Description:
This recipe isn't mine. It is from Allrecipes.com. I love lemon sorbet any time, but if you have had a rich meal, it is a great way to 'cleanse the palate'.

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 1 Day 1 Hr
READY IN 1 Day 1 Hr 15 Min

Ingredients:
* 1 lemon's peel, finely diced
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup lemon juice
* 1/2 cup carbonated mineral water
* 6 strips of lemon zest, for garnish


Directions:
In a saucepan, stir together the diced lemon peel, 1 cup of water and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool.

In a pitcher or bowl, stir together the lemon syrup with peel, lemon juice and mineral water. Pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Garnish each serving with a twist of lemon peel.

If you do not have an ice cream maker, you may freeze it in a tall canister. Freeze for 1 1/2 hours. Remove and stir with a whisk. Return to the freezer and stir about once every hour for about 4 hours. The more times you stir, the more air will be incorporated, resulting in a lighter finished product.

Description:
This recipe is quick and easy enough for even the kids to make. In fact, when Tatiana was small, she used to love mushing the dough together (and eating it, I might add).

Ingredients:
Base:
225g butter (8oz)
2 cups flour
1 cup oats
5 tblsp sugar
7ml baking powder (1 mounded teaspoon)
1 tblsp cocoa

Icing:
2 cups icing sugar
1 tblsp cocoa


Directions:
Base:
Knead together and press into a greased 22cm (9 inch) square pan.
Bake at 160°C for 35 minutes. The finished product should not be dark around the edges and should have a barely baked look and a slightly spongy feel.

Icing:
Add hot water little by little and mix well.
Pour over squares while they're still warm, but not hot. If you pour over the squares when they're cool, the icing will separate from the base. Pouring over while the squares are warm allows a little of the icing to be absorbed, causing it to 'bond'.
Leave to set - about 1 hour

Description:
This is probably one of the most South African tea time treats I know. When you're invited somewhere, you take along a milk tart. Most recipes for milk tart are baked. This recipe is my gran's and no baking is required. It came in handy when I had no oven and used to sell to the local home industry. I had many orders for this milk tart.

Ingredients:
Base:
1 pkt Tennis biscuits (they're square coconut cookies)
150g butter (5.29oz)

Filling:
4 cups milk
1 tblsp butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
3 tblsp flour
3 tblsp cornflour

Cinnamon for sprinkling

Directions:
Base:
Melt the butter. Combine with crushed biscuits and press into 2 large tart pans. Chill. Tip: You can crush the biscuits with a pestle and mortar or put it into a strong bag and break it up. I often just put the biscuits a few at a time into the blender. The crumbs need to be course breadcrumb size.

Filling:
Boil milk with butter. In the meantime, in a bowl, mix remaining ingredients into a paste. Add to boiling milk and stir until thick.

Pour into your biscuit bases. I invert a spoon over the base and pour onto that, so that the hot tart mixture doesn't disturb the base. Sprinkle with cinnamon and leave to cool sufficiently to refrigerate.

Description:
This is a Brazilian confection with a Dutch(ish) name. I don't know the origin of the name. My taste buds don't exactly care either ; ) This tart is heavenly! I haven't made this recipe yet, but all the recipes I consulted are virtually identical, so this must be it.

Ingredients:
Base:
200g shortbread biscuit (1 packet shortbread cookies)

Creme:
250g margarine (8.8oz margarine)
200g castor sugar (7oz fine sugar)
4 tablespoons condensed milk
600ml fresh cream, no whey - the watery stuff (1.26 pints)
10 drops vanilla essence

Coating:
200g semi-sweet chocolate (7oz) finely chopped
200g fresh cream, no whey (7oz)
10g margarine (0.35oz)

Decorating:
200g round chocolate coated biscuits

Directions:
For the creme:

Beat margarine and sugar well until white and fluffy.
Add the condensed milk and continue beating.
Add the cream and beat well. Add the vanilla.

For the coating:

Heat the cream making sure not to boil.
Remove from heat and add chocolate and margarine.
Stir well until smooth and the chocolate has melted.

Putting together:

Grease a springform tin (18 cm - 20 cm in diameter x 4 cm in height / 7 - 8 inches in diameter x 1.5 inch height) and dust the inside with sugar. Crush the packet of shortbread and press half into the bottom of the pan. Spread half the creme over the shortbread. Add another layer of biscuit and top with the rest of the creme. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. Remove the springform tin and top the creme with chocolate coating, reserving a little to use to attach the chocolate coated biscuits to the sides. Arrange the chocolate coated biscuits around the tart.

Description:
I love muffin recipes. They're so adaptable! With the recipe in the photo, I substituted the cup of bran for about half a cup of oats, as I was out of bran. I tossed in a scant handful of saltanas as well. The recipe is one of those very forgiving ones. I go a little heavier on the butter for a moister muffin... tastes better the next day too then.

