Rats

Note: this post is not for those squeamish about, or advocates for the survival of rodents.

We have chickens and we have vegetables, so inevitably it would seem, we have rats. We've always had a few hanging around the yard, and occasionally in the roof space but have managed them with a combination of baits and traps. To be honest, if they're not in the house I'm not overly bothered. When we came back from our Big Gypsy Getaway however, the problem seemed to be on a much larger scale. Our absence had seen them move in, in plague proportions. Apparently it's not just our house though, and our area has seen a rise in numbers.

Recently, probably as a result of summer heating up, our rat colony sought refuge in the roof space. I was frequently being woken up to scurrying (which sounded like a heard of buffalos) above my bedroom, and although they didn't seem to be getting into the house, their presence in the roof was unnerving so it was time to take further action. It didn't take long to discover they had set up their main nest in a small semi-open shed next to the chicken coop. The chicken feeder plus the veges were supplying constant food, so baiting was pointless while they had food and shelter readily available. Hubby and a friend went out with a torch one night to discover a hive of "rativity", so they set up "rat-cam" in the shed to get a better idea of their numbers and movements. After a night of filming, the shed (and their nest) had to go.

After complete destruction of their (disgusting) quarters, which discovered some ruined/chewed windsurfing equipment and resulted in a man-on-rat duel between Hubby and the king rat locked in our outside bathroom (the details of which I will spare you all), we began to gain a little control. Hubby covered all the gutters with fine mesh to eliminate gaps between the gutters and our corrugated tin roof. I no longer feed the chickens via a feeder, rather they get a finite amount of pellets plus scraps daily thrown onto the ground, normally in the morning when rats are the least active. We are also continually baiting in known areas of high "rativity", and Perth's heat wave over Christmas and New Year seemed to work in our favour. A LOT of rats died over that period, and I can only think it was a combination of lack of food and heat.

The rat population clearly hasn't moved out of our neighbourhood, and neighbours have said they have seen them. My tomatoes and capsicums keep going missing off the vines, I still hear occasional scurrying in the roof and we still find the odd baited beast "sleeping" on the back lawn (or in the dog's mouth), but all in all the numbers have been significantly reduced.

If you have chickens and/or veges which seem to attract rodents, I hope some of our techniques are helpful to you. I'd also love to hear any coping strategies you have found useful. With small children and animals, mass baiting isn't ideal, and while we seem to be gaining control, I'm definitely interested in other ideas (which don't involve getting rid of either the chickens or the vegetables).

Rhubarb Crumble

With the rhubarb plants going crazy at the moment, I thought it was time to find some motivation and make a crumble. I've loved crumble since I was a little girl, and was often in charge of rubbing butter into flour with my fingertips. As an adult I've played around with the recipe to make it just how I like it.

This afternoon I picked three massive rhubarb stalks. We have two plants that only produce green stalks and one that produces smaller, red ones. They all taste like rhubarb. Here is the crumble that we had for dessert tonight.

3 large stalks rhubarb
approx. 1 cup frozen raspberries
1 tbsp raw sugar
45g chopped butter
1/3 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1/4 cup soft brown sugar
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup almonds
1/3 cup rolled oats

1. Chop rhubarb into 1-2cm chunks and place in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle with raw sugar and stir over medium heat until sugar starts to dissolve. Reduce heat, cover, and stew until rhubarb is soft.
2. Add raspberries and keep over heat until heated through. Remove from heat but keep covered.
3. In the meantime combine butter, brown sugar, flour, coconut, cinnamon and almonds in a food processor. Whiz until combined and almonds are chopped. Stir through rolled oats. (You can rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, chop the almonds with a knife and stir through the other ingredients if you don't have a food processor.)
4. Preheat oven to 180C. Place rhubarb mixture into an ovenproof bowl and sprinkle crumble over the top. Bake for 30 mins or until lightly browned and crunchy.

 

 

 

Any combination of rhubarb, apple and berries work well. Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly lazy I use a large tin of pie apples, but when you have rhubarb in abundance, rhubarb it is. I served the crumble with custard tonight, but it's really good piping hot with a good quality vanilla ice-cream.

In My Kitchen - January 2013

Happy New Year! The first In My Kitchen post for 2013 is a little bit exciting. My family and friends were incredibly kind this festive season and I am proud to showcase a few new trinkets, as well as a few indulgent summer treats.

