nutty pumpkin salad

i love this salad. the original came from the austalian womens' weekly's great barbeque cookbook, but as with so many things, i can't leave them well enough alone.

1 kilogram pumpkin, cubed (i like jap/kent pumpkins best)
2 bacon rashers, chopped
3/4 cup pepitas
1 apple, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teasoopn ground nutmeg

microwave the pumpkin until just tender. cool.
cook bacon until crisp. drain and cool.
gently combine the pumpkin, apple, celery, mayonnaise, sour cream and nutmeg together. place in serving bowl and sprinkle the pepitas and bacon over before serving.

lyn's spiced fruit compote

my friend, lyn, and i go back some 22 years now. i met her in april, 1986, so in a way, more than 22 years. when i was first getting to know her, she made this for dessert when i had her over to my place. i've enjoyed it over the years, with lashings of cream. make sure you also eat the orange slices, rind and all. that and cream.....yum.
more recently, in 1996 (march 28, to be precise), i made this, and in an effort to give the impression of being "healthy", i bought yoghurt from harris farm fruit markets. at the time, really thick, heavy yoghurt was new on the scene and the selling point was that it only had 4% fat and it still had a rich and wicked mouthfeel. so there i was flogging this fantastic, low fat, good for you yoghurt to people at the table - "have this with the compote; it's low fat".

1 cup dried apricots
1 cup prunes
1 orange cut in thin slices
1 cooking apple, peeled and sliced
1 stick cinnmon
3 whole cloves
1 cup red wine (not too heavy or dry)(i often use 1/2 cup muscat or port)
2 cups water
1/3 cup honey

microwave on high for 15 minutes and stand for 15 minutes.
remove cloves and cinnamon before serving.

chocolate cake in a mug

apparently this recipe has been doing the rounds on the email circuit (although no one has sent it to me yet....), but i thought it might be nice to add it here just for the fun of it. it works quite well, and since you know what goes into it, it's got to be better than those packet mixes for cake in a mug. i don't see how this could be any more difficult than a packet mix, and since there aren't any odd ingredients, the average pantry should have what one might need to achieve this instant gratification. well almost instant....3 minutes isn't that long to wait.

remember to use a large mug and only mix the ingredients until just combined as over mixing microwave cakes can make them rubbery. it's better to undercook, than overcook microwave cakes. if you aren't sure about what your microwave is like, err on the side of caution and cook the cake for 2 minutes, then check to see how it is. allowing the cake to rest after cooking is also important because microwave cakes continue to cook even after the power has stopped. oh, and it mightn't be a bad idea to put the mug on a plate in case the cake overflows.

just for the record, a tablespoon is 20mls, if that helps

4 tablespoons self-raising flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 mug

place flour into mug, add sugar and cocoa; mix.
crack in 1 egg; mix.
pour in milk and oil; mix until just combined.
put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum/high power.
wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug.
tip contents out of mug onto saucer and enjoy!