The first mango of the season

Tonight we had the first mangoes of the season. Not even spring (quite), and we have had mangoes! Ok, not exactly Kensington Prides, these were little cooking mangoes that I spotted in the supermarket for a ludicrously small price.

Easy to peel and slice up, they look very pretty in the bowl.

I'd already decided on rice paper rolls for dinner, so I figured I'd see how these went into the mix. I use a random selection of ingredients for these, but tonight's were:

• rump steak (cooked and then sliced and marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil)
• carrot
• cucumber
• shallots
• red capsicum
• mango
• celery
• mint leaves
• Vietnamese mint leaves
• rice vermicelli
• sliced ham (for small kids who won't eat the steak)
• hoisin sauce
• sweet chilli sauce
• hot chilli sauce

We constructed them at the table, to general approval. I even got kisses and multiple thank yous after dinner.

And the mangoes? They're a keeper. They're tart and aromatic and very, very tasty. Perfect for salads. The kids are very keen to have more, and at the price they are now ($1/kg) they can have as many as they want. They even have a tiny stone in them, for maximum bang for your buck. They won't be booting big, fat, yellow, sweet mangoes off their Favourite Fruit pedestal, but they'll be making more appearances in our kitchen.

5 minute mug cake

At the request of the lovely Wildly Parenthetical (a screen name of which I have always been jealous), I am reproducing here, utterly without permission, a recipe given to me this evening at Belly Dancing. (If you know the source, please let me know, I will credit - or remove if required.)

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Mix dry ingredients in coffee mug well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Add milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 min at 1000W (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT.

I suspect you might have worked out that last step yourself.