I was sitting here at my computer after after just having browsed through my new Good magazine and a little book that’s been sitting on my desk for some time caught my eye. It’s the Davis Dainty Dishes book from 1922. I picked it up and flicked through it. I was not too hopeful at finding something that was actually edible or even slightly appetising in it. I’d looked before you see and it seemed to be filled with things like this.

I mean .. apart from the fact that this dish is composed of celery that has been boiled with lemon and then the liquid turned into gelatine and smothered in mayonnaise; I am a little wary of the mutant giant asparagus that they seem to have placed nicely around the edge.

Then there is this.

I can’t say this appeals really. It just seems wrong on so many levels.

Then there is this aberration of nature. Kiwis everywhere will be crying out in outrage at the sight of this one.

I left the list of ingredients there for you all to have a look at. This is not a Pavlova. Who ever wrote that recipe in 1922 ought to be completely ashamed of themselves. Although it’s quite interesting from a historical point of view. I’m guessing that the definition of a pavlova was not so firm at that point in time.

I did however see something that caught my eye and that was poached eggs. I wondered why they would be putting a recipe for poached eggs in a gelatine book and I had horrible visions of eggs poached and then suspended in a glistening gel with chopped parsley floating around in little clouds.

On reading through the recipe, I discovered that it was a recipe for a novelty dessert which looked like poached eggs. This is known as a trompe l’oeil in art - to make something seem other than it really is, a form of optical illusion. In reality it’s like a very simple vanilla milk gelee with apricots. Kids love food that looks like something else so Isaac and I decided to make these together. 

This might be a fun way to pass some time with children on a rainy day for those of you that have winter at the moment. Because of the amount of gelatine in these they set up very quickly in the fridge.

Out came the aprons and we whipped up these “poached eggs”.

“Poached Eggs”

• 1 1/2 cups of milk or yoghurt (I used low fat/high calcium milk)
• 2 Tblspns condensed milk or white sugar
• 1 tspn of vanilla paste with seeds
• 1/2 cup of boiling water
• 2 Tblspns powdered gelatine
• 1 can of apricot halves

Mix your gelatin with the boiling water and stir until it is all dissolved.
Combine your milk, condensed milk and vanilla paste in a bowl and whisk lightly to mix.
Add the dissolved gelatine into the milk, stir to mix.

Pour into an 8 inch square cake pan and place in the fridge to set for roughly an hour. Your vanilla seeds will all sink to the bottom and look like pepper on the egg.

Once your milk gelee has set then run a hot knife around the edge of the pan. Place an oven tray on the top - flip them both over and give a few sharp jolts to turn your set mixture onto the tray. Make sure you have hold of it firmly! Alternatively you can sit the base of the pan in some warm water for a few moments to loosen the gelee, then turn out.

With a circular cutter roughly 3 inches across (we used egg poaching rings) - cut out shapes from the set mix.

Slide a wide spatula under each one carefully and put on your serving plate.  Be careful, they do have a tendency to stretch a little as you slide them off your spatula. Place an apricot half on each one, sprinkle with some sugar just before serving (looks like salt)

If you wished you could go as far as to make a creme anglaise for hollandaise and place your egg on a slice of pound cake toast, then top with a sprinkling of angelica parsley. It could in fact be quite an elegant dessert, except that it looks like an egg.

Isaac loved making these with me and took even more delight in telling his father he was going to be having poached eggs for dessert. They really do look like eggs on first glance. Have fun!

Just a photo today, since I am enjoying the day with my family.

Ryan gave Isaac Slime for Christmas…….

I think I’ve mentioned before that I think it’s really important that children are involved in meal preparation and in kitchen activities, this is my way of encouraging all you lovely mothers and fathers out there to try it.

Even the smallest child from about 10 months of age can sit on the floor with a few carrots and potatoes (uncooked and unpeeled) in a pot and stir them around, or be given little pieces of things that are being prepared.

Of course with small children comes mess, so it’s not something that you want to be doing when you are in a huge hurry. Some things can even be done outside. I’m going to try to make this a semi regular feature (dependant on my small chef’s enthusiasm) of course.

Children who are involved in food preparation are less likely to be picky eaters, and more likely to want to try new things. They also grow up to be adults that can cook and bake, and are not likely to reach for the instant packages of food off the supermarket shelf.

Chive Butter by chef Isaac

• Cream
• Salt
• Chives

Make sure you are in a place where mess is ok, and that your small person has an apron on. If they are likely to drop the jar of cream, use a plastic container with an airtight and very firm lid to shake the cream and salt. Make sure your cream only half fills the container - it needs room to expand and move.

Place a sprinkle of salt in a jar or plastic container that has a lid, and pour in the cream

Put the lid on tight!

Shake like crazy - Mummy helped a bit with this

Turn around and check out the cat licking the lid of the empty cream bottle.

Check to see if it’s ready

Check again

Voila! Butter.

Drain the whey

Snip the chives one at a time - because that way you get to use Mummy’s scissors for a long time and you are not usually allowed to.

Get out the butter pats and make awesome patterns on the butter

Look how proud!

Isaac had a wonderful time making this little pat of chive butter.

Some of the things he learned in the 20 minutes it took us to make it

• butter is made from shaking cream
• you can eat chives, they look like grass but are not really
• fine motor skills - snipping the chives, pouring off the whey
• sustained movement shaking the jar, adjusting his grip
• new language - whey, greasy, milky, herb, chive, butter pat
• that cats like cream and like to take part in making butter.

He was very proud of himself, and told each family member about his butter making experience. He had some of his chive butter on a poached egg for his dinner. There is only one down side - and I think it’s a small price to pay for the wonderful time that Isaac had.

There was butter everywhere. I am so glad we did it outside in the sun.