Kowhai

This is the amazing NZ native Kowhai tree (pron Koe fye). It produces nectar which the Tui drinks until he is almost too drunk to fly! It is an amusing time of the year. The birds are trying to woo a mate and at the same time stay sobre!

Wonderous windows, delirious doors 42

Qatar - Scanned from slides, hence the quality is not the best.

Day 5 of "Weird not very nice at all" illness

Hubby came home early from work today to find his wife in bed, attended to by three cats. If you look carefully, you can see my head in the top photo. It's nice to know they care!

Wonderous Windows Delirious Doors 41

The photos below were taken on Thursday, a particularly sociable day. I had coffee with my husband on the way to work, then went out with colleagues for lunch later at a French restaurant just up the road from my office. However, the day was to end rather badly. I started to feel unwell before going out to lunch, then rapidly went downhill afterwards. Nothing to do with the food I hasten to add. I had an emergency appointment at the doctors yesterday which involved large dosages of antibiotics. Sigh

 Dunshea's Deli, Khandallah

 In the garden of Dunshea's Deli

 Le Canard, Thorndon

Anyway, these are "from the inside looking out" window shots on Thursday

More japes around the long orange tube

Little orange cat in a long orange roll

One of my work colleagues has loaned me a long orange toy for our three cats. It is about four feet long and has holes in it at intervals. The cats can jump in and out, and play with various toys hanging on the inside of the tube. Last night we were regularly entertained by strange noises coming from the dining room, as all three chirruped at each other to "come and play". Then came the slithering sound as it was hurled across the room with an Exocet Missile Cat on the inside, propelling it into various pieces of furniture.

We could start a circus.

Wonderous Windows Delirious doors 40

Looking out to Civic Square from the Museum, Wellington NZ

Hariseh - the recipe

You can buy this book from www.simplyisrael.co.il. It was compiled by a friend of mine and I can vouch for the fact that ALL the recipes are well tested - by generations of Israelis. Here is the recipe for Hariseh. I ran out of semolina yesterday, so substituted a bit of fine couscous, and it worked well. I did add some of the syrup to the main recipe though, as I suspected the couscous would need more liquid than the semolina.

Pre heat your oven to 175 degrees

3 cups Semolina (or 2 cups semolina & one cup fine cous cous)
150g butter softened
2 cups flaky coconut
half cup sugar
1 cup plain yoghurt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons water

1) Mix all the ingredients together then press into a greased large cookie sheet with sides ( I use a flan tin with a lose bottom. However if you use this kind of tin make sure when you are pouring the syrup on it that you have the pan on a wipeable surface, as some of the syrup will escape!)
2) Cut in the direction you want to cut the final biscuits. If you are using an oblong tin, cut diamond shapes and put an almond or walnut in the centre of each biscuit. This makes it easier for cutting later.

Bake in oven until golden brown - about 15 minutes.

Syrup
2 cups Water
1 and 3 quarter cups Sugar ( i used a bit less)
I used about 3 tbspoon of rose water in the syrup, but the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Boil the syrup mixture until it begins to thicken slightly (around 15 minutes).

When you remove the hariseh from the oven, pour the hot syrup over the cake. I use a measuring cup and pour it over in small amounts to allow it to soak up. You won't use all the syrup, so let the remainder cool and keep in a sealed jar for next time.

He who is of a merry heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15.15

Photo in post below

Hariseh - in the mood to bake

In honour of my Israeli friends, near and far, here is some Hariseh I baked this afternoon. The recipe is truly simple, from "Simply Israel" by T. Gila Levine. The book is available in a number of different languages, including Spanish and Russian I believe.
Have a lovely week, one and all.