FINYS FABULOUS FOODS AND FINDS

Partly eaten lime pie! This unusual combination of ingredients is for the sweet tooth, though the sweetness is diminished by the addition of lime juice and zest. Lime (or lemons) are such a great combination, and this is unusual in that it has salty cracker biscuits as well - so you have sweet, bitter and salty.  I used Jatz biscuits but any slightly salty cracker would be fine. You can either serve them in individual dishes or, as I have done, in one pie dish.  Either way, it tastes very yummy! This is a great dessert to serve up when you have visitors, as it never fails to impress them.  It is also quite easy to make and requires no cooking, and only one dish to wash up. Preparation Time: 15 minutes (plus overnight) Cooking Time: 0 minutes Makes: 5 servings Ingredients 395 g tin sweetened condensed milk 275 g cream ¼ cup lime juice ¾ tbsp lime zest About 150 g Ritz crackers Instructions Combine the milk and cream in a large bowl. Add the lime...

I made this loaf of bread in my bread-maker, and adapted it with things that I like in bread!  You could add whatever you wanted, or just have it plain. It is a 1 kg size, and I generally slice it and then put the slices individually in the freezer.  This way there is no wastage, and I just take out one piece at a time, and it is always fresh. I used Laucke bread mix as they have the European style bread, and I can add other things to many of their mixes, and get an excellent result. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: Varies Makes: About 15 slices Ingredients I packet Laucke sourdough rye bread mix Handful of walnuts Sunflower and/or Pumpkin seeds Instructions Follow your bread-maker instructions to make rye bread. Add the nuts and seeds as per instructions - I put small seeds in with the mixture and larger ones.  I also put walnuts in the special holder that my bread-maker has for larger items. You could also add other things as w...

If you are having visitors and want to impress anyone, then this is a recipe you could make.  With a "professional" look, it almost looks as if it has been bought. When you make food at home, it often is not "even", and has a rustic look that you do not see in bought meals from the supermarket.  This is particularly so when I make pastry as my pastry is rarely even.  However having jagged edges or being uneven to my mind, makes it look more authentic. This recipe is an authentic one, and one you will be praised for serving up to the most discerning guest at your dinner table. Of course, you can make it just for the family as well, which is what I did but either way, it will taste good and look brilliant.  I would term it a recipe that will impress! Although pistachios are expensive you can find small shops that sell things loose rather than having to buy a whole packet, so if you do not usually use pistachios, find one of these shops and just buy the amoun...

Lime curd or lime butter - what can I say!  It is one of the most delicious desserts or spreads for use on toast. It can either be lemons or limes and in this case I had limes on a tree, and as I do not have a lemon tree, I used up the limes. I also made my own pastry as I like to do, as I know exactly what goes into it if I make it myself.  I also find that the bought pastries are too thick, and the pastry takes over the whole tart or pie, or whatever you are making.  Hence I also do not like to buy pies as against making them from "scratch", as if buying a shop made product, in most cases the pastry is way too thick. Pastry is really very easy to make, there is no standing or resting as you do not use a rising agent so pastry really takes no longer than about ten minutes to make.  Once you have made your own, you will only go back to a bought one, when you are really in a hurry. I had also made a batch of the lime curd a few days before, and you can see thi...

I don't know about you, my lovelies, but I just love anything sweet made with lemons or limes.  The sourness of either of these citrus fruits teamed with the sweetness of other foods, makes this a match made in heaven for me, and I often make this sort of thing. I am also often trying savoury dishes using lemons however at the moment I have no fresh lemons.  Lemons are now mainly imported into Australia and are as much as $1 for a small lemon, and limes are slightly cheaper, which is most unusual! However, once again I am digressing - I appear to be good at that! This is such an easy recipe as you do not have to dirty any pots, and therefore little washing up afterwards. I always keep a supply of "pretty" bottles for this sort of thing (and for jams), and I have even bought some because the jars were so attractive. This recipe makes an excellent gift for a birthday, Christmas, or any other event, and everyone I have given it to, has been very appreciative.  Th...

Rice paper rolls are a bit fiddly but I think they are SO worth it.  With vegetables (or meat) wrapped in a wafer thin pancake type of rolls, there is no limit to your imagination when creating different versions of these! They are generally with Asian inspired vegetables, however you could really making anything inside these tiny paper thin pancakes.  I have even made a dessert using them, and they were delicious as the pancake is not sweet and the sweet of a dessert balances it out to give a great sweet! They can also be vegetarian or not!  They are often made with prawns, which is a recipe I often make, however in this instance I decided to be "vegetarian" for the night!  My partner is a meat and veggies person, and was not impressed that I left out the meat part, however he even admitted that they tasted very good. If you do not eat fish, simply leave the tuna out of this recipe, however the tuna makes it extra healthy as it is packed with Omega3 which ha...

I am not a vegan, and I am no longer even a vegetarian - I eat little red meat, and have a lot of milk and cheese. However, now, as I have often said, my lovelies, I have had to cut down on the amount of sugar I eat, so am always trying new low fat, no added sugar desserts and snacks. This is actually a vegan recipe, I believe, however that was co-incidence.  Often these raw desserts are vegan, and nearly always they are delicious. It is another recipe that needed to be made several times to get the consistency correct, but hey, I love creating and experimenting.  This one I had tasted a similar one at a friend's place, however she had bought it and did not quite know what was in it! This recipe does have some maple syrup in it, and I always buy the pure maple syrup as the cheaper one is more processed.  Even though "sugar is sugar" regardless of how it is presented, I really believe that using a natural sugar like maple syrup, or coconut sugar, is far healthier....

Turkey is a very low fat mince, is extremely cheap to use, and best of all, it has a lovely taste.  It is also very versatile, and I often cook using this mince. It is also an excellent source of protein and good if you are on a low fat diet. You can buy it at all supermarkets nowadays, and I usually buy 500 g, use half and have some always in the freezer. Often when I cannot think what to make for an evening meal, we have turkey balls with spaghetti, which is both easy to make, quick and delicious.  Having them on hand in the freezer is great for an emergency when I don't feel like being creative, or thinking about what to cook! In this instance I made the turkey into a "meatloaf" and as I was having one of my grandchildren here for dinner, I also minced some carrot, and a few other vegetables, which he could not taste.  He is not a good eater, and that is how we get him to eat vegetables - by hiding them in certain foods. I wanted some sort of sauce with this,...

Raw is currently the rage in cooking!  I have made some interesting recipes, though I have to admit some of them have failed! It is not so easy to get the right quantities of ingredients so that the sweet or dessert will not fall apart. I make a lot of bliss balls, as currently I am not eating much with refined sugar in them, and most of these raw desserts have no added processed sugars. This one also has chia seeds in it.  I love the texture of these seeds, and they are so easy to use in a variety of sweets and puddings.  They are also supposedly another of the new "super foods".  Their health properties include such things as Omega-3, antioxidants, fibre, iron and calcium.  They also contain some protein and are versatile in that they can be eaten both cooked or raw.  However they should be added to another food or soaked before eating them. Raw foods are the latest health craze and many of them use obscure ingredients.  However this recipe...