Pink flowers

Beautiful new flowers from the flower market..loves.
the best things in life really are the simplest =)

Cream of Celery Soup

The clocks have turned back, signifying the beginning of winter and the end of summer! I quite like winter! Because with winter comes soups, roasts, casseroles, anything slow-cooked to keep the chill at bay! I created this hearty soup because...

1. although I like winter, the fact that it gets dark so early depresses me slightly, and a bowl of hearty soup really cheers me up (that and a huge slice of cake!)
2. Celery was on reduce and it was super cheap!

It's perfect to curl up with in front of the TV during those cold dark winter months. I'm not a fan of celery but because it was so cheap I couldn't resist! Nevertheless this soup is really delicious! Boil the celery first to reduce the pungent taste

Cream of Celery Soup
Serves 2

• 150ml of stock (I used homemade pork stock)
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• quarter of an onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 160ml hot milk
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Croutons (optional)
• Parsley (optional)

1. Boil the celery for 3 minutes. Drain.
2. Pour the stock into a large pot, and bring to a boil. Add the celery, carrots, garlic and onion to the pot.
3. Whisk together flour and milk, slowly pour milk mixture into the pot. Add the butter to the soup. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Simmer for 10minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend to a puree, then pour into pot to reheat.
5. Top with croutons and parsley and serve with crusty bread!

Enjoy!

happy happy

Such a cute video. Really inspires you to want to get up and create something! I can't seem to post the video up, but here's the link! =) Even her album name and cover is adorable!

Lisa Hannigan - I Don't Know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSaPbVjcrp4

Enjoy!

Easy Orange Loaf Cake

I have finally christened my new kitchen! Woo! =)

I was feeling restless and decided to do some midnight baking!
This recipe is for a wonderfully moist and fragrant orange cake with an orange drizzle on top. SO GOOD! And perfect to have for tea the next day.
You can always opt not to add in the drizzle or substitute it with any other frosting of your choice. I baked mine in a loaf tin, but it can be baked in a 9inch round tin as well.

Easy Orange Loaf Cake
Serves 6

• 165g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Drizzle

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease loaf pan.2. In a measuring cup, combine milk, orange juice, oil, beaten eggs, lemon juice and orange zest together. Mix well and set aside.
3. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon.
4. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk and orange juice mixture. Stir until smooth.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
6. To make drizzle, combine the sugar, orange juice and orange zest together till it becomes slushy, but not stiff. Pour over the top of the cake and serve.

Enjoy!

Moi Je Joue

Absolutely adore this commercial!



Love the sheer playfulness of it and the beautiful pale colours. It makes me want to ride a bike down the streets of Paris with a handful of balloons. =)

Why Sundays make me smile...

A day at Columbia Road Flower Market...

"too blessed to be stressed"

Hope you had an inspiring weekend =)

Mine all mine =)

Living with flatmates with clashing schedules tends to lead to a 'cook for yourself' system we have established. Truth be told, as much as I enjoy cooking with/ for friends, I honestly love and prefer cooking for and by myself, I find it harder to make dishes for many people than I do for just one. You can afford to be decadent, and as selfish as it sounds, when cooking for one, the only person you have to please is..well...yourself!

Beef Stroganoff for One
Serves 1

• 120g Beef stewing steak, cut into chunks
• 15g butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• half an onion sliced
• 1 very large button mushroom
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup beef stock
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tbsp white wine
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• salt and black pepper to taste

1. In a pan, heat oil and melt the butter. fry beef chunks till brown. Season with salt, pepper and paprika
2. Push the beef to one side and stir in the flour with the beef juices. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, then push to the side with the beef chunks.
3. Pour in the beef stock and vinegar, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil then lower the heat, stir in mustard. Then cover and simmer gently for about 30minutes or until meat is tender. If sauce is too thin, stir in cornflour.
4. Five minutes before serving, stir in the sour cream, and white wine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
   
   
   Serve with rice or noodles.
   ..enjoy =)

Today I baked...

Almond topped coffee cake

I haven't baked in weeks due to being swamped with work. But its all done now!! =) I made this as a treat to myself and a pick me up for my sister who is swamped with projects now.

