Ali Edwards & December Daily

This year I've attempted a couple of Ali Edwards' projects.
They've been semi-successful.

I had a go at documenting a 'Week in the life'. Actually I documented it quite thoroughly through photos, I just didn't quite transfer that into a book or onto scrapbook pages. I enjoyed making a template, but ended up with just too much stuff to fit on the pages. I found it difficult to choose what to say.

In an effort to help that issue and improve my writing skills I tried her journaling class too. It was called '31 things' through Big Picture classes. It was interesting as it gave you a prompt everyday to write about one thing. You can only write one story, so you have to pick. Say the topic is jewellery, you have to decide if you are going to write about your favourite necklace or a ring that belonged to your Grandma.

Again I did the writing, which was useful for helping me choose which things to say but didn't do the part where you make a book,which sounds like the fun-est part! I wonder if it felt more like work once I'd done the challenging part?

Now its time for another one. December Daily. There are lots of Christmas projects that people do, but this one seems to fit with me at the moment. I love Christmas so maybe that will be the imputus I need to finish a project. I also means that I can do some work on it now in preparation whilst I'm excited about it.

I've chosen to use a 6x8 folder as its not too big. I'm not going to buy a lot of things for this project mainly because I have lots of craft stuff already, but also, I'm not sure if I can keep up for 25days! Wish me luck.

Dear Santa

If someone would like to make this I would be really pleased. The pictures don't even have to be sticky, I've got five different kinds of tape. Thanks.   

Christmas Crafts

This year I am attempting to start my Christmas crafting earlier. I usually get dead into the idea in December when it's getting a bit late really. So this is my newest tree decoration. A tiny knitted sweater!

I've not done a lot of knitting before. I already knew how to 'cast on' and do a basic knitting stitch but I had to learn the how to 'purl', do a 'stocking stitch' and 'cast off', from you tube. I love the internet.

I found the pattern at Just Crafty Enough when I was looking for a pattern for tiny mittens (which they also have) but they were way too difficult for a beginner like me. They are done on circular needles. eep.

You'll see that Kathy from Just Crafty Enough has knitted a cute little pattern into her sweater. No idea how she did that. I'm thinking about sewing a snowflake into mine with white wool. I'm not sure if that will work.

Anyway, I'm really pleased with it. It didn't take too long either so I might manage another. Probably as close to knitting an actual jumper as I'm going to get any time soon.

The Most Tastiest Cookie of Them All

Do you read a lot of food blogs? I've noticed there tends to be recipes or techniques that 'do the rounds' and everyone wants to try them. Like cake pops. I've not tried them yet. But I am little behind the times trend-wise.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe is one from ages ago. It's by a guy called Jacques Torres who has a chocolate shop in New York. Apparently he has the best cookies ever in his shop and he shared the recipe with the New York Times. So what? I hear you say. Well, his recipe calls for the dough to be chilled for 24 to 36 hours before you bake it. 24 hours! Now, as someone who doesn't make bread because you have to wait an hour for it to rise ... I was skeptical. Two different flours, two sugars, 5 inch cookies? Skeptical.

I made a quick batch (scaled way down from the NYT recipe) with what I had in the house. They aren't complicated. And baked them straight away. They were pretty good.

So I picked up all the stuff (not the expensive chocolate) and gave it a go. I made half the recipe and left it in the fridge. The dough was delicious on its own. I made it late a night so I wouldn't be tempted to throw them straight in the oven.

Next night I split the dough in half and made it into 10 balls. (I don't think 5 inch cookies are helpful for portion control. I'd still eat two. So I made normal size cookies.) They were fantastic. The best cookies I've ever baked. The salt on the top was perfect.

I cooked more the next night even more yummy. I also keep a few balls of dough in the freezer and when I baked those - they were awesome too!

I am totally convinced. This is most definitely my new favourite cookie recipe.      

Happy (belated) Halloween

Eugh.

I pretty much missed Halloween this year due to being poorly. Not happy.

My Husband went to a horror film festival and still had time to do this creepy/cute pumpkin.

I decided I really really really wanted to make those 'broken glass' cupcakes that were on Martha Stewart's site last year. But I was still not feeling fantastic and they turned out less than great. I'm not awesome at making cake anyway but they ended up looking gruesome. Not a-bit-creepy-ooo-it's-halloween-gruesome, actually gross.

The main issue is the 'glass'. It's made from a very light caramel, poured on to a tray and then broken up. Unfortunately I used a non-stick mat with has a slight texture. It ended up making the glass look frosty and dirty and like it was found in a back alley somewhere ...

Anyway. I'm looking forward to Christmas now. So let's just forget about this whole episode and move on.

Autumn macarons + recipe

Hello macarons.

Yep. More.

I've had to change my 'current obsession' back to les macarons. I've been making them a lot more often this year. I'm still not sure why I love baking them so much. They are really hard work and I am usually so impatient!

