Tea, Almond paste, Seedlings

Day 268

Well It has been a long time - this is the catch up Blog Post.

Tea

Green Tea with Jasmine, from a good and generous friend.

I must admit that tea has been my greatest challenge. I miss it terribly, and this gift has helped enormously. I have decided to order two Camelia trees to try growing my own tea in wine barrels.

I had a cup of Madura English breakfast tea one night at another friend's house and it tasted beautiful, just superb (probably tasting all the better because of my  abstinence). I took the liberty of taking some of the same tea bags with me on my recent trial trek from Deep Creek to Kings Beach. I ended up bringing most of them home with me as it turned out, because David Blacklock, the teacher I travelled with; provided me with my tea fix on a regular basis. He was armed with the newest camping sensation - the Jet Boil, which biols water in about 2 minutes! David would put a pinch of leaf tea directly into the billy, boil it up, and serve without straining. I actually loved the simplicity of it. No wet tea bags to carry out, no tags staples and cords, just pour away the dregs to compost onto the ground - excellent! I am a convert - I did not even mind the tea leaves - there is something authentic and "Bush billy tea" like about the experience that appeals to the outdoorsy part of me. (maybe on the Tassie trek I will try adding some gum leaves as well- then I will have to start singing Waltzing Matilda.....) 

 Now I have a box of Queensland grown teabags which I have enjoyed being able to share with visitors. It is actually such a huge part of our society's welcoming ritual to offer a visitor a cup of tea, and it just isn't the same when I offer herbal tea (unless of course people prefer it, which I find is rare) Maybe I aught to just bypass the whole tea palava, and offer visitors a glass of wine instead? Sort of doesn't work at ten in the morning, or with tradesmen if I want an acceptable finished product....mmm

Lemons and almonds from the road side stall on Aldinga to Willunga road. Lemons were dry inside, with some disease, lots of pips, and not much juice. Almonds were small, tasted like they had not been dried properly, some damp sort of taste, and the bag contained some shells and husks and stones. Buyers BEWARE. Nothing beats the quality of the almonds from the Willunga Farmer's Market for freshness, quality, and flavour.We especially love the roasted almonds...yum! We have been enjoying Hardings almond paste from the Market, and I decided to try making my own.

Almond Paste

  

I tried roasting some of our raw almonds in the frypan.

Put the roasted almonds through the juicer very slowly.

   

The paste is quite dry, and would be difficult to spread, so I add local olive oil as there is no local almond oil.

The olive oil makes it smooth like peanut paste, and I add honey to disguise the olive flavour.

 I tried a few different additives for variety. One with carob powder, and one with honey and salt.

Almond Paste in the Jar ready to spread on toast. I am not sure how long it would last. I kept it in the fridge as almonds (and all nuts) once they are shelled should be stored in a cool place to stop them going rancid.
It does not last long enough in our household to worry about use by dates.

  The most popular version in our household was the one with added salt and honey. None of the versions lasted very long. The greatest compliments came from the teenager who said that it was the best almond paste he had ever tasted....nice.

Russel's leftovers for breakfast heated in the oven....a family favourite.

  

Lunch - steamed cauliflower, brocoli, garden greens, and a white sauce with Langhorne Creek horseradish and beetroot spread for a little extra oomph.

  My seed purchase from Green Harvest in a neat little seed raising box I bought from Cheap as chips for about $7 - very effective.

The beans ready to plant out, and the others on the way - very exciting!

 I have fallen off the wagon so to speak, with our local diet. I made the decision to buy non-local dehydrated foods and tea, hot chocolate, etc. for my 3 day trial trek, and for Aarod to take on his recent canoe trip.  I did not predict the fall out. Of course we needed to test out the new gas cooker before the trip, and of course there were leftovers after my trek and Aarod's canoe trip, so the pantry has one drawer at present that contains all manner of prohibited goodies. Two minute noodles, hot chocolate, tea, wheat bix, powdered milk, cuppa soup, to name a few. I have to admit that they have been too tempting for me to have in the house! I have never been one with a strong willpower. My motto is mostly, "If there is chocolate - it will be eaten." So I have to confess that the diet at present is somewhat a hybrid of it's former self. We are also presently planning an extended trip to Malta, so we will continue to eat local foods while staying there, but will be realistic about airport food and other tricky situations. As the year progresses it gets harder to stay focussed and committed, but ultimately we are sticking to eating and purchasing local foods as much as we can, without being so rigid when we eat out, and allowing the camp treats to be consumed rather than being thrown out or given away.