This is why we were doing this!

Well, we did it! I've had the books for over a week but have been travelling and Nirala hasn't even seen them yet as they are up in Perth and she's down South however, she should get them in the next few days and I'm sure will be adding a blog entry of her own.


These photos (and there are thirty two) give you some idea of what to expect inside the book.

Between Nirala and me we have nearly twenty years experience traveling and more than fifty years in various aspects of the food industry.
Together (think 'blood, sweat and tears!) we have produced this neat little book crammed with delicious recipes that combine fresh produce with the best of ‘instant’ foods.

There is a wealth of information contained within the cover including:

* Easy and delicious recipes from breakfasts to dinner
* Cooking with one or two pots only
* Tips for shopping and stocking the pantry
* How to cook in your doona
* Making yoghurt and growing sprouts
* Creating quick gourmet treats for the Happy Hour

Imagine how thrilled I was to read this unsolicited testimonial:

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'Your book will be a hit! Why? because I have the E-book and my kids eat everything I have cooked out of it !!! Now that is truly an amazing thing! A lot of the time my kids don't eat what they are given; not out of your book though, eaten everything and even asked for seconds!

Delicious recipes and I don't need to use every single pot and pan in my house to cook one meal!

This will appeal to everyone, not just the traveller!

Lindsay Cheesewright
http://faeriemajikk.com/
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I think the book is looking good...it's printed on glossy white paper and perfect bound with a hardwearing glossy laminated cover making it robust enough for use in the kitchen!

At the moment we have it for sale for AUD 18.00 in my Etsy shop http://neryspurchon.etsy.com/ and our website http://www.potionstopesto.com/ and have decided to restrict it to Australian sales only as it's postage free to buyers in Oz.

Looking forward to hearing your comments!

The Pleasures of Summertime Farm

Do you like our new banner? It's the view down the lane leading to Summertime Farm where we have been staying for the past two months and is the home of my daughter and her partner.

The joy of living as gypsies (as we do) is that you have the benefit and pleasure but none of the responsibilities of sharing other peoples gardens and animals for a while--although we agreed to look after the chickens during our stay.

What a joy that has been! One of the Featherfoot Bantams was broody when we arrived and she hatched five of her eight eggs to disclose these little beauties. It's been such fun watching them grow and learn...she is the most fantastic mother although I just went to turf them out of the tractor shed where machinery was being moved around them!

Another pleasure is the vegetable garden. I picked these little beauties yesterday, smoothed and gently rolled them in a luscious blend of olive oil, basil, oregano and garlic. I placed the in a baking tray, sprinkled them with salt flakes and coarsely ground black pepper and ....

took them out of the oven when they were beginning to split and turn colour.

I also cooked mushrooms over a fierce heat and when they were brown I gave them a good slurp (technical term!) of soya sauce and sizzled them for a minute or two.

These, with grilled beef patties (tell me if you want the recipe), and homemade tomato sauce, were both part of my now-almost-famous Turkish Burgers that we had for dinner. The blokes here weren't used to being offered burgers for dinner and looked dismayed but minutes later, with sauce and mayonnaise running down their chins, they were moaning gently with pleasure and checking up if there would be 'seconds'. very pleasing for the cook :-)

There was one beef patty and a few of the tomatoes and mushrooms left over so today I fried a chopped onion, added a healthy slurp (that word again!) of red wine and the toms and mushies with their rich juices. I chopped up the beef pattie and added this with some spicy tomato sauce, simmered for a minute or two and...dinner for tonight with pasta.

Welcome!

The Gardener's Rest

'Potions to Pesto' is a celebration of the creative inpulse in us all.

We are two women (considered eccentric by many) who have been friends for more than thirty years and have shared many experiences together. We have run restaurants, dug gardens, created a skincare business, admired each others grandchildren, swapped ideas and skills and have even fought occasionally.

We all crave the healthiest, happiest and most beautiful environment we can afford for ourselves and our loved ones but with the hard financial times that are upon us we may be wise to return to the skills of earlier times and by using them in combination with the amazing technology and information resources we can easily access today, create an even better and more fulfilling life than ever before.

From the garden to the kitchen, bathroom to bedroom, we have fed, treated and experimented on our families, friends and animals with healthy produce, luscious skincare, sensual perfumes and healing remedies.

Making a lotion

We have discovered that the easiest and often the cheapest way to source
the perfect item is to make it yourself and to this end we are creating a range of e-books that can be found on our website From Potions to Pesto

Here is a recipe from our 'Easy' 150 recipes for one or two pot cooking book.

Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros

Serves 2

This breakfast (or lunch) dish will keep you feeling full and happy until the next meal.You can use a jar of ready made salsa if you don’t want to make the sauce.

1 tsp vegetable oil
½ finely chopped onion
¼ C chopped red capsicum (optional)
2 tsp bottled crushed garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
420 g can diced tomatoes
Slurp of chilli sauce
Left over Mexican beans (optional)
2 tortillas
2 eggs
Grated cheese

1 Heat the oil in a small pan, add the chopped onion and capsicum and cook for a couple of minutes.
2 Add the garlic and cumin and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes, and chilli sauce.Once the sauce is boiling, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened. Add the beans (if using) and reheat.
3 Drop the eggs into the sauce (and beans), put the lid on the pan and turn the heat off. A couple of minutes or so will be enough to poach them.
4 Heat a frypan with a small splash of oil added and, in turn, fry two tortillas for about 30 seconds on each side, remove and keep warm in foil.
5 Spoon the eggs and sauce onto each tortilla, sprinkle grated cheese on top.

We take the greatest pleasure in the concept of lifelong learning especially in a hands-on, practical way. 'Making your own' is a way of life that can help us to save money, recycle more, learn new skills and improve our quality of life.

Nirala at 'work'!

We'd love to share with you some of the excitement we feel, the recipes we use and the useful places we visit on the web and also to hear what you are doing too.