Oodles of carrot noodles!

Still pimping the vegetable noodles, but venturing into carrot territory as I had a few left over in my fridge. I spiralised them into noodles - which did work fine, although a couple of times the machine didn't like it, as it's so much harder than a zucchini. But all up, just as quick and easy. Then a quick stir fry in some olive oil and back in to the serving bowl. Then I made some cute little meatballs, lightly spiced with ground cumin and coriander, cooked them in the frying pan and tossed them on top of the noodles.

 

Now it's time to come clean...

Quince time!

Once a year, when it's quince time, people inevitably come into work with bags to give away, so I can't help but whoop for joy and get on board the quince train!
Firstly, it's all about poaching them long and slow. A few days ago I'd poached some in a sugar and water syrup (with a cinnamon stick and vanilla pod) - cooking them low and slow on the stovetop. So I just re-used the same poaching liquid adding a good splash of white wine this time and cooking them in the oven. I think the change from pale pear colour to the jewel-like ruby red is half the appeal in cooking with quinces.

 

After they were cooked, I used some of the poaching liquid to make a little jelly (adding a soaked gelatine leaf into a cup of the hot liquid) and when cool, poured it over a broken savoiardi biscuit in each of the dessert glasses. Then a few slices of the poached quince.

 

 Last step was to make a white chocolate cream (150ml white chocolate melted in 100ml cream and folded into a further 200ml of whipped cream). And with a dollop of that and some toasted flaked almonds on top, I had a dessert ready to knock my guests socks off!

A garden harvest

A visit to the farmer's market yesterday morning and I was sold by the yellow butter beans and broad beans. I looked forward to a light Sunday evening meal with butter and a sprinkling of salt...yum yum. Then a visit to a friend's house had us leaving with more goodies: scarlet runner beans, apples and golden drop (we think) plums.

I usually consider myself fairly adept at using a knife but today my thumb came out a little worse for wear (perhaps I should play it safer and "cut onto a board")!

Even so, my meal of beans was delicious and I utilised the striking scarlet runner bean flowers. They are such a brilliant red and are an edible garnish. When using flowers in cooking, remove any stamens as they are bitter. A few petals of edible varieties add a splash of colour but generally whole flowers aren't renowned for depth of flavour! Whole buds can be bitter and are more likely to house an insect or two. 

 

The plums were oh so delicious, especially with the yoghurt, meringue shards and toffeed granola bites. Mm mmm....

A personalised gift

A toiletry or makeup bag or even a pencil case - personalised for a friend having a special birthday...

...and so the idea developed as I had a packet of "Miracle Fabric Sheets" which are pre-treated fabric sheets (for printing on) which are attached to backing paper so they'll go through the printer...

12 Days of Christmas - Days 6 - 11

Another week of Christmas outfits! 
♩♪♫♬ 5 en-sem-bles, 4 sets of pearls, 3 festive frocks, 2 shimmery shoes and a bonus evening party dress (sung to the tune of "On the first day of Christmas")♩♪♫♬ 

Hmmm...that makes 11 days of Christmas gear...but no plan for a 12th...(yet)...

Happy Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas - Days 1 - 5

Last year I dressed for the Christmas season for a week, and found I had Christmas clothes to spare! So this year I decided to build up the with the festive feeling for the last two weeks of school.

Happy Christmas and roll on next week!

Another caramelised white chocolate dessert

Caramelised white chocolate mousse, served with a coffee crumble, banana ice cream and fresh passionfruit. I wondered how good each of those elements would be, but