3 ingredient pancakes

Monday morning inspiration 

Yummy + nutritious = perfect brekkie combo

If you're always rushing to work and can't afford to spend hours cooking a decent breakfast, then this pancake recipe by the internationally renowned top model Karlie Kloss is definitely for you. Simple and easy to make, you only need 3 common household ingredients, specifically 1 egg, 1 banana and some porridge oats, to whip up this delicious and vegetarian-friendly morning treat. Feel free to spruce it up with some other add-ons like cinnamon, blueberries, and maple syrup to make your breakfast extra scrumptious. 

Guaranteed to taste waaaay better and more filling than a shop-bought muesli bar (which used to be my go-to brekkie option whenever I was dashing out to beat the morning traffic). 

Recipe from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DI0Nr3wPQA 

Creamy scrambled eggs with smoked salmon roses on warm pitta bread

Decadence at dawn

Have you ever woken up quite early and thought WHY? Why are sleep and I not cooperating despite it being only just sunrise?

I have.

Normally I'd try to read a book to make myself drowsy or simply close my eyes and hope that I somehow dose off. But today, I decided to plan brekkie just a couple of hours ahead so that I wouldn't be pondering what to eat when I "eventually" got up. I was in the mood for simple but decadent. Something scrummy that would require minimal effort and use up my leftover ingredients. With the ingredients out, hob and oven on, and table set, it was time for some major cooking action.

It's more than just normal to be attracted to the delicious smells in the kitchen. But what I adore are the sounds. The sound of fresh eggs being cracked, the humming of the oven warming up the pitta bread, and the sizzle and pop of melting butter sliding down a hot griddle pan - it's more than just a symphony, it's a foodie philharmonic. And the design of the dish is equally important. I mean, why have something that tastes good that looks simultaneously boring? I see cooking as a blank canvas that allows me to paint whatever sort of creation my heart truly desires. For this meal, I was aiming for a homely and comforting look, with an added hint of flower power (hence the smoked salmon roses). Delicious and aesthetically pleasing, what more could a girl ask for?

Be creative. Love cooking.

x

Home-made potato crumpets

An indulgent breakfast/ special treat

I think the key to ANY meal, be it for a boyfriend, parent or even yourself, is to be proactive. Good food comes with time and preparation, so it’s vital that you plan ahead. This time it was breakfast that I was preparing in advance for. After reminding myself that it would be best not to wake my significant other up early so that I could start cooking, I decided to make a part of the dish just the night before.

Home-made potato crumpets it was then.

The recipe was yet again from the genius chef, Rachel Khoo (2014). Only this time it came from her latest TV series, Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook, which was about her latest cooking adventures that were inspired by her hometown, London. I just thought well, if it only takes around an hour to make something THAT special for breakfast, then it’s definitely worth a shot. The only issue was getting the potato flour. I’d never bought it before so I guess it was really lucky that my local health food shop stocked it!

If you have a circular ring for cooking, be sure to use it or else you won’t get the nice crumpet shape that I guess any keen cook (or perfectionist) would be aiming to achieve. Following Khoo’s instructions, I topped my crumpets with a circular, sunny-side up egg, yet again using the circular mold. And adding some freshly roasted sliced red and yellow capsicum (or pepper) and fried mushrooms will definitely help you earn a couple of extra smiles (or kisses) from those you’re cooking for.

My ending point to this blog post is that although it was great that I made the crumpets the night before, thus meaning I was well-ahead of my schedule, it really is best to eat it straight away so that you essentially bite into a hot and fluffy cloud rather than a slightly hard fried good that we did. Still, I was happy that I’d planned it out (otherwise we would have had boring old toast for breakfast).

Ultimately though, it was delectable.

Khoo, R (2014) “Potato Crumpets with Maple Gammon, Tomatoes and Egg” Recipes. [online] Available at: <http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/659162> [Accessed 29 July 2014]

Fruit and Nut Muesli Surprise dotted with Fresh Blueberries

Starting the day off healthily

No I’m not going on a diet. I’m simply choosing to eat (slightly) more healthily than I did before. The best part about it was that I made an entire week’s plan of what I wanted to eat – no need to worry about what the next meal should be AND I've already stocked up on everything that I need.

