1. Birthday…

   February 18, 2013 by potatoface

   A long, long time ago, almost in a galaxy far, far away (let’s call it Poland) I used to work as a freelance journalist. I was mostly interviewing film makers and because I was independent, I only interviewed the ones whose work I found interesting. One day I said to my friends: ‘In 6 months I’m going to interview Mike Leigh’ and their response was ‘ Yeah, right, as if’. I’m not sure if you know this, but the urban myth is, Mike Leigh doesn’t like the press and interviews. Well, after 6 months I proved my friends wrong. After pulling all the contacts and possible strings I was on the way to London to a scheduled meeting with the man himself.  And I don’t know if it’s only an urban myth, but Mike Leigh was the nicest person ever. I was shitting myself anyway, because you don’t very often meet someone so intelligent, knowledgeable, accomplished and totally intimidating.  He was very patient with me and after we were done with the interview, we went for a little walk around Soho to have some portraits taken. It was February and it was my birthday. I knew his birthday was just a few days away, so I mentionned it. I also said that it was the best birthday I had ever had and he asked why. I said it was because I met him and got the interview. And that’s when he said to me ‘ Girl, you must have had really crappy birthdays then, if meeting me is the highlight’.

   And boy, oh boy, was he right…I mean, about crappy birthdays, I still think meeting him was a highlight…

   Anyway, birthdays. My mother never made a big issue of anyone’s birthdays.  I never had a hoopla. There was never a wild party or even a party come to think of it. When me and my sister were a little bit older she always used to make a birthday cake for me, so she was the only one making a bit of a fuss.

   Because of the way we were brought up I never payed attention to my birthdays and I never know how to act when someone mentions it.

   So this year I decided to treat myself to a bit of a me time. Boyfriend went away with the band to record a new album and I could indulge myself the way I wanted without him trying to upstage my efforts to do so.

   Forget about Breakfast at Tiffany, Breakfast on Pluto or even Breakfast Club. It was all about Breakfast in Bed. Not just breakfast in bed. The whole day in bed. My plan was to stay in bed all day, watch films and eat and drink whatever I felt like. And don’t assume I stayed in bed in my dressing gown. Oh no…I decided it was time to glam up, dress up and doll up.

   For breakfast I made myself croissants, and the recipe you can find in the blog under dessert section. The only difference was, they were plain ones and bigger than the ricotta ones.

   

   breakfast in bed

   

   breakfast in bed

   

   breakfast in bed

   

   

   And then I had lunch in bed and dinner and a little dessert. I made raspberry cupcakes with white chocolate icing.

   Raspberry cupcakes with white chocolate icing

   Ok, I know people say in baking you have to measure everything correctly…Well, I wasn’t in the mood for measuring so I combined let’s say 60g butter with 60g sugar, added 2 eggs and about 120g of flour, and a spoon of baking powder. Then I added a splash of vanilla and a few spoons of almond milk. After that I folded in the batter 200g (?) raspberries. Oh yeah, and I prebaked oven in the meantime to 180C. After all the mixing I spooned the mixture into paper cases and baked the cupcakes for about 20 min. I let them cool and then melted white chocolate (100g) in about 150g heavy cream over simmering water. When it cooled, I piped it onto my cupcakes. And funnily enough, it worked, they were yummy. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I added a bit of red colouring to the icing to make it pinkish. Just because I felt like it.

   

   

   

   raspberry and white chocolate cupcake

   

   And you know what…? I had the best day ever!!

   Category dessert, Party | Tags: birthday,butter,coffee,croissants,cupcakes,eggs,flour,raspberries,sugar,the October Game,vanilla extract,white chocolate | No Comments

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2. Golden Globes

   January 16, 2013 by potatoface

   When I was at the university me and my friends used to make a big night of watching any film awards, especially the Oscars.

