Carrot and potato side dish

This is our family's favourite way to eat boiled carrots. When I make this dish, there is no need for a starch side dish as this  has it all. 

To serve 4 people:

4 big carrots, peeled

2 potatoes - Agrias have a nice texture and colour, though I like the taste of Nadine potatoes. 

50g butter

Seasoning

Peel and cut the potatoes and start off by boiling them in a little salted water. 

Cut the carrots length wise in quarters and the chop them in pieces (about 5mm). Add to the potatoes. 

Boil until tender. 

When done, take the pot off the stove. Drain some of the water if there is too much liquid left - you need only enough to make mashed potatoes. (I guess that would be about half a cup.)

Add butter and mash the potatoes (with the carrots as part of the mixture). The aim is just to mash the potatoes and not the carrots. Season to taste. 

Chocolate coconut biscuits

250g butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

2 cups dessicated coconut

2 cups flour

5 tablespoons cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 salt

Cream butter and sugar. 

Mix in coconut, flour, baking powder and salt. 

Dissolve cocoa powder in boiling water and add to flour mixture.  You should have a fairly stiff dough. 

Roll a teaspoons of dough into balls, flatten and place on baking tray. 

Bake for about 15 minutes. 

You can sandwich biscuits together with melted chocolate, or, if the biscuits are large, just partially dip them in the melted chocolate. 

Moulded carrot salad

This is another special recipe of my aunt which was very popular with family events. 

2 cups finely grated carrots

1 tin of crushed pineapple - not drained

1 cup of cream 

1 packet of orange jelly

1 teaspoon of gelatine 

1 cup of boiled water

Dissolve the jelly and gelatine in the boiled water. Let it cool until nearly set. 

Whip the cream till double the  volume and add the grated carrots and pineapple. 

Mix it with the jelly and pour the mixture into a mould. 

Place in refrigerator until completely set. 

When ready to serve, unmould onto the serving plate. 

Special fruit salad

My aunt used to make this on special occasions. You make this an hour or so in advance so that the flavours of the fruits and mayonnaise mingle. 

Small pawpaw or papino

Small rock mellon

2 bananas

1 - 2 fresh pears, or a tin of pears

1 medium red apple

1 medium green or yellow apple

1 - 2 cups of chopped fresh lichees, or a tin of lichees 

1 cup of chopped celery stalk

Mayonnaise 

Finely grated peel of an orange

Cut the pawpaw, rock mellon, bananas, pears and apples into thin slices. (Don't peel the apples.) Keep each fruit separate for layering. You can mix the banana and lichees. 

Mix the orange peel with the mayonnaise. 

Mix 1 - 2 spoons mayonnaise with each fruit. 

Layer in an attractive glass dish and let stand for an hour to the flavours mingle.