Today, I start with muesli (or granola). It’s basically dried oats that have been stuck together, nothing fancy really. Well, that is, until you opt for the nut and fruit surprise packet. Crunchy, chewy and jam-packed with important nutrients (not that I could tell you what they are precisely), I personally have to say that it’s both a nourishing meal and an exercising session for our molars! And to make it just a bit more decadent, I topped mine with fresh blueberries.

Delicious.

Blueberry muffins

Good morning Wednesday

The "proper" way to start the day

I guess you can say (or tell) that I'm MAD about baking. Be it cakes, pies, cookies or even the odd meringue every so often, any oven-related cooking task is enough to keep me merry for the whole day (even if the day itself turns out to be quite a disaster).

I'm not sure why I haven't talked about this recipe before - oh well it's here now. Blueberry muffins are probably my to-go-for comfort food or breakfast choice for a sunny and early weekday morning. I probably should create my own recipe but I, personally, don't feel I'm at that level just yet (but I will be able to do so soon - I promise!). Anyhow, here's one of my all-time favorite blueberry muffin recipes. And if you do make them, I suggest baking them in colorful cupcake holders like the ones in my picture - life should be colorful, not plain.

Start your day off well - give the below recipe a shot :) xxx

Recipe from: KRUSTY (2013) "The Best Blueberry Muffins" Recipes [online] Available at: <http://www.food.com/recipe/the-best-blueberry-muffins-50719> [Accessed 2 July 2014]

Red Grape and Rosemary Focaccia

A Brand New Day =

Waking up and turning my alarm off to go back to sleep - snoozing for another 1-2 hours is essential and healthy :)

Nah...just kidding! A new day means a new recipe to try of course! This time, I found myself getting very/ over excited about the recipe I'd found in a leaflet from Tesco's the other day in Durham. Emma Laver's (Bakery Manager at Tesco Milton, Cambridgeshire) vegetarian background and experience as a pastry chef led her to propose the following: Red Grape and Rosemary Focaccia

On today's menu...

(if you've never taken a leaflet before or have even heard of it until now,I suggest that you go into a large supermarket like Tesco's, Sainsbury's, Morrisons etc. and keep your eyes out for it or to ask one of the staff members to get you one - they really are very nommy recipes!)

I'm definitely all for bread of any sort really. But grapes and rosemary? Now that I had to pause and think for a bit - normally focaccia for me is made up of black olives or red onions, so putting a fruit in with one of my favorite herbs was a bit of a new combo. After looking it up on the net and finding that Laver's recipe was actually quite popular, I decided that I'd save the red grapes I'd purchased earlier and use it to make the focaccia. Let's hope it turns out alright, I thought.

The early stages of the dry mixture

Rules of the Baker

There was nothing overly complicated about this recipe for me - I'd made bread before so it was simply a matter of applying what I do know to a new situation (skills - checked!). For this recipe, Laver asks for the folowing:

Serves: 4, Duration = 2.5 hours (2 hours for proving the dough -- trust me, it's worth the wait!)

Mixing the dough...

Ingredients

• 1 tsp dried active yeast
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 350ml (12 fl oz) warm water (not lukewarm, WARM water - I used 230ml cool water + 120ml hot water)
• 450g (14.5 oz) plain flour PLUS extra to garnish
• 1 tsp rosemary, chopped, PLUS extra sprigs to garnish (if you can't find any sprigs, like what happened to me, get a bottle of rosemary that's available in any supermarket and use that instead - works just as well!)
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed, plus extra to garnish (I didn't have JUST fennel seeds; I had a bag of mixed seeds - e.g. pumpkin, sunflower, fennel etc. - I used that instead and d'you know, I reckon it was BETTER than just chucking fennel in it :-) be bold and take risks, people!
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 250g (8oz) red grades
• Plain flour, for dusting
• Sea salt (I used a box of sea salt flakes - really gave it the added flavour that this recipe just needed to make it a perfect focaccia)

Covering it before proving...