   We used to dress up like we were going to walk the red carpet, make some food and drinks (we couldn’t really afford champagne back then, so usually we settled for sparkling wine). And we used to watch the awards all night till early hours. We had so much fun doing that every year. Usually we were talking over it most of the time but I treasure moments of making fun of some of the speaches, coming up with the phrases we used later over and over again (‘Andrew, how lovely to see you from so far away’ – Oscars 2000)…Me falling of the chair when I heard the Award went to someone who in my opinion didn’t deserve it….Aaah, memories…

   When I moved to UK we tried to keep up with the tradition and in my first year I watched it with a group of new friends and commenting on the whole thing with my friends in Poland via Skype or text messages. But then it all changed. It just wasn’t the same, we were all working so we couldn’t really stay up all Sunday night.

   So this year I decided to bring tradition back and make the night out of the Gloden Globes (especially that I didn’t have to go to work next day).

   Drinks were flowing, snacks were prepared – crostinis, popcorn, roasted nuts, macaroons and creme de la creme – orange cupcakes with chocolate and orange icing.

   

   popcorn bags

   

   table setting - gold theme

   

   setting the scene

   

   macaroons

   

   house decorations

   

   table setting

   

   crostini

   

   orange and chocolate cupcakes

   Orange and chocolate cupcakes

   • 150 grams  unsalted butter, room temperature
   • 1 cup sugar
   • 5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
   • 1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
   • 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
   • 3 cups flour
   • 1 teaspoon baking powder
   • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
   • 1/2 teaspoon salt
   • 1 cup buttermilk

   For the frosting:

   200 grams of dark chocolate, 200 of double cream, 1 tablespoon of orange extract

   Preheat the oven to 180 C

   Using mixer, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the orange extracts and zest and mix well.

   In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined.

   Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to cool completely.

   For the icing, temper chocolate, mix with cream and orange extract, cool slightly and when it starts setting, pipe onto your cupcakes or using palette knife spread on your cupcakes.

   

   Category cakes, dessert, Party | Tags: butter,buttermilk,chocolate ganache,eggs,flour,Golden Globes party,orange zest,salt,sugar,yummy | No Comments

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3. Christmas party – menu

   January 5, 2013 by potatoface

   I said recipes were coming soon, but who truly can define ‘soon’.

   In other words I was just being lazy, doing what you should over Christmas – do nothing, eat, drink, and be merry…

   But here it comes, christmas party menu:

   Beetroot soup with mushroom parcels

   For the beetroot soup you need:

   2-3 beetroots (fresh)

   1 carrot

   1 parsnip

   1 onion

   3 pints of water

   salt

   pepper

   dried marjoram

   oregano

   lemon juice from 1 lemon

   1 spoon of olive oil

    

   1. Boil water in a pan. Add olive oil.

   2. Peel all the vegetables , cut them into big chunks (onion in half) and add to boiling water.

   3. Add salt and pepper.

   4. After few minutes add lemon juice. Boil for 15-20 minutes, taste and add more seasoning or lemon juice if you need to.

   5. You can take all the vegetables out of your pot (we need clear beetroot soup) and add herbs and a dash of an olive oil.

   I’m not going to lie, you can make yourself mushroom parcels (like tortellinis with porchini mushrooms). My sister does. But I bought them frozen from a Polish shop (one can only do a few things at a time).

   

   mushroom parcels

    

   

   beetroot soup with mushroom parcels

   Next thing on the menu were Beet and Goat Cheese Terrine with Rocket and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

   

   beetroot and goat cheese terrine

    

   

   beetroot and goat cheese terrine

   You can find the recipe in ‘Fresh’ by Anna Olson

   

   I served it with Rocket and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad, Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa’s recipe:

   You can find it in her book ‘Back to Basics’

   

   or on the Food Network website here.

   For the main we had Spanakopita (Spinach and Feta in Filo Pastry). I tried different variations of  this Greek dish but my favourite recipe which I used over and over again is Jamie Oliver’s from his ’30 Minute Meals’  book

   

   There were two deserts. One of them was mince pies in filo pastry, dead easy. You need to cut filo pastry into squares, brush with melted butter and arrange in a muffin tin. If you feel artistic and have time arrange them with corners making a star. Fill them with vegetarian good mince meat, zest of lemon and fresh cranberries, bake till golden and sprinkle with icing sugar and maybe little sugar snowflakes…?

