Trave's brother Longcat, his girlfriend Gudrun and Trave's sister Felinity visited this weekend. We had a great time together. Obviously the main reason for the visit was to smuggle our kitten back to London. Despite this we thought our guests ought to be fed.
We decided to make a quiche, as this is fairly quick and easy and hassle-free when receiving guests. I used the same pastry recipe as for the hemp flour patry quiche, except I added 3 tablespoons of mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, poppy, millet and crushed hemp seeds).
The filling was made of red & yellow peppers, courgettes, fresh rosemary, dice of mozzarella, and for the cream: 3 eggs, 150ml milk, 120g cheedar (grated), salt and pepper.
As you know I don't have much time for anything at the moment so I did not make a cake (how dare I? Visitors and no cake? This is outrageous, I say!). Instead, Trave bought a cake from the local delicatessen. It was a delicious mocha sponge cake baked by Judith. We will definitely go there again for cakes, they are really nice.
If you really want to know: they failed to kidnap the kitten, but for some reason, she has been sleeping all day today!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Raw vegetable salad with feta cheese (2)
This salad is nice and refreshing, great with a few slices of crusty seeded wholemeal bread.
Ingredients:
Cucumber, sliced
Tomatoes, diced,
1 yellow pepper, sliced and slices cut in two
1 red pepper, sliced and slices cut in two
celery branches, sliced
Feta cheese, diced or crumbled
Unrefined extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Ingredients:
Cucumber, sliced
Tomatoes, diced,
1 yellow pepper, sliced and slices cut in two
1 red pepper, sliced and slices cut in two
celery branches, sliced
Feta cheese, diced or crumbled
Unrefined extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Raw vegetable salad with feta cheese
We had a few days of sunshine where a nice refreshing salad was a must.
Ingredients:
celery sticks, sliced
carrots, cut into sticks
tomatoes, diced
Cucumber, sliced
Feta cheese, diced
Unrefined, extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Ingredients:
celery sticks, sliced
carrots, cut into sticks
tomatoes, diced
Cucumber, sliced
Feta cheese, diced
Unrefined, extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Cheese and crackers
A classic combination if you have little time to cook anything.
For this plate, I used the following biscuits:
oat biscuits,
crackers with pumpkin seeds and rosemary,
"Vollkorn Brot" (German wholemeal bread),
seasalt and thyme biscuits,
and the following cheeses:
mature cheddar,
spreadable goatcheese
Served with a few plum tomatoes. It was very satisfying.
For this plate, I used the following biscuits:
oat biscuits,
crackers with pumpkin seeds and rosemary,
"Vollkorn Brot" (German wholemeal bread),
seasalt and thyme biscuits,
and the following cheeses:
mature cheddar,
spreadable goatcheese
Served with a few plum tomatoes. It was very satisfying.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Hemp flour quiche
It was Trave's birthday on Saturday and his parents took us to Garden Organic Ryton, where they have a lovely restaurant with view on the flower garden and fabulous food! Shame the weather was bad: it would have been really nice spending the afternoon exploring their organic garden.
They have a shop where you can buy vegetables they grow and other organic stuff. I bought some rye flakes (current stock in the cupboard is close to nil), quinoa flakes (I have tried the grain but not the flakes yet) and also some hemp flour, which I used the following day to make a creamy potato and carrot quiche.
Pastry:
170g plain white flour
15g hemp flour
80g butter
pinch of salt
3 TBSP cold water
Filling:
500g potatoes, diced
5 carrots, sliced
60 ml double cream
3 eggs
150ml milk
150+ g mature cheddar cheese (I usually put at least 200g but I'm greedy!)
parsley (from the garden)
freshly cracked black pepper
1. To make the pastry, mix the flour and butter and salt until it ressembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and knead until soft and smooth. Roll and fill a greased quiche dish. Prick the case with a fork and cover with baking beans. Bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees) for 10 min. Remove the beans and return to the oven for 5 min.
2. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes and carrots until cooked but firm. Drain thoroughly then add the double cream and some pepper onto the vegetables and heat through. Add 1/3 of the cheese.