Equipment

• 2-3 medium-sized bowls (I reused one of them so I only used 2 bowls)
• Measuring beaker
• Large baking tray (if you have an oven, it should come with it)
• Baking parchment (size is dependent on the size of your baking tray)
• Measuring spoons (you'll need 1 tsp and 1 tbsp - or, in my case, 1/2 tbsp because my 1 tbsp melted the other day; don't ask why)
• Wooden spoon
• Bread knife
• A granite or marble work board* (this isn't 100% necessary if your worktop or island is made out of either of the mentioned materials but they're really handy when you're dealing with flour as you can simply tip all the leftover flour away and into the bin without having to dust and wipe down the entire table - I highly recommend everyone getting one of these - they can be bought in pretty much any supermarket e.g. Asda Home Living; note that they can be quite heavy).
• Rolling pin (FROM YESTERDAY's EXPERIENCE -- make sure you use a rolling pin that is JUST A BIT smaller than your oven tray or else you won't be able to roll out the focaccia to it's full extent -- that happened to me :-(

Proving in the oven that's OFF for 2 whole hours (I'm not kidding)

Now, NORMALLY, I would say "okay kids, let's start off with preheating the oven". But, like with pretty much all kinds of bread, preheating the oven is unnecessary because your dough won't be able to go in until literally 1-2 hours later (you don't want to burn the house down by turning the oven on too early!). 

Method 

(note: a scientific word for a fool-proof recipe, literally :-)

After proving (it's grown!!!)

• 1) Combine together the yeast and sugar in a bowl and pour in 350ml water; stir and set aside.
• 2) In a larger bowl, combine the 450g flour, 1tsp fennel or mixed seeds (I actually added a nice hand full - that's fine too), 1 tsp rosemary and 1 tsp salt - give it a good mix.
• 3) Pour in the yeast mixture -- FROM EXPERIENCE: it's easier to handle if you add in the yeast mixture a little bit at a time (it prevents any lumps from forming thus making it easier to mix) -- and mix using the wooden sppon.
• 4) Sprinkle some flour over the worktop or marble/ granite work board
• 5) Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on the worktop for 10 minutes until smooth (there are bread machine recipes for focaccia too but not in this recipe - I don't have a bread machine so I have the KNEAD my way to success/ get food; it's fun but does require time and practice to get it right -- I'm still not perfect but watching The Great British Bake-Off and Paul Hollywood on the telly have definitely helped :-)
• 6) Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil into a bowl (I reused the one I had the yeast mixture in earlier).
• 7) Roll the dough in the oil to cover the entire entity.
• 8) Cover it with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours until the dough has double in size (for me, it was 2 hours in my oven that was TURNED OFF)

Before rolling the dough...

• 9) After 2 hours, take the dough out and remove the clingfilm before roughly kneading half the amount of grapes through the dough (very smart thing to do as it gives the dough a splash of color inside than just on the outside).
• 10) Scatter a baking tray with some flour
• 11) Using the rolling pin or your hands, stretch out the dough so that it is roughly the size of the tray (that was a bit difficult for me -- will need to improve on that in the future!)
• 12) ***Gently slide the dough off the tray and onto the worktop (this step WAS NOT part of the recipe but made sense to me because Laver later tells you to preheat the oven WITH the baking tray and baking parchment - that wouldn't have worked for me unless I took the focaccia off from the tray it was on because I only had that one tray; if you have two or more trays, do NOT follow this step - skip to step 13)
• 13) Cover the tray with a tea towel and it rise for 30 minutes
• 14) Preheat the oven to its highest temperature and put a lined baking sheet on a baking tray in to heat up.
• 15) Press the remaining grapes and some rosemary sprigs into the dough
• 16) Drizzle the remaining oil and scatter with sea salt and fennel seeds onto the dough.
• 17) Slide the dough onto the preheated tray and bake for 5-8 minutes (yes, it's a very fast bake but takes a lot of time to prove).

My freshly baked (odd-shaped because my rolling pin was too big - pooh) focaccia

When it's finished baking, take the tray out of the oven. It should come out with an even rise and golden-brown on the top; hopefully yours will have a better shape than mine (must buy a rolling pin that's SMALLER than my tray for the future!). Cut, using the bread knife, the required amount of slices. Serve whilst hot (yes you can eat it when it's cooled down but seriously, what's better than freshly baked and hot bread?!?!?!)

