BAKING
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PEST of a PESTO… but then onto PASTA! ‘PUTTING UP’!!
“How could such sweet and wholesome hours Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers?” Andrew Marvel Basil Almond Pesto… Snip,snip,snip…all I could hear out in the garden was snip, snip, snip. Sunday morning, me lazing in the study with my cuppa cold milk…one day I like to steer clear of the kitchen in the morning. The snipping didn’t seem to end & I got suspicious. Stepped out to find the gardener trimming away my beloved basil bushes to pretty shapes…I almost passed out! There, lying all around, were bunches of my precious basil! He felt it had overgrown too much & decided it was time to clean it up; for…
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TIME TO PASS IT ON…an excellent award!
“Friendships develop over food and wine” Prince Nicholas Romanoff I made this cake once again yesterday…really enjoyed doing it. The basic cake is an orange flavoured sponge from a book by Sue Ross. It’s sandwiched with an almond whipped cream & topped with a dark chocolate ganache…really excellent. I made the one below using this recipe for the first time… A Chocolate Orange Gateau. You can find the recipe HERE. The word excellent has reminded me of some urgent & overdue stuff to be done. I have received this lovely award three times; once each from Susan @ Food Blogga, Joy @ Joy the Baker & from Andrew @ New…
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WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING WITH NASTURCIUMS…the pretty edible flower!!
“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” William Blake Weekend herb blogging with flowers & herbs! Summer is almost beating down on us & we harvested the last of the nasturtiums over the weekend. The garden was literally over-run by these very pretty & hardy flowers. Even a bunch of caterpillars visited to enjoy the leaves…they chomped their way through an entire flowerbed overnight!! The burst of colour has now gone…but I have a fine bunch of pressed flowers & leaves, & seeds collected for next year. Ever since I read online that nasturtiums are edible flowers (their leaves too), have been keen to throw them into…
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CURRY CONNECTIONS…LAMB CURRY & POTATOES
“What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.”A. A. Milne What’s Cooking ? Curry, I said! Ben @ What’s Cooking US asked me one day if I’d like to contribute something from my part of the world for his ‘What’s Cooking World’ series. C’mon Ben, I said….wouldn’t I just? Any foodie worth his/her salt jumps to a good opportunity that knocks. I had to put on my thinking cap though, as I had posted most of my favourite lamb curries earlier. Suddenly remembered this one…a lamb curry with the very humble potato. Lamb, curry & potatoes make a…
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FRESH, LIGHT & ‘AU NATUREL’…BASKETS A LA MELON!
“Give me book, fruit, French wine, and fine weather and a little music out of doors played by someone I do not know.” John Keats Basket a la Melons!! Spring is in the air! To my delight, this month’s CLICK at Jugalbandi‘s is ‘Au Naturel’. This is my entry for one of the most inspiring foodie ‘visual’ events. It’s an eye-opener to creative photography! Doing away with decadence, though very temporarily, it’s Spring in the air. Melons are beginning to show up here. These pretty yellow fruits are probably called cantaloupes, casabas or melons overseas, but are called ‘sarda‘ locally. Till last year, they were imported from Afghanistan & were…
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MARCH MADNESS & A DARING BAKERS PERFECT PARTY CAKE!!
“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ “ Robin Williams Gimme a layered cake to make & I’m in 7th heaven! As you can obviously guess from my blog posts, I love baking cakes. I have Morven @ Food Art & Random Thoughts to thank for posting such a wonderful challenge..Dorie Greenspan’s ‘Perfect Party Cake’. After my first 2 challenges I was pretty much on shaky grounds (what with LMPs & French loaves), I must admit I procrastinated even going to check on March’s challenge! Crumbs…by the time I checked, had already begun work on our anniversary cake (Chocolate Orange Cloud Gateau; nice one) so felt like kicking myself!…
