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Image: Eva Lindh
Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas! We are settling in for a cosy evening by our new wood burning stove with a delicious baked Camembert – and it’s still snowy outside. Have a lovely holiday with family and friends!
N and I are away for the weekend visiting friends and relatives – have a lovely Hallow’een weekend!
Yesterday at work we celebrated our 11th Birthday – why 11th, you ask? Well, we forgot last year that the business had turned 10, so we’re celebrating now. Also, my dear colleague Paul is leaving us and heading back to his native Australia.
So we celebrated with a very English afternoon tea in a meadow, believe it or not in the city. We had a tented camp, bunting hanging from the trees, live music, and lots of good friends. There were scones and jam, make-it-yourself knicker-bocker-glories, and baskets of tiny sandwiches.
My colleague and I were responsible for the baskets of sandwiches, and had spent all morning making them. We made three varieties: egg mayonnaise with lots of chives on a white Polish rye bread; smoked salmon with a tangy lemon cream cheese on a deep campagrain bread; and (my absolute favourite, and my own invention) my take on cheese and pickle, a Welsh blue brie with sweet onion chutney on a fragrant seeded bread.
So here’s a quick round-up of our lovely afternoon:
…How to make your knicker-bocker-glory…
…A table groaning under the weight of jam, cream and Jane’s utterly perfect scones (recipe coming soon!)…
…The wheelbarrow of drinks on ice…
…Soft white egg and chive sandwiches with pretty cocktail flags…
…and the band creating a lovely atmosphere…
Today is my birthday. I am turning 25 - a quarter of a century, or half way to fifty if you ask my little sister! I have spent the weekend down in the Cotswolds with my family celebrating my birthday and today N and I took the day off work.
Apologies for not posting over the weekend, but I have some great food and garden things to tell you about over the next couple of days. I have certainly eaten well this weekend (of course!).
My birthday weekend menu has included: a delicious radish and pea salad, asparagus and cheese tart, some incredibly smelly French cheeses, sorrel and ricotta frittata, barbecued trout, and the star of the show – Willie’s Cloud Forest Chocolate Cake. So if you want to share in my food adventures be sure to check back later this week.
Friday was N’s birthday, which could mean only one thing – a fantastic weekend of good food. I sat down and imagined if I were N, what would I want to eat for my birthday weekend.
So the feasting began on Thursday night with a curry from our favourite takeaway. The British favourite of chicken tikka masala, with poppadoms, mango chutney, onion relish, and garlic and coriander naans. We balanced this, of course, by having brown rice…
We also made chocolate brownies, enough for N to take to work and for us. Following Nigella’s recipe from her book How to be a Domestic Goddess, we baked a tray of chocolate brownies with enough chocolate, sugar and butter to use of one’smonthly recommended allowance. Three and a half bars of 70% dark chocolate…one and half pats of butter…and what I can only remember as a jug of sugar. But seriously, these chocolate brownies were heavenly. It really matters what chocolate you use – if you used Bourneville it would taste of Bournville, so make sure you buy the best dark chocolate you can afford.
brownie debris
When I came downstairs on Friday morning to examine the insides of the brownies after N had taken half the tray to work, I thought that I had undercooked them. It looked (and tasted) like the liquid mixture I had scraped into the pan before cooking. These brownies improve with age. In fact, the centres of each square almost transforms into a truffle, it is so dark and dense and soft. I will post the recipe another day as it is one everyone should try.
N finishes work early on a Friday, so I laid out the table with all his cards and gifts (the bunnies spent their pocket money on two jars of sweets from our local old fashioned sweet shop), hung a string of balloons across the living room, and piled chocolate brownies into a mountain, dusted them with icing sugar and stuck in some candles.
My birthday present to N – the best sirloin steak I could buy from Little Heath Farm, with melted blue cheese and chips. I admit, the chips weren’t homemade, but there is something intrinsically scrumptious about the finest quality steak served with frozen chips – perhaps they serve to highlight how incredible the steak is.
As you might imagine, but Friday night we couldn’t eat another thing.
Saturday evening we made homemade pizzas (which had been planned for Friday tea, but were pushed on a day due to the last minute revelation of steak and chips). We ate the pizzas standing up in the kitchen straight from the oven, served with thin slices of Parma ham, crisp wild rocket, torn basil and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. They were so delicious that they were eaten up before I had a chance to take a photograph – such is the way with truly divine food – you just can’t wait to faff around with the camera, you just have to eat it straight away, hot from the oven.
Next weekend it’s my birthday, which means another excuse to eat more good food…yum.
On Sunday N’s parents are visiting us for Mother’s Day lunch and to see our newly decorated bedroom. What I’ve failed to mention in the last week, or in fact, since I started this blog, is that we do a lot of DIY. Our house is a work in progress, like many people’s, and there is always something to do to it. Since becoming a homeowner I feel like I have quickly progressed from young and carefree into a fully fledged adult. All those decisions I remember my parents making – do we go on holiday…or do we put in new windows… are choices I am now having to make. And with a love of my ‘home’ and wanting to make it as nice as possible the new windows ususually trump the holiday.
So, the past two weeks have been spent decorating a bedroom that we gutted last year (the second bedroom that we have gutted I might add). The last bedroom took us a year from the first hammer hit into the crumbling plaster to carpeted and curtains up (still no light fitting though…) We were determined that this one wouldn’t take as long, and it seems that the only way we can get anything done is to set ourselves an immovable deadline. I know…invite parents round to see the ‘finished’ room. Last night I believe, I hope! that I painted my last inch of wall. Tonight we will hoover it and prepare it for the new carpet that is being fitted tomorrow.
