All scrumptious fare affords pleasure! This is particularly true of a  scone with clotted cream, which has been heralded as one of the many time- honored traditions of our friends from across the pond. This delicate confection relies on cold butter for its flakiness whereas most recipes of the American biscuit relies more on vegetable shortening for a crumbly texture. I do not bake with vegetable shortening, however,  I do love crumbly textures and achieve this by adding cream cheese, whenever a recipe calls for vegetable shortening. Whatever, the origin or paradigm of this convivial fare, it is also enjoyed by many all over the world, including my Malaysian elders in South Africa. My mother almost always reverted to preparing it for unexpected company, so without further ado, here is my spin on her recipe.

Scones

These scones were delicate, flaky & even crumbly, accompanied by a mascarpone mousse, ( tasted almost like French vanilla ice cream).  I also made my strawberry & raspberry preserves from scratch with vanilla beans etc…. These all went to my chiropractor & all the lovely ladies who work at the wellness center at “Arne Chiropractic.” Their remarks….ridiculously decadent!

Tahitian vanilla powder & a little of the white vanilla powder, sifted with the flours, is my little spin on this airy scone! Some of the vanilla powder will be left in the sieve, just dump into the bowl with the rest of the flours

As you can see, lavish amounts of whole sun ripened strawberries & raspberries, not sweet at all, no pectin or sugar needed in my preserves, it’s all about the fruit,  & some surprising ingredients !

I ask this frivolous & not in the least condescending question with the utmost respect of all the ladies out there……Is a woman’s worth really measured by her ability of making a good biscuit? The reason for my question is that I have recently discovered the “Little house on the Prairie” series & now receiving all the episodes from Netflix. Anyway,  there is one episode whereby Carolyn Ingalls is put to the test by making biscuits for a possible position as a cook in a hotel, & ultimately she does land the job for making the best biscuits ever! The former cook who was just lousy at cooking was kicked out!  Hey, during the late 1800’s, if a woman could make a good biscuit and a good pot of stew with potatoes, she was pretty much spoken for! I am transfixed by this era portrayed so beautifully by Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, & the rest of the cast, an American Western drama, I just cannot wait to watch nightly with my husband!

I wonder whether my scones would have landed me an amorous encounter with Mr. Charles Ingalls himself, that is only if my husband was not yet in my life LOL! I hope he does not read this!

_____________________________________________________________

Publication

This fruit fondant Madeira cake, that I developed here,  is featured in this British magazine below, the Fall issue #114 on page 114. Originally, I contacted them to thank them for the safe arrival of my package with the delectable fruit fondant powders, I purchased from them and much to my delight, they emailed me, asking for a head shot of myself  & the pictures of this cake and publishing my little article in the ” forum” section on pg 114-115. Anyway,  this cake was indescribably delicious, this fruit fondant powder turns into a rich  fruit coolie when mixed with water!

This magazine is sold at Barnes & Noble.

______________________________________________________________

Colorado

Red Rocks Park is a mountain park in Morrison, Colorado & only 10 minutes drive from my home. I often go here,  either to run up & down the many steps,  go and day dream & most importantly, see my favorite rock bands!. I finally decided to take some pictures last week, while there was no scheduled concert, & share them with you!

I am never without my I Pod, & many of you already know that I love vocal trance. I do love rock too! S..t!**!! this is one run where I really need my IPod, because these steps are forever kicking my big b…..!Anything to detract from the pain will keep my booody moving.

Orjan Nielsen ft Arielle Maren–Redemption

Svenstrup & Vendelboe-Nadia malm…….Danish stars, cool euphoric vocal trance

Medina- Gutter—a Svenstrup & Vendelboe remix….I mentioned her before in my last post, but this is also an awesome remix!

David Guetta ft Usher–without you ( okay, this is no vocal trance, but I still like it)

Red Rocks is my escape from this more often than not frenetic world!

Red Rocks Amphitheater, a world famous venue, hosts many concerts, “Film on the Rocks” ( I love watching movies in the open air), & other events during the summer. I think it seats about 10,000, most probably more! I went to see Santana & the rock bands, Godsmack & Nine Inch Nails, over here. Picture this, after the concerts,  confetti cannons shooting blizzards of confetti shapes from above….pure artistry in motion! It turns serious adults into awestruck children & sends children into giddy glee!

Takes us a mere 10 mins drive to Red Rocks mountain park!

Recipes

Flaky vanilla scones with mascarpone mousse & preserves

As usual, please use organic ingredients when possible, however, I used the King Arthur flours here.

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup self rising flour
• 3 t  “Bob’s Red Mill” double acting baking powder( Aluminum free)
• 1/2  t Tahitian vanilla powder plus 1 t of the white vanilla powder, just because I have both,  ( optional but not for me! he!he!), Or use whatever one you prefer!….  the Tahitian vanilla powder is finely ground vanilla beans, mine was hardly noticeable in my pictures, because they were dispersed throughout the dough. Trust me when I say that it is potent, but oh so darn delicious!
• 3 – 4  T organic sugar, I used 3!
• 6 T cold Plugra ( European, unsalted butter), or any other kind you prefer. I love the richer & creamier taste of Plugra!
  
• 1/2 cup of currants
• 2/3 cup organic milk
• egg yolk beaten lightly for the glaze

Method

Sift all the flours & the Tahitian & the white vanilla powders together, twice. Some of the Tahitian vanilla powder will be left in the sieve, just dump back into the bowl with the flours.  Remove about a quarter cup of this flour mixture & toss with the currants & set aside, (the reason for this step, so that the currants will not sink to the bottom, but will be evenly distributed throughout the dough). Add the sugar to the flour mixture  & mix with a biscuit cutter. Now cut the cold butter into smaller pieces and cut into the flour mixture with the biscuit cutter. Do me a favor, do not over mix here! It is okay if there are bigger pieces of butter showing! Make a well in the center,  add the currants & then  the cold milk and mix just until incorporated, absolutely no over mixing here either! Always let any dough rest, here for 10 mins. Finally roll out the dough to about 3/4 inch on a lightly floured surface,  stamp out 2 inch heart shape designs, ( please just press firmly down on cutter, no twisting), NB…flip the scones over, so that the bottom of the scone is now on top & then place on the cookie sheet,   about an inch apart, (the cold butter specks will now be on the top & they will rise evenly),  brush with the egg yolk & then let rest again for 12 minutes. N.B. do not let the egg yolk glaze drip over the sides of the scone, this will prohibit the scone from rising! Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. You will really smell the vanilla aroma when these babies are done! Makes about 9 scones.

Mascarpone mousse

Whisk some mascarpone @ rm temp. with cold Horizon, organic whipping cream & some of the white vanilla powder.  Set the bowl over ice when whisking! Serve the scones with a dollop of this mousse & preserves of your liking.

Thanks for your visit, enjoy my version of the scone!

Lots of love,

Nazarina.

P/S…..It is so strange, I make these scones only when we have guests staying over or sometimes for my friend’s B&B, but have never blogged about it before. I did not think that the recipe would be important enough to share until now!

The Plugra & the vanilla powder definitely brought some major mojo to this scone party!

Telluride on Dwellable

October, 2,  2011 travel diary

Telluride, Ouray & Durango

Grab a cup of Java, listen to my playlist or yours & come along for the ride! This is a long post, but I can assure you not in the least bit boring!

This mind blowing trip to the south western part of Colorado, a trip, that was promised to me when we moved to Denver, a number of years ago was everything and more, I imagined it to be. It was freakin awesome! My husband went to work in Durango, when we first moved here & ever since then, could not get this beautiful part of Colorado, out of his mind! It only took us about 6 hrs drive to get there and this was really pushing it, stopping only for one bathroom break. We had everything at hand, from a welcome cooler filled with nourishing fare to a jamming playlist that could make you sing like a canary!

You may wonder, why only undertake this trip now?  Well, everything has its time & place, & boy am I glad that the start of  Fall & the  “changing of the leaves,” marked the beginning of this offbeat escapade!

After three & half hours of driving, we reached Grand Junction, guarded by a  surreal mass of grey, brown and  monochromatic cream hues , a mountain known as Mt. Garfield. It looks like a huge desert sand dune, does it not?

I took this shot from the car, as it was difficult to stop here, so it does appear a little fuzzy.