In my kitchen is a Map Bella pod coffee machine and an accompanying milk frother. This was courtesy of my mum for Christmas. We debated earlier in the year whether easily accessible, good tasting coffee in my kitchen was a good idea and remained largely undecided. When my mum generously offered to buy us (and my brother and sister) one of these babies for Christmas, my sleep deprivation answered for me. So far I have maintained self control and limit myself to one coffee per day. This morning I even gave an iced coffee a go, and think I have found my new best friend. The unit itself is small and quiet and has nestled into my kitchen quite comfortably. You can see by the lack of sheen on the milk frother that it is getting used, or maybe that's just a reflection of my cleanliness.

The girls saw the coffee machine and immediately thought of babycinos, so in my kitchen is a packet of marshmallows ready to go. Pascall is the only brand of marshmallow that I allow through the door.

 

In my kitchen is a copy of Superfoods, courtesy of a Secret Santa that we did with Hubby's family. This book provides all the justification I need that consumption of 70%+ cocoa chocolate will improve my life. It's ideals of acceptable quantities differ a little to my own, but let's not focus on the fine print. The book also provides some lovely recipe suggestions for each of the Superfoods. Thanks Secret Santa!

 

 

A not so secret Christmas hamper from my sister-in-law included some cool kitchen trinkets. She is a shameless Ikea junkie, so most of them were courtesy of the Scandinavian mega-store. The most interesting was this cheese grater, complete with "catch bowl".

 

 

 

Another favourite from the hamper was this silicone ice-cube tray, which will inevitably get used for making chocolates in my kitchen.

 

 

In my kitchen is a copy of Vegetables: grow them, cook them, eat them, which I bought from the Book Depository a few months ago when getting some Christmas presents for the kids, and completely forgot about. It was a kind of Christmas present to myself when I found it. The book provides useful information about how and when to grow different vegetables as well as what to do with them.

 

 

In my kitchen (well not anymore as I polished off the packet yesterday) is this shameless indulgence. I used to be a massive fan of licorice bullets. Home brand was fine, wrap some dodgy chocolate around a piece of hard/chewy licorice and I was happy. That was before I discovered Macro Organic Milk Chocolate Coated Licorice. This is the stuff dreams are made of. The chocolate is divine, the licorice is soft, and the pieces are large balls, not dissimilar in shape to a chocolate-coated almonds. I vow never to buy the cheaper counterpart again, but I must also promise myself I will only rarely purchase the Macro variety as I will eat all 180g in one sitting, stopping only to vomit.

 



 

In my kitchen is a jar of Beerenberg Tomato Chutney. Hubby has had time off work over Christmas and New Year, and so we have had lots of sandwiches/wraps as easy lunches and dinners that don't require leftovers to take to work. What they do require though, is a good chutney. Beerenberg (apart from being awesome because is has the word "beer" in the title) make some pretty tasty chutneys. Our favourite is probably the Taka Tala, but our supermarket was out and this is a good substitute.

 

In my kitchen is a new lunch box and drink bottle. This is bitter sweet for me, as they are Chicky's. At 4.5, she will start WA kindergarten in a few weeks. While she is more than ready, and super excited about starting school (she picked the lunchbox and drink bottle when we went shopping this week), there will be two and a half days a week that my baby won't be with me. For a full time mum, that's hard to take. If I'm not in labour on her first day of school (which is entirely possible), there will be tears, and they won't be Chicky's.

 



 

Finally in my kitchen this month, is light! We have 4 down lights in our kitchen, but we haven't had all 4 working at the same time for as long as I can remember. For the longest time I got by with just one above the main kitchen bench, but then the week before Christmas that one gave up too. Last week hubby replaced all 4. I'm finding all that light a little overwhelming, and it makes my often filthy kitchen floor so much more obvious. It does make food preparation safer though!

 

That's what's happening in my kitchen as we begin 2013, and in the month that our 3rd child will be born (unless she decides to be fashionably late). To see how some other people are beginning 2013, visit Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

Green bean salad

It's an exciting time of year. The veges are flourishing, the garden is luscious and the weather is finally behaving like Perth in Summer.

