Sweet morning

It's a gray morning, but I made pancakes for breakfast to get into a sunny mood. With bananas and maple syrup. I'd love to share (I made too many..).

How do you start your day when it's sulky outside?

Banana bread with chocolate and crystallized ginger

This book by Molly Wizenberg has finally caught my attention. Apparently she's already been famous around the culinary blogosphere for a while now, and for some reason the contagious enthusiasm about her story and recipes had not reached me, until "A Homemade Life" was given to me by my brother and sister in law (thank you!).

I had to warm up to her style of writing over a couple of pages, but now I'm all in. Her description of the perfect french toast was already rather tempting, and she finally convinced me to swing my wooden spoon with her recipe of banana bread. Apart from the crystallized ginger, which is a little difficult to find around here (but was easy to make from scratch and gave me the "I did it all by myself" satisfactory feeling), it was all mixed together with little effort. And I didn't even need a mixer. Call me oldschool, but I love to bake cakes the traditional way and adore recipes that work without electrical equipment (apart from the stove, naturally). Plus, it's a nice workout for your biceps.

Molly's instructions are easy to follow, and something I am very fond of is the lack of pictures in her book. You won't be so caught up in your eagerness trying to achieve the same result as shown in professionally taken pictures of carefully arranged dishes. You'll just want to get started, and mess around in the kitchen.

"These days, I bake banana bread all the time, and I usually do it as Glenn did, with chocolate and ginger. It's homey but a little sophisticated, and it's almost impossible to stop eating. The flavours of banana and chocolate get along so well, and ginger makes them even better, cutting through their richness with its spicy heat. It's the kind of thing that begs to be cut into big, melty slices while the loaf is still hot."

Right she is.


PS: Don't forget to enter my giveaway, it's up until tomorrow!

A few bits of spring

Bought myself some tulips to brighten up the kitchen (which has finally been refurbished after a year living with quite a few flaws). The delicate rose color makes me long for spring, but it just started to snow today.

Mum left me some scraps of this beautiful jersey fabric, and I had to make use of it rightaway. A little collection of wrist warmers and cowl necks is growing, it's so adorable to flick through the different versions. I'll show them to you soon!

How to take care of yourself

by making a chicken broth. Not using a spoonful of instant broth with a bit of water, mind you! I am talking about the real deal. A healthy boost from scratch.

I believe a lot in the body being clever enough to show when it's time to put up your feet and take a break. I know it is easy to feel threatened by the slightly itching throat in the morning. You can't afford having a cold now. You've got this important meeting/interview/project/thing coming up. And you need to function.

All the grannies of generations can't be wrong if they started to stir some veggies and chicken in a pot to get you back on track. That's how I see it, too. I understand an itching throat and the imminent cold as the most natural and actually adorable way of my body telling me it's time to lean back a little, dial it down a notch.

And the best thing to do now, besides lounging around on the sofa for a bit, is to support your defence system with some homemade goodness.

*

This is a very basic recipe of a selfmade chicken broth.
It takes a little effort. And yes, it takes about 2 to 3 hours.
But good things come to those that wait.

What you need:
- soup greens (2 onions, 3 to 4 carrots, celery, leek)

- some chicken drumsticks, unseasoned of course (I used about 600g)
- peppercorns, allspice, salt (try to use sea salt if you can), 1 or 2 bay leaves
- noodles for soup (I personally like to use letter-noodles - but that's really just for the joy of finding words on my plate)
- butter and oil
- peas (you can use tinned or frozen ones)
- patience

Wash and dry your chicken, peel the leek, onions and 2 carrots (keep one for later), take off the ugly parts of the celery. If rather long, cut leek and carrots in half. But keep the onions as a whole.

Melt some butter and oil in a large pot on a medium high heat, add the chicken drum sticks and keep stirring for about a minute, so the butter won't turn brown.

Now add the greens, peppercorns, allspice, salt and bay leaves.

Cover everything with hot water and leave simmering on low heat.

After the first ten minutes you'll already notice some foam appearing on the surface. Gently skim this off, it will turn your broth a little bitter if you leave it.

