for a spicy venison jerky which has become a favourite with friends and family.

Getting some of the more exotic ingredients was interesting such as Chipolte peppers in adobe sauce. Not something that is readily available in downtown Canberra.
This gets shipped up from a Melbourne supplier Monterey Mexican Foods, and Instacure no. 2 from a New South Wales supplier.

The best cuts of venison are frozen slightly for easier cutting. I make the sauce and it marinades for 24 hours, then dried for about 8.

The result is a chewy, smokey with a bit of bite jerky.

Change of name

It has been a while since we waved goodbye to the chickens, so a change of name will maybe rev up this blog. 
I have been sewing, experimenting with venison, taken up violin lessons and some traveling.
Still enjoying the Jane Austen book club and Theresa has become a good friend.

Recent trip was to Milawa and the Brown Brothers Winery.
A Valentines day dinner on the Friday night followed by a full day at the winery for their first ever First Crush Festival, lots of wine drunk and delicious food eaten.

I stayed at the Stone Cottage in Beechworth and highly recommend it. We were in the Barn.

Next time - jerky!

Pinterest fun!

I love Pinterest and I am lucky that Wal can help me make some of those pins reality in my home or at Jerangle.

Inspiration:

Source: hgtv.com via Scotia on Pinterest

Meals area

MDF covered with 15mm high density foam, wadding and fabric.

Sewing the cover for seat

MFD with 75mm high density foam and material

Base with draws

Complete with draws seat and back

 

Completed setting. Table was from Wal's fathers farm.

All up this cost me about 600 dollars, mostly for the high density foam. The material was all on sale and the chairs were already our. There are lots more projects on the waiting list including a sofa table for Jerangle and I want to put the photos off the wall and onto shelves.

My pinterest profile: http://pinterest.com/serenitypark/