   

   mince pies in filo pastry

   

   And there were also Gingerbread Cupcakes.

   

   Christmas gingerbread cupcakes

   

   Christmas gingerbread cupcakes

   And the recipe you can also find on the Food Network website here.

    

   Category dessert, dinner, Party, soup, starter | Tags: baking powder,butter,butternut squash,cheese,christmas,cinnamon,cupcakes,eggs,feta cheese,flour,garlic,herbs,lemon,mince pies,mushrooms,nutmeg,olive oil,pepper,pine nuts,rocket,salad,salt,spinach,wine | No Comments

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4. Halloween party – menu

   October 31, 2012 by potatoface

   When people talk about organizing a perfect dinner party or making decorations etc,  there is always one person being mentioned…Martha Stewart. But to me the perfect party queen is Ina Garten also known as Barefoot Contessa.

   If I could choose my dream party I wanted to be invited to, it would be Ina Garten’s party. I mean, hello! There’s no competition.

   For the Halloween party this year I took my inspiration for the menu from Barefoot Contessa’s books.

   Halloween Party menu:

   Starter:

   bruschetta with peppers and gorgonzola

   spiganarda with roasted vegetables

   Main:

   pumpkin risotto

   desert:

   chocolate cupcakes with orange icing

   drinks:

   red wine

   coffee martini

    

   Let’s talk about starters.

   Bruschetta with peppers and gorgonzolla

   I found this recipe in Ina Garten’s book ‘Back to Basics’.

   You will need:

   baguette (or any bread you fancy)

   yellow, green and red pepper

   2 tablespoons of drained capers

   gorgonzola

   salt

   pepper

   olive oil

   fresh basil

   1.Slice baguette or your choice of bread. You can brush your slices with olive oil and toast in the ovcn but I found them too dry, so to make them crusty on the outside and soft inside it’s better to toast them on the grill pan (really hot).

   2. Preheat the oven (180 C)

   3. Cut peppers into thin strips. Arrange them on the baking tray, sprinkle salt and pepper on top, bake them in the oven till they are soft and lightly brown on the edges. Ina Garten sautes them and adds sugar but I think when you roast them in the oven, you don’t need to add sugar because they are slightly carmelized anyway.

   4. Add capers into the peppers. Chop basil and add to peppers. Set aside.

   5. Arrange slices of bruschetta on baking tray lined with foil. Top each one with spoonful of pepper mixture. Crumble gorgonzola on top. Bake in the oven for  few minutes, serve warm.

   

   bruschetta with peppers and gorgonzola

   Spiganarda with rosted vegetables

   This one comes from Barefoot Contessa’s Parties book. Original recipe was with orzo pasta but my Italian shop run out of orzo so I decided to replace it with spiganarda. I also added olives instead of spring onions because I don’t like spring onions and I love olives.

   1 aubergine

   1 red, yellow and green pepper

   2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed

   250 grams of spiganarda pasta

   salt

   pepper

   olive oil

   lemon juice

   olives

   1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts

   feta cheese diced

   fresh basil chopped

   1. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Dice aubergine and peppers, toss them with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper on a large baking tray. Roast in the oven till they start turning brown, turning with the spatula a few times.

   2.In the meantime cook pasta. Drain and transfer into a large bowl.

   3. Add vegetables, pine nuts, basil, feta cheese and olives into the pasta. For the dressing mix lemon juice from one lemon with olive oil, salt and pepper, pour over the pasta.

   Now, main dish. I’ve made it before for the halloween, but this time I changed my recipe a bit.

   

   spiganarda with roasted vegetables

   

   spiganarda with roasted vegetables

    

   Pumpkin risotto

   arborio rice

   pumpkin or butternut squash

   saffron

   salt

   pepper

   1/2 bottle of white wine (pinot grigio)

   2 pints of vegetable stock

   lemon zest from one lemon

   olive oil

   knob of butter

   cup of grated parmesan

   chopped shallots

   minced garlic

   1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Cut your pumpkin or butternut squash into cubes. Spread on the baking tray, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper and roast till they’re soft and start to get golden brown.