Stir every now and then and keep removing the foam for the next hour/hour and a half (the longer it simmers, the more intense your broth will taste later).

*

Now it's time to remove all ingredients from your broth.

Pod the chicken and keep all those parts you'd like to see in your soup. I am rather picky and tend to remove a lot of the fat and gristly parts.

Add your chicken meat, some peas and another carrot, cut in small pieces. Depending on your taste, you can always pimp your soup with any other greens, like zucchini for example. Or some more leek as well.

Add your noodles, stir and boil for another moment and finally enjoy with some bread.

Oh, and let me know how you got on should you try this recipe. I'd love to know the little extras you add to your chicken broth.

Plums and tomatoes

You probably guessed it already. It was baking time again. The terrible weather has reminded me of autumn, so I felt like baking a proper cake for exactly that season. The plums weren't really that ripe yet, but "sour things make you merry", as we say around here. And merriness was just what I needed.

This is a one-(wo)man cake, by the way, in case you were wondering why those plums look so gigantic. I've been using this special tin ring as well for my carrot cake, and it's been quite practical for those recipes you cut in half, cause you really aren't expecting such a big tea-party. It's also perfect for test-cakes, if you haven't tried a recipe before yet.

I have been enjoying my self grown tomatoes so much. I'm amazed how well they're doing. And it all began with such a tiny seed!

It's always surprising to meet people who don't like tomatoes. Well, of course you are allowed to dislike tomatoes, just as much as I dislike broccoli. And we won't argue about it. But if I ever had to go on a desert island and could only choose 3 kinds of vegetables, it would be tomatoes, garlic, and tomatoes - without batting an eye. 

Probably noone is going to ask me about my preferences in the department of vegetables I suppose, should I really ever be on a desert island.

Avocado spaghetti

Nom nom nom... this is absolutely delicious and perfect if you're a little lazy and need something quick and yummy. And you can keep the avocado seed to grow something as pretty as this.

What you'll need:

spaghetti

about 50ml cream

1 avocado

1 tomato

1 clove of garlic

1 tbsp of lemon juice (or more, if you like)

salt (preferably sea salt)

white pepper

cayenne pepper

Boil a generous amount of water and cook your spaghettis until they're 'al dente'.

In the meantime, chop your garlic, cut the tomato in little cubes and scoop the inside of the avocado into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir in the garlic and tomatoes. 

Warm up this mix together with the cream in a pan. Be careful not to boil it!

Season to your liking with salt and pepper and add your spaghettis.

You can sprinkle some parsley on top for more color.

Enjoy and munch away!

Late nights in the kitchen

This weekend has been so incredibly hot. The lovely sun has downright requested to spend as much time as possible outdoors. It's a miracle I found my way into the kitchen to try out a recipe that's been on my to do list for so long. I actually made this around 11pm, after the sun went down.

As I told you a couple of days ago, I am so inspired by this wonderful food blog. I've always wanted to make a carrot cake ever since I tasted one in London waaay back, and it's been such a challenge to find a recipe close enough to bring back old memories. 

The only thing I altered from this recipe is the amount of sugar. I don't like my cakes overly sweet, and I am still not sure if the sugar in other countries might be a little different taste-wise. I've been trying a couple of American recipes lately and always had to decrease the amount of sugar. Is it possible that it's much much sweeter over here in Europe?

What I will definitely recommend is the buttercream recipe used for this carrot cake. It's just so delicious and easy to make! And so much fun to slather on the cake after all the layers are done. Decorating is my favorite part. Besides munching the entire creation of course.

The layers are not as fluffy as I wished them to be, but I blame this on my fear of over-baking the dough. I remembered that adding a bit of sparkling water could also help, so I'll try that next time.

Oh, how I'd love to invite you all to have a piece! Some tea anyone?

Heaven

This is the most delicious buttercream I have ever made. Heavenly. I wish you could poke your finger in and try.

Wait till I show you what I used it for..