Cool  music from my playlist  DJ Tiesto & Medina (You and I),

Medina (Gutter),   Inna (Amazing),

Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji-(Pressure) ……more below

Climbing in elevation & now only, (20 miles from Telluride & jamming to the beat of Jennifer Lopez…on the floor),  the dwarf-like scrub vegetation,  suddenly gives way to this colorful Alpine scene. There is just nothing to beat these magical Aspen trees during the Fall! Notice the San Juan mountain range in the background? It is dusted with a light layer of snow!  I kid you not this mountain range shoots up to magnificent heights right before your very eyes! It was not coined,  “ to- hell-you-ride” for nothing, the journey into these mountains are sometimes scary, yet so exciting! I was indeed sitting on the edge of my seat!

What can I tell you, I am a “nervous Nelly,” constantly telling my adrenaline junkie of a husband to turn back, but do you think he even minds me, hell no!

Welcome to Uncompahgre National Forest! (5 miles from Telluride)

I am really ( he! he!) cracking up here as I type “Uncompahgre,”because “spell check” is telling me it is supposed to be  “uncomprehending”..….stupid a..!!

Welcome to Telluride…(To-hell-you-ride he! he!)

We are here guys!!!!The sign also says, “your civil liberties are safe here”…. this even jives for man’s best friend….see picture of  “puppy parking” below!  He! he! Political correctness lurks everywhere, can it just not be on my trip?

Anyway, as we roll into Telluride, just like the miners way back then, I am utterly & completely overwhelmed by the scenery. I had to constantly scoop up my jaw from the ground & move on.  There was no way that my little camera would do it justice!

The New Sheridan, also home of the infamous Sheridan Opera house situated in the back.  Boy, if these old walls could talk about the early 1900’s , about the greedy gold diggers, gun slingers, honky tonk saloons & not forgetting the ladies of the night, we might just have the makings of yet another cheesy western here!

Telluride is a little bit quirky, a little bit playful, a “lotta” liberal & a “lotta” expensive…hey! whatever floats your boat, that’s what I always say!

Needless, to say, the price tags on some of these items call for a whole pay check! So forget it, I am not bringing back mindless gifts! he! he! I am a ge nui ne nature girl, so pictures of nature will just have to suffice!

Okay! I thought this was rather strange…as we were driving down main street, a bevy of cheery folk suddenly appeared . Apparently, it is customary for the wedding party to parade down Main street, even with all that soft pouring rain!

The bride, actually wanted us to turn up the volume…apparently the real party was in our car! She really liked Pitbull ( Calle Ocho), I know you want me, of all songs! There is just something about Miami music that makes any self respecting person want to misbehave! just kidding I love Miami! Heh! I have been placed on that misbehaved list a long time ago!

I love these songs though, “thumbs” up if you are still listening to it in 2011

Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina Stereo Love

also The Underdog project- Summer jam

The Underdog project- Remember

Puppy parking max 30 mins!

A building with no roof, or  back walls.

Manitou Lodge (bed & breakfast)……love this cozy home away from home!

The unit we stayed in had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a little sitting room. There is also a main dining room where one could use the stove and other appliances even though one’s unit has all of those things. These places are packed during ski season. So the question is, would we venture here during the winter ski season…..heck ya!

At night, I would be lulled to sleep by this bubbling brook & to be able to revel in this peace & quiet is all that I ask for!

One morning, very early, I jumped onto the gondola in my PJ’s to go to the market to buy almond milk. The B&B provides everything except milk for the lactose intolerant. On the way I was joined by a guy and his little boy & he very “candidly” remarked that he  thought my fuzzy slippers were “cool” I knew that he was trying to make small talk because really my slippers were not in the least cool!

Later that afternoon,  E & I jumped onto the same gondola to take some pictures, & guess who was on the very gondola, the same guy, this time with his wife… he then remarked Oh! I have already met miss fuzzy slippers very early this morning! Both my husband & his wife looked rather puzzled until I explained!

This is Mountain village ski area, the 2nd stop of the gondola ride. My favorite market was at the end of the gondola ride.

Pandora

I laughed at the road signs here, they read ” Slow Children here.” I am just being facetious! It is just kind of funny when one is reading it real slowly Lol!

Water remediation project.

Bridal Veil Falls- stunning falls ( 365 ft in length), tallest free falls in Colorado!

Ahhh, At last, Trout Lake was my very favorite place, so peaceful I could just get lost here and never emerge! Ain’t she just beautiful?

This trail was extremely far into the forest, lucky my husband does not heed my cries because we would never be able to “discover” new places! Anyway, a successful trip does mean, hours & hours of driving.

_____________________________________________________________

Welcome to Ouray!……..Hooray for Ouray!

This place reminds me somewhat of Cape town, where I was born. This quaint little town is nestled between the 2 mountain ranges.

Look no rails! Scary is it not? I suddenly felt one of those loose, liquid bowel movements coming on, but dared not tell the “driver.”

I held my breath and closed my eyes going through the Red Mountain Pass. It is just way to steep for my health! he! he! Not that I am not accustomed to high mountains, but they sneak up on you, some of them as high as 14,000Ft.

The mountains are red here due to the deposits of Iron oxide in the rocks.

Gold & silver mines sprung up in this region, as well as in Telluride, in the 1870’s.

The Idarado mining co. started a water remediation  project here in the 1980’s to improve water quality & to improve the aquatic habitat.

San Juan mountains at its very best! This picture is just unforgettable! You just had to be there to drink in the beauty of these vibrant colors!

_____________________________________________________________

Welcome to Durango!

Durango is known for the “Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. I think it was $100 a ticket if I’m not mistaken, but then again we had just come from Silverton…..let me guess, Silverton was known for its silver?” I came up with that all by my smart self!

Diamond Belle Saloon

My husband hung out here watching his beloved, Miami Dolphins lose!

Heading home!

I was mesmerized by the cloud  cover just above the Rockies. Here is this huge open space & it only covers the mountain! At this point, my husband was just really flying down 285,  everything and I mean everything had to be bolted down, or God forbid, you would lose it all!

Thumbs up yet again, if listening to these in 2011. Sometimes the oldies just stay with you!

The Sunclub- Fiesta

Afrojack ft Eva Simons take over control

We speak no Americano Yolanda be cool

Armin Van Buuren & Dj Shah feat Chris Jones- Going wrong

Thank you for riding along with me. Hope you enjoyed this trip as much as we did!

Love,

Nazarina.

There is a certain question that almost invariably comes up at my gatherings of friends at the dinner table, “What besides gastronomy and saponification make you tick?” My answer, even though not etched in stone, but almost always is ” Cooking is after all, just an ephemeral art, just as soon as you create a delicious dish, it is consumed within no time & is gone, so I would always  want for my sweetie and I to rather love life deliciously “in more ways than one” ( wink! wink!),  share life’s pleasures with others and to always laugh at our idiosyncrasies!”  There is just no room for disconsolation in our life. So even though we love delicious food, I would always opt for the romance first!

Sunflower sprout salad with a sour fig dressing

Everything I do is always with my Mom in mind, she could take any mundane dish & magically make it so delicious! There was magic in that lady’s hands!

Organic baby sunflower sprouts, roasted yellow & red cherry tomatoes ( from our garden), reconstituted dried fruit & toasted pine nuts with a sour fig dressing, also a bathroom makeover is on the agenda today.

I bought the sunflower greens from Paradise Farms in Redvale, Colorado. The sunflower sprouts are nutty & crispy,  so pairs exceptionally well with the rest of the ingredients in my recipe.

See my garden here!

I received some dried sour figs from a friend in Cape Town, South Africa, so I thought that a sour fig vinaigrette would be perfect for this crisp salad with all its tasty textures! Sour figs were my Mom’s favorite & her family would always make a sour fig” konfyt” ( I would eat loads of this),  but I decided to be a bit more innovative & make a kick-ass dressing out of them to coat this delicious salad. If you want to know more about these succulent & tart fruits just read HERE & also HERE. These wrinkled brown sour figs are a Cape Malay favorite!

Recipe: Please use organic ingredients when possible!

• 3 X 5oz Organic baby sunflower sprouts or substitute baby spinach, if you cannot find them!
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts with a little of my home-made spice mix or  smoked paprika in your case & kosher salt, just do this in a hot pan on the stove top, let cool.
• 1/2 cup reconstituted dried fruit, viz…dried apples, apricots, prunes & pears. Just soak in boiling H2O to make it supple  & then cut into small pieces
• 1 lb roasted cherry, yellow & red tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in half,  place all on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with olive oil & kosher salt & roast @ 250 degrees for an hour, cool & set aside. Garden grown is by far the superior & our garden is no exception!

