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When I was a kid there was a programme on Saturday mornings called "Going Live." It featured Phillip Schofield and Gordon the Gopher. I didn't like the music they showed, or the people they interviewed much, in fact I don't actually remember being that fond of anything about it. Except the bits with Phillip and Gordon. Weird, but true. Then again I always did have a thing for strange stuffed animal TV presenters, Roland Rat was a big role model at one point - I was young, alright.
Anyway, that all came to mind because today I am going live! Yep, I have finally been persuaded to put this little corner of the interweb filled with my experiments and musings out into the public domain. It's possible I will have a dramatic change of heart and disappear into the abyss of private blogging once more, but for now let's give it a shot.
So I've done a tonne of editing, deleted some posts (which is why my 200th post is no longer at number 200, grr) and removed some typing errors and now I'm ready to share with the rest of the food blogging community. I've had so much pleasure and fun reading the blogs of now-favourtie foodies, and gotten so much from the experience. Now, hopefully I can put a little something back and begin to share my stuff too.
So yes, let's go...
Ta da!
I've finally finished my leg-warmers. I started these the week before Christmas and finished them last night. Rather longer than I had anticipated, but I think part of that is because I kept getting distracted by things like KitchenAid mixers and sewing machines! (and I haven't used the latter nearly as much as I would like because of having to get back to work. Boo.)
I have to say I am rather pleased with them. They were done partly to practice changing colours (I only got it wrong once, where I changed before a purl row so it showed the other colour) and to get the ribbing right, which I did. They are almost perfect. Very annoyingly I ran out of the green six rows early and so just resorted to using grey for a few extra rows. Oh well, it won't be too noticable.
They were also made because my trusty pink and black leg-warmers are finally wearing out, and are more holes than not! They are also rather thin and so more leg-accessories than actual warmers. These new ones are not only homemade, but are part merino wool so should be toasty warm. Mmmm, warm ankles again, hurrah!
Next? A red and white striped Arsenal scarf for N and some black and white leg-warmers for K. I am also hoping to tackle a hat pattern soon. Nothing too difficult, just some decreasing, but it's not something I've tried before and I am desperate to move on to something a bit more difficult than tubes to see if I can actually manage it! p.s. More baking coming soon, and some changes and news too. Watch this space...
We have some special hot chocolate that we want to get through in the next couple of weeks, and what with the Alaskan marshmallows having been gobbled up, what better excuse could there be for jumping on the bandwagon and trying to make them myself. I don't have anything as exotic as princess emulsion, but I do have a nice bottle of Madagascan vanilla extract which I thought would be perfect.
I found a recipe from Baking Bites, and off I went. I decided to halve the recipe as it was supposed to make 36 large marshmallows, and there's no way we could get through all those. It was an easy recipe to divide and I thought that all would be well.
It definitely started off well, a small amount of liquid in my mixer very soon became a balloony fluff of bright white mallow. I couldn't believe how quickly it happened, and how impressive it was. Then, in my awe I lost sight of what I was doing. I forgot that when you halve ingredients you also need to adjust things like cooking time. The full recipe said whisk on high speed for 12 minutes, and I did just that...except I probably should have only whisked for six.As I said though, I was so impressed by the results that it totally slipped my mind! After twelve minutes I dutifully oiled everything in sight - cling film-lined baking tin, spatula, hands, second spatula! - as instructed, but still the mixture stuck everywhere! It's sooooo sticky, I can't stress that enough, it stuck to every unoiled surface, and quite a few of the oiled ones.
But eventually I managed to get it in the pan, spread it a bit and left it to set in the fridge.
A few hours later I cut it into small cubes and tossed the marshmallow in equal portions of icing sugar and corn starch. Voila! Homemade marshmallows!
I couldn't wait for N to get back from football so we could try them. I was so certain everything had gone perfectly.
Que N's return, the kettle on, hot chocolate made, marshmallows dunked and the revelation. Hmm.....kind of gritty. Wait, what? Gritty? Yep, that's right, they were somehow fluffy, whilst being every so slightly gritty. I presume because either the sugar didn't melt properly, or I over-whisked the mix. The flavour is lovely, but the additional texture not so much. I was pondering whether I could pass this off as a new fad in marshmallow making, but nah, I have to hold my hand up and admit that my marshmallows are a bit gritty!
And we have a load of them! It's not that they're unpleasant, the flavour is lovely and the initial fluffiness very nice and in fact since we both like them to melt into our drinks any residual grit disappears, so its not a problem. Except we don't actually drink that much hot chocolate. Anyone out there fancy some slightly interestingly textured homemade vanilla marshmallows? They're light and won't cost much to post!
Long ago, in a time far far away - December that is - I signed up to take part in a Christmas cookie and ornament exchange. Having had so much fun sending my jam across the world I just couldn't resist. Plus, this is something I could already do. No more crying over boiling fruit and setting points, just good ole' fashioned cookies and some nice ornaments.