   2. Warm 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan (the best to use is an ironcast one), add knob of butter. After the butter melts add shallots and fry them until they are soft and translusent. Add garlic and fry for two minutes. Then add arborio rice (1/2 cup for each person). Mix and let it fry for a while till coated with olive oil and warm.

   3. Add a ladle of vegetable stock at the time. Cook on low heat (not too low, if it’s too low the rice grains will stay hard, if the heat is too high it will turn into mash) till rice absorbs the liquid. Keep adding stock and wine (wine needs to be room temperature, stock can be hot, you don’t want to stop the cooking process by adding cold stock).

   4. Add few strings of saffron, salt and pepper.

   5. Add roasted cubed pumpkin and zest of lemon. At the end add grated parmesan. Serve immediately.

   

   pumpkin risotto

   

   pumpkin risotto

   Halloween chocolate cupcakes with orange icing

   The main inspiration for the batter came from…you guessed, Ina Garten again. This time from the book ‘Barefoot Contessa, How Easy Is That?’.

   I changed few ingredients and the icing to make it more suitable for Halloween.

   So here it is:

   2 1/2 cups flour

   1/4 cup cocoa

   1 tablespoon baking powder

   1 tablespoon baking soda

   1 cup buttermilk

   1 tablespoon white vinegar

   1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

   120 grams of usalted butter, at room temperature

   1 cup sugar

   pinch of salt

   2 eggs, at room temperature

   milk chocolate chips

   1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

   2. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and pinch of salt.

   3. In a seperate bowl combine buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla.

   4. Beat the butter with sugar on a low speed for a minute, till fluffy and light. Add one egg at a time and beat until combined. Start adding dry ingredients and wet ingredients in 3 parts, mix on low speed till combined.

   5. Add chocolate chips.

   6. Scoop the butter into muffin cups, bake for 25- 30 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

   For the icing you will need:

   120 grams of room temperature butter

   120 grams of cream cheese (you can just use cream cheese if you prefer)

   1/2 cup icing sugar

   1 tablespoon orange extract

   orange colouring (I couldn’t find it in any shops, so I mixed red and yellow)

   1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and combine it well. Pipe it onto your cupcakes.

   Couldn’t be easier!

   

   halloween cupcakes

   

   halloween cupcakes

   

   halloween chocolate cupcake with orange icing

   And finally…

   Coffee martini

   1 part of strong coffee

   1 part of tia maria

   1 part of blood orange vodka

   1. Mix with ice in a coctail shaker and serve in martini glasses

   

   coffee martini

   

   coffee martini

   Category cakes, dessert, dinner, Party, starter, Uncategorized | Tags: aubergines,baking powder,black olives,butter,capers,eggs,feta cheese,flour,garlic,olive oil,parmesan,pasta,pepper,peppers,pine nuts,pumpkin,salt,wine | No Comments

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5. French themed party

   August 15, 2012 by potatoface

   To achieve a successful French theme party you need:

   1. to befriend a French person, preferably with a family (so you can have a French person times three = more legitimate French party)

   2. miniature Eiffel Tower,

   3. A la French menu,

   4. lots of wine,

   5. no nonsense taking attitude,

   6. lots and lots of wine and cheese,

   7. stamina…

   8.selection of French music.

   

    Now, it’s definitely not a good idea to start with a little session called ‘two Cosmopolitans drinking two cosmopolitans’…which is me and my ex flatmate (Kamil, mentioned before in this blog) downing two cosmos before the French arrived. Three words of warning – next day hangover.

   And try not to delete half of the photographs you had taken (!)

   Anyway, setting the table for the French themed party in my case was more like fishing from a basket of clichés. Baguette here, Eiffel tower there, and voila! Sorted.

