recipes ...

this is a recipe for one of THE best cleaners i have ever used ... and trust me ... over the years i have used many ....


you take ...

1 litre of water ... boil one cup of this ...

1 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup dishwashing liquid

1 tablespoon eucalyptus oil

3 dessertspoons Lectric Washing Soda


add the 3 dessertspoons of washing soda to the 1 cup of boiling water .. stir till dissolved ... then ... simply add all the other ingredients into a bottle .. i use an 3 litre milk bottle ....

after all is mixed .. decant the solution into a spray bottle and use at will ...


this stuff is fantastic for getting the grease off the stove top ... the stainless surfaces will sparkle ... and your loo will smell and look great ...


i am currently using it right thru the house ... it worked great on the oven too ... all the roast juices just wiped away soooooooooooo easily ... love it ...

I have one for you all to try that I taste tested in class today for:

FIG, APPLE AND WALNUT PASTE:

600g (4 medium) Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
Juice of 1 lemon
3 cups CSR Jam Setting Sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1.25 cups finely chopped dried figs
125g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 - Line 2 x 12-hole (1/3 cup capacity) muffin trays with plastic wrap.
2 - Weigh apples, ensuring you have 500g after they are peeled and cored.
3 - Process apple in food processor until it forms a smooth puree.
4 - Combine apple puree, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and figs in a large, heavy-based saucepan.
5 - Cook, stirring over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
6 - Increase heat an bring to boil. boil for 4 minutes.
7 - Remove from heat and stir through chopped walnuts.
8 - Pour into prepared muffin pans and allow to set overnight in the refrigerator.

Makes 24 x 1/3 cup-sized pastes.

This sweet, nutty fruit paste adds the finishing touch to a great cheese platter. Eat now or make for later, as this paste stays fresh for months.

It also makes great gifts when set in little ramekins.

It would be a quick, inexpensive, well appreciated gift for family or friends.

Try filling small, wide-mouthed decorator jars with screw top lids? Add a fabric circle to cover the lid and secure with a rubber band. Print out the recipe and roll it up into a tight scroll. Take the scroll and tie it onto the bottle with ribbon or kitchen string over the rubber band. Add a cute label. You could even go as far as filling a small cane basket with a jar of paste, a cheese knife to spread it with and a box of crackers. Oh and a couple of glasses and a bottle of suitable wine would be just perfect too!

One of my sewing ladies has a wonderful fig tree with bright, blood red fruit and we intend to try this recipe using fresh figs too! Hope it works as the colour should be amazing and would make a Christmas cheese platter something special!

Today we put cheese slices on crackers and topped it with the paste. We also tried it with cream cheese - YUM!

Yum Evelyn. Can you tell me how the fresh figs work out please. Ihave a friend who has a tree and I get lots of fresh figs.

And what do I do with the over ripe ones???? I dye threads of course. Dyes ordinary 6 stranded cotton to a wonderful pinky mauve. I am sure you cant wash it but I dont wash the blocks I make anyway. And of course you can dye ribbon to match.

how clever ... but could you not set the colour in your threads and ribbon with salt .... wendy ... or that dye set stuff from the supermarket ... don't know what it is called ...


and i reckon cos you cook the dried figs the fresh ones would be fine to use but you just would not have to cook them for as long cos they are already 'plumped up' .. just my opinion of course ... i could be very wrong ..... lol

YOu certainly can set the dye but the 'setters' worry me about the fact those are acids and may well 'eat' into the fabrics ........... lol

Fabric monsters ..........

I will post back in here when we try them out Wendy. I reckon the fresh figs will probably need a little extra cooking time (step 5) to reduce the juices so the paste sets up to 'sliceable'. Alternatively, we might sun-dry the fresh figs first and then follow the recipe above?

The tree my friend has would make a wonderful dye colour.......... Maybe I might have a go at that too!

Bobbie,

I was just reading your cleaning recipe and I want to try it. But I am not sure what the washing soda is. could you please tell me??

Cheers Ann

Wendy, just to let you know I tried the fresh figs in the fig, apple and walnut paste and it worked great. Had lots of compliments on it.

I added about 12 large fresh chopped figs and an extra cup of the sugar and 2 more granny smith apples. It took longer to cook because of the fresh figs but it also made a big quantity which I have shared with my local family and friends. Which reminds me..... I still have a small quantity in the fridge to go.... maybe later for a midnight snack? ha ha

Sorry I can't help you too much Ann except to say I think you would find this product in the washing powder isle of you local supermarket. I expect Bobbie will be along shortly........... I see she has been in town AGAIN (ha ha) today and I know she is still trying to sort out her restricted internet time. So, watch this space for her reply.

Annie .. the washing soda is ... ummm .. washing soda ... all i can do is put a photo up .. not sure if you will get any info from the packs that will be of help ... my mum used to use it in the washing when i was a kid .. i think we had bore water or the water was 'hard' .. and it helped soften the water and give lots of suds ... 

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Thank you Bobbie, I will look and see what I can find.

Cheers Ann