Inside Jozi WAHM's Kitchen- The Birth of the Gingerbread Pie

I was making chicken pie for supper and Noodle was playing with the leftover pastry dough. She was playing with my cookie cutters and cut out a couple of gingerbread man shapes.

And so the idea of the gingerbread pie was born.

This is how we made it:

-Cut out two gingerbread man shapes out of the pastry;

-Add the filling. We used apricot jam for one and Nutella for the other.

-Top with the second piece of pastry and press down on the edges so that the filling does not leak.

-Sprinkle generously with sugar, cinnamon powder and ginger powder. (Alternatively, the spices could be added when mixing your pastry batter.)

- We added two raisins for eyes.

-Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 25 minutes (this may differ depending on your oven).

-Serve with a side scoop of cream or ice-cream.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the end product as they were scoffed up before they even cooled down, but I think piping like a traditional gingerbread man would take this treat to another level.

Inside Jozi WAHM's Kitchen- Strawberry Cheesecake

I am a sucker for cheesecake and having made my favourite, super rich, decadent and very fattening one this weekend, I have decided to share the recipe. Did I mention that it is easy to make and does not even need baking? Go on, try it... you know you want to!

NO BAKE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

BASE: 

• 125g melted butter
•  1 box marie biscuits

Crush the biscuits (I am lazy so I whizz in the blender) and mix with the butter.
 

Press into a greased springform tin lined with wax paper. I cut the wax paper into a circle slightly larger than the pan and let the wax paper overlap slightly out of the bottom of the pan for easy removal.

FILLING:

Mix:

• 1 tub smooth cream cheese, 
• 1 tin condensed milk, 
• 1 cup fresh cream, 
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and 
• a dash of vanilla essence. Beat until almost stiff.

Boil 100ml boiling water with 2 tbsp gelatine. (Alternatively you could use 3tbsp agar agar, but I find that gelatine gives more consistent results. I use the halaal variety available from the spice shops). Stir until dissolved and pour into cream cheese mixture and mix well. Pour over the biscuit base.

TOPPING:

Top with strawberries (or any other fruit). On Sunday I did not have fresh strawberries so I used granadilla pulp and a bit of tinned strawberry. Kiwi fruit, tinned peaches or any other berries also work well.

Glaze the fruit with a layer of jelly (following the instructions on the box).

Let the cheesecake set in the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight. 

Tip: To get the cheesecake out of the tin without cracks, loosen the edges with a hot knife. Dip the knife in hot water as you go along for a smooth edge. Then unclip the springform pan and slide the bottom off. Alternatively, you could make mini cheesecakes in greased foil cups.

ENJOY!!!

The Senses Game

Sometimes I run out of activities to do with the kids. Noodle was bored yesterday afternoon and this was what I came up with (I think I might have done this at some point as a child). My activities usually have some kind of theme and today it was using ones five senses (two of them anyway, taste and smell).

TASTING GAME

 

Sprinkles, chocolate chips, almond, custard tasters

I took an ice tray and put one item to taste in each hole. We had an almond, a chocolate chip, some cake sprinkles, lemon juice, coconut oil, an ice cube, a blob of plain yoghurt and a little custard. Then I put on a blindfold for Noodle. She was allowed to feel and taste each item but not see them. 

Noodle did remarkably well, having guessed all except the lemon juice (which she said was vinegar) and the cake sprinkles, which she said was sugar (technically correct I guess). For the almond, she said it was a nut and when I asked her what kind of nut, in typical Noodle style, she said 'a very hard one'. Squish also enjoyed tasting each item. 

For older kids, you could adapt this to show them how different parts of their tongues have different taste receptors (sweet, sour etc) and also ask them to block their noses to demonstrate how ones nose also plays a part in tasting.

SNIFFING GAME

The smelling part of the game lasted significantly longer than the tasting segment. I blindfolded her again and let her smell some perfume, the coconut oil she had tasted earlier, her own shoe, her shampoo, toothpaste, some baby lotion, some spices, peanut butter, raw onion, coffee beans and some mint leaves (but any non-toxic, strong smelling substance will do). Again, she did remarkably well and only faltered on the peanut butter.

I think it will be interesting to do the other senses as well, but that is an activity for another day.