Malva Pudding...no finer South African pudding

One of my favourite Christmas presents last year was Bought, Borrowed & Stolen by Allegra McEvedy. It's a collection of recipes and knives from around the world. Allegra has travelled to a variety of countries and collected a local kitchen knife and a collection of recipes from each place and given a little story behind each, it's enchanting. One recipe alone has made this a Christmas favourite - ROOIBOS MALVA PUDDING! I don't think there is a South African alive that has not been fed Malva Pudding at some point in their life, and I have yet to meet a single soul who hasn't fallen under it's spell. Given a 'Rooibos edge' it is taken from 'magic' to 'sublime' it's a perfect combination.

Making it and eating it for the first time was divine, the smell filled the kitchen and then the whole house, my mouth watered and I watched the oven closely, waiting for it to be ready so I could dive in and taste it. It was worth the wait! This will become a regular in our home, dinner guests beware.

9 little ladies all like yoghurt

The lovely Anney at Cock and Pullet here in Norfolk told us, some time ago, that we should give the ladies a bowl of live Natural Yoghurt every now and then, that it was good for them. She wasn't wrong! the girls love it! They dive in and instantly they have the chook/yoghurt version of a 'milk moustache' 9 little white faces dipping in and out of the bowl as fast as they can till every last drop is gone. That usually only takes a minute or two.

With that in mind, I have been quite experimental with their treats and have found there is very little they won't eat. (I don't give them meat of any sort - it's a personal choice, and no garlic or onion leftovers either) But all veg gets eaten, every last morsel and I have found that boiling carrots, squash skins, potatoes and their skins makes them a treat too.  They get boiled pasta, a bowl of warm porridge on cold days, berries, nuts - anything I can get my hands on. If they don't like something or it's not good for them, they simply won't eat it. It's that easy. 

As a result, I have 9 healthy beautiful ladies who have so far given me an abundance of beautiful eggs every day since they arrived and I have a queue of customers to prove it.

I love a Christmassy House!

Pasteis De Nata...mmmmm

Some time ago I went to visit a good friend of mine from my school days who now lives in Lisbon. She took great delight and went to great effort to show me the best Lisbon has to offer in 4 days. Without doubt the favourite of these was Pasteis de Belem. There is no competition.
We ordered our coffees and custard tarts, Alexandra had been building this moment up throughout the day and the expectations were high. They didn't disappoint, they arrived at the table still warm from the oven. We sprinkled them with cinnamon and icing sugar and tucked in...I have wanted to go back ever since, the tarts would be worth the flight alone!
So with much excitement, I found a recipe that appeared to stay true to the original - no short cuts. I made a couple of unsuccessful batches. The sweet flaky pastry proved elusive. So have decided to go with ready made All Butter Flaky Pastry instead. The custard, although time consuming, was perfect so I figured that to cheat on the pastry was allowed surely?
And what a winner it was! Even though they are nowhere near as perfect as those made in Lisbon, they are delicious enough to do, so I'm not complaining, and I am saving myself the airfare.