Sour Fig dressing:  ( Dit is my wending vir ‘n Suid Afrikaanse suurvye slaai sous)

• 1 lb sour figs/ I guess you can subst. regular figs here but it will not be the same! Scratch that!…..It will definitely,  not be the same! Simply because the figs are sweet & these sour figs have a tart pulp that makes your taste buds, prematurely salivate while squeezing the pulp into your mouth!
• wild, unfiltered & raw honey
• pinch kosher salt/ or sea salt
• stick cinnamon
• vanilla bean, scrape using the seeds & the bean too
• Brown rice vinegar or Aged Balsamic, I cook with both
• Grape seed oil or safflower oil here, would not do extra virgin o. o. here, too overpowering in this instance!
• my home-made spice, this toasted mix has elements of sweet & savory in it (optional)

First wash the sour figs. Soak the dry wrinkled or ( even the freshly picked),  sour figs in boiling H2O (about 1 & 1/2 cups of H2o) just to soften. Do not discard this soaking liquid but do strain it! Remove the figs & squeeze out the delicious sour pulp from each  into a small saucepan, (painstaking to say the least), but so freakin worth it! Add 2 or more T of wild organic honey, depending on the amount of sweetness you would like, 1 stick cinnamon & vanilla, a little kosher salt, a little bit of the soaking liquid, ( 1/2 cup),  and cook for about 15-20 mins until this liquid has reduced in volume & is concentrated. Add 1-2 T of the vinegar you could even use  malt v. to the mixture & cook further for 2 mins. I normally add a little bit of my home-made spice to give it that extra kick. Last but not least add the remainder of the cooled, strained soaking liquid & cook for another 5 mins.  Cool this liquid & pour into a jar with  2 T oil, 1 more T of the vinegar, pinch of salt to taste & more cold water if this liquid is too thick, shake like the dickens  & you are done!  Decant into a glass jar with cinnamon & vanilla.

You know what happens next…..just toss all these crisp greens with all the roasted & toasted nuts & fruits & drizzle with the star of this recipe, the SOUR FIG dressing & enjoy! Trust me you will!

“Lekker light” in more ways than one!!

What I did was,  serve the salad in tiny bowls with the dressing on the bottom of the bowl & then just had  everyone toss their own salad, so it was like a tasty surprise.

_____________________________________________________________

Guest Bathroom

This  guest bathroom took 9 months in the making……It was like conceiving & giving birth to a son! Yes, my husband took 9 months to revamp this eye sore & by Jove he is still not done yet!  He does all the renovations on our home by himself with no help. He is truly, the creative genius in our family!!! After you read below, you too will agree!

Before.…the original 70’s style when we bought the house….out dated & so yesterday! It was dislike at first sight!

…….Ta Da! enter the luxurious spa bath…….., be sure to pick up your jaw on the way in! The transformation is stupendous! He actually outlined the pattern on the wall & on the floor first, before laying the tiles…a step that saves you lots of stone tile in the end.

……….complete with a tub & more jets, your sore  a.. can handle! LOL!

I requested little hidden nooks for all my nik naks, ask & thou shalt receive, even if it does mean that you will definitely be getting the silent treatment for a day or two or vice versa when the request was met with a reverberating He..  NO! In this instance, a good old pouting helps!

He! he! I always get my way. Anyway, let’s be realistic the little Paris nik nak has to go & make way for shampoos & other bathroom accoutrements. I do have more shelves on the side for the girly crap.

I love how the light just “spills ” over  the walls! I also requested the river rock  inlay that surrounds the perimeter of the bathroom. I painted this vivid picture in my mind & my husband solely obliged, but not without the added bullsh…..that follows a renovation!

The faucets & all the other fixtures boast that same bronze hue! My husband struggled a bit with the stone that frames the mirror but in the end with his temper in check, finally achieved this fabulous result. Sweetie, let me put it in writing here now……“I am sorry for giving you all that crap while you were trying to get this project done, but you must admit my nagging or should I say seemingly reasonable requests, kept your creative juices flowing & you magically made them come to life!

When a referred Turkish stone quarrier, now a dear friend, learned  that I shared the same religion & that I was into “decent cookery”, he simply gave us the Limestone (counter-top)  for free in exchange for some computer help from my husband & decent grub from me. Life has all  sorts of perks.

Yep, the old crapper is gone, who would not want to park their rear here now & enjoy the view!

This  sweet, little floor register below will keep us, ( or rather our guests), warm during the winter! This bathroom looks better than the other renovated bathrooms in our home! Hence the proverbial saying,” you get better with age.”

This bathroom is upstairs just off a dark hallway, so now I really want him to install a skylight to bring in some natural light, what do you think?

I love making new soaps for my guests, especially for the kids…I really do not mind when they take them home!

Hope you are all keeping your cool!

Love,

Nazarina.

How to make desserts soar! How to make soap fun!

Pina colada thumbprints – some with coconut ganache & some with chocolate; also Easter soaps & aquatic & terrestrial soaps

Summer is here, and I am stagnant no more!

My hands are almost automatically drawn to making a myriad of things but lately my mind seems to be tangled in a web of a creative confusion. I seem to find myself there more often than not and even though this bothers me, I have no time to ponder the cause because usually, life gets in the way. A friend once said that multitasking and fatigue can do this to a vibrant brain and implored me to step away from it all. I did comply for a little while, thinking that I was free at last from baking, soap making & photographing, yet strangely enough,  my soul kept hankering for that unnecessary trepidation that goes into the art of making things from scratch. So here I am again, purely driven by  the persuasive powers of a  zealous nature to create & making people smile! Lord knows, how long this will last, yet I always say that imagination is only limited by a blurry vision and consistency best be a recourse for the unimaginative!

This segment is for the South Africans…..

Ek was net fokken lui en my familie het op my senuwees gewerk! Som tye will ek vir hulle ‘n warme paar klappe gee vir aand ete!…en “call it quits.” Gelukkig kan my familie nie Afrikaans verstaan nie he! he!

______________________________________________________

Pina colada , chocolate ganache thumbprints

Dessicated coconut, ( I cannot bake with no other), thumbprints filled with a dark chocolate ganache & garnished with a toasted coconut flake. I made these for a dear friend’s baby shower including all the soaps below! This recipe is so different to that of my other thumbprints!

Pina colada thumbprints filled with a coconut white chocolate ganache, made with coconut cream & garnished with a maraschino cherry. Who knew what freeze-dried pineapple powder & coconut extract would do to hike up the ego of these absolutely scrumptious coconut shortbread beauties?

……  like  Freddie would say, (’n Suid Afrikaner wat ek in Miami ontmoet het) sal se, dit is nie lekker nie, dit is moer se lekker!

I love the unexpected twists & turns in this recipe, it made the diners at this baby shower wish for more! They all wanted to know, how I achieved this delicately balanced recipe & not at all sweet to boot!

____________________________________________________________

My hand-made soaps for curious little munchkins

Chocolate brown bunnies & cheeky chicks….Easter essentials for tiny tots. These were a bit cumbersome to make…..not an easy project but with a little perseverance, I achieved the final images conjured in my imagination.

Luminous soaps, slippery sea critters basking on the boardwalk. I had to buy the “sea sand” from a craft store for the decoration on the tables for the baby shower….Is this not pitiful? Where is the ocean when I need it?

Soapy Aquatic ” monsters” & terrestrial critters that hide in your bath-tub. I found these rather inexpensive molds, not for soap- molding at all, but used them anyway! I am glad that I am making a little guy, named Cooper,  so happy at bath time!

Remembering

This post is especially for you Auntie Fatie & all of my aunts & uncles, (in Cape Town, South Africa), & most of all our dearly departed…….

I sincerely miss those days when we were all together….joyous & loud for all to hear,  but then again, we are extremely lucky with all those beautiful memories that Mamma, Boeyah, Grandmother Galiema, my Mom, uncle Omar, uncle Toyer, uncle Yusuf, (a magnificent artist in his own right)  have given us the pleasure to savor! Their creativity was mesmerizing!

To Uncle Mitch who is still wowing people in his part of the world! Are you not glad that you took what may have seemed as woodworking abuse by Boeyah, to a now revered pastime & a means of income? To Uncle Issie who taught us that loyalty toward family takes precedence over everything else!  To Tietie, with her delectable twists and turns in food & making any unsuspecting diner wish for more of what they thought, they disliked! To Auntie Mona, for that entrepreneurial spirit & teaching us to explore the “other side” of the world! I am happy to report that “this other side of the world” is what I now call home!

