All blog posts tagged with picnic
Alfresco Friday -Watermelon Punch
It is Alfresco Friday again and it is my birthday! I have already celebrated this birthday once, thanks to my gorgeous husband who organized a big surprise party for me last month. But it looks like I am a little spoilt, and we are celebrating again with a weekend getaway to Red Rock with friends and family.
So in the spirit of Alfresco Friday I was planning to make a Watermelon punch to bring along.
All over the internet there is instructions on how to make this particular punch out of a bottle of vodka or bacardi, and a whole watermelon. It goes something like this;
Ingredients:
1 whole seedless watermelon
700ml bottle of Bacardi
Method:
Cut a small circle in the skin of the watermelon which is just large enough to allow the neck of the bottle to be inserted.
Insert the bottle as far as possible into the watermelon.
Find a cool spot for the watermelon to sit whilst the alcohol empties into the watermelon. Depending on the size of your watermelon this can take up to 1 week.
You can cork the hole if (like me) you were intending on traveling somewhere with your watermelon.
Fill the crate containing the watermelon with ice for a cool refreshing punch.
What they didn't say is after 1 week with a bottle stuck in you melon, it may have only been able to absorb 50 mls of alcohol. I thought this would be a great party trick, but in the end, I don't think such a small amount of bacardi in such a big watermelon would really get any party started.
So sorry guys, the thought was there but I guess my alfresco friday is a bit of a dud this week. Maybe I should have called this week MYTHBUSTERS. Because ... I think THIS MYTH IS BUSTED!! This seems to be just one of those great internet party tricks which "a friend of a friend" has done. I don't think anyone would really call this a punch.
Readers will be happy to know that both the watermelon and Bacardi was put to good use, and the party will continue.
Marinated Goats Cheese
Making your own cheese from milk is really satisfying and affordable. You can choose to use regular milk or goats milk depending on the type of cream cheese you desire.
Ingredients:
1 litre full fat UHT Milk OR goats milk
1/10 teaspoon freeze dried type B starter
Method:
Put the milk and starter into an electric yoghurt maker, or an easi-yo canister. Operate your choice of yoghurt maker as per manufacturer’s instructions.
Leave the starter to incubate for 10-12 hours. Remove starter from the yoghurt maker and refrigerate overnight.
Next day line a colander with cheesecloth or a fresh chux. Suspend the colander over a plastic container and pour the starter into the cloth. Suspend the cheese in the cloth to drain into the container. Put the cheese suspension into the fridge. Allow the mix to drain in the fridge for 48 hours.
After 48 hours the cream cheese is ready for eating. Unwrap the cloth and season the cheese with salt, herbs and pepper. Form the cheese into balls and add to a jar of half olive oil, half vegetable oil.
Suggested additions to the cheese:
2 shallots finely chopped
½ teaspoon black peppercorn
1 T/s dill finely chopped
2 chili
Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil
Chop the herbs finely and add to the cheese. Season with salt to taste, and form the cheese into balls. Add the cheese to a jar filled with a mix of half olive oil and half vegetable oil. Refrigerate until required.
Alfresco Friday - Hommus
Summer is the season for picnics and BBQ’s, dropping around at friend’s houses and having guests at your own. The weather is beautiful, the days are longer, and when the sun does go down its still gorgeous sitting outside with a glass of wine and enjoying the mild evening.
With all of this relaxing my thoughts inevitably turn to food. There is nothing quite like packing a hamper and escaping for the day, or throwing some gourmet tidbits in a basket and watching the sun go down with a bottle of champagne.
With this in mind I am going to create a simple “mini menu” every week to try and tempt everyone into loading up the picnic basket, and taking advantage of those extra hours of light at the end of each day.
For the first week of “Alfresco” the dish I wanted to start with was hommus. Now I know its not the most awe inspiring dip, but a homemade hommus is delicious and so much nicer than the commercial product. It is also an item which gets included in my picnic basket very regularly.
I make my hommus in either the food processor or with a stick blender so it is extremely quick to make. In fact, it takes me less time to make hommus, than it does to look for a park at the supermarket, and run in and buy a tub.
Ingredients:
1 x 440gm can chick pea
½ cup tahini
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
pinch of salt
2 garlic cloves
Garnish:
¼ t/s sumac
1 t/s olive oil (garlic infused)
1 t/s chopped continental parsley
Method:
Place all the dip ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. If necessary scrape down the sides and re process.
Garnish with a little oil, sumac and parsley and serve with Lebanese bread.
The recipe makes about 550gms, which is double the amount contained in a commercial tub.
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Have Your Say
I wish I had you for my mum when I was 5!
That cake would have been the talk of the town for the rest of the year - fantastic job.
A lot of your blogs will be interactively design and style that visitor share data to read your blog.
Thank you so much, it is going to be a wonderful surprise for my Mum, I wish everyone a great day with your own special people, those who helped you become who you are today.
Mum definitely deserves the hamper, because she is an amazing woman that has brought up 3 kids through tough times. She is the best mum a son could ask for.
She's had it tough, working hard
deserving much more than just a card
So let's raise a glass and toast her true
The best person in the world - Mum, that's you!
Thanks for the info on Rasa Malaysia's book. I used to visit her website for recipes but some time ago, igot a new PC and forgot to bookmark it!
You're too modest Julie! You did a great job with the cake! :D
Yellow strawberries and cream is just perfect for mum as a reward for putting up with two kids who were a pain in the bum.
I would have loved to have seen those martini glasses! Hope Miss A had a lovely time celebrating turning 5 :D
It shouldn't. It should go to me as whilst trying to make sure my mum, step-mum, MIL, Step-MIL, 3 x Grandmas are spoilt on Mother's Day, I always seem to get forgotten!
My poor old mum is battling to care for my step dad who has advanced Parkinsons. My real dad who has had a stroke still expects her to be there for him, my bro is going bankrupt and she lives two states away from her only gransdon. Her life has little joy- JUst wish for one thing nice to happen to her. We all love our mums, good luck to you all!
Perfect place to relax and forget about all the troubles we have in the city and just unwind ~ can't wait to go to somewhere like this hehe
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