Ingredients:
25g butter (1 heaped tablespoon... possibly 2)
60ml sugar (4 tablespoons)
1 egg, beaten
25ml milk (2 tablespoons)
3 bananas, mashed
250ml bran flakes (1 cup)
250ml flour (1 cup)
5ml cinnamon (1 teaspoon)
5ml bicarb (1 teaspoon baking soda)
2ml salt (a pinch)

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and bananas. Mix well and add bran. Leave to stand 5 minutes to soften the bran. Sift flour, cinnamon, bicarb and salt together and add to banana mixture. Stir just to moisten flour. Spoon mixture into greased muffin pans and bake a 200°C (392°F) for about 25 minutes. Serve warm with butter.

Description:
For Tat ; )

Caipirinha is arguably Brazil's national drink, *when* they bother to mix anything into their cachaça at all. Caipirinha, I think, is a drink created to cope with Brazil's hot climate. It is refreshing and, to anyone who loves lemony drinks, pure bliss on a hot day. Be careful when standing up afterwards though. It is *not* to be drunk on an empty stomach.

The story behind this photo can be found here.


Ingredients:
2 tsp granulated sugar (to taste. I often use sweetener, as I can't tolerate sugar)
8 lime wedges
2 1/2 oz cachaça (Brazilian cane spirit)

Directions:
Crush the sugar into the lime wedges in a whisky glass. Fill the glass with ice cubes. Pour the cachaça into the glass. Stir well. Serve.

Description:
This cake was easy enough to make. The frosting was unusual and the texture of the cake was perfect.

In the photo, this single-layer cake is flatter than it should be. I don't have an 8 inch cake pan and made it in a 9 inch.

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Glaze:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Grated rind of 1 lemon

Directions:
Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly coat an 8 inch cake pan and lightly dust with all-purpose flour. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Beat in the butter, one heaping teaspoon at a time, using an electric mixer set on low speed, until the mixture resembles course sand. Beat in the sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture resembles fine damp sand. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and milk, and beat on medium-high, just until blended. Do not overbeat.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean: 30 - 35 minutes. Cool cake in the pan for 5 minutes. Unmold and cool completely.

Glaze:
Melt the butter over medium-low heat until golden brown. Whisk the sugar, salt, milk, lemon juice, and rind together. Add the melted butter in a stream while whisking until smooth.

Description:
Let me introduce you to another family favourite. This recipe gives me such power over the family ; ) I just need to mention it and I have them at my beck 'n call.

Back home, in South Africa, I made these for the school tuck shop, as they were on a drive to eliminate junk food, but still wanted goodies that the kids would love and, boy, did they love it?!

These cookies are great for moms wanting to introduce their kids to the kitchen. An any-occasion cookie, which works as perfectly in little silver cups for a fancy tea or out on trays for kids' parties. Quick and easy and oh, so tasty (and more-ish), while being (relatively) healthy.

Ingredients:
3 cups oats
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
115g butter (4oz)
2 cups sugar
5ml vanilla essence

Directions:
Put oats and coconut into bowl. Mix butter, cocoa, milk, sugar, and vanilla into heavy based pot.
Bring to the boil.
Stir the melted mixture into the dry mixture.
Spoon onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
Chill until set.

Ingredients:
Some hints and tips for the kitchen that I have been collecting in recipe books and e-mails....

Directions:
Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simple chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

Visit the hardware store! Insert a 3 inch nail or a metal skewer into each baked potato before baking. The metal heats up and helps cook the potato from the inside, thus speeding up cooking time. (by the way, I don't recommend the "nail in the potato" one if you cook them in the microwave ~Kippy) ;)

Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up. The same works for piping icing or chocolate.

Expanding Frosting When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Measuring Cups Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out. Actually, a light dusting of flour does the same thing.

When coating meatballs or any other croquette, put your coating into a plastic bag, put the meatballs inside, a few at a time, and shake them around.

When I have to crush corn chips for a recipe, I put them in a plastic baggie and seal it almost completely. Then roll over it with a can from the pantry, 'til it's the consistency I want. ~Kippy

If you want cookies to remain soft in a cookie canister, throw a piece of bread in with them. Every few days, replace the bread, because the moisture will be sucked out of the bread and into the cookies. ~Kippy

Older eggs peel easier when boiled than fresher ones do. ~Kippy

Your turn now.... do you have any kitchen tips to add to these?

Description:
This crustless quiche is so versatile. Don't have tuna handy? Use meat. Don't have rice, use grated potato. Add veg for substance. Top with tomato.... Add your own seasoning. You can pretty much do as you please with this one. It is a very forgiving recipe too. If you go a little over or under the ingredients list, you're still fine.

This recipe is tried and tested and a firm family favourite. One of my store cupboard meals. Perfect for picnics too. It can be made in muffin tins too. Make a large double tray, cut into squares and you're set for finger food if you like.

