Monday, 16 February 2009
Hand Made Halloween
These are the sweet decorations I have made for this Halloween. mostly themed by witches and fairies. Took me a lot of time to cut and glue things together but it all worth it.
I Heart Sprouts
I love all kinds of sprouts fried, baked fresh or in sandwiches. I was wondering if I could do it at home and voila found this article the results ate above.
w h a t t o d o?
Soak organic seeds for 8 hours or overnight in lots of water, some larger seeds may need longer. Add a liquid feed to the water for extra nutrition.
Rinse sprouts well at least every 12 hours. Trays need careful spraying in the beginning as it washes away mould causing fungi, but try not to move sprouts around as they root. Once they’re fixed immerse them in water for at least half a minute. Swishing them about, (and especially inverting them,) helps to remove seed hulls.
Drain your sprouts well, standing water is a good way to encourage rot. Leave trays on an angle for a minute or so, or briefly put them on some tissue to wick the water away (don’t leave them on it or they may dry out.)
Harvest sprouts carefully by gently pulling ripe ones out from the rest. This allows less developed ones to continue growing so you get several harvests of perfect sprouts.
Store them in a plastic bag in a cool dark place, such as a fridge, and rinse them every 3 days or so. Most sprouts will keep at least a week like this and often longer.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
I found this recipe recently I guess the pumpkin bit might not be so inviting but still it is worth a try.
Pumpkin cheesecake
Ingredients
225g/8oz digestive biscuits
60g/2oz butterjuice and zest 1 lemon
340g/12oz cooked pumpkin (steamed or roasted)
225g/8oz caster sugar
450g/1lb cream cheese
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2.5g/½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 eggs
90ml/3fl oz double cream
90ml/3fl oz natural yoghurt
Heat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.2. Bash the digestive biscuits into crumbs. Melt the butter over a low heat and mix in the biscuit crumbs and lemon zest. Lightly grease a 25cm/10in loose-bottomed cake tin and press the crumbs into the base and up the sides slightly.3. Mix together the cream cheese, pumpkin flesh, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until smooth. Beat the eggs and fold into the pumpkin mixture. Turn into the tin and bake in the oven for 90 minutes until the surface is set but the underneath still slightly squidgy.4. Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let it cool in the tin. When cool, turn it on to a serving plate, cover with foodwrap and chill overnight.5. Whip the double cream until thick and fold in the yoghurt and the lemon juice. Spread over the top of the cheesecake and serve at room temperature.
Saturday Breakfast: Croissant
These lovely croissants I made from scratch over the weekend. it was not easy but worth every minute of hard labor.
Puff pastry
Ingredients
225g/8oz plain flour
pinch of salt
30g/1oz lard
150ml/5fl oz cold water
150g/5oz butter
Sift together the flour and the salt and rub in the lard. Stir in enough of the water to make a soft dough, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes.2. Put the butter between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper and flatten out with a rolling pin until it is a rectangle 10 x 7.5cm/4 x 3in.3. Roll out the dough to another rectangle that measures 12.5 x 25cm/5 x 10in.4. Take the butter out of the paper and put on the dough rectangle. Bring the corners of the dough together to make an envelope. Chill for 10 minutes.5. Roll out the envelope on a floured surface to make a rectangle that is 3 times longer than it is wide. Fold one third into the middle and then the other third on top. Seal the edges lightly with a rolling pin and turn the pastry 90 degrees.6. Repeat stage 5 and chill for 30 minutes.7. Repeat this rolling and folding twice more and then chill for another 30 minutes and then do two more - the pastry will have been rolled and folded six times altogether.8. Now roll out and use as required.9. It is important that the pastry is well chilled otherwise the pastry will become greasy and tough when baked. Also the butter might come through the surface, if this happens, dab on a little flour.
Puff pastry
Ingredients
225g/8oz plain flour
pinch of salt
30g/1oz lard
150ml/5fl oz cold water
150g/5oz butter
Sift together the flour and the salt and rub in the lard. Stir in enough of the water to make a soft dough, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes.2. Put the butter between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper and flatten out with a rolling pin until it is a rectangle 10 x 7.5cm/4 x 3in.3. Roll out the dough to another rectangle that measures 12.5 x 25cm/5 x 10in.4. Take the butter out of the paper and put on the dough rectangle. Bring the corners of the dough together to make an envelope. Chill for 10 minutes.5. Roll out the envelope on a floured surface to make a rectangle that is 3 times longer than it is wide. Fold one third into the middle and then the other third on top. Seal the edges lightly with a rolling pin and turn the pastry 90 degrees.6. Repeat stage 5 and chill for 30 minutes.7. Repeat this rolling and folding twice more and then chill for another 30 minutes and then do two more - the pastry will have been rolled and folded six times altogether.8. Now roll out and use as required.9. It is important that the pastry is well chilled otherwise the pastry will become greasy and tough when baked. Also the butter might come through the surface, if this happens, dab on a little flour.
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