Cooking from scratch

: stories from alt accomm :

While caretaking 10 acres in the fertile Huon Valley of Tasmania, one bonus of this job is there’s fab fresh produce to create meals with.

This morning I collected eggs from the hen house and harvested spinach from the garden. Two key ingredients for Hunza Pie, a vegetarian classic combo of spinach, cheese and rice encased in short whole meal pastry.

It’s a long time since I made pastry from scratch. The homestead kitchen appeared to have all the equipment needed, but the food processor didn’t work. Rubbing butter into flour by hand! Yep, that’s absolutely cooking from scratch!

Half an hour and ten tired fingers later, there was a mound of raw pastry ready to flatten with the old timber rolling pin.

The fresh baking from the oven has filled the hilltop homestead with a warm inviting fragrance.

No artificial flavours, preservatives or chemicals here. Just pure homemade food.

My homemade Hunza Pie.

Now that I have a hearty dish to share with visitors, and I’ve done the washing up, it’s time to make a cup of tea and enjoy the view across the river.

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Like any job, with property caretaking, there’s always challenges. Here one is no internet and only 1 bar of phone coverage.

But today I’m focusing on the positives, serendipities and magic moments that make it an interesting way to keep a roof overhead. Also grateful for a car that can take me down the road to get enough coverage to upload this post 😁