Tight-Arse Tuesdays: How to Make Honeycomb!

I got this idea from this really awesome Australian blog, $120 Food Challenge where the woman who owns the blog is finding out how to feed her Australian family off $60 a week (quite a challenge in this country!). In it, she made honeycomb, which I have also made to chop into a homemade ice cream - if I can pry my fiance from the sugary mass in time. I have included a picture-by-picture demonstration on how to make it myself:

This is the time mise-en-place is incredibly important; have everything prepared and set aside in advance!!! You'll want: 1 tsp of bicarb, sifted twice, a prepared pan with wax paper that you've put a little extra grease on, some water, a pastry brush and a baking mitt.

In my pan I have put 250g of sugar and 250mL of water. I have placed it on a medium heat. Do not stir at this point. Wait until it starts to boil a little. If any sugar crystals form, dip the pastry brush in your water and stick it in the pot where the crystals have formed. I didn't end up with any so I skipped this step.

Once it has started boiling, whisk as much as possible. You want to incorporate as many bubbles as possible to make a nice holey honeycomb.



When it has reached this colour IMMEDIATELY take it off the fire with your oven mitt and keep whisking for a few seconds. Add the bicarb and whisk once more. The mixture will start to boil over the top (quickly!) so be prepared to suddenly dump all the honeycomb into the pan. It was so quick I didn't have time to take a photo with a prepared camera!
Wait 15 minutes. Don't touch it in this time. I did and mine flattened a little. Break up with a knife. ENJOY!

How To Kill Ants

I'd like to apologize for the little break that Lizzie and I have taken lately! Life's been kicking us both around, but we've both been cooking and homemaking like little hummingbirds, so we're back to share it with you again.

I wanted to come back with a recipe, and there are many in the offing, but today I wanted to share a quick tip with you.

Our house is apparently built on top of Ant Manhattan. Every summer, we have to be very careful about keeping everything edible in tightly-sealed jars, because the first time you leave anything out, suddenly there's an ant superhighway leading across the house to it. They're just tiny black ants, not offensive in small numbers, but when they come in droves to gather cat food, it gets a bit gross.

The thing is that we didn't want to put out poisons because of the risk to our cats; we didn't want sprays or ugly traps around, so we needed a natural, nontoxic way to get rid of the ants. Acting on a tip from an acquaintance, I bought a box of Cream of Wheat.

Yep, I said Cream of Wheat! The same tasty porridge you loved as a little kid. Ants love it too. They love it so much that only one day after I put down 1/4 cup of it in a pile, the pile is almost gone. They take it back to the colony and share it around with all their friends and family. And then it puffs up inside them and kills them.

It won't hurt your pets (unless you have a free-range ant farm), it won't hurt you, it doesn't stink... it has no nasty side effects whatsoever. But whenever I've sprinkled it in an area where ants congregate, the ants have disappeared overnight.

So if summer has brought in an invasion of the only nonhuman creature known to engage in agriculture and organized warfare, fight back with the product of our own agriculture. Cream of Wheat, man. It'll do the trick!

Crock-Pot Super Easy White Bread

A friend of mine was making bread in a crockpot lately and telling me about it. I listened to her and went, "Aha! Here's an idea I can steal for my blog!" Luckily, I don't think she she reads this so hopefully she'll never know I stole her idea.

Whole Wheat & Oat Crockpot Bread
1 tablespoon yeast
1/4c warm water
1c warm milk (I used hazlenut milk)
1/2c rolled oats
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg
1/4c wheat germ
2 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

Combine yeast and water in bowl and let sit ten minutes until foamy. While this is happening, place the empty crockpot on high to preheat. Find a metal or glass pan that fits into your crockpot and will hold a small loaf of bread and still cover the top.

Combine all ingredients into foamy yeast mixture. Knead until smooth and elastic.

Turn dough into pan and cover loosely with foil.

Pour 1/2 c water in slow cooker. Cover with a piece of foil.

Place bowl on watered foil in crockpot and bake on high for 3 hours.