*I'll add a recipe very soon

Thoughts on a perfect breakfast

No breakfast is complete without a dish of eggs.

I didn't always think that way, and toast, bread, butter, jam and a certain chocolate spread have always been sufficient and satisfying for a long time. Not anymore though. Now the first thing that pops in my head as soon as the stomach complains is "What's it gonna be? Scrambled, fried, or omelette?" (Yes, I admit, I have not tried "poached" yet, but I hear that's quite difficult, and I doubt I could be up for these challenges early in the morning with a grumbling stomach). 

Someone told me our taste changes every 7 years. So this is the year for me! I have never liked onions much, and even garlic took a long time to grow on me. Now I find myself in the kitchen, willingly chopping shallots, consequently breaking out in tears, and fixing up a roux (is this the proper term?) as a base for pretty much any sauce I fancy lately.

Just the same with my breakfast. I wrinkled my nose at fans of a proper english breakfast, even when I lived in London for a while ("How can you eat warm food in the morning?"). Now I really can't think of a better start into the day.

What you see above is a spanish tortilla without the potato.. which makes it more into a well intended (and therefor rather thick) omelette. I chop tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms (you can also add zucchini etc.), whisk three eggs in a bowl, add the vegetables, salt and pepper and fry it all in a buttered small pan with garlic. The garlic is really essential, you'll love it! Try frying the omelette with a lid on it. And turning it is a lot easier with a flat plate pulled over the pan. Sprinkle some parmesan on top for extra indulgence.

Hope you're enjoying your breakfast this morning!

Unexpected setback

Moving into a new place is seldom easy. I have been prepared for some banana skins on the way. But this time seems to be exceedingly difficult.

I was promised a new kitchen, and got an involuntary adventure instead. If I ignore the poorly built state it's in, the leaking sink and the fact that I have neither a freezer compartment in my fridge, nor a ceran stove, then I am left with an oldfashioned stove that works beyond any reason. It does work, yes, but you're in for a little jeopardy if you decide to cook an egg or coffee.

If you turn on only one of the 4 hobs, nothing will happen. Turn on 3, and include the bottom right one, and all 4 will start to go full throttle. No matter how you regulate the power. To the state where you can watch the cooking plate turn red and see some sparkles. I am tempted to draw a little chart about the logic of this stove, if there was any.

Now all this wouldn't be so frustrating, if it was taken care of attentively. But my landlady is the mistress of procrastinating, and I am the slave of my own inability to set some limits. 

It's been 2 weeks in total now that I have been living with a crazy stove, and instead of asking what she's been doing during these days I find myself nodding understandingly, agreeing to another day waiting since "this document is still missing, that dude is not calling back, those repairing companies are so unreliable..."

Dealing with landlords has always been difficult for me. It paralyses me that all this comes up right at the beginning. I would have welcomed an easy start into a new chapter of my life. 

But you can't be guided by the thoughts about how things should be, or you're bound to fall into despair.

Back in the kitchen

Yes yes, I know, I should be posting about the wonderful trip to London. But I am still not done sorting pictures, and then got distracted by my ambition to finally make a pie, with crust and all. The real deal.

So instead of bragging about the good times in London, I present to you Mr Strawberry Rhubarb (with a few redcurrants). It's a good substitute, right? For now? Alright, alright... I'll finish sorting pictures while you munch on this.

Housewifing

Every once in a while I bake a cake. And then, for those couple of hours I spend in the kitchen, I have the feeling I could indeed be a housewife and enjoy that sort of thing; rummaging around between pots and pans, rushing through the house with a duster, wearing my cute red apron.. until I come face to face with the pile of last week's dishes. That really takes all the fun out of housewifing.

Anyways. With a little help of my mother over the phone I managed to make this new creation, including bananas and a stiff chocolate sprinkled cream. The best part was coating the top of the cake with small crumbs and pretending to build a sandcastle.

Sorry for the sadly lighted picture though, the sun hasn't been out for a while now. One day, I'd love to make the achievements in my kitchen look like the wonderful creations on this site. 

Careful though, food orgasm included.