    

   French theme party

   

   

   french theme party

   

   french theme party

    

   

   

   

   For dinner I made green bean and goat cheese tart. The inspiration came from Anna Olson’s book ‘Fresh with Anna Olson’, I just turned it into a vegetarian dish.

   Green bean and goat cheese tart

   Ingredients:

   For the pastry:

   1 1/2 cups of flour

   120 grams of unsalted butter

   1/2 cup of grated parmesan

   2-3 tablespoons of cold water

   Filling:

   200-300 grams of green beans, trimmed and blanched

   2 eggs

   3/4 cup of sour cream

   black pepper

   pinch of salt

   herbes de provence

   120 grams of goat cheese

   1. For the pastry pulse the flour and butter in a food processor until crumbly (you can do it by hand, just try to be quick so the butter stays cold)

   2. Add parmesan and water and pulse again. Turn the dough out, shape into a disk, wrap in a cling foil and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

   3. Preheat the oven to 190 C. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle. Line the tart shell with the dough, trim the edges. Chill for another 30 minutes (trust me, it’s worth it).

   4. Stab with a fork a few times (helps letting the air out while baking) and bake till it starts getting golden. Let it cool.

   5. Reduce the temperature to 160C. Arrange the green beans, sprinkle herbes de provance.

   6. In a small bowl whisk the eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper. Pour this over the tart filling and crumble goat cheese over the top.

   7. Bake till the eggs are set. (Don’t engage into a long conversation if you don’t want to burn your tart)

   8. Let it cool a bit before slicing.

   

   

   

   green bean and goat cheese tart

   I served it with a salad made of rocket and watermelon with lemon and olive oil dressing and shaved parmesan on top.

   There was also plenty of wine, cheese, baguette, etc.

    Dessert is a different story. I decided not to make a cake but biscuits. There were two : normal shortbread filled with raspberry jam and hazelnut shortbread filled with nutella. Yum!

   Vive la France!

   

   shortbread biscuits

   

   shortbread biscuits

   

   Category dessert, dinner, French theme party, Party, tart, Uncategorized | Tags: butter,cheese,cream,eggs,flour,goat cheese,green beans,herbs,parmesan,salt,wine,yummy | No Comments

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6. deep fried stuffed crepes

   July 22, 2012 by potatoface

   

   deep fried crepes

   This is my ‘pick me up and turn me round’ type of food..

   Deep fried stuffed crepes

   Ingredients

    for the pancakes:

   1 cup of milk

   2-3 eggs

   1 1/2 – 2 cups of flour

   2-3 spoons of olive oil or melted butter

   pinch of salt

   1/2 cup of oil for frying

   For the filling

    220grams quark or ricotta

   2 mashed bananas

   1/3 cup of honey

   1 teaspoon of cinnamon

   1/2 cup of raisins or any dry fruit (cranberries, chopped apricots,etc)

   

   deep fried crepes

    1. Mix all the ingredients for pancakes. Leave it for 10 minutes. If it’s too thick after 10 minutes, add some water.

   2. In the meantime warm up a non stick frying pan on the medium heat. When the pan is really hot, pour your mixture using a ladle and tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

   3. Cook the crepes and flip when it starts to loosen. Use a spatula.

   4. Cook on the other side for a minute, transfer it onto the plate.

   5. Repeat till you use all the batter.

   6. After you have all crepes prepared, mix all the ingredients for the filling.

   7. Put about a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the crepes, fold it like a tortilla, then fold it again to make them rectangular.

   8. Heat oil in a pan. Wait until it’s really hot, fry your stuffed crepes on medium heat till they are crispy and golden brown on both sides.

   9. Serve with a spoon of sour cream and sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon.

    Pick me up and turn me round
   I feel numb – born with a weak heart
   (So I) guess I must be having fun …

   Category brunch, dinner, lunch | Tags: bananas,butter,cinnamon,dried fruit,eggs,flour,honey,milk,oil,quark,ricotta,salt | No Comments

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7. ricotta crescents

   July 20, 2012 by potatoface

   

   ricotta crescents

    Sometimes I think baking keeps me from going insane. It’s zen, it’s like meditating. It makes me feel a bit like a witch making potions (evil laugh).

