Reason #13 why I miss Michael

How happy he is when I make him pancakes.



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My Soup Addiction

Yes, I have a soup addiction. It's quite strange really. It started out when I was looking for a light, healthy meal to have instead of salad on my diet. There was some soup in the cupboard. And so began... My soup diet.

You see, I've tried to be a salad person, but I'm just not. I have to add lots of yummier, more unhealthy things for it to interest me. And then, I still sit there eating it with the facial expression of a martyr. So thus begins my love affair with soup. A small bowl of soup with some wholemeal toast to dunk in it. I've turned down my favourite, the ubiquitous cream of tomato for healthier versions with some protein, so that they make a good meal substitute.

Carrot and lentil, spiced Moroccan chickpea, lightly spiced roasted squash and sweet potato... (The last one was my favourite, mmmm). And the funny thing is, as long as I don't go crazy and eat healthily for breakfast and lunch, it's working! I've lost weight in just a week of doing this!

So now, I'm a girl on a mission.


Step One: Buy a blender in Spain. 






Step Two: Invent, find recipes and make my own, healthier soups. 









Step Three: Use lots of vegetables and experiment with beans and pulses. Just don't add cream!









So wish me luck and I shall keep you posted about how it goes!




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Father's Day

Today was Father's Day. And my dad is exceptionally great and always there for me. So, what better way to thank him then by making him some sumptuous home-made chocolate truffles?


First, assemble your ingredients:

Then, add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and 5 tablespoons of double cream to a small saucepan:

Stir well and bring to the boil, for one minute:

Then, take off the heat and add 225 grams of chocolate, whichever you prefer. Stir until it's all melted:

Next, line a container with grease proof paper, and pour the truffle mixture into it. Refrigerate for 2 hours:

After it has set firm, roll into little balls:

Then back in the fridge for another half an hour!

Then, melt another 100g chocolate, again, whichever you prefer (I chose white this time), and melt in a plastic container, in a saucepan of boiling water.

                                
                                   Then, dip and swirl the truffle balls in the melted chocolate, putting  them down on some more grease proof paper:

And... Back in the fridge to set!

Mmmmm

And that's how you make chocolate truffles from scratch! I've made these loads of times before, and they're very satisfying to make, and the end result always impresses everyone. They're also perfect for a gift, and can be packaged rather beautifully.

If anyone makes these, I'd love to know how they went/see your pictures!

Apple Galette

Today, I made an apple galette. Actually, I made two.

I followed the amazing recipe from the blog anonymouswasawoman. Check it out, here.

I made one or two adjustments, as I swapped the pears for apples. In the future, I really want to try making little, individual galettes with maybe a mixture of berries inside.

Mine was quite small, but a perfect amount for two people to share, and not too unhealthy or sickly either. (aka, I didn't feel tooo bad for breaking my health kick to have a slice).

This was a great recipe to make, as it was so simple, yet really satisfactory to bake it from scratch and see how pretty it turned out!

And yummy.

Mmm.

Creativity in the Kitchen

When it looks like this outside:



It tends to make me want to do something like this...




...Make a big plate of something warm and comforting!


I love being creative in all manner of ways, and one of those is cooking and baking, and generally experimenting in the kitchen. Since Michael and I are both vegetarian, and Puente Genil is not very vegetarian friendly, living in Spain requires more experimentation for us.

Luckily, I find it a great challenge, and although I had to give away my recipe books (very very heavy!), the last few days I have been cutting out little recipes from my mom's box files of recipe ideas, and stashing them in between the pages of the one, little recipe book I kept. And, yes, it is a chocolate recipe book. It contains my old, trusted recipe for making home made chocolate truffles. I make little batches of these as thank you gifts, xmas gifts, or for a nice gesture. They always go down very well! I tend to make my own little boxes for them out of black card as well. 

So now, I am looking forward to trying out new things. Especially pies. I love how Americans have so many different sweet pies. 

Like sweet potato pie:

Or pecan pie:

And let's not forget, the Mississippi mud pie:

Mmmm...

I have been baking a pumpkin pie every year for the last few years on Halloween, and am looking forward to making this again, this year:

But of course, I am still on a diet (most days), and I still need to fit into my wedding dress! So I am going to be making different main dishes that are lighter and healthier. 

Like a traditional Spanish tortilla:

Other favourite meals, I shall be finding new ways to cook, to replace the quorn, like my invented lasagne. It looks something like this:

And instead of having the two classic layers of minced meat in a tomato sauce, and bechamel sauce, I used red peppers and garlic in a tomato sauce, and red onion and spinach cooked in a mixture of fat free natural yoghurt and cream cheese. It's very yummy! You build the layers up as normal, then top with a light spread of cream cheese and grated cheese. 

Although I have taken these pictures from Google images, I shall be taking my own photos of my creations soon and posting them here!