Who want's a slice? :-)

You can have it with cheese (goats' cheese is highly recommended), red pickle spread, Nutella etc. or peanut butter like I had this morning (I made the bread last night and so, I didn't have to worry about breakfast :-)  if you make it the night before, I suggest that you cut out the required amount of slices and then chuck it into the oven to heat up (it'll come out nice and crunchy on the outside but soft and springy on the inside; plus it's hot! Emphasis on the deliciousness of hot bread intended!)

If you want to know if you've made the bread correctly, follow these simple tips:

• 1) Cut out a slice and see if there are air pockets inside the bread (I think the more there are the better -- correct me if I'm wrong).
• 2) Using a finger, press firmly on top of and inside the bread and see if it bounces back each time; if it doesn't leave a mark, you've done it right - congratulations :-D

Note the air pockets - a professional made one has better looking and I think bigger air pockets (but I'm an amateur so leave me alone :-P

A truly delicious and easy bake - perfect for anytime of the day and undoubtedly a great way to get ANYONE up and going in the morning.

Breakfast is served :-)

Trendin' - The Vogue Factor

Bed Book and Breakfast

Quite simply the best combo in the world but often hard for me to achieve as I'm frequently running off in the early hours of the day to some exotic place (shopping malls included), castle or, quite simply, work/ uni. I found this book, The Vogue Factor by Kirstie Clements, a while ago in WH Smith in York train station whilst I was waiting to go home and finished it pretty much in one go. It's an excellent read that illustrates Clements's career at Vogue Australia, starting off with being a receptionist to becoming the Editor-in-Chief for 13 years straight before being sacked in May, 2012.

I <3 my Lucky Charms (and book) :-)

Speak out

One of the key things I learnt from the book. Clements (2013) didn't get position after position in Vogue just by sitting back - oh no. In fact, she wouldn't have gotten into Vogue without speaking out for herself and saying that Vogue ought to let her fill in the receptionist's position so that they wouldn't have to call her back if the other person they had in mind wasn't successful. Sometimes in life, you just need to take the chance and ask. Don't worry about whether or not you get what you want. As long as you did what you could at that time in an attempt to achieve something, then that's all that matters.

A simple and classic front cover - the gateway to a metropolis of dark secrets and stories

No pain, no gain

What basically reflects a model's life (the majority of them anyway - we can't generalize anything in life - that's what I've learnt in Anthropology). If you want to be "in", you'll have to make some sacrifices - eating less and over-worrying about weight. Even the smallest gain in weight can make you lose your job; Clements (2013) references several occasions where models have lived on tissues as a source of nutrition (it fills the belly up apparently) and even those in drips. It's a beautiful tragedy I guess. Of course, there are other models with can have a perfectly healthy diet and still stay in perfect shape and figure (lucky) but, the truth is, nothing comes without us putting a bit of hard work into it, even if it goes against or physicality at times.

Trendin' on my shelf

Living in Irony

Fashion can be portrayed in many different forms. From casual to evening wear, each is represented by a stereotype that's often been personalized to help each and everyone of us to easily associate what we do know about it with the new piece of information we've received (I am indirectly referring to a bunch of things I learnt in Psychology ages ago). When we think of the lives of those that are from the higher ranks of the fashion industry, it isn't uncommon for us to think that they do indeed live a luxe life (and definitely a richer one than mine! cries*). The Vogue Factor, rather than simply being an short autobiography, also reveals the deep dark secrets of the lives of such people. From daily chaos, stressful meetings to even breakdowns due to the impossibility of finding the "correct" shoe, Clements (2013) beautifully crafts together an ideal companion for all fashion-lovers (like myself) that shows the world what life really is like behind all the designer catwalks, visits to exotic places, makeup and clothing.

A personal yet realistic read, if you want to know about the deep and darkest secrets of the fashion industry, then this book is for you :-)

Harold's enjoying his morning read

Bibliography

Clements, K (2013) The Vogue Factor, London: Faber and Faber Ltd.