tinytearoom

Strawberry Shortbread

April 20th

Written by: tinytearoom

There are many ways one can show that they care. You can shower your loved one with hugs and kisses, send a lovely bunch of flowers or splash money around like it grows on trees. I can think of nothing more loving than to nurture a batter from mixer to oven and watch it turn to golden magic and then carefully decorate it. It brings me supreme joy. It also exists in the little things. The small gestures. It makes me happy to make my partner his morning coffee, pick up the mail or iron his shirts. He shows his love by taking out the trash, doing the laundry and cleaning the dishes. One day he was having a hard time at work and I didn’t know how to comfort him. It wasn’t enough for me to give him a big hug and a gentle pat on the head. I wasn’t brought up to show my love with grand gestures. So, I put the oven on and started to make his favourite shortbread. Whilst I was putting together the recipe I remembered he loved dried strawberries, so I tipped a small handful of them into the dough… only because I care. These brought a smile to his face and helped wipe away the stresses of the day. I also made

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Apple Almond Snail Pastries

April 14th

Written by: tinytearoom

There are few things that I can say that I hate passionately. One of these is wasting food. It causes me deep dispair when I spend hours in the kitchen nurturing a pot of gold and it turns out to be a dud. My partner and I try our best to eat it or I try and salvage it somehow. One of these unforgettable times was when I attempted to make puff pastry. It was one of the most excruciating experiences. Somehow, somewhere in amongst the rolling, folding and refrigerating, I mucked up the recipe and it turned out a mess. The entire dough saw the bottom of the bin. I had lost an entire day of the weekend. Since this fiasco I haven’t gone anywhere near a puff pastry recipe. That is until I was watching an episode of Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals. He was putting together a dessert and rolled out store-bought puff pastry. “Quite frankly I couldn’t be bothered making my own puff pastry. If you’ve got time to make puff pastry, you need to get yourself a job.” I love this man for his passion and honesty. He had relieved me of the shame. I went out to the grocery store and bought some all-butter puff pastry sheets and made this delicious Apple Almond Snail

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No Pastry Pear Tarts

April 5th

Written by: tinytearoom

Autumn is finally in the air. The temperature has dropped and the big fluffy blankets are carefully lugged from the top of the cupboards. Autumn is my favourite season. The trees change to beautiful colours and I am convinced that the setting sun is a deeper amber. I can virtually hear the southern hemisphere take a deep sigh and bring in the cool winds and soft rain. I spotted these gorgeous tiny pears in the fruit market and it reminded me of the promise I made earlier on in the year. It was to be more mindful about what I was eating and where it was coming from. It did not make any sense to buy garlic flown in from China when we were growing perfectly tasty ones here in Australia. It is wasteful to fly in cherries from all around the world for them to only arrive badly bruised and almost spoiled. Thank goodness the Australian government has made it mandatory for stores to indicate the country of origin for all fruit and vegetables. I am also watching where every dollar is spent. It made perfect sense to eat seasonally and therefore frugally. I am also an avid reader of Brydie’s delightful blog CityHippyFarmGirl. She is a great source of information and inspiration about eating responsibly. These wonderful No

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