This cake can be prepared overnight and stored in fridge to be baked the next morning, so its perfect for those busy mornings. Admittedly I'm not much of a morning person, for some reason my mind and body just don't seem to agree with it haha. I don't have problems waking up, but getting me out of bed is a nightmare. I' m a serial lazer, I have to laze in bed for approximately 45minutes before I'm adequately awake. However THIS morning, the thought of waking up to the smell of cinnamon-y, almond-y goodness got me snip snap out of bed! The sour cream in the recipe is what gives it a wonderful moist texture and it contrasts beautifully with the cracked brown sugar and almond topping.

Almond topped coffee cake
Serves 6

• 85 g butter, softened
• 100 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used a mixture of muscado dark sugar and light brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Glaze

• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add in egg and beat well.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together. Gradually add the flour to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream. Pour mixture into baking dish.
3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, chopped almonds and cinnamon; sprinkle over coffee cake. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Next day. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 170 degrees celcius for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
5. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Stir confectioners' sugar and milk together; drizzle over warm coffee cake.
   
   
   Enjoy with a warm mug of coffee =)

'Amazing grace how sweet the sound'

I just watched an interesting documentary on BBC.
Deborah Drapper a 13 year old girl, devout Christian who has absolutely no clue about things like who Britney Spears is, ask her who Victoria Beckham is and she replies “Someone married to a Mr Beckham? I don’t know her, I’m sorry.”
It's amazing, she's intelligent, completely confident in herself and most of all devoted to God. It's almost enviable how self confident she is with herself. At aged 13, she holds intelligence and an amazing maturity far beyond her age. She doesn't care what the world thinks of her, only how God perceives of her is important. It's utterly amazing...and truly inspiring. I myself wish I had her boldness...All I can say is that I'm completely humbled by this little girl's faith and by God's amazing grace and forgiveness.

God Bless you all =)
If you are interested the documentary:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j6l77/Deborah_13_Servant_of_God/

The ultimate study meal

So I have been working like a maniac for the last few weeks, cause I have crazy essay deadlines to make next week. I'm actually supposed to be working right now, but I thought I would take a sneaky break to write something other than 'the notion of nostalgia' hee hee. It's so depressing I swear.
Anyway I'm sure most of you students can probably relate to the fact that exam time = crap food and a LOT of eating out and takeaway.
Being a person who prefers to cook at home, this never appealed to me. But because of my tight schedule now, I can only afford to make quick little meals.
Thus I bring you...the bagel sandwich! It's quick, easy and oh so yummy! =) I got the idea when I visited my friend in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, and she brought me to this adorable little bagel shop that did all sorts of awesome bagel concoctions. When I returned to London, Tesco's was having a buy one get one free on all their bagel bags! I took that as a sign haha. So hurry down to your nearest supermarket and pick up a bag!...or two! =)

Grilled red peppers, Brie and garlic ham bagel

Ingredients

• 1/4 red pepper cut into slices
• Brie cheese (or you could use mature cheddar, depending on what you like)
• Butter
• olive oil
• One bagel sliced in half
• Garlic ham (you can use salami, pastrami etc.)

1. Lightly toast the red peppers in the oven for 10minutes with olive oil and a pinch of sugar
2. Butter your bagel, cover bottom bagel with cheese, layer with ham, remove peppers from the oven and layer peppers on top with another sprinkle of cheese.
3. Pop it in the oven to toast for 10minutes
4. Done!

Time to get back to work! =)

Funfact: Did you know that bagels are boiled?! I was so shocked when I found out!

Best Loved Sugar Cookies

I was never really a big fan of sugar cookies, thus I never made any...till recently.
I tried making it once and I just couldn't stop! It was an addiction! I just kept making it, and trying to perfect it. So much so, that I couldn't eat it all by myself.
So I started giving it out as gifts to friends who requested it =)
It's incredibly easy and incredibly delish!
So here it is!

Best Loved Sugar Cookies
Makes 25 cookies

• 3/4 cup white caster sugar
• 130 gram butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Icing

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• assorted food colouring
  

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
2. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut dough in half, wrap and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4 an inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake until cookies are set and light gold around edges, about 10 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool.
5. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Add food colouring if desired. Ice cookies. Using either a teaspoon or pastry brush

Enjoy =)

I packed mine in a box and gave it to a friend as a gift.

Ps: If you don't have a cookie cutter (which i didn't at that time) I used... a clean kitchen cardboard roll haha it works brilliantly! But it would be nice to use cookie cutters and not be a cheap student like me haha.

I haad a dreaam...