I made these for the lovely people at my work. We had a 'Summer Social'. Yes, at the end of September. So I made Autumnal themed macs. They are flavoured with a hint of cinnamon and filled with a milk and dark chocolate ganache.

I tried to get a subtle orange-y brown colour. I didn't want them to be too 'Halloween-orange' or look like they were meant to be orange flavoured. I'm still using gel based food colourings, but I think I'll have to try the powdered ones soon.

They went down really well. I thought they were a little on the rustic side, but no-one seemed to notice. Maybe because one of my colleagues made Nigella's Chocolate Guinness cake and it was freaking awesome.       



For the first time ever, I'm posting a full recipe with my macarons. Please read it all the way through before you decide to make a start. I use the Italian meringue method which involves hot sugar so please be careful.

Makes: about 18 full macarons. Takes: some time.

Ingredients

150g Ground almonds
150g Icing sugar
108g Egg whites (about three large eggs)
150g Granulated sugar
38g   Water
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Red and yellow food colours (or orangey-brown if you have it) - not the liquid ones.

Filling

50-60g Dark chocolate
50-60g Milk chocolate
1/3cup about 85ml Double cream
(Information about using ganache in various ways)

Tools

Electronic scale
Food processor/spice grinder
Three or four baking sheets
Candy thermometer
Mixer/electric hand mixer
Piping bag with large tip
Baking/parchment paper
Paper with circles drawn on it

Method

- Firstly you'll need to make these the day before you want to eat them.
- Secondly you'll need to leave your egg whites out to 'age' a day or two before that. (You can microwave them for 10 seconds to skip this - it works, mostly)

- Take the ground almonds, icing sugar and cinnamon and grind them together in a food processor or spice grinder. Then spread the mix out on a baking tray to dry out. You can do this in a slightly warm oven if it's damp in your kitchen.
-Weigh out your egg whites into two sets of 54g each.
- Sieve the almond/sugar mixture into a bowl and add 54g of egg whites and a small blob of red and yellow food colouring.
- Mix together really well into a smooth paste.
- Put the other set of egg whites into a sparkling clean bowl and whisk them until it forms soft peaks, it will still be a bit foamy looking.
- Put the granulated sugar and water in a small pan and start to heat it gently. Don't stir it. Keep an eye on the thermometer.
- When the sugar solution reaches 118c take it off the heat.
- Pour the hot solution in a slow stream into the eggs whilst continuing to whisk.
- Whisk until the mixture gets nice and shiny and check the temperature is below 50c.
- Fold the shiny mixture into the almond paste.
- Get a piece of printer paper. Using a upside down shot glass or a set of compasses draw a set of circles with a couple of cm gaps between them. Or download a template - like this one.
- Put a wide circular tip in your piping bag, place the bag in a glass and load it up with macaron mixture.
- Put your template on a baking tray and cover it with a layer of parchment paper.
- Pipe out circles until you have filled a tray. Then tap it on the counter to remove any air bubbles and the bobble on the top left by piping.
- Continue to fill trays this way until you have no mixture left.
- Leave the macarons to set and form a skin. Your finger shouldn't stick if you touch it. It takes about half and hour, but can be longer if it's humid or has been raining.
- Set you oven to 160c (fan) and let it get up to temperature.
- Put your first tray of piped macaron mixture on top of another (empty) tray and place it in the middle of the oven.
- Leave the oven door open a little bit (use a wooden spoon to prop it open) and cook for around 10-12 minutes. They shouldn't 'wobble' when they are done. I also like to turn mine around during cooking as I use a fan oven and they sometimes rise unevenly.
- When you take them out let them settle for a minute or two then gently peel them off the paper.
- Let them cool completely on a rack.
- Do the same with each tray.
- Whilst they are cooking, make the ganache.
- Break up both kinds of chocolate into a bowl.
- Microwave or heat the cream in a pan until it is just about to boil.
- Pour it over the chocolate and leave for a minute or two, then mix thoroughly until there are no lumps.
- Put the mix in the fridge to set.
- When all the macaron are cool, match them up in pairs. If your piping was really good, they'll all be the same size. I usually have a few that are a little larger. oops.
- The ganache should have set enough that you can pipe it. If it has gone really solid - like a truffle - just heat it a little to get the right consistency.
- Pipe a blob of ganache on one side of each pair and pop the top on to flatten it out. You should be able to see it at the sides but not have it ooze out.
- Put all the macarons in an airtight container and pop them in the fridge overnight.
- Remove them from the fridge 30-60 mins before serving.
- Enjoy!

If they didn't come out like you expected - try a troubleshooting guide like the one at foodnouveau.com.

Running

Remember when I said I had started doing some exercise? Well I meant it.

I completed that 'Couch to 5k' podcast. Granted it took longer than nine weeks, but I got there and started listening to other podcasts when I went out running. I can't help but rave about how much it has done for me. I got one of my friends hooked too - I overheard her telling someone how she never liked PE at school ...
I think something should be done about PE. It's still not working is it?  