Because of Uncle Omar & you, Auntie F, I can still make huge additions mentally just by looking at numbers, this I learned by working in your store on the week-ends & much later in my Mom’s store.  Both you & my Mom taught me the beauty  & the love for fabric among countless other things…..my Mom, who could turn any rag into a robe fit for a runway… & what can I say about my Grandmother J, she was one of a kind, she is still making sure that up to this day, I am making her craft proud, her confectioneries were insane!!! I know in my heart of hearts that she helps me every step of the way through this satisfying journey of  tasty cookery!

To my Grandmother G, who with great ease, made vats of tangy mango pickle & delicious home-made fizzy ginger beer & from whom I take after in looks and mannerisms! I have yet to master the art of ginger beer…..I shall soon!

Auntie F, I still remember the time when you showed me off in a sari when I was twelve! I loved those scrumptious,  baked turmeric colored potatoes you made in the oven….& now of course I make them for my family , friends & acquaintances  all over world & not without the beautiful memory that goes with them. My friends thank you’ll! There are just not enough accolades in the world to commemorate what you all have instilled within us. I miss those dearly departed! I am because of what they made me to be!!  I thank God every day, that I had such caring elders who embraced life with so much passion & making this, sometimes unattractive world, so appealing!

_______________________________________________________________

Hope you guys are having a spectacular summer! Will post a recipe soon!

Love as always,

Nazarina.

_____________________________________________________________

How to make desserts soar!

On the agenda today: Digestive biscuits ( regular and chocolate); Vanilla bean whipped cream pumpkin pie and foxes!….. Need there be more?

This digestive biscuit post is my contribution to a  garnishing event held by Food Fanatic

The gift of the Digestive biscuit, (cookie), was given to us by our friends from across the pond, namely the English! This is my version of this irresistibly, delicious snack. I can still recollect the days when my Mom and I used to share the chocolate Digestives in the purple package in Cape Town, South Africa! My Mom rocked! “Dit is nou vir jou n’ lekker koekie!”

Well, my quest here was to develop a recipe that would be a wholesome snack for skiing and a little chocolaty for high tea or in my case, milk! Somehow, I do not think that the British would go for the milk! Nevertheless, I often serve this biscuit at high tea as well & do the unthinkable…..I dunk!!!

It seems to me that this biscuit has somewhat of a conflicting nature……should I be savory or should I be sweet this time? You know, just like  when those crazy voices in your head are at loggerheads with each other! LOL!

For the savory factor, just garnish a cheeseboard by cutting out whimsical shapes from the cheese of your choice with cookie cutters & stack for further interest. The digestive biscuits are perfect mates for sharp cheddar cheese / Swiss & maybe a dollop of spicy cranberry chutney on top of the cheese!

Mmmm, to be chocolaty or to be cheesy that is the question?

For the sweet factor, adorn the Digestive biscuits with dark chocolate ganache! Boil your cream, pour over dark chocolate with a small pat of unsalted butter and incorporate & slather over the crispy biscuit. To make the wavy pattern, use a cake comb and please do wait until the chocolate sets!

I ” love” this biscuit so much, I even put it in writing! For the garnish, “LOVE”, just pour the dark melted chocolate into a paper cone made of parchment & write the word,”Love” onto parchment & let it harden.

I made 10 of these gift boxes, covered in cellophane for my neighborhood bake sale for the Strength.Org charity event. They flew off the table like hotcakes! I love doing charities like Strength.Org because this is where I can really flaunt my baking expertise!

This biscuit had a “malty” overtone with a slight crisp & shortbread-like taste! Absolutely yum! A Nazarina special!

____________________________________________________________

A wildlife intervention

These are my new pets! Just kidding, I vow never to keep the wild in confinement! “Foxy” (female) came to me limping (really badly) from the nearby  Rocky mountain during September of last year. I felt an immediate pang of sorrow for Foxy because of this limp so in my regular  “Nazarina-like-fashion”,  I coaxed her with some food & nursed her leg! She came almost hypnotized by my soft spoken voice & it was almost as if she knew instinctively that I meant her no harm but only to help. There are lots of these foxes in my area. I love foxes, white wolves & polar bears! Gosh, I love all animals!

My 22lb cat, Oscar, stealthily went after her, trying to chase her off his domain. I intervened & stopped the confrontation in the nick of time! Cats, I tell ya are so territorial! LOL! I am sure you are most probably thinking that I am being terribly facetious, especially taken into account that I am dealing with foxes here!

Well Foxy came back this January  and brought her mate,” Moxie” (male) along with her. Aren’t they cute! Moxie follows Foxy everywhere and my sweetie shared a piece of  fox trivia with me saying that once they find their mate, they stay together forever! BTW, this is just a light dusting of snow compared to the norm.

They love to run and hide underneath my studio (now as you can see just ravaged by the continuous snowfalls and arctic-like cold air)! This is where I make my soap & other crafts. This picture is a bit blurry because I was running after them, trying to take their picture! Anyway, I have not seen them for a couple of days now, maybe they went back to the nearby mountain! Funny thing though, just when we forget about them, they reappear in my backyard! Do you think that they bonded with me?

____________________________________________________________

Finally, remember this post (Streusel topped pumpkin pie).……… that I wrote about a year ago?

……..I revamped my pumpkin pie yet again! This time, I still kept the streusel, but piped a swirl of mousse y vanilla bean whipped double cream on top & abstractly “Jackson Pollocked” the melted dark chocolate all over the pie! My friend, Vanessa, was having a bad day & quit her job over the phone, so I made her this pumpkin mousse pie & named it “Vanessa is out livin her life, so shove your job where the sun don’t shine! pie”  She liked the message so much and left it on voice mail & that was exactly what her Employer heard when they eventually called her back!

Stop me please!!! how many more times am I going to change this gift that just keeps on giving?  I use Dr. Oetker French vanilla ( all the time see my old blog), ….a friend of mine, Zoe, went to Canada from Miami & brought back 20 packages, all just for me. I just got tired of asking Cost Plus to get the French Vanilla! I did add the double cream to the mousse as well though to make it extra light & fluffy! “Zoe, many, many, thanks you are the bomb! You are a great gourmet cook in your own right! Delicious breyanis and heavenly cakes are amongst her specialties!”

Oh! BTW, this time I made the crust  & streusel with organic coconut flour (Bob’s Red Mill ),  almond flour etc…… . It came out better than a French sable’ type of dough!

Recipes: As usual, please use organic ingredients when possible!

Digestive biscuits: Makes about 13 biscuits or more if you use a smaller cookie cutter than the one described in my “method.”

(This is my version)

• 1/2 c organic wheat bran
• 2 T extra fine Dessicated coconut ( Buy this at an Indian Grocer)

• 5oz unsalted softened butter
• 1/3 c brown sugar minus 1 T
• 1 T Barley Malt syrup
• 2 t  pure vanilla extract ( I use the one from Santo Domingo)
• 1 egg yolk (I love baking with just the yolk, because the end result is always rich!)
• 1-2 t ground ginger (optional but not for me!)
• 1 t finely grounded (super-fine) cardamom (optional but not for me!)
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1 t baking powder

Method:

Toast the wheat bran & the coconut together in the oven 350 degrees for about 10-15 mins; just until you can smell the toasted coconut aroma & the wheat is slightly colored. Remove & cool

Cream the butter, brown sugar, malt & vanilla together with an electric beater until light & fluffy. Add the egg yolk,  ginger & cardamom & incorporate. Sift cake flour, wheat flour & baking powder & then whisk in the toasted wheat bran & coconut.  Gingerly fold in this dry ingredient mixture  in 3 batches with a spatula. If the dough seems a bit wet, lightly dust hands with extra cake flour & then knead lightly and finally refrigerate 30mins-1 hour.

Roll out the dough to a little less than a quarter inch and cut out rounds with a 2 & half inch cookie cutter, ( or to whatever size you prefer),  & dock with a fork. I also love to roll the dough out thinner than this this on baking paper (tape the ends down on work surface or plastic wrap!),  & then place on baking sheet, but you really have to watch the browning…..this makes for some of the biscuits,  a lot more crispier! Refrigerate again for about 10 minutes & then bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 16 mins. or until slightly brown along the edges. Cool on the baking sheet and then garnish with the chocolate ganache or just eat them plain with cheese.