And a really weird one too!! The night before I was looking up cupcake recipes to bake the next day. I fell asleep unsatisfied and exhausted, and had the strangest dream where I was baking this concoction..it was not really a cupcake or a brownie..kinda a mixture of both, I think it was just my sub-consciousness working in overdrive...but I decided to try it out! HAHA

I went online and found a somewhat similar recipe to what I remembered from my dream and followed it. The strange thing is this recipe didn't have any butter in it, I think that kinda affected the texture of my cakes, which honestly speaking have the strangest texture I have ever come across. However the taste is really good..So...here is the recipe if you are feeling a bit adventurous!

Chocolate cream cheese cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

Cream cheese topping
230g cream cheese
1 egg
65g (1/3cup) sugar
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used a mixture of chopped dark and semi sweet chocolate)

For the chocolate cake base
1/2 cup flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 cup coffee

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Line muffin tins with paper cups
2. Beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar together till smooth with no lumps. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt together.
4. Add the coffee, oil, vinegar and vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon till well blended.
5. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and add a layer of cream cheese mixture on top.
   
6. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30
   

So I discovered that it had a really strange chewy texture when it first comes out of the oven but after leaving it in the fridge for a day (covered) the texture improved greatly and the lovely chocolate-y flavour coupled with the cream cheese becomes more prominent. =)

This is the recipe I based it on (they call it black bottom cupcakes...interesting name..)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Bottom-Cupcakes-I/Detail.aspx

Unfortunately I forgot about my second batch and accidentally left it in the oven for an hour.
The end result:Looks kinda like chocolate cupcakes don't you think? It tasted incredibly awful though =(
I stupidly tried...

Note to self: no more eating burnt cupcakes

roti (wo)man

The price of an average tasting focaccia in a plastic wrappy at the supermarket will cost you about £2.30, and that's enough for only one meal. So lately I've gotten really into bread making, partly because I've been quite stressed with my uni giving me a ton of problems and I've discovered that kneading bread is incredibly therapeutic, it's like a soft smooth punching bag.
The other day I made foccacia bread to take to a friend's dinner. It's the second time I've made it and I'm starting to get used to the whole 'science' that bread making involves. If I were a chem teacher I would make my students bake bread. If my science teacher at high school had conducted experiments like that, there would probably have been a less likely chance of me failing.

This recipe is incredibly simple and so so yummy. You can make it the night before and refrigerate the dough, but I personally don't like the texture of refrigerated dough so i tend to bake it as soon as it has risen.

Easy Cheese and Herbs Focaccia Bread
Serves 8

• 230 g bread flour
  
• 170 ml warm water
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano and/or thyme
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
  
• pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 cup cheese (i used a mixture of Parmesan and Edam but you can use any cheese of your preference)
• extra oil for greasing bowl
• extra flour for dusting
  
  

1. In small bowl put yeast, sugar and slowly add in water.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, oregano, thyme, and black pepper. Make a well in the middle and slowly pour in the yeast mixture, pour in the oil. Stir with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to mix it all into a ball.
3. Sprinkle flour over a clean work surface and tip out the dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes till smooth and elastic. (If you are unsure of how to knead, this video is very helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWj8oHMPFm0)
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 220°C/428°F. Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with cheese, salt and rosemary. Bake for 15minutes or till golden brown.

Enjoy!

In conclusion: Make your own bread. It tastes so much better, it's marginally more cost-effecient and it relieves stress =)

Better than a box of chocolates

Nothing beats a big chewy chunky chocolate chip cookie. I get an immediate boost of happiness after biting into a wonderfully soft cookie. This recipe is probably my favourite, I found it some time ago on allrecipes.com and have adapted it according to my own tastes. It's simple and quick to bake, good when you get those late night cookie cravings, as i so often do and so so incredibly tasty.

Mmm mm mm i'm going to have myself some now!

Chunky chocolate chip cookies
Makes about 24 cookies,
- although i still had leftover dough, which i mixed with vanilla ice cream to make a quick and easy choc chip cookie dough ice cream =)
(I figured salmonella was worth the risk for such yummy-ness.)

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
150g Unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cup of chopped up chocolate chips (i used a mixture of both semisweet and dark chocolate)

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl or using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar, beat in the vanilla, and egg until light and creamy. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda until well blended.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough spoonfuls at a time onto the prepared baking sheets (you can use an ice cream scoop to get perfectly round and even shapes) Cookies should be about 2 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Cookies should be still quite soft when you remove them from the oven, if not you run the risk of overbaking them.