   So when you feel down, save yourself by baking.

   And give the product of your labour away if you tend to comfort eat. After all what they say is if you love it, set it free…

   

   ricotta crescents

   Ricotta crescents

    Ingredients

   for the dough:

   50grams of fresh yeast or two sachets of dry ones (15 grams)

   cup of lukewarm milk

   2 table spoons of sour cream

   1/4 cup of sugar (or 1/4 cup of honey)

   pinch of salt

   3 eggs and 1 egg white (you will have one after making the filling)

   100 grams of melted butter

   3-4 cups of flour

    for the filling:

   220 grams of ricotta or quark cheese

   zest and juice of one lemon

   1 egg yolk

   1 mashed banana

   1/3 cup of honey

   1 egg for brushing

   1. Put yeast in a big bowl, add sugar or honey and warm milk. Mix and leave it for 10 minutes.

   2. After 10 minutes when the yeast has started working add eggs, butter, sour cream, pinch of salt and 3 cups of flour.

   3. Start to kneed the dough. If you need it, add more flour…no pun intended.

   4. Leave the dough to raise.

   5. After half and hour kneed it again and leave it for another half an hour.

   6. Mix ingredients for the filling.

   7. Sprinkle your working surface with more flour. Divide the dough into 4-5 parts.

   8. Roll out one part of the dough on the floured surface. Cut into triangles. Brush with beaten egg.

   

   

   9. Put about 1 small tablespoon of filling on the end of the triangle. Start rolling from that end making the shape of a crescent. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

   10. Transfer crescents onto a baking tray lined with greased paper. Brushed each one with beaten egg and sprinkle with more sugar.

   11. Bake in the oven at 170 C till they are golden brown.

   Breath in and out…eat it. Be happy.

   Category breakfast, dessert | Tags: banana,eggs,flour,honey,lemon,milk,quark cheese,ricotta cheese,salt,sour cream,sugar,yeast | No Comments

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8. Easter chocolate cake

   April 6, 2012 by potatoface

   

   easter chocolate cake

    To be honest, you can make any spongy cake which goes well with chocolate. Spread chocolate ganache on top, decorate it with speckled chocolate eggs and you’ve got Easter cake.

   If you prefer, go for chocolate all the way.

   

   easter chocolate cake

    Chocolate Easter cake

    Ingredients:

    200grams of flour

   80 grams of cocoa

   100 grams of sugar

   1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda

   1 teaspoon of baking powder

   3 eggs

   1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

   1/2 cup of espresso

   175 grams of soft unsalted butter

   pinch of salt

   for chocolate ganache:

   100 grams of dark chocolate

   cup of cream

   speckled eggs to decorate

    1. Heat the oven to 180 C.

   

   2. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl till it’s combined. Don’t overdo it, just mix it gently till it’s smooth.

   3. Lightly grease a round tin with butter and sprinkle with a bit of flour.

   4. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 40 minutes till it’s golden. Insert a skewer into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean, your cake is done.

   5. Let the cake cool. Then remove it from the tin.

   6. For the chocolate ganache melt chocolate with cream over a pot of simmering water (low temperature, has to just simmer). When it’s melted, let it cool, then spread it over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the top with little eggs.

   Happy Easter!

   

   chocolate cake

   Category cakes | Tags: baking powder,butter,chocolate,cocoa,coffee,eggs,flour,salt,sugar,vanilla essence | No Comments

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9. Muffins

   April 3, 2012 by potatoface

   

   muffins

   Do you know what I like about muffins? That they always come right. You don’t need to measure the ingredients (as long as you know what consistency you are looking for), throw anything in it and voila! Muffins are done. I wish life was more like muffins…

   I recently started taking driving lessons. I had never driven in my life before. I couldn’t afford driving lessons before as well. But now I’ve got this job most of the time I really like (is it weird to like your job if it’s not creative?) and in the job I really need to drive.