That’s it folks, I am signing off.

Love,

Nazarina.

This was a really cool and delicious project and especially prudent to make since I am compelled to watch “Thomas the Train” and several other kid friendly movies with the munchkin.  To say that I am bored, (thinking out loud rather facetiously), with his TV choices would be an understatement!  I have succumbed to the notion that “Madagascar” and “Cars”, to name a few, are to be my only form of entertainment!
I am no longer in charge of the TV remote or allowed to satisfy a sudden urge to watch one of my favorite shows!……..  just kidding! he only has 1 hour of allotted TV time over here!

Even with this displayed, illiberal behavior, I still wanted to be his heroine, so making this train out of gingerbread and dark chocolate more than likely would have averted his pretty, little “TV head” to something way more enjoyable, such as cutting out  parts of the train from soft gingerbread dough. I succeeded, only to realize that now my cherished bake-ware is at the brunt of his rambunctious baking demeanor. Lord! have mercy, he is extremely messy and disorganized as well…. some things, I just cannot appreciate….. I love my “mise en plus” just way too much ! I do have standards , you know! LOL! ” Sure!” you would say, now, most probably, would be a good time to let go of all your peculiar kitchen antics and anal cleaning mannerisms because this is not about you! Rug rats rule!

Anyway, I know that this is the only way he is going to learn by having “his way” with all my treasured cookware , so forgive my unnecessary rant. He will most probably recollect all of our baking sessions together, just as I of my Mom and Grandmother.

Chocolate gingerbread cookie train for a little boy who loves trains!

This is a chocolate gingerbread dough,  “glued” together with chocolate ganache. You can also use Royal icing, but frankly I much prefer the chocolate. The result is a much more neater and way more delicious result. I also used the dark chocolate M & M’s , Twizzlers & Christmas peppermints to further decorate the train and the track.

I prepared, measured and baked the different parts of the train on one day and did the decorating on the following day.

You are also going to need  honey grahams to serve as support for both the engine and coal car. Glue six of the gingerbread  wheels together to form the boiler and then glue onto the graham stack support inside the “engine sides.”

This is the template for the train. Measure the different parts and just place directly onto the dough and cut with a pizza cutter. Use a craft knife for the little window on the “engine side.” I used a two & half inch round cookie cutter for the wheels. BTW, it is most probably a good idea just to place the templates back onto the baked pieces and just trim uneven sides, you have to do this really gingerly, otherwise they will crack. I used the template from Family Circle, but not the recipe.

You do not need a bottom part to this train, as the graham cracker stacks will keep the engine & the coal car up!

Recipe: Please use organic ingredients whenever possible!

Really easy, all the ingredients are mixed in the food processor!!!

I could not use my really delicious gingerbread dough recipe on my old blog, for fear of it not being able to “stand up” to this project. Turns out, I was wrong, so next gingerbread project will definitely be with that old recipe!!!

• 1 & 1/4 cups All purpose, unbleached flour
• 3 t ground ginger
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 t ground cardamom
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t ground clove
• 1/4 cup Valrhona French dark chocolate powder 64% ( Grand Cru de Terroire, “Tainori” Dominican Republic. I am now using this in almost all of my chocolate creations!
• 1/2 t bicarbonate of soda ( do not use baking soda, this has a soapy taste, I know because I also make my own soap!). Buy it from your local Middle Eastern store.
• pinch kosher salt
• 6 T unsalted butter (slightly softened & cut into small pieces)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg beaten
• honey grahams for support only
• chocolate ganache for “gluing”the parts together

Method:

In a food processor, sift together flour, spices, salt, bicarbonate of soda and chocolate powder. Give two quick pulses. Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles course sand. Use the on and off pulse button to achieve this OR  a biscuit cutter if doing this by hand.  Add the sugar and beaten egg and pulse again until the mixture comes together. Remove and lightly knead by hand into a smooth ball, wrap and refrigerate for about two hours.

You will have to make this recipe 4 times in order to make all the different parts of the train and then use the remainder for gingerbread boys and/ or girls, whatever your fancy. Use your realm of creativity. The dough should be rolled out into slightly less than a quarter of an inch. See further instructions & captions at my pictures. You are going to need to glue together 7 graham cracker cookies to serve as  support with chocolate ganache. Just snap the cookies along the perforated edge. Make 4 of these stacks. Take two stacks and glue to the side of one of the “engine” parts. Let the chocolate harden a little and then glue the other part of the “engine” to the graham crackers. This will make your “engine” car stand up. Do the same with the coal car. Proceed by gluing together all the other parts of the train, just like in my pictures above.

I used melted dark chocolate ganache ( dark choc. boiled heavy cream a pat of unsalted butter), in a pastry bag to glue all the parts together.

If you do not want to use chocolate ganache then use this Royal icing recipe:

• 3 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
• meringue powder( prepared as per instructions on the can) OR 2 fresh egg whites, slightly beaten
• 1/2 t cream of tartar
• 1 t fresh lemon juice

Sift & beat ingredients together to form a fluffy icing. Just use a plastic zipper bag, if you do not have a pastry bag to do all the piping!

____________________________________________________________

As you can see from the messy picture below, his favorite food is steamed butternut squash but he can also clean up very nicely!

He was only allowed to munch on a gingerbread boy, because we donated the whole  cake to a lady with lots of children. Hopefully, I shall make a different design when he is a little bigger and I shall definitely use my old chocolate gingerbread recipe that is on my old blog!!!

Love, as always & have fun making this train, & if you have any questions about this cookie train, ask me in your comment, & I shall answer, the best way possible!

Nazarina

I catered a couple of Christmas parties and had a really fun time preparing for them! My husband was out of town so I decided to party and dance along with everyone else. I thought that it would be the antidote to me missing him.  If you are a regular visitor here, you most probably know that I love dancing, ( a great way to work out),  and occasionally, yet, enthusiastically burst into song, (this you did not know!)!  Oh, come on, don’t be coy with me, tell me you don’t do this when you are alone? It turns out to be a favorite pastime of mine and heck, I am actually insulted for not being discovered ….yet he he ! Hay, let me tell ya, singing, whether on or off key,  is good exercise for relinquishing, cooped up crap, as long as it is in the confines of your own home ( the shower), you’re not hurting anyone’s eardrums! In fact, catchy lyrics and a visceral heave or two, ( you know when you hit those high notes), are  my melodramatic stance at “stardom.” What can I tell you, music,  simply moves me!

This was pretty much the festive mood I was in, trying to expedite the task of baking all thirty of these scrumptious curry pies and other delectable party food. I had lots of help so setting up, including decorating the huge table for the party was a cinch. People were very much impressed by the food and the beautiful table decor! Within in no time, we were dancing and just having a really good time.

Vocal trance rocks!

There I was, minding my own business and rhythmically swaying to the beat of my ultimate favorite trance song—— DASH BERLIN—featuring CERF,MITISKA & JAREN singing MAN ON THE RUN and the Tritonal vocal trance of Nadia Ali, singing  “Fantasy”, ( I am a trance junkie &  I  actually requested the DJ to play this because frankly, he was just playing crap all night, you might also  recognize Nadia Ali, from the group, Iio,  singing “Rapture,” when this Matthew McConaughey wannabe, comes up to me and says in this rather humorous &  Southern colloquial drawl, ” Na za ray na”, I am digging your “abonible” snowman,would you like to dance?” I was actually surprised because when we were introduced earlier, he could barely say two words to me & I do think he was a little drunk, (not snockered) at this point in time.  I felt like saying to him, the word is  “abominable” you fool, but instead I  pretended  that I did not hear him and just sang the chorus line  of  “Fantasy”, a little louder……”Stay away from me….” and hoped that he would just go away.  He most probably realized then that I was not going to oblige, when he turned  around and said, ” Your food and your dance moves are fantastic but your singing is not!”  Flustered, I defiantly stammered a bad word  in Afrikaans, “Vok jou, jou ou moer”  “last time I checked Mr Simon Cowell, you certainly are  no American Idol either!”After a rather awkward silence, we both just cracked up and I decided to just dance with him to keep the peace! Turned out that he was a rather nice guy after all! He did ask what I said to him in Afrikaans, I politely answered, ” I plead the fifth!”

____________________________________________________________

Lattice pocket pie mold

( Talk about party crashers & a disappearing act! these curry pies simply vanished the minute, they came out of the oven). I had to literally scramble to take the picture of my final presentation!