Anyway. I wanted a challenge so I entered the Cancer Research UK Race for Life with my Mum. Race for Life is a 5k course that you can run or walk for the charity. We ran the whole thing! I was amazed and it felt great. Plus we raised some money for a good cause. (Thank you everyone who sponsored us.)

Since then I've kept up my running and started running a bit further.

I wanted another challenge so I entered a 10k race. I had three months to double how far I could run. I wasn't sure I could do it - but on the day I ran every step. I can now run for over an hour.

Check out my medal collection ;) It really goes to show what you can do when you put your mind to it.

Burger Macarons

We've just had a lovely bank holiday weekend. We were invited to a BBQ on Sunday, which ended up being a glorious day. Traditionally all bank holidays are soggy affairs leading to large queues at the shopping centre. So it was a nice to be able to eat and drink and chat in the sun. 

In fact, this is one of the reasons why I decided to embark upon the task of creating burger macarons. I thought if play was rained off we could still eat burgers! And I love making macarons. And people love eating them. 

Obviously I didn't invent the novelty macaron. They've looked like burgers forever and you can find a few pictures of other people's versions if you look for them online. I didn't use a tutorial or anything for these though, so I'm going to add a few tips for if you fancy having a go. 

Burger Macarons

The 'bread'

Just make the shells with your favourite macaron method/recipe. Personally I find the Italian meringue method easier to get the correct consistency. A lot of recipes seem to say it should be a magma like texture? That seems a rather bizarre thing to compare your cooking to. I think it looks more like melted marshmallow. It's shiny and pourable but not runny. 

I got the colour by adding some yellow colouring and a little bit of red. I was a pale orangey shade which went a bit darker when baked. I wouldn't add too much though, even plain macarons are quite burger bun like. After I'd piped them, but before they set I sprinkled on some sesame seeds. 

The 'burger'

For the burger I used a chocolate ganache. I left it in the the fridge to harden up a bit, but not completely. I piped globs about the size of a cherry tomato (or a large cherry I suppose?) onto a plate. Then I took each one and placed it between two pieces of cling film and squished it down with the bottom of a glass dish. Using something made of glass made it easier to see when the 'burger' was the right width for the shell. Pressing them down like that also made a nice uneven edge.

The 'cheese'

I didn't make fondant or colour it or anything. I just bought a bar of bright yellow ready to roll icing. I rolled it really thin and cut some squares. Make sure everything is covered in icing sugar or it'll all stick together. eugh. 

Didn't last long!

The 'tomato sauce'

These are pretty time consuming little things to put together so I didn't make this icing either. I used a little tube of writing icing. You know the kind they do for piping 'happy birthday' on a cake? I added a couple of 'drips' where you could see them from the outside of the burger and a little bit in the middle so you would see it when you bit though.

I also added a dab of extra ganache on top of the 'cheese' to make sure the lids stayed on. Once the lids were in position I popped them in the fridge for 24hrs.

Just before the BBQ I wrapped them individually in squares of baking paper so they looked like fast food burgers ready to go.

What do you think? Would you try one?  



Check out this amazing time lapse video my friend made of the BBQ.

     

Outdoor cinema

We went to see Jurassic Park ... in the park.

There was an outdoor cinema screen set up and when it got dark enough they projected the film onto it. We sat on the grass. We took a few snacks but usually you are not allowed to drink in the park, so we didn't take any alcoholic beverages. Some other people had beers, so I walked up to the pub and bought a bottle of wine. The guy behind the bar was very helpful and found me some paper cups to take back with me.

We should have brought some warmer clothes - it was quite chilly by the end of the film! Well worth it though.

Jurassic Park, it's a classic, isn't it?

Heston inspired turkey burgers

Hello, I am still alive! I've had a bit of a stressful month and I've been spending a lot of my time on another project I can't you about yet. But I really wanted to stop by and tell you about this 'recipe' I tried. The pictures are rubbish, I tried to get a tasty looking one when I was consuming the left overs for lunch but it is not pretty.

Now, I know you've heard of Heston Blumenthal. He cooks in some crazy ways, but what I find interesting is how he tests and tests things to find out the best way to do it. A little while ago he had a show on TV where he took one ingredient each week and explained some great, though unconventional, techniques for getting the best out of them.

The first week was beef and he got some guys to make their best burger recipes. Then he made this one using only beef and salt.

o_O

No breadcrumbs, no egg yolk, no onions, no herbs, no cheese hiding in the middle. It relies on the 'grain' of the meat created by keeping all the strands of minced meat going in the same direction.

I decided to give it a go with some turkey mince. Partially out of laziness and partially out of experimental spirit. And it worked great! I just added some salt, rolled up the mince and after a bit in the fridge, cut some slices. I made six from 500g of turkey and cooked them for about three minutes each side. Lovely and juicy and great in a squishy white bread cob with lots of salad. Yum.