Ingredients:
4 eggs, beaten
1 tin tuna
80ml mayonnaise (5 tablespoons)
375ml (200g) cooked rice (1 1/2 cups)
200ml milk (1 cup)
1 onion
250ml grated cheese (1 cup)
salt, pepper

Directions:
Beat eggs well. Add remaining ingredients, except cheese, and mix into batter. Pour into a greased pie dish. Top with cheese. Bake at 190°C for 20 minutes.

Description:
This is what we had for dessert today. It was fantastic! We only have a tiny box freezer (the kind inside the fridge), so it didn't set well, but I'll definitely make it again. I coloured mine minty green and added crushed mint candies and grated chocolate to the mix. To serve, I topped the pie with stiffly beaten cream and more grated chocolate. Decadent enough to be very festive, but refreshing enough not to overwhelm the taste buds after a heavy meal.

*recipe courtesy of EAGLE BRAND® and allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups chocolate wafer cookie or sandwich cookie crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
Red food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Combine cookie crumbs and sugar. Add butter; mix well. Press firmly on bottom and part way up sides of wax paper 9-inch springform pan. Chill.
In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on low until fluffy. Gradually beat in EAGLE BRAND®. Stir in extract and food coloring, (optional); mix well. Fold in whipped cream. Pour filling into pan. Cover; freeze 6 hours or until firm. Garnish with topping. Store leftovers covered in freezer.

Description:
Decadent and classy-looking, but oh so easy! This is one special item that requires little effort, but looks and tastes so special. I like to make this over the Christmas/New Year period if we get guests and even if we don't.

Ingredients:
350g chocolate
70ml strong coffee
2 egg yolks (lightly beaten)
60g butter
silver balls for decoration
1 pkt small pleated paper cups

Directions:
Melt 200g of the chocolate. Place aproximately 1 tsp melted chocolate into each pleated paper cup. Swirl to coat bottom and sides of the cup well. Chill.

Melt remaining chocolate and stir in coffee. Beat in egg yolks. Gradually beat in butter. Refrigerate mixture overnight.

Carefully peel paper off chocolate cups. Use a rosette nozzle to pipe mixture into chocolate cups (I don't have one right now, so I just spoon the mixture in and swirl a fork in the top). Refrigerate until set. Decorate with silver balls.

Description:
Cooks note: 5 star! Had no almonds, so sugar was increased to 100g for topping. Used a round 24cm diameter x 2 inch deep pyrex pie dish. We ate the first batch warm... delish! With the added sugar in the topping, the extra icing sugar is not necessary.

Ingredients:
Base:
150g butter
100g castor sugar
grated rind of one lemon
1 large egg, beaten
250g flour

Filling:
4 large eggs
180ml sugar
125ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
12.5ml cornflour
25ml water

Topping:
100g butter
200g flour
50g ground almonds

Directions:
Base:
Cream butter, castor sugar and lemon rind until light and creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually work in flour until mixture forms a firm dough. Press dough into a deep, greased 20 x 20cm square cake tin. Back at 180°C for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Filling:
Whisk eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Gradually beat in lemon juice. Pour into saucepan. Mix cornflour with water and add to mixture. Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens. Spoon filling evenly over baked crust.

Topping:
Rub butter into flour until mixture resembles course breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar and almonds. sprinkle over filling. Bake at 180°C a further 15 minutes until topping is golden brown. Remove from oven and leave in tin to cool. Sift icing sugar over biscuits. Cut into bars.

Description:
Great for braai's (bbq)

Ingredients:
180ml milk
60g butter
15ml sugar
450g flour
10g instant dry yeast
5ml salt
1 egg, beaten

Garlic filling:
1 egg, beaten
20g butter, softened
100ml chopped parsley
4 cloves garlic, crushed

Directions:
Place the milk, butter and sugar into a pan. Heat, stirring continuously, until the milk is lukewarm and the butter is melted. Remove from heat.
Sift flour into mixing bowl. Add yeast and salt. Pour in milk mixture and egg. Using dough hooks, knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to prove in a warm place until double in size.

In the meantime, combine parsley and garlic in a blender until finely chopped. Add the butter and three quarters of the egg. Blend until smooth.
When the dough has proven, place it on a floured board and knock the dough back. Roll out dough into a 20 x 20cm rectangle.
Brush with a little beaten egg reserved from filling. Spread the filling over the dough and roll up like a swiss roll.
Place into a 25 x 10cm greased loaf dish with the join facing down. Cover with plastic wrap.
Prove until the dough reaches the top of the dish. Brush with a little melted butter.
Bake at 200°C for 20 - 30 minutes.

