RaeAllen.net

Author: Rae Allen

  • Mini Curry Pies

    My daughter decided to make these mini curry pies for Christmas

    Ingredients:

    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 onion, finely diced
    1 apple, diced
    1 tablespoon curry powder
    1 teaspoon brown sugar
    500g premium beef mince
    1 and 1/4 cups water
    2 teaspoons cornflower (for thickening)
    1 tablespoon chopped sultanas
    5 sheets shortcrust pastry
    1 egg (beaten)
    garam masala to taste

    Method:

    Heat oil in saucepan, add onion and apple.
    Stir over medium heat until onion is soft.
    Add curry powder and sugar, stir over heat for another minute.

    Add beef to saucepan and brown.
    Stir in cup of water and bring to boil.
    Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
    Blend cornflower with remianing water and stir into mixture
    Add sultanas and stir until mixture boild and thickens
    Set aside to cool to room temperature

    Using a 7cm round cutter cut the pastry sheets and line patty pans with half the rounds
    Brush edges with egg
    Spoon the cooled meat filling into the pastry cases
    Cover the meat filling with the other rounds and press edges together firmly
    Make a smal slit in the top of each pie to let the steam escape
    Brush with egg

    Bake in a moderate oven (180C or 160C in a fan forced oven) for 20 minutes or until the crust is well browned.

    Serves: This recipe makes about 36 mini pies

  • sleep with dogs

    “Those who sleep with dogs must rise with fleas”

    I thought this was a Bjelke-Petersen-ism from the 1970s however I found it in a book of Scottish sayings.

  • in an instance we are free

    If the eye never falls asleep,
    all dreams cease by themselves.
    If the spirit retains its unity,
    all things are of one essence.
    When this essence is seen,
    in an instant we are free.
    We return to the origin
    and remain that which we are.

  • The Dying Fisherman’s Song

    ‘Twas midnight on the ocean,
    Not a streetcar was in sight,
    The sun was shining brightly
    For it had rained all that night.

    ‘Twas a summer’s day in winter
    The rain was snowing fast,
    As a barefoot girl with shoes on,
    Stood sitting on the grass.

    ‘Twas evening and the rising sun
    Was setting in the west;
    And all the fishes in the trees
    Were cuddled in their nests.

    The rain was pouring down,
    The sun was shining bright,
    And everything that you could see
    Was hidden out of sight.

    The organ peeled potatoes,
    Lard was rendered by the choir;
    When the sexton rang the dishrag
    Someone set the church on fire.

    “Holy smokes!” the teacher shouted,
    As he madly tore his hair.
    Now his head resembles heaven,
    For there is no parting there.

    — Author Unknown

  • Facts vs Opinions

    “Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art.”

    – Charles McCabe

  • immature

    “You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.”

    – Dave Barry

  • Behind the bowlers arm

    DSC04559_glenn_mcgrath

    Originally uploaded by RaeA.


    “When the angels add my days and say my time is up
    I’ll say to them now hold on please there’s one thing you forgot
    I know each man must leave this world behind when he gets called
    But we had a deal that you won’t count the days I watched the bat & ball

    And the angels, they’ll know where to find me
    There’s no place I’d rather be
    Right behind the bowlers
    They’ll know where to find me, ten rows back with sunburnt knees
    Right behind the bowler’s arm”

    – Paul Kelly

  • great injustice

    In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying.”

    – Bertrand Russell

  • Quick Egg Pie

    This is a quick egg pie, good for breakfast or dinner.

    Ingredients:

    2 sheets of puff pastry

    6 Eggs

    2 slices of ham

    half a capsicum

    4 cherry tomatoes

    mustard powder, salt and pepper for seasoning

    Method:

    Pre-heat a moderate oven

    Get a muffin pan and prepare it for pastry, the silicon one’s need nothing, others might need to be lightly oiled/greased.

    Cut the sheets of pastry to fit inside the muffing holes. on mine I just cut the sheets into 4, and fold them so they fit. Don’t cut off the excess, just leave it stand outside.

    Finely slice the ham and capsicum, and tomatoes.

    Put a slice of tomato in the base of each pasty cup.

    Evenly divide the ham and capsicum between the cups, put half in the botom, and keep the rest for after putting the egg in.

    Break an egg into each pastry case.

    Add the remaining capsicum, ham, and a pinch of mustard powder, and use a skewer to stir them in and break up the yolk.

    Float the remaining slices of cherry tomato on top. Salt and pepper to taste.
    Place in oven and cook until firm all the way through, and puff pastry has crisped up – about 15-20 minutes.

    Serve as a breakfast treat or with a salad for dinner

  • enlightenment not brilliance

    Think of those who gained enlightenment upon hearing the sound of bamboo when struck by a tile or seeing blossoms in bloom.

    Does the bamboo distinguish the clever or dull, the deluded or enlightened; does the flower differentiate between shallow and deep, the wise and stupid?

    Though flowers bloom year after year, not everyone who sees them gains enlightenment.

    Bamboo always gives off sounds, but not all who hear them become enlightened.

    – Dogen 1200-1253