Anyway, back to Mother’s Day and food more importantly. N’s mom is a fantastic cook – which I’ve probably mentioned before – and a serene hostess. I long for the day when I am that calm to have everything prepped and probably mostly cooked by the time my guests arrive. I usually greet my guests by sticking my head around the kitchen door, hands covered in flour or madly dicing carrots, and hollering ‘hello!’ I really enjoy anybody coming round for lunch as I love to entertain and feed people. Usually by this time – with about two days to go – I have planned the meal and got at least half of the ingredients for it. Currently, I have zilch. And a very hungry looking fridge that contains some chorizo sausage, a piece of stilton and some yoghurt. Not exactly the stuff of Mother’s Day lunches to impress the in-laws.
Which is why I’m madly searching my recipe folder searching desperately for some inspiration for what I can cook. I also have to take into consideration Easter Sunday which is looming on the horizon, when N’s parents return for lunch with granny. So I don’t want to cook something fantastic this weekend, and then think “balls, I should have done that for Easter,” and technically I feel Easter lunch should be more impressive. So many things to consider!
My current thinking is along the lines of a chicken pie (which hopefully might help me to look the part of the serene hostess) possibly with lots of end of winter/beginning of spring greens like a variety of cabbage, spring greens, leeks etc, maybe a bit of lemon in there? For starters I’ve thought about a smoked trout, horseradish and beetroot salad….or perhaps Stilton pate with beetroot, salad and crusty bread… And then dessert…well I’m not really a dessert person unless it involves pure, unadulterated chocolate, which isn’t to everyone’s taste and not very ’spring-like’. I’ve seen a nice recipe for Honey Cake, which sounds nice, and a cake can be baked in advance! So it scores top marks in the stakes to recreated me as the serene hostess. At this point – suggestions more than welcome!!
pizza and champagne
Tonight N and I are celebrating five years since we started going out. We are celebrating with homemade pizza and a glass of our favourite bubbly – Cuvee Flamme by Gratien & Meyer from the Loire (http://www.gratienmeyer.com). Who could think of a better way to see in such an important day?
It’s been over two weeks since I’ve posted anything – which is terrible, and the opposite of what a blog should be. I have been flat-out at work organising a big conference which starts in just over a week. Co-ordinating 90 delegates and a further 40-50 contributors, not to mention the logistics of room allocations, menu choices, and who’s staying where, has quite literally sapped me of all my energy. Coming home has involved a quick dinner then slumping in front of the TV in a bid to switch off from work.
Christmas seems so far away now. The aftermath of Christmas dinner has faded…
aftermath of Christmas Day lunch
Granny’s gluten-free mince pies are a distant memory…
homemade gluten-free mince pies
Little sisters are back at school and studying hard…
my little sister
And there’s not a crumb left of the turkey and cranberry Boxing Day bagels…
turkey and cranberry Boxing Day bagels
But, I have seen my first snowdrops and spring is on its way.
simple table decorating by mom :: Christmas at home ::
A quick post to wish everyone a Happy New Year. It has been a whirlwind two weeks of Christmas and New Year celebrations, with lots of good food, family and friends, and a couple of illnesses thrown in for good measure. Posts to come shortly with Christmas food and fun with the family.
some of our edible Christmas gifts
Over the weekend we have started to put together our Christmas presents for our family. For a couple of weeks now we have been building up a box of bits and pieces, that on their own look pretty odd – jars of coconut oil, garlic powder, jars of every shape and size. Now we have embarked on the exciting process of making gifts out of them.
The weekend has seen us marinating olives, mixing popcorn and potato wedge seasonings, and melting all kinds of oils and butter to create some delicious smelling hand balms. Other than eating and growing food, this is when I seem to be most in my element. Last Christmas staying at N’s family, I disappeared into their workshop, spread myself out over a stunning old wooden workbench and busied myself arranging baskets with tissue paper, gifts, and weaving in ivy and berries.
homemade Christmas hampers :: Christmas 2007 ::
So back to the weekend. We made two types of marinated olives (ideal for an olive-loving family member) – Lemon Fennel Olives and Thyme & Chilli Olives. I’ve filled two medium-sized kilner jars with these delicious concoctions and will later tie raffia round them and a label to say what they are. Recipes below for anyone interested in having a go.
Lemon Fennel Olives
Approx 400g green olives (not pitted)
1-2 tsp fennel seeds
1 lemon
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Nice glass jar
Be sure to sterilize your glass jar first. We washed ours in soapy water, rinsed, and placed in a low oven (50ºC) for about 20-30 mins until dry.
Slice the garlic into thin slivers. Carefully peel the lemon. In a bowl combine the sliced garlic, lemon peel, a squeeze of lemon juice, and the peppercorns.
Drain the olives and rinse. Combine the olives in the bowl with the other ingredients and spoon into the sterilized jar.
Cover with olive oil and seal tightly. Leave for about a week to let the flavours infuse.
homemade marinated olives
Thyme & Chilli Olives
Approx 400g black olives (not pitted)
Couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
1-2 tsp crushed chilli flakes
Glug of red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, in their skins
Glug of extra virgin olive oil
Nice glass jar
Sterilize the glass jar first (see above).
Crush the garlic cloves in their skins, and bung in a bowl with the chilli flakes, red wine vinegar, thyme and a glug of extra virgin olive oil.
Drain the olives and rinse. Combine the olives in the bowl with the other ingredients and spoon into the sterilized jar.
Cover with olive oil and seal tightly. Leave for about a week to let the flavours infuse.
This recipe is adapted from Nigel Slater’s Real Food.
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