Tag: easy

06Jun

Easy roasted tomato sauce

I recently heard a radio interview with Diana Henry, an irish food writer (you can listen to the interview here). Catching her interview on my way to work was one of those happy coincidences, and I actually wished my work commute was longer so that I could have listened to it all. She talked very frankly about how her love of food started with good irish food and how that love flourished when she lived in London and Paris. She was very frank and humble about constantly learning about new foods and trends as a food writer and I identified with so many of her views. Especially when she talked about the fetishisation of certain food, a word that I will be using very often from now on. A trend she says she doesn’t understand. And neither do I. Example in point: avocado on toast. Two years ago no one was doing it, now everyone is.  So I stay away from avocado. I was never big on it and I would feel like a huge hypocrite if I started jumping on the bandwagon. Food, just like fashion, should be about knowing what suits you rather than throwing all the trends
3 mins read
608 Views
24May

Blueberry muffins with lime streusel

When people ask if I have a hobby I answer “baking”. Sounds like a cop out but I really don’t have the want to put my time into much else. My husband is a diver, which is a genuine hobby in my eyes, and one that requires you to have genuinely expensive equipment. Sure, the type of diving equipment you buy can make a life or death difference, but I have argued with his diver friends that baking trumps diving when it comes to cost. Obviously they rolled on the floor laughing after I said that, but until you become a serious baker, you’ll never understand how expensive it is to trial new recipes. Sure you can eat the products of your hobby, but all the testing I have done recently makes my freezer look like a cake morgue. In this muffin recipe I like to lightly poke the blueberries, I find this is a nice trick so that your blueberries don’t sick to the bottom. This recipe developed from a cherry cheesecake muffin that ended up exploding in my oven (currently in the freezer). Don’t you agree baking can beat many other hobbies in the money stakes? Blueberry muffin
3 mins read
599 Views
06May

Applesauce banana loaf [Dairy Free]

I am sitting here trying to describe how I have been feeling in these last few days. Tired is the first adjective that comes to mind. At first I thought the word was so salient in my mind because of how the physical side of my job had left me sore in my legs and arms, with 5 am starts thrown in the mix too.  The first course of action for me to counteract this was to dive into a diet of spirulina smoothies and sugar free snacks. The food has given me an energy boost, but on my days off I can’t shake off the wanna-be-in-bed-all-day feeling, so I had to think a little harder about what else I was be doing wrong. Thinking being the key word here, I was in my head too much. I have an emotional job, where you make decisions about people’s lives, and that is something that can be highly rewarding at times, but on the other hands it makes me over analyse every decision I make. It leads to a very judgemental cycle in my head and by the time i get home I am in this deep emotional pit, no one can rescue
3 mins read
662 Views
21Apr

Cold brewed coffee

It was October when I first moved to England, and one of my earliest memories was the changing colours of the leaves…and the shocking amount of tea people drink here.  The stereotype is real, it is the land of tea, dare I say more than India itself. The etiquette around tea is also something the British don’t joke about, it is close to a crime here to get up to make yourself a cup of tea and not ask whether anyone else in the room wants one. I think this strong tea culture froze the progress of coffee. Literally, freeze dried coffee is what you’ll get if you ask for one.  It looks like they left that for the continent to deal with. Growing up in Brazil there were no other alternatives but to have coffee in the morning and a little shot in the afternoon to keep you awake in the heat. I only drank tea when I was ill, and to this day I cannot get on board with the drink. I felt I had little choice but to give in to instant coffee and I couldn’t stomach it. But beggars can’t be choosers and grew to accept
3 mins read
662 Views
18Mar

Honey Chai Easter cookies

The first time I listened to Nirvana was in my cousin’s bedroom. My cousins were quite a few years older and the coolest kids I knew. I got hooked listening to Nevermid and listened to Come As You Are on a loop. I wanted to tell everyone about it. I was a little late to the party though, this was in 98, so my enthusiasm received a lot of eye rolling because Nevermid was so last year, or so the cool kids told me. Eighteen years later I receive somewhat the same reaction when a mere few months ago I expressed my love for Chai lattes. Chai tea, according to snobs around me, was old news. Chai was out, turmeric was in. Although as a teenager I liked to imitate my cousins, these days I no longer feel embarrassed for not having tried all the latest trends. So better late than ever, I have started to experiment with chai spices.  I am no expert, but I played with the spices combination in this recipe at least 10 times now, and it is truly addictive. I am not moving on to turmeric any time soon, I am truly in love with
3 mins read
881 Views
16Feb

Easy peanut butter ice cream

As a petite girl I often have to have my clothes altered to fit me better. I was sharing this with a friend and said I would love to learn how to sew so that I could do it all myself. Said friend was baffled, “why would you want to do that? It is too fiddly to do and hard to learn”. Yes, but it means I can alter clothes to fit me…I even started to dream of making my own dress. I can understand my friend’s line of thought, it is much easier to go shopping for a dress, or even do it as I often do, shop online.  I love that our modern world offers us so much convenience, giving us the time to go do other things we enjoy. But to be very blunt here, I don’t get people that don’t get the feeling of achievement when creating something, be it made of fabric or a nice chocolate cake.These days you can find absolutely anything that your heart desires in a shop, so it doesn’t surprise me that homemade items are highly appreciated presents. I can cross the road and buy a tub of ice cream for less money than
3 mins read
791 Views