Good Things Favourites May 2014

The days are flying past so quickly of late that I can barely catch my breath. It's Friday afternoon already and, as the sun begins to set over the distant Brindabella Ranges, I thought I'd drop you a short note to wish you all a happy weekend!

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Lots of good things have caught my eye this week, including the wonderful news that Anne McGrath from Majura Valley Free Range Eggs is back on her feet after an accident with a tractor. Anne and her partner, Nick Weber, sell their free range eggs in a van by the roadside on Majura Road. The eggs from their chickens are cracking fresh and I'm in need of a re-stock so Peter and I must take a drive down the road this weekend.

I have several over-ripe bananas in my freezer, so I'll use them, along with those fresh free range eggs in this sumptuous Cacao Banana Bread from Sneh at Cook Republic. I was salivating from the moment I saw that top photograph.

The eggs will be combined with my home grown Kaffir limes and leaves in this creamy, dreamy Kaffir Lime Gelato from Saveur. I've been looking for a great recipe to experiment with for ages, so will share my results with you here on the blog.

A couple of months ago, I was fortunate enough to win a pack of assorted garlic bulbs from The Plant Shop, Australia's online garden centre. I planted out the bulbs last week and they're already sprouting. Many folks don't realise that it's relatively easy to grow garlic. I would like to suggest  that you give it a try, if you haven't already done so. Freshly harvested garlic is deliciously flavoursome and beats the dickens out of the nasty bleached, gamma irradiated and over-fumigated garlic that comes into Australia from China! The supermarkets here sell the Chinese garlic for $1.99 per kg, while the Aussie garlic is close to $19 per kg. Absolutely ridiculous. If you can't afford the Australian garlic, buy some of the processed AUSTRALIAN garlic paste. At least that way you won't be cooking with chemicals. Watch this space for a post about growing garlic, or pop in to A Fresh Legacy and read what Kyrstie and a local garlic grower say about growing your own.

Another snippet that caught my eye during the week was this fascinating article by Dr Karl on the ABC's Science web site. Did you know that in days gone by people would drop a frog into a bucket of milk to keep the milk fresh?! No? Me neither. Read the article if you have time. I love Dr Karl's closing sentence: 'A bit of frog wee is not going to make you croak...'.

And finally, 'tis the weather for some slow-cooked meals, so I think I'll be poaching some quinces for dessert, but I'll also cook Yotam Ottolenghi's quince stuffed with lamb. I've made some variations on this dish a few times now and it's definitely a keeper. I'll share my adaptation with you in the fullness of time.

Wishing you a peaceful relaxing weekend and much happy cooking. Thanks  so much for stopping by. Lizzy xox

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Tell me dear readers, what good things have you discovered this week and which were your favourites?