I bought this simple, yet inexpensive mold from William Sonoma and it truly does a marvelous job of molding these lattice pocket pies. They have a fruity filling on their box & another type of dough.  However, I used my own recipe for the pie crust and the filling. I made my pie crust with pastry flour,  cream cheese,  unsalted butter etc….. The cream cheese gave this dough a flaky and tender crumb, while the butter gave it lots of flavor. I also added a teaspoon of my masala, ( spice blend),  into the prep of the dough, thus giving it that extra burst of flavor! As you can see below, my pie dough is extremely forgiving and holds its shape beautifully!

I would recommend buying this little gadget because it makes the lattice design appear very professional & the other good thing is that, one can really place a lot of filling in the pie without distorting the design.

These pies had a very flavorful & light curry flavor with bits of chopped egg on top. I also made some without egg, but added small chunks of potatoes to the ground beef mixture. The potatoes has to be tender! I also made a roasted apricot & chili chutney as an accompanying dipping sauce. Delish!

Accompanying them were icy cold glasses of the non alcoholic Martinelli’s sparkling apple drinks & maraschino cherries as a garnish. I do not drink alcohol,  ( this does not mean that I cannot have my fun LOL!),  so the hosts, I cater for,  always provide their own alcoholic drinks .

Recipe

• Please use organic ingredients when possible!
• 1 large onion
• 3 large tomatoes, skins removed ( to remove the skins,  make a deep “cross” in the top of the tomato and soak in boiling water)
• 1 T pounded garlic
• 1 teaspoon pounded ginger root
• 1 lb of ground beef, slightly rinsed and drained in a colander
• 2 teaspoons of meat masala( I make & toast my own spice blends)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala ( My blend has toasted cumin, coriander, fenugreek etc…..
• 1 julienned  green bell pepper
• 1 chopped green jalapeno, seeds removed
• juice of half of a lemon
• half cup chopped cilantro, including the stems
• 3-5 curry leaves
• 2 small potatoes peeled and diced (optional)
• 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped into tiny pieces ( Do this only if you do not want the potatoes in the ground beef mixture)
• If you cannot find all these spices, then use cumin, sweet red paprika & turmeric of course
• an egg wash for the glaze

Method

Peel & finely chop the onion & saute in 3 T olive oil & 1 T unsalted butter until translucent. Add the pounded garlic & ginger and cook for 5 minutes. Chop the tomatoes into chunks & then add to the onion mixture and cook for 10 minutes until saucy. Add the ground beef and cook for 30 minutes. Toast all the spices first….this brings out a tremendous flavor & aroma…then add them, green peppers,  jalapeno & lemon juice and cook further for about 10 minutes. Now would be a good time to add the potatoes, if you so wish and cook until they are almost tender & then top off with cilantro & curry leaves and cook for 5 minutes more. When done, the potatoes have to be soft & have taken on the color of the spices! Fill the lattices with the ground beef mixture and scatter the chopped egg on top and continue to follow the instructions of molding the pies as per the William Sonoma box. If you wish to leave out the egg then just follow the recipe with the chunks of potatoes instead. Frankly , I love the potato ground beef mixture the best,

Beat an egg yolk with a little water and then brush pies before baking. You can freeze these pies as well. I let the pie dough rest in the refrigerator for an hour before molding and filling them. I baked them at 400 degrees for 25 minutes

________________________________________________________

Here are just a few of my other favorite songs for 2010: My sweetie always cracks up when I say “The Giddy DJ is in the house”

I really, really really want to go to a concert & see the two best DJ’s in action, one of them is,

Tiesto—-power mix

& the other is Armin Van Buuren—–Imagine

Lady Antebellum—– Need you now

Vocal trance 2010——Xtreme snow mash up

Rihanna——Only girl in the world, what’s my name etc….

Also listen to this version of Nadia ali “Fantasy” & cool dance moves from the queen of clubs

Nadia Ali—-Is it love?

___________________________________________________________

Gosh, I have so many more, I swear I do not have enough time to list them all!!!

Hope you too can dance the night away!

Love,

Nazarina.

The premise of this blog is to share cooking, crafts and many laughs and many of you already know that I am extremely ostentatious in all of my efforts whether culinary, presentation of dishes or otherwise but never gaudy! I love exciting food and to say that I am disambiguous would be an understatement especially since I am more than eager to transform anything into more ways than one and totally override  an ingredient’s current potential. So, today I am going to do just that share a recipe, a craft and many a laugh in the form of  a couple of jokes, (hopefully, not too indecorous for your taste!) Oh! c’mon, are you going to sit there and tell me that when friends get together that one of them is not liable to let loose a “dirty” joke? Its funny because normally, I am the one that is easily embarrassed. I always turn red as a tomato and in the process mess up the entire joke he! he! Isn’t it fun to be a little naughty?

Spuddy, buddy?

Tomato flavored potato chips and Chinese 5 spice sweet potato chips

Everyone has a favorite chip and a different term of endearment for this comfort food, whether they are gaufrettes, crisps, frips or like a former neighbor of ours in South Africa would say ‘KRIPS” ( this one always cracks me up!). “Wil jy ‘n pakkie krips he?”

Nevertheless,  they all have to be crispy! My favorite were “Tomato chips” back in South Africa. Unfortunately, I cannot find this flavor here, so,  I made my own. I made my spice  with tomato powder ( on its own, this powder lacks va va va voom), so I  toasted some pink peppercorns in a hot pan, and a few more toasted ingredients to make up the most captivating blend! This spice blend is to die for and imparted a very good flavor to my popcorn, french fries and roasted tomato soup as well. I also made a Chinese  5 spice, a little cinnamon, & a few more toasted ingredients, a custom blend, for the sweet potato chips as well. I made a note of all so that I can get the same flavor every time! Don’t you just hate it if you did not!

See some good tips below on how to keep the chips crispy!

Recipes :

Please use organic ingredients when possible

• 2 big Idaho russet potatoes or Yukon golds or more
• 2  garnet sweet potatoes or more
• Bob’s Red Mill potato starch ( so silky, you do not even have to shake off the excess! I love Bob’s Red Mill!!! & this makes the spuddy extra crispy!
• peanut oil for frying
• kosher salt
• my special tomato spice blend
• my special Chinese 5 spice & cinnamon blend (for sweet potatoes only)

Method and tips for making a batch of “Lays style” chips

Warm half of a saucepan with peanut oil and if you drop in a piece of bread, it should immediately crisp up, this is your queue to drop in the chips. Meanwhile scrub the russets,  (do not peel some of the potatoes, keep it rustic),  under running water and thinly slice with a mandolin. It is fun to use all the different settings on the mandolin like the waffle and many others.  Rinse the russet slices until water runs clear and pat dry with paper towels. Do not let the potatoes sit in water!!! They will become water logged and will steam instead of crisp up! The same goes for the prep of homemade french fries as well.  These slices should  be very dry and then toss them in the silky potato starch and then drop immediately into the electric fryer or a Dutch oven, ( cast iron pot). These two utensils tend to maintain the temperature of the oil and allows anything to be fried evenly. Do not overcrowd the pot, you do not want to steam the potatoes. Fry for about 2 mins until golden brown and drain on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels. Season with your choice of seasoning. If you have a big batch to make, then keep the cooked potato chips in a 300 degree convection bake oven until you are done with the rest and no longer than 20 mins. I use the convection setting because the air flow further dries the residual oil and hence the crispy appeal!

Scrub the sweet potatoes in the same way and dry with a paper towel but do not rinse the slices in water. Toss with Bob’s Red Mill potato starch and fry in the same way as for the regular russets. When the Chinese five spice blend hit the sweet potato chips as it came out of the fryer, the dry cold weather outside seemed like a cinch to bear.

I actually sliced the garnet sweet potatoes very thinly by hand and let all the slices air dry the night before I fried them. This is a kick a.. snack for Thanksgiving !

*Try this as well if you dare!

As the regular russets or Yukon golds come out of the fryer, lightly drizzle with malt vinegar and kosher salt. Do not put on any of the spices I mentioned on this batch though, it will clash with the vinegar! This is a British influence on the tater and was taught to me by my Mom.

Actually now that I remember, it was the Portuguese fish & chip shops that would sell these in South Africa.

——————————————————————————————

I share with you this really cute sushi napkin fold that I folded by using fabric remnants. You could use paper napkins as well! This will be great for a sushi party!

