Breakfast and Baking

I am sure I find justifications in all seasons, but AUTUMN seems particularly conducive to the pursuit of eating baking and I've found myself turning away from my usual evening fare of net surfing reading books and browsing magazines to pore through my cookbooks in search of new and tasty treats to whip up.

Heck I'm even whipping up tasty treats solely with the purpose of having something nice to eat while I pore through the recipes in search of yet more cooking project ideas.

Exhibit A:

Bircher bliss
It seemed only logical this morning when I returned from the  school run (oh okay and a quick  duck in to an op shop that was semi-on my way home) to mix up some bircher muesli. Such a great late breakfast snack to flop on the couch with my new (old) book of Bill Granger recipes ($4 at the op shop - hooray!).
 
 
I love bircher muesli, it feels healthy, even though I suspect it may not be. It really just depends on your chosen ingredients. Basically all you need is:
 
2 cups of rolled oats.  
Then turn to the fridge. Do you have a 3/4 empty tub of yogurt (plain is preferable) that the kids have stopped eating because "someone" opened the new tub already? Throw it in on top of the oats.
Then add a cup of whatever juice you have handy (apple or orange is great) - this morning all I could find was peach syrup from a tin opened last night for dessert - easy.
Then grate an apple in to the mix. No need to peel it, the colour looks good. Any berries you have (frozen or fresh) make a great addition too. I added a few chopped up tinned peaches for good measure.
A handful of shredded coconut and if you have any toasted nuts or pepitas, you're laughing.
 
Alas, there was no laughter when I opened my AIRTIGHT canister of pepitas (which i recall was not cheap when purchased from a health food shop at Christmas). I practically heaved at the sight of about 50 million wriggling grubs and repulsive webby stuff engulfing the seeds...Why? Why?
 
I know, I know, freezing is possibly the answer. Someone told me recently (to whom I was ranting about this very subject - sorry, I know I need to get out more..) that you should pop all your nuts/oats/flours/legumes etc in to the freezer for a few days upon buying in order to kill whatever may be living in there. Maybe permanent storage in the freezer is best? Easier to replace the pantry with a freezer maybe? 
 
Moving on, while bircher muesli is best left refrigerated (to stew) for a few hours after making, I find it is just fine eaten immediately (sans grubs) while post-it noting new recipes I am hoping to try as these delightfully crisp autumn days continue.
 
Ooh, these cute post-its were in ALDI this week for $4 a packet.
 
 

Great to pop into a bag of assorted Mother's Day gifts, don't you think?

Hello? Did I hear someone say MOTHER'S DAY????

Perhaps you (family, are you listening??!!) could put a gift bag together with a few relatively inexpensive but well chosen items. Off the top of my head I'd suggest:
  • peanut brittle
  • latest copy of the UK The Simple Things magazine (love it!)
  • a copy of the brilliant John Green novel The Fault in Our Stars
  • a mid-weight woven linen scarf to suit the changing seasons (saw some nice ones in Sussan, just saying..)
  • a scented candle - perhaps one of those anniversary limited edition ones in the snazzy boxes by Glasshouse.
...just a thought in case you were lacking direction for the the big day...

Of course, no pressure..

..and no excuses either... just saying :-)

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