Jams, Jams and More Jams

Got my grubby hands on a box and a half of very ripe mangoes - some too ripe but I knew I could use them all.

So spent a half a day chopping mangoes up and then sorting them into over ripe and ripe for cooking.


The ones that were way over ripe I turned into a chutney/relish. I love cooking Thai and Indian food and mango chutney is good to use in either. I have my own recipe that has fresh ginger and chillies in it and it always tastes great.

Last week I got my little mitts on some hot chillies and I turned those into sweet chilli jam which is a staple ingredient on a lot of Thai recipes and it also tastes great with a piece of cheese and crackers.

The remainder of the mangoes are now delicious jars of Mango jam, sweet and delectable. I got the jam urge a few weeks back and have made about 12 jars of strawberry jam; half a dozen jars of lemon butter (or lemon curd depending on where you live) and now the yummy mango jam.

My family and friends keep asking what flavour is next and have put in their orders for favourites. Think the next lot will be either more strawberry or if I wait until the new year, some tasty peach jam.

Domestic Goddess I am not but everyone tells me I am a great cook and I really do love cooking -must be the reason for the 100s and 100s of cookbooks I own. I can't seem to go past a recipe book without it finding its way into my home (kind of like Birdie and Santa Claus decorations).

PS HERE ARE THE REQUESTED RECIPES - (Especially for Lindi...lol)

Sweet Chilli Jam

1 med sized capsicum

12 chillies (I actually use about 12 little ones and three or four big ones)

1 1/12 cups apple cider vinegar

6 cups caster sugar

1 pkt jamsetter (you can use Pectin if you can get your hands on some)

Take off the stalk end of the capsicum and chillies (NOTE it is a good idea to wear rubber gloves when using chillies). Throw the capsicum and chillies into a food processor and blitz until chopped.

Throw the blitz chilli mix and the vinegar into a large heavy bottom saucepan/boiler and heat until boiling; stir in the sugar and jamsetter and keep stirring. Add a nob of butter (this reduces the amount of 'scum' you get on the top. Turn the heat down until a slow boil and stirring all the while cook until soft ball stage. Skim off the scum (lol).

Easiest way to test is to drop some onto a plate then let it cool and hold sideways - if it runs off the plate it ain't thick enough...rotfl.

When thick enough (remember it will get thicker as it cools and refridgerate) put into sterilized jars and either seal with 'sealing' paper or cook in a water bath for 10 mins.

I cool mine upsidedown before throwing it in the fridge. Remember there is no preservatives in this so it must be kept in fridge, especially once opened but will keep for a reasonable length of time.

Mango Chutney/Relish

6 Mangoes

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 cups brown sugar or 1 1/2 cups brown and 1/4 cup palm sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup fresh grated ginger

1 dspoon mustard seeds (if you haven't any you can use 1/4 cup seeded mustard)

3 chopped chillies

1/4 tsp chilli flakes (as hot as you like)

Chop mango pulp into manageable pieces and throw into a heavy based saucepan with everything else, bring to boil then turn down and cook down till thick stirring regularly to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom and make you go "bugger!"; will probably take about an hour. Bottle as per Sweet Chilli Jam.

I always cool any jams, relishes, chutneys etc upside down and then store in fridge especially in hot weather.

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Giggles and Laughs

Eight weeks old and already a very cheeky girl!

Lots of giggles. She seems to spend most of her time laughing at everyone.

She seems either laughing or amazed at things she sees; such a wonderful time in a beautiful young babe's life.

Oh well, it runs in the family, her Dad is such a cheeky fellow and her gorgeous mum is always smiling. And yes she has her Nanny's dimples!

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A Day in the Sun

Instead of staying at home yesterday and ...er, um wallowing (lol) I drove up to the Central Coast (a 95 km drive) to see B11 and his kids and spend the day at the beach.

The weather wasn't all that crash hot - misty rain all the way on the drive up but it cleared up although the sky was grey so off we went to one of the local beaches, Killcare.

Now I always take my painting gear whenever I go out, you just never know what you may see and yesterday was no exception. The seas were rough and the sky grey but it was beautiful. I took a pile of pictures to use as reference, there is a nature rock pool where lots of people take their children; at one point it was hard to find a clear spot in the water where there wasn't kiddies or parents.

Anyway then I did a couple of quick 10 min watercolour sketches to remind myself when I come to actually using the photos. It was a great day but I did get a little sun despite coating myself liberally in sunscreen.

On drive to the beach I spied a tree in someone's front yard and so on the way back to B11's I made him stop while I took a couple of quick photos. Hopefully it will turn into an artwork of some kind - painting or maybe quilted.....lol.

This tree was amazing, sadly on the way back when we stopped the sun wasn't shining as it had been and the colours weren't as stunning. The bark was a burnt orangey/red, and the tree twisted and turned it's way to reach the sun; it was enormous.

One of our many eucalypts. I think it was a Eucalyptus spathulata or Swamp Mallee but not 100% sure because I am no expert on gum trees - I just like them - I am probably 100% wrong ....lol.

I will have to go back and take more photos of it when I know the sun will be shining and in the right place to try and get that magnificent colour on film.

The other thing I learnt from the day is to put in a beach umbrella whenever I put my art gear in the car.

Then later in the day I was looking through a catalogue from a toy shop and spied this great sun shelter, 3m square and 1.8m high. It would be perfect for me - I could spread gear, my chair; have any number of guests and we would all be safe from the sun and able to enjoy the day.....lol.

So today off I went and purchased one - bought it home and put it up (just so I knew one person could do it) and now I want to go off somewhere and use it for real!