Back to Rationing, Making Poppies and WWI

In the local paper.

Yes, we are back!!!!!

Back to WWII wartime rationing, not that we fully left it but we have been having too much "black market" and convenience food due to a hectic shedule and not having the time for all the cooking etc, a lot of time spent away from home etc.......
But I am going to make the time.

Over here in Kiwiland, it has been a cold winter so I have been making lots of pots of warming vege soup which is a meal in itself.  Served with either toast or crunchy croutons.

Yummy vege soup.

Vege soup is so easy to make, just use what ever vegetables you have at hand and how many you want.

This is how I made it last night.

Vege Soup

3 medium potatoes

2 onions

2 large carrots

3/4 cup of soup mix (split peas, lentils, pearl barley)

1 or 2 cups frozen or fresh veges (corn, peas, spinach, beans)

1 or 2 stalks and leaves of celery

2 oxo cubes (vege, chicken or beef)

soya sauce and/or worchestershire sauce (whatever you have)

parsley fresh (if possible)

salt and pepper.

In a large pot add your potatoes, onions and carrots which have been sliced and diced, along with the soup mix and oxo cubes.  Full the pot half way with water, sorry I never measure the amount.

Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for an hour.

At this stage, I grab a fork and mash some of the potatoes and carrots against the side of the pot.  This makes the soup thicker.

Then add a good swig of soya sauce and or worchestershire sauce, celery (chopped) and the other vegetables.  Stir in well.  At this time add parsley if you only have dried.

Leave simmering until needed.

Add fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  

Your soup should be well seasoned.

Serve with a little grated cheese on top if you have any.

Also with hot toast or croutons.

I will post our yummy crouton ideas next time.

Enjoy!!!!

Eggs from our lovely ladies.

Our lovely ladies of the backyard, our chickens,  have been laying lots of lovely eggs for us.  I've got some serious baking to do over the next few days.

Also keeping us occupied on our many train rides and any spare time in the evening, is our poppy making.
We are helping our local libraries with making 2,721 poppies for a display next year commemorating the 2,721 New Zealanders from Kapiti (Paraparaumu, Waikanae and Otaki) who died in WWI.
So far Salem and I have made 900 and we are still going.
I came up with a nice easy crochet pattern which I will post soon, so keep an eye out for it.

Not bad for our first blog post for a while, nice to be back.

Earthquakes, Soup, Dumplings and Yorkshire Pudding

7.0 earthquake felt in Wellington

Wellington residents were rattled after a 7-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of the lower North Island.

GeoNet reported the earthquake hit at 10.36pm on Tuesday. It was centred 230km deep and was 170km northwest of Wellington.

It was a long. rolling quake felt throughout the lower North Island and upper South Island.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Wow, what an earthquake that was tonight.  It was really long and the whole house just kept moving.  

The cats took off leaving the sofa for dust, and I went and stood in the archway between the dinning room and lounge, with one hand keeping my large cabinet steady as it had a lot of my crockery in.  No damage thank goodness.  Salem slept through it all, so did the chickens who if disturbed make a huge racket.  You should hear them when a hedgehog sneaks into bed with them!!!

Hopefully there will be no more earthquakes tonight.

Taranaki Street, Wellington, New Zealand 1950s

It has been so cold lately and we have all come down with colds, luckily the boys have recovered but I was the last to get one and I seem to get it the worst.  I've got tissues stuffed up my nose so I can do this post.

I have been through a whole box of tissues today, I could do the 1940s thing and use hankies but I think I would have used every single one we have, and we have a lot, but I just couldn't face heaps of soaking wet, drippy hankies to wash especially as the weather is supposed to turn nasty tomorrow.

So it has been the perfect time to make a large pot of yummy vegetable soup.  It is so easy to make and will feed us for days.  Even grumpy teenager enjoys making it.  Just loads of vegetables, soup cereals, extra pearl barley, sometimes split peas,  mixed dried herbs, worchestershire sauce and a bit of salt and water to fill the pot.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for a few hours.  What could be easier?  A big favourite of ours is to have dumplings with our soup.

Dumplings
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp butter or margarine melted
1 tsp dried mixed herbs or parsley
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup half water, half milk

In a bowl put all dry ingredients.
Add both the milk/water and the butter to the dry ingredients.
Use a knife to mix everything together using a cutting action at first.
Mix to a soft scone-like dough.  Add more water if too dry.
Shape into small balls (larger than a marble, smaller than a golf ball).
Pop into your simmering soup, put the lid on and let cook for at least 20 minutes.
Make sure that there is enough room in the pot for your dumplings to rise.  You might have to take a little of the soup out.

Serve in your bowl of soup, enjoy.

We are still enjoying our roasts (minus meat) and also yummy yorkshire puddings to go with them.
A nice easy recipe is.............  and it only uses one egg!!!!

Yorkshire Pudding
75g flour
1/2 cup half milk, half water
1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
3 Tbsp dripping, cooking fat or oil

Whisk all the ingredients together, except for the fat, to make a batter.
Preheat a roasting pan (or muffin tins) with the fat in a 220 degrees C oven.
When the pan and oil is hot, take out of oven and quickly put the batter in, then straight back into the oven.
Cook for 25 - 30 minutes or 12- 15 minutes if you are using muffin tins.
Cut into squares when cooked and serve hot.

Yum, Yum, I think it's roast for dinner tomorrow night if I'm feeling a bit better!!!!!!!

Nitey Nite Everyone

Nellie B