   I even found my driving instructor through work. He’s really nice and patient. He even gives me discount on my lessons. And because I really appreciate it, I try to bake something for him every time. And as I have to consider his health, most of the time I’m making him healthy muffins.

   His name is Kevin. Sometimes when Boyfriend is seeing me baking muffins again, he’s saying: ‘we need to talk about Kevin’. Not that Kevin is anything like the one in the book, hahaha….I hope.

   If you don’t know what I’m talking about there is a tip – the book was made into a film. Watch it.

   Anyway, I really enjoy driving around (or trying) in a mini. Yes, in a mini….I look so pretty in it.

   

   banana muffins

    Muffins

   basic ingredients:

   240 grams of wholemeal flour

   100 grams of oats

   1 teaspoon of baking powder

   pinch of salt

   half a glass of agave syrup (or half a glass of demerara sugar, nut agave syrup is so much better)

   3 eggs

   half a glass of milk

   half a glass of sunflower or grape seed oil (or 60 grams of melted butter if you are decadent and don’t have to worry about your cholesterol)

   1 spoon of cinnamon

   1 spoon of vanilla extract

    These are your basic ingredients. Now, it depends where the mood (or season) is taking you. You can add any fruit you desire:

   1. one banana and 200 grams of raspberries

   2. three ripe bananas and handful of chopped walnuts

   3. 200 grams of blueberries, zest and juice of one lemon

   4. three chopped apples

   5. zest and juice of 2 oranges and handful of chopped pecans

   6. two pears and 7 plums chopped

   Etc, etc, you get the picture.

   

   raspberry muffins

    1. So basically what you do is mix in a bowl flour, oats, salt and baking powder. Whisk eggs, and add it to the mixture.

   2. Add oil, milk, agave syrup, cinnamon and vanilla extract and mix it, not to vigorously.

   3. In the meantime heat the oven (170 C)

   4. Chop your choice of fruit or nuts. Add them to the mixture and fold it gently especially if you are adding raspberries.

   5. Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases. Fill each case with the mixture to just below the top.

   6. Bake in the preheated oven till they’re nice and golden on top. Use the skewer to check if they’re baked inside (has to come out clean).

    See, why is everything in life not this easy?

   Category dessert, muffins | Tags: agave syrup,baking powder,banana,blueberries,cinnamon,demerara sugar,eggs,flour,milk,oats,oil,oranges,pears,pecans,plums,raspberries,vanila extract,walnuts | No Comments

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10. Mac and cheese

    March 6, 2012 by potatoface

    

    mac&cheese

    When it’s cold and gloomy outside, you might be craving comfort food. I would’ve never thought of having macaroni cheese, but few days of cold weather and early mornings at work and there I was. Comforting myself with children food.

    

    macaroni cheese

     Macaroni cheese

     2 -3 cups of pasta (small)

    2 knobs of butter

    milk (about half a cup)

    3-4 spoons of flour

    nutmeg

    pinch of salt

    100 grams of vegetarian cheddar

    100 grams of vegetarian parmesan

    mozzarella

    breadcrumbs

    

    1. Boil water for pasta.

    2. When your pasta is cooking, make your sauce (like bechamel) – melt butter in a pan, add flour and mix carefully on the low heat, then pour milk gradually, whisking. Try not to leave any lumps. Add pinch of salt and as much nutmeg as you like (spoon or two for my liking).

    3. Drain pasta and grate parmesan and cheddar. Mix cheese, sauce and pasta (if you feel cordon bleu, add any veg you fancy or fresh herbs or go crazy and add some nuts). Add chunks of mozzarella to it.

    4. Butter ovenproof dish, sprinkle some breadcrumbs and transfer your macaroni mixture into it. sprinkle more cheese on top and more breadcrums.

    5.Bake in the oven until golden.

    Category dinner, lunch | Tags: breadcrumbs,butter,cheddar,cheese,flour,milk,mozzarella,nutmeg,parmesan,pasta,salt | No Comments

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