While basking in the glory the other afternoon, I didn't realise Chicky and Poppet were harvesting. Before I could turn around they had hands full of dwarf beans and peas and Chicky was asking how we could use them for dinner. I have to admit I hadn't any plans for dinner, so they had me thinking on my toes. We had eggs in abundance, freshly picked greens and a couple of capsicums I rescued from the birds a couple of days prior. The verdict: poached eggs and green bean salad.

To make the salad I blanched the beans for a couple of minutes then transferred them to iced water. I chopped a handful of fresh basil (also from the garden), mixed it with the peas, beans, chopped capsicum, a finely chopped spring onion I found in the fridge and a generous amount of parmesan cheese, then drizzled the lot with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The result: a cold, crispy, very fresh green bean salad. While I can't take any claim over the parmesan or olive oil, this was a surprisingly self-sufficient meal. Having the extra vege plot in the front yard is really reducing our dependence on supermarkets. This is only one meal, and we are a long way from "self-sufficient", but it is encouraging to say the least. Here's to a summer of cool, fresh food!

Ginger Shortbread People

I was up at 5am this morning to walk/run with a very patient friend who doesn't seem to mind that I can't run more than a couple of kms at a time at the moment and is happy to walk the rest with me, even if we are STILL getting swooped by magpies in December! Everyone else in the house was awake when I got home and once the breakfast thing was over I'd been up for so long it felt like it must be midday. It was 7:30. What do you do when you've done everything by 7:30am? Bake (while waiting for another friend to bring much needed coffee).

I have a basic shortbread recipe that you can add to, to spice it up a bit. I got this from a Super Food Ideas magazine a few Christmases ago. I used it to make Ginger Shortbread People.

Basic Shortbread
250g butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar (I use raw)
2 tsp vanilla extract (I use home made)
2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup rice flour, sifted

Additions to make it Ginger Shortbread
3 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/4 cup rice flour

1. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. If making ginger shortbread, add ginger and golden syrup, beat to combine.
3. Add flours and combine (including the extra 1/4 cup rice flour if making ginger shortbread).
4. Roll dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper until about 3mm thick. Refrigerate for 30 mins.
5. Preheat oven to 160C (140C fan forced). Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
6. Cut out "people" shapes and and place on trays, being careful not to "snap" the dough as it is quite firm when cold. If decorating with M&Ms etc, do this now, otherwise shapes can be iced once cooked and cooled.
7. Bake for 8-10 mins or until just golden. Cool on trays for 5-10 mins then transfer to a wire rack.

Aside from the refrigeration time, these were really quite quick to knock up, and they have the added bonus of being egg-free for those with allergies. I halved the dough and put half in the freezer for another day, and still made about 15 small gingerbread people (of which I've eaten far too many today). The 4 little people that were here this morning all gave them the thumbs up, and it even kept my friend's little boy still and happy long enough for me to cut his hair! 

In My Kitchen - December 2012

Oh my, I cannot believe we are in December already, with only 2.5 weeks until Christmas! I thought I'd better get into the spirit of the pending festivities and fill my kitchen with a few Christmassy things.

I'm a bit of a sucker for Better Homes and Gardens, and while I rarely buy their magazine, I did splurge on the Christmas edition. In it I found some gorgeous gingerbread Christmas trees made out of star cookie cutters. The originals specified 7 or 8 cutters per tree, but I found these cute concentric star and Christmas tree cutter sets at my local Matchbox store and thought they'd be perfect.

I tested the stars out last weekend and created a few gingerbread trees. I had some pink egg-white icing in the freezer from an excessive batch a few weeks ago. I know green would be more appropriate but it was a trial run, and a successful one at that. I think these will feature as edible centre-pieces at Christmas lunch.

I also found some festive mini cupcake liners which I plan to use for mini mince pies...

...and some cute "candy" (or chocolate) moulds.

I also tested these out, using the lemon-flavoured Callebaut callets from the sample pack I bought a little while ago. Strangely the lemon-flavoured callets are green, but that works well for Christmas! The tree chocolates are milk (34%) base and lemon-flavoured trees. The father Christmas shapes are made from a 70% cocoa base, with father Christmas' hat made of left over lemon. Hubby put my first set of moulds in the dishwasher and melted them. Luckily for him they were less than $5 so I bought another set to make more for the big day.