Crafts

“How to fold the sushi napkin”

For the inside napkin:

• Fold the napkin in half  with the folded edge on bottom & iron flat
• Fold the napkin into 2 & half inch wide bands, starting from the bottom to the top. Do not worry about the little piece sticking out, when you reach the top.
• Roll the napkin tightly, starting from one end into a “roll” and set aside.
• Lay the second napkin in a diamond shape and fold the bottom point up to about 2 & half inches and continue folding into 2 &half inch bands until you reach the top and then flip over.
• lay the first napkin roll about 2 inches from the left side of the second napkin and roll the outside napkin around the first like a sushi roll all the way to the end. The bottom edges of the sushi rolls should be aligned.  Secure with a corsage pin or just tuck the loose end into the folds of the second roll.

——————————————————————————————-

*Baked panko sweet potato balls & half pearl & half boiler onions “onion rings” salad. My take on a potato salad.  I made this as a pot -luck dish for friends and went over really well even with those “burly, bad boys!”

This is a totally vegetarian meal! ( not that I have anything against meat because I do indulge every so now and again )

There is a bed of sesame vinaigrette slaw ( julienned  carrots, cucumbers & parsnips) on the bottom of my panko sweet potato balls and crispy pearl onion “rings” & tomato salad. I made the mayonnaise also from scratch and lightly coated this unique potato salad. Both the little panko sweet potato balls and the pearl & boiler onion rings (balls) were baked.

I say unto all carnivores in light of this menu, “Eat your hearts out!”

Looking at these pictures, one would think that these are meatballs, but I kid you not, they are baked  panko sweet potato and onion balls. The pearl onion balls had a very cool coating on it as well & no it is not a regular flour coating!!!

You will love this homemade version of this light & creamy ” Hellman’s style” mayonnaise and believe it or not, no raw eggs were used!

BTW, I am still getting tomatoes from my patch! See post below for the tomato patch and spicy tomato jam!

———————————————————————————————-

Jokes!

A funny senior citizen joke

“You’re getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.

Mother-in-law joke

Employment joke!

How to ask your Boss for a salary increase..?

One day an employee sends a letter to her boss asking for an increase in
her salary!!!

Dear Bo$$

In thi$ life, we all need $ome thing mo$t de$perately. I think you $hould be
under$tanding of the need$ of u$ worker$ who have given $o much $upport
including $weat and $ervice to your company.

I am $ure you will gue$$ what I mean and re$pond $oon.

Your$ $incerely,
Marian $hih

The next day, the employee received this letter of reply:

Dear Marian

I kNOw you have been working very hard. NOwadays, NOthing much has changed.
You must have NOticed that our company is NOt doing NOticeably well as yet.

NOw the newspaper are saying the world’s leading ecoNOmists are NOt sure if the
United States may go into aNOther recession. After the NOvember presidential
elections things may turn bad.

I have NOthing more to add NOw. You kNOw what I mean.

Yours truly,
Manager

State of mind joke!

It doesn’t hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and

this should help get you started

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the director what

the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be

institutionalized.

“Well,” said the director, “We fill up a bathtub, then we offer a

teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to

empty the bathtub.”

“Oh, I understand,” said the visitor. “A normal person would use the

bucket because it’s bigger than the spoon or the teacup.”

“No” said the director, “A normal person would pull the plug … Do you

want a room with or without a view?”

———————————————————————————————-

That’s it folks, oh dear, I need a room with a view!!!!

I decided against the really bad jokes after all!

Enjoy,

Nazarina.

Not-so-mundane garden variety

Here are a few recipes I tinkered with throughout the summer, using things from the garden and hey, the garden parties were not bad either!

For some reason, there seem to be an amicable and almost clandestine rivalry between my husband and me and where arbitration in “whom will reign supreme” is not really important. What does matter, is the fact that both of us are passionate about our endeavors and that I am able to constantly chase after gastronomic nirvana!

With this said, my husband is the avid gardener in this family, so the term “green thumb” presumably alludes to his soil stained fingers. He grows all kinds of things from seedlings,  which he first germinates in the sun room, while the snow is still rampant around these parts and then during the warmer months, transplants them to either pots or the yard where “difficult dirt” is the order of many a day! Were it not for his tireless efforts, ( and in my mind, sometimes foolhardy perseverance LOL!),  to dig and aerate this impermeable piece of underlying crap, so sorry,  I meant to say clay,  that lurks just below the already, ( I swear),  denuded top soil, I  would not be able to “showboat” these beauties below! Nevertheless, daunting as this task may seem, he enjoys every minute of it!  Thank  goodness, he has the “balls” to do this every spring, among countless other things!

Berries

This tree is on the side of my studio where it receives plenty of sunshine but also the much needed shade during those 100 degree days from the shadow, cast by  the wall. My grandmother had a blackberry tree that fed the whole neighborhood. She made us climb the tree and then made all kinds of things with blackberries and it is those very moments that I miss so terribly. My sister S shared a memory with me, saying that my Grandfather wanted her to catch all those pesky ripened berries  before they fell onto his vintage Simcar, ( the ones that stained your hands and face and looked like some tattoo artist was hard at work at your expense). Apparently, there is really nothing wrong with inexpensive and underage labor, just look at how we turned out! just kidding! He, he!

Can you imagine a world in black & white? Thank God for granting us a vivid color spectrum!

This is my  so called “big, little very berry  Petit Four” that serves four or many more! (only 6 & half inches in diameter)

I developed this recipe when the berries were bursting with juice and flavor and just falling to the ground. This almost salacious motion needed an equally amorous mate,  ( i.e. a spongy Madeira with berries in the batter), to showcase the berry in all its sun-kissed  glory. The taste was absolutely stupendous,  not in the least sweet, just fruity and a little tart!

Everybody and their Mama are always over at my house, so when I tried dividing this baby into a thousand little pieces, one of my friend’s said “What the fudge Naz, what’s up with this? I need a freakin magnifying glass to even locate my piece!”

This big, little petit four is covered in a fruit fondant that I bought on-line and came all the way from Great Britain. So, it is more than fitting  to serve even the queen of England and the rest of the royal clan!

I served this dessert with a raspberry and blackberry coolie on the side. The berry coolies  intermingled with the fruit fondant ,  making every bite bursting with bits of succulent berry magic! Need I say that this endeavor was pretty darn fruitful!

Just add cooled down boiling water to a mixture of both raspberry & blackcurrant fondants and voila! you have real berries in a liquid state. I added a touch of lemon juice and the berry coolies to make it extra fruity!

It was this fruit fondant that really made this cake soar!!!!

Squires Shop distributes  orders of their products, magazines & magazine subscriptions worldwide, just click on their logo below for this fondant and many more.

Tomatoes

It is such a pleasure to cook straight from the garden and it also gives us that much needed “reconnect” to our food source, especially among the youth where this disconnect seems hauntingly palpable!

This season, my husband uncharacteristically cross pollinated the “Roma” with the  “Big Boy Hybrid” to produce a tomato with an inexplicably delicious flavor, that of my favorite, “Pink Lady” apple. Anyone can purchase a little tomato plant and plant it and nurture it and this is all good, but it is the mere planting and growing directly from seed and experimenting with cross pollination that grabs my attention!

Naturally, I just had to reciprocate and make the best tomato jam ever, so  I did some  “cross pollination” of my own.  I married the tomatoes in this  jam with a few surprises , one of them being harissa, ( just a smidgen to give it that slightly spicy flavor),  and also added a  fruit and a few other ingredients that will knock your socks off! BTW, I used honey and not sugar in this jam.

I removed the doughy insides from some Einstein bagels and filled them with a  crumbly  farmers cheese , topped them with a savory custard , a shower of freshly grated Parmesan and then baked in the oven until golden and crispy. My jam provided that undercurrent of gastronomic mystery to these bagels because without it,  felt amiss!  I am afraid that you just had to be here to appreciate the added flavor that this jam brought to the table!

Spicy tomato jam & inside out cheesy bagels

Mint patch (this is the bees favorite hangout!). These suckers can really dominate a garden but in essence this symbiotic relationship between bee & mint if you will, is really  a win-win situation for me and my tomatoes! If this is what my garden has to endure for the attraction of bees to our tomatoes, then who am I to argue with nature.

This is a steamed dark chocolate & mint pudding ( I cooked this baby in a pot on the stove top). A simple prep, but of course I am all about a challenge, so I had to go and make those pesky but pretty chocolate mint leaves for the decoration! If I were to describe this dessert, my best answer would be, like biting into a piece of spongy marshmallow without the sweetness of course!