3. Once the cheese is melted, pour the creamy vegetable mixture into the pastry case.
4. Top with the remaining cheese and sprinkle with parsley.
5. Mix the eggs and milk and season with pepper. Pour over the cheese.
6. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes and eat hot with a green salad or vegetables.
They have a shop where you can buy vegetables they grow and other organic stuff. I bought some rye flakes (current stock in the cupboard is close to nil), quinoa flakes (I have tried the grain but not the flakes yet) and also some hemp flour, which I used the following day to make a creamy potato and carrot quiche.
Pastry:
170g plain white flour
15g hemp flour
80g butter
pinch of salt
3 TBSP cold water
Filling:
500g potatoes, diced
5 carrots, sliced
60 ml double cream
3 eggs
150ml milk
150+ g mature cheddar cheese (I usually put at least 200g but I'm greedy!)
parsley (from the garden)
freshly cracked black pepper
1. To make the pastry, mix the flour and butter and salt until it ressembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and knead until soft and smooth. Roll and fill a greased quiche dish. Prick the case with a fork and cover with baking beans. Bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees) for 10 min. Remove the beans and return to the oven for 5 min.
2. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes and carrots until cooked but firm. Drain thoroughly then add the double cream and some pepper onto the vegetables and heat through. Add 1/3 of the cheese.
3. Once the cheese is melted, pour the creamy vegetable mixture into the pastry case.
4. Top with the remaining cheese and sprinkle with parsley.
5. Mix the eggs and milk and season with pepper. Pour over the cheese.
6. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes and eat hot with a green salad or vegetables.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Mixed salad with wild rocket from our garden
Hehe, here are our first home-grown leaves. Soon we will have a few of our own-grown cherry tomatoes to go with them, yum yum!
Simple ingredients for this refreshing salad: wild rocket leaves, tomatoes, Parmesan shavings, freshly cracked black pepper, unrefined extra-virgin olive oil.
Simple ingredients for this refreshing salad: wild rocket leaves, tomatoes, Parmesan shavings, freshly cracked black pepper, unrefined extra-virgin olive oil.
Berry time
The weather has been very miserable this year and if there was any summer at all, it has been brief. Although berries of all sorts are shockingly expensive, we had a few treats involving raspberries and blueberries (one of my favourite berries, especially in pies, cheesecakes and muffins).
On that particular evening, it was Cornish dairy icecream with raspberries and blueberries, absolutely delicious!
I also made blueberry muffins with the other half of the fresh blueberries but they are way too small. Delicious, but too small! When I find a better recipe, I will keep you posted.
On that particular evening, it was Cornish dairy icecream with raspberries and blueberries, absolutely delicious!
I also made blueberry muffins with the other half of the fresh blueberries but they are way too small. Delicious, but too small! When I find a better recipe, I will keep you posted.
More kitten pictures
She has grown so much it is unbelievable! We have started taking her outside in the garden, under supervision only, until she is spayed. No flirting with the local tomcats for our beautiful lioness.
Hiding in cycling paniers is unbelievably fun for a kitten. Well HIDING generally speaking seems to be fun for kittens.
Tissue boxes: she loves them so much we are building a tunnel/labyrinth for her. We are at 4 boxes so far. I wonder I long it will take until she cannot fit in them any longer!
Luckily, she has not knocked any of the plants over yet. I thought she would be discourage by the cactus but she loves rubbing against it. And I suspect she tries to eat the bamboo when we are not around.
Hiding in cycling paniers is unbelievably fun for a kitten. Well HIDING generally speaking seems to be fun for kittens.
Tissue boxes: she loves them so much we are building a tunnel/labyrinth for her. We are at 4 boxes so far. I wonder I long it will take until she cannot fit in them any longer!
Luckily, she has not knocked any of the plants over yet. I thought she would be discourage by the cactus but she loves rubbing against it. And I suspect she tries to eat the bamboo when we are not around.