 

There are also a few non-Christmassy things in my kitchen at the moment. The lovely Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial sent me some mahlep spice so I could test out Barbara's Kaak Cookies. I made a third of a batch of these tonight (sorry, I didn't take a photo), as the original recipe specifies 1kg of flour and that would just mean way too many biscuits. The result is a bit like a shortbread but with a lovely spicy hint. I just adore the smell of the mahlep and get a pleasant surprise every time I open my pantry at the moment

 

Celia also included in my surprise parcel, this beautiful mould. I pressed the Kaak cookies into it before baking, but unfortunately most of the design is lost in the oven. If anyone has any ideas what else I could try this mould out on, I'd love to hear them.

My rhubarb plants are earning their keep at the moment, and while the fruit (is it fruit?) is plentiful, rhubarb crumble is making its way onto our dessert menu. I'll post the recipe one day soon.

 

My mum has an over-excited lemon tree (as opposed to my lemon tree that has taken 8 years to produce 4 lemons). Last week she gave me a few and so last Sunday I made a lemon meringue pie. I'll post the recipe to this one too, one day soon. I have to admit I am lazy and never make my own pastry, but those frozen flan cases are cheap and taste so good! Plus, a lemon meringue pie is never about the pastry, so why stress over something I'm not good at? I should also admit that there isn't actually any of this left in my kitchen anymore. While the girls weren't particularly taken by it, hubby and I managed to polish it off over a few days.

That's what's going on in my kitchen at the moment. If you'd like to see what's happening in a few other kitchens around the globe, particularly as silly-season approaches, head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for some links. Happy Christmas baking!

Tales from a pregnant runner: When running becomes walking

A couple of weeks ago, Hubby went away for a 9-day boy-holiday and the girls and I stayed home for some quality oestrogen-filled, female time. This was fine except it meant I didn't really have the opportunity to run, and conversation was limited to sub-5-year-old topics most of the time. My ever-faithful running buddy Kat came to my rescue one afternoon and we took it in turns pushing the running pram over 5km (with a playground stop in the middle to appease the beasts). My bike, the trainer, some mediocre evening TV and myself got particularly well acquainted several times, and some new knicks made this a little bit interesting. I managed to hit the pool once and the girls and I also did quite a bit of walking. But it's just not running.

Hubby got back on Monday night, so on Tuesday I escaped for a little "me time". I headed out for 4kms, with a mid-way break to drink and stretch. I think bubs must be engaging because things felt quite different. I was cramping a little more than usual, my pelvis felt like it was being pulled apart, and when I got home I had to check that my cervix wasn't actually between my knees like I suspected. Mentally it was great to get out there but physically it was difficult. I had my suspicions that might be my last run, at 30 weeks.

Wednesday I decided to rest (read: casual 4km walk at Chicky's cycling pace while pushing Poppet in the pram). Thursday night I went to step, and had the best class I've had in weeks. Full of energy, no niggles, none of that pelvis-pulling-apart feeling of Tuesday and no cramps. Friday I cycled and again felt good so thought I'd try my luck at a run/walk combo on Saturday morning. I began running (slowly, 6:10ish pace) and felt ok for a while, but by 500m I thought I'd only make 1km then walk for a bit. By 800m I was cramping so stopped. I thought I'd see how I was feeling after a km of walking and maybe run for bit more, but walking just felt so much better. I was power walking, not just strolling (the whole arm swinging thing and everything), and I began to monitor my pace (because who really knows how fast they walk). I was hovering around 9min/kms, which for a runner sounds PAINFULLY slow, but it was enough to keep a moderate heart rate and slightly laboured breathing. I managed to keep my pace sub 9min/kms and finished 6km total in about 52 mins. So, the new goal: sub 9min/kms while walking, 2 x 6km walks a week (plus step, swimming and cycling until any of those become too uncomfortable). I was a little sad to think I may not run again until after bubs is born, but at 31 weeks pregnant I'm ok with where I'm at. Who knows, maybe on a good day I'll be able to throw a km of running into one of my walks, but if not then I'll get back to it on the flip side.

This morning I was proud to cheer on my best friend in her longest run to date - a 7.5km race. While I couldn't run with her, I could be there for her, and be the super proud friend, camera in hand, as she crossed the finish line under her goal time.