Can someone please notify the CIA, someone has to pay dearly with his good name for this luscious chocolate thingy! Yeah, baby, this is criminal!

I did mean the Culinary Institute, what were you thinking?

Cherries ( or whatever the heck this is!). This berry was already growing in the backyard before we took up residence here. Anyway, it has a big seed in the middle and has a  slightly sour taste and so I cooked  about a handful together with craisins in a tangy chutney.

N.B. The Denver Botanic gardens got back to me and told me that these are actually chokecherries! Apparently, these make great jams/chutneys etc…. so I was on the right track.

This is a  “Craisin” good,  Nazarina’s special masala ( paprika},  roasted turkey tenderloin with a drunken  ( Pink Lady) apple slaw. This turkey takes only 40 minutes to bake and is so’ stinkin” good, your family would want to eat it everyday! It is moist and tender and the cherry and craisin chutney are a perfect complement to this dish. So to this dish there are three of my favorite recipes…….1) Craisin & cherry vinaigrette with a twist! ( gingerly toss the crispy apple strips), 2) Craisin & cherry chutney made with honey ( to baste the turkey loins) and 3)  the paprika roasted turkey tenderloin

Cucumbers, where pickling is the least of your culinary capabilities!

Roasted jalapeno (seeds removed) flavored DAHI.  I added some  other surprising twists to this cucumber raita as well . You would say, “Why did I not think of this?”

Sorry Mom, could not resist bringing the Dahi into the new millennium. This is truly mod & daring cuisine!

This is an accompaniment to Briyani and pappadoms , but my family loves  it as a refreshing summer soup as well.

All he ever says is Mmmmmmmmmm!!!!

Well, Mmmm yourself, you little cutie petudie!

Recipes (Please use organic ingredients when possible)

Mint chocolate steam pudding with chocolate leaves

(cooked in a pot of simmering water)

• 3.5oz ( 50% dark Lindt) chocolate (the whole bar) & another bar for the leaves and the sauce.
• quarter cup milk
• 7 oz chocolate cake crumbs / or I just thought of ladyfinger biscuit crumbs ( Boudoir biscuits) ! I am definitely going to use the ladyfinger crumbs, the next time I make another steam pudding! How ingenious of me! Don’t mind if I pat myself on the back! LOL!
• quarter cup sugar
• 2oz unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, separated
• quarter tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract

Method

Steep the milk on low with 2 mint leaves then melt the 3.5 oz chocolate via a “bain Marie” method, stirring gingerly until smooth and set aside. Cream the butter with the sugar until creamy and then incorporate one egg yolk at a time. Add the vanilla and peppermint and blend.  Add the melted chocolate to the cake crumbs and mix. Fold this mixture into the creamed butter, sugar & egg-yolk mixture. With an electric beater, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until fairly stiff and the fold into the chocolate mixture. Spoon this batter into a 4 cup, lightly greased  pudding mold and close with the lid/ or you can use any pudding mold.

Immerse the  pudding mold into a pot,  pour cold water halfway up the mold and then remove the  mold. Bring this water to a boil and then turn the burner on low. Place the pudding mold back into the boiling water, set on an overturned heatproof plate, and place the lid on and then cook on a slow simmer for 75 minutes. This will come out of the mold easily if you cool on a rack for 20 minutes and loosen the edges with a knife.

To make the leaves:

Melt some chocolate in a bain Marie , thickly paint the underside of a mint leaf with chocolate and allow to dry and cool in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Do not let the chocolate spill over to the other side of the leaf, this will make it difficult to do your next step!  Carefully pull the leaf off the hardened chocolate.

Or just dip the leaves in the chocolate, harden and get on with the recipe!

Thanks for being the subjection to a long and hopefully not a  tedious post!

Love,

Nazarina.

On the agenda today:

napkin folds, bonda ( baked recipe), pesto recipe & a giveaway!

May 13th: We shuffled all the names and Teresa was the lucky winner of this giveaway. Congrats to Teresa!

A huge giveaway from Bob’s Red Mill!

Bob’s Red mill is giving away a box containing several packs of different kinds of their stone ground flour to a lucky person out there. Yes, not just one but several! In order to win this awesome gift, just leave me a comment and voila this box will find its way to your door! Imagine all the nutritious and fun things you can bake and use in your stove top dishes with these superior products! For me there can be no other, so get with the “grind” you’ll, get with Bob’s Red Mill!

See also other recipes in previous posts using Bob’ Red Mill!

Thank you Bob’s Red Mill!

BTW, the winner of  the spa soap basket giveaway  was Jo, of Literally in the moment, as mentioned at the end of my previous post! I am working on another basket for yet another lucky person, so check back with me! Also there will be another giveaway from Bob’s Red Mill but you will have to come up with a simple recipe using their flour.  I shall let you know more about this later!

Is this not a cute napkin?  See the super easy “how-to” below! I swear your little child will be able to make this napkin fold!!! Guests will really find them amusing! Now, even the guests at the B&B are learning the whole’ napkin folding thing” and they often e-mail me, saying that they get rave reviews from friends and family when they put it into practice back home.

Baked potato bonda with chili & pistachio pesto. Typically, this hors d’ oeuvre is fried but here I put my own spin on it by rolling the potato dough into balls, poking a hole in it with the back of a wooden spoon & baking it.  I did not mix the garbanzo flour with water like in the traditional recipe.

This crispy potato had a  golden brown “skin” and a silky soft interior. The little hole was a perfect place to hide my tasty chili pesto. Yeah, potatoes are real peasant food, but when presented and baked in this chic way, will make even those food snobs stop looking down their snotty noses!

Made with Bob’s Red Mill stone ground  Garbanzo bean flour!

Chili & pistachio pesto, (creamy, slightly spicy and a nutty accompaniment), I have coated shrimp, smeared under the skin of whole chicken and prepared several other meats & seafood with this  pesto and then grilled or baked! Just thin out just a touch with water for this purpose! Use your culinary realm of imagination!

How to fold the napkin

• Iron the napkin
• Bring the upper & lower edges horizontally together to meet in the center
• Put finger on the center and open out each of the four corners diagonally from that center point like in the picture below

• Roll the left side of the napkin vertically toward the center point and place something on this fold, while you roll up the right side toward the left to meet in the center.
• Fold back the upper section to form the arms of the person.
• Turn the napkin over and gently pull the arms apart.
• Slide the handle of the spoon in the folds in the back of the little person like in the presentation above.

Please use organic ingredients when possible

How to make the baked potato bonda:

• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill stone ground garbanzo bean flour

• 1 t pure pickle masala or Hungarian sweet paprika ( I always put about 2 teaspoons just because I am crazy for spice that way!)
• 1 t baking powder
• 2 lbs potatoes
• Kosher salt
• 3 T ” Tofutti” brand cream cheese( a soy product & available at Whole Foods and Sunflower Market) or you can use regular
• 2 T Tofutti sour cream
• 1/4 cup Silk soy milk or regular dairy
• 1 T unsalted butter (optional)
• 3 T chopped cilantro
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 2 teaspoons bell pepper seeds ( optional)

Do not overwork the dough!!! Just incorporate and be done with it! Do you want stiff balls , then practice being light-handed!

Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Peel and boil the potatoes in salted water, until soft, drain the water, and put back on a low heat so that the potatoes are dry. Add the butter, cream cheese and milk and mash. Take off the heat and mix in the garlic,bell pepper seeds and cilantro and check your seasoning. Roll the mashed potato into little balls and poke with the back of a wooden spoon and place on a cookie sheet, see below.

Chill in  the refrigerator for half an hour. Brush with egg wash and lightly sprinkle with the garbanzo mixture. I put the garbanzo bean mixture in a sifter and sifted over the potatoes. This will ensure a lighter coating. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 45 mins until golden brown. Immediately fill the little cavities with chili pesto and serve

For the green chili and pistachio pesto:

• 1 x 7oz can green chilies
• 1 t pure pickle masala
• 1 jalapeno
• 3/4 cup Parmesan
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 c pistachios plus 1/4 c pine nuts
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 t basil
• 1 T fresh lemon juice
• 3 T salad oil
• a little kosher salt to taste.

Blend everything in a blender and refrigerate the leftovers!

Are these really pears?? See recipe on my old blog! You will be surprised to see what they really are!

Thanks for your visit! Don’t forget to leave the comment for the giveaway!

Much love,

Nazarina.