Cycling through Warwickshire
I have tried many different ways of conciling work + studying + wedding prep + raising funds for African Now + cycle training + cooking & general housekeeping and I am really struggling! So I have now eliminating the cycle training dilema of finding the time by taking a longer route to and from work. Last Friday I started doing 10 miles (16 km) each way and it is really good. The landscape is much nicer, and there is much less traffic, possibly because I leave home at 7 am!
For those who know Warwickshire, from somewhere between Sydenham and Whitnash I cycle through Radford Semele, Offchurch, Hunningham, Weston-under-Wetherley, Cubbington, and get to work.
I might not persevere over winter, but so far so good!
For those who know Warwickshire, from somewhere between Sydenham and Whitnash I cycle through Radford Semele, Offchurch, Hunningham, Weston-under-Wetherley, Cubbington, and get to work.
I might not persevere over winter, but so far so good!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Film review
We have seen a number of good movies lately. Among them, I recommend:
Mon Meilleur Ami
This is the story of a man who think he can buy everything, who think he is happy, until somebody makes him realise how lonely he is.
I'm a bit of a fan of Daniel Auteuil: La Fille sur le Pont, Le placard, Ma Vie est un Enfer...
Goodbye Bafana
This was extremely difficult to watch at times. Let's put aside the artistic value, which I will not pretend I can judge, I thought the movie was thought-provoking and I would like to learn more about South-Africa during the Apartheid regime (shall I write it with a capital A???).
La Môme
This movie tells the story of the life of Edith Piaf, the famour French singer. It is beautiful and very emotional. I have just read the following critique of the movie on the IMDB. The beginning of the comment is a bit harsh I think, but I did not no much about Edith Piaf before I saw the movie. However I agree with the following statement made by that same critique:
"The movie also assumes previous knowledge of Edith Piaf's life, since it leaves so much unsaid. For instance, on her deathbed, Piaf mentions her husband Theo, but that's the only reference to him in the movie. Worse, the movie skips from 1940 to 1947—missing the World War II years when Piaf was in her prime. And considering "La Vie en Rose" presents Edith as a French folk heroine (she is guided by Saint Therese and discovers her vocal talent singing "La Marseillaise"), it's strange to omit the heroic work she did for the Resistance during this time. Instead, the movie finds its greatest emotional resonance in a love affair Piaf had with boxer Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins) in the late '40s. You can tell that this relationship is doomed from the start—the tension between Edith's wholehearted faith in love, and the way that destiny seems to be set against her, is quite affecting."
No Man's Land
This movie shows the absurdity of war, of any war, of all wars. You must see this movie and show it around you.
Mon Meilleur Ami
This is the story of a man who think he can buy everything, who think he is happy, until somebody makes him realise how lonely he is.
I'm a bit of a fan of Daniel Auteuil: La Fille sur le Pont, Le placard, Ma Vie est un Enfer...
Goodbye Bafana
This was extremely difficult to watch at times. Let's put aside the artistic value, which I will not pretend I can judge, I thought the movie was thought-provoking and I would like to learn more about South-Africa during the Apartheid regime (shall I write it with a capital A???).
La Môme
This movie tells the story of the life of Edith Piaf, the famour French singer. It is beautiful and very emotional. I have just read the following critique of the movie on the IMDB. The beginning of the comment is a bit harsh I think, but I did not no much about Edith Piaf before I saw the movie. However I agree with the following statement made by that same critique:
"The movie also assumes previous knowledge of Edith Piaf's life, since it leaves so much unsaid. For instance, on her deathbed, Piaf mentions her husband Theo, but that's the only reference to him in the movie. Worse, the movie skips from 1940 to 1947—missing the World War II years when Piaf was in her prime. And considering "La Vie en Rose" presents Edith as a French folk heroine (she is guided by Saint Therese and discovers her vocal talent singing "La Marseillaise"), it's strange to omit the heroic work she did for the Resistance during this time. Instead, the movie finds its greatest emotional resonance in a love affair Piaf had with boxer Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins) in the late '40s. You can tell that this relationship is doomed from the start—the tension between Edith's wholehearted faith in love, and the way that destiny seems to be set against her, is quite affecting."
No Man's Land
This movie shows the absurdity of war, of any war, of all wars. You must see this movie and show it around you.
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