Ingredients:
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp salt
2 packages dry yeast
1 tblsp origanum
5.5 - 6 cups flour

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in water. Stir in olive oil, salt, sugar, origanum. Gradually stir in flour. Dough should be medium stiffness. Knead for 5 minutes. Add more flour if dough sticks. Place in greased pan. Let rise until double. Punch down and divide into 3 long, flat loaves. Place on a biscuit tin and slash tops of loaves. Let rise again until double. Brush with water and bake at 204°C for 40 minutes.

Description:
Tried and tested. My personal recipe

Ingredients:
1kg flour
12.5ml salt
25ml sugar
50ml oil
10g instant dry yeast
500ml warm water

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl to form a rough dough. Knead thorougly until smooth. Grease bowl with oil and place ball of dough in bowl. Brush top of dough with oil. Cover and leave to rise. Knead again to even out texture. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece out with a rolling pin to the length of the bread tin and twice its width. Use 23cm tins. Roll dough up tightly and place into greased 23cm tins, placing the seam at the bottom. Brush surface with oil and leave to rise in a warm place. The dough must rise over the top of the tins. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with flour or glaze with beaten egg and bake at 210°C for 45 minutes. When baked, the loaf should sound hollow when tapped.

Variations:

1) Pizza: Use half the dough and roll out into pizza. Prepare as usual and bake at 210°C for 10 minutes

2) Farmhouse loaf: Cut a slit in the top of the crust lengthways, sprinkle flour over top of loaf and bake.

3) Crown loaf: Divide dough into 7 equal pieces. Mould into balls and arrange in a 20cm round baking tin. After proving, egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds over. Bake.

4) Cottage loaf: Divide dough in 3/4 and 1/4. Mould each into a ball. Push the handle of a wooden spoon in to make a hole. Make a mushroom shape of the smaller ball and anchor the stem into the hole made in the base. Press the wooden spoon handle through the center of both to join and remove spoon immediately. Prove, glaze and bake.

5) Plaited loaf: Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each into a long sausage. Join in the center and fold each piece over exactly opposite each other or divide dough into 3 pieces and plait in the traditional way. Prove, glaze, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake.

Description:
Cooks note: Family favourite (Ouma's recipe) - no flop

Flavour will improve if stored in a tin for a few days. Unsifted meal or whole wheat meal may be substituted for flour. This recipe works well for muffins too. Just fill each muffin pan until 2/3 full.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 - 6 bananas
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add vanilla. Add eggs one by one. Beat well after each addition. Sift dry ingredients and add. Mash bananas and add. Blend well and place in greased ring tin or bread pan. Bake at 180°C (360°F) for 1 hour. Slice, butter and serve.

Description:
Lithuanian recipe: Varðke ádaryti bulviniai pyragëliai
These buns are served with tea.

Ingredients:
10 potatoes, cooked and riced
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
200 g (3/4 cup) dry cottage cheese
1 onion, finely chopped
salt to taste; oil for frying

Directions:
Make a pliable dough with riced potatoes, onion, flour, eggs and salt. Mix all ingredients and knead well. Make flat rounds from potato dough, fill with 1 tablespoon cottage cheese, fold over and form oblong buns. Fry in hot oil until nicely browned.

Description:
Cook's note: Light and fluffy. Serve with strawberry jam and fresh, whipped cream (or clotted cream).

Ingredients:
450g (15oz) self-raising powder (or 450g flour plus aprox. 2tsp baking powder)
75g (1.8oz) butter
50g (1.7oz) castor sugar
2 eggs
250ml milk (8oz)

Directions:
Sift flour into a bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar. Beat eggs and milk together with a fork. Gradually stir into mixture using a knife, adding just enough to mix into a soft dough. Reserve rest for glaze. (Don't make dough too dry. It should feel a bit sticky, but not too difficult to handle.) Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll or pat out until 2cm thick. (Don't knead or crush with a rolling pin. Light handling makes light scones. Don't roll too thinly or the finished scones will be hard and biscuity, not soft and light.) Using a 5cm fluted cutter dipped in flour, stamp out 6 rounds. Knead and reroll trimmings and cut out more scones. Arrange scones on a lightly floured baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining egg and milk mix. Bake at 220°C (428°F) for 10 minutes or until well risen and pale golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Description:
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tblsp sunflower oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
175g (I used 1 pkt) smoked, rindless streaky bacon, chopped
2 x 395g (regular sized) cans chopped tomatoes
1 tblsp tomato puree
75g (about a handful) pitted olives
3 tblsp freshly chopped mixed herbs or 1 tblsp dried
225g (half a box/packet) spagetti
freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve

Directions:
Heat oil in a pan, add the garlic and bacon and fry for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato puree, olives, herbs and seasoning. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Meanwhile, cook spagetti in lightly salted boiling water for 8 - 10 minutes until al dente. Drain pasta, return to the pan and stir in the sauce. Transfer to serving plates and top with cheese.