I sent mine off with great excitement, having been a bit carried away and packed not only two types of cookie (cranberry and white chocolate biscotti, and gingerbread) and technically two types of decoration (the gingerbread was also designed for hanging on the tree), but a mini-Christmas pudding and some sneaky spiced apple caramels.
Then I did what I did when I made the jam, I forgot that in the whole point of "exchange" is that you get something too! So off we went to France the weekend before Christmas and I completely forgot about it.
We got back late after a delayed flight and a drive. I staggered through the door with our bags and there waiting was a suspiciously large box with "perishable" and "US Postal Service" all over it. Cookies!
I couldn't wait to get it open, and there was barely enough time to give the cat a quick hug before I was eagerly tearing past the sellotape. I had to giggle when I opened the card, it was from Nicole, the women I had sent the jam to! Luck of the draw meant that this time she randomly got me, talk about fortuitous. She'd been very naughty too and totally spoilt us, it wasn't just cookies and ornaments that awaited us, but some delicious coffee, chai chocolates, marshmallows and blondies! Isn't that just amazing?! And all in the most beautiful and yet practical festive packaging.
It was as if she'd read my mind too, the ornaments were the adorable handmade birds seen here perched in our Christmas tree (just at the weekend in France I had commented to N that I wanted to get some fabric handmade ornaments to start a collection for our Christmasses), and a moose! I am more than a little fond of moose, some might say obsessed, and this relaxed fellow was the perfect addition to the growing collection of mooses in our flat (and was quickly made at home with fellow mooses on the tree).
The other element of mind reading came in the form of the cookies. Meyer lemon butter cookies to be exact. Lemon is one of my all-time favourite flavours, and I have been jealously admiring all the Meyer lemon recipes on Nicole's blog (and others) and so to have a little package of this special lemon-y goodness arrive on my door couldn't have been more perfect. They are were so delicious. I said she should rename them Meyer melting moments as they were melt-in-your-mouth cookies with a delicious creamy yet citrusy flavour. Although I loved the spiced indulgence of the persimmon blondies she sent, the lemon cookies were my favourite. (I should add that the blondies were gobbled up so quickly that I didn't get a chance to take a picture! But you can seem them here... and she's right, they are really good!)
The final part of the package, the princess marshmallows (explanation of the name here), were another aptly coincidental gift and so I waited to try them until Christmas eve. Why? Because in the tradition of having something small to open and indulge in on Christmas eve I had bought N some posh proper hot chocolate from a special local chocolatier. How pleased I was to unwrap the final box from our parcel and discover marshmallows! The perfect accompaniment. The chocolate was spiced and I thought the princess flavour would compliment it really well. It did. We managed to be restrained and only have two marshmallows each so we could have them in the next batch of hot chocolate. It was hard though, those fluffy delights kept melting away and making me want more!
A massive, massive thank you to Nicole for sending such lovely things (and being so patient with me for not posting until now), it was the most wonderful surprise. Also a huge thanks to Molly for organising the event. I just don't know how she manages the logistics of things like this, especially not so close to Christmas, I aspire to that level of organisation. I can't wait for the next event, oh please let there be one!
I decided to start 2009 as I mean to go on, with an adventure and of course, using the Kitchenaid! I still can't believe it's mine, and that I'll be able to use it whenever I want, I keep scanning recipes for ones that use the magic phrase "with an electric mixer"! There is of course no urgency, it's not going anywhere and I'll have plenty of time to use the attachements, and hopefully add more.
However, it only seemed right that the first thing I made in 2009 used my beautiful new machine, and that it used it for something that I couldn't have done as well by hand. So I decided to go all out and try making macarons. I've been coveting their pretty little sandwich shapes ever since a friend shared one with me in a French Patisserie when I first moved to London. Then I discovered the world of food blogging and the delightful Tartelette, and my eyes were filled with images of these dainty sweets and their flavour combination potential.
They are a meringue and almond base, cooked and filled with buttercream, ganache, or whatever you fancy. You can also add other nuts to the base and colours and all sorts.
Having read lots about them, and discovered a basic recipe in Ottolenghi's book I knew this would be the thing to do in the mixer for the first time. It would be perfect for whipping the egg whites and sugar, and I could even do the ganache and buttercream in them.
Off I went! It was very exciting. I whipped, folded and then piped onto baking sheets. I then added a swirl of red food colouring - I was going for a red and white, Arsenal/Christmas feel - and then baked them.
Mostly they turned out alright. Not perfection, but pretty good for a first bash I thought. I left them to cool and made a quick white chocolate ganache and a plain buttercream filling, both coloured with red food colouring. Then I delicately filled and sandwiched them.
Having scoffed the last of the mince pies last night, in a noble effort to finish them up before they went off we didn't have space to try the macrons, so we were naughty and had once each for breakfast with our coffee. Oh yes, a healthy start to the new year! I always thought that was a rubbish resolution anyway because I was bound to break it within seconds!
I was very pleased with the outcome, they may not have all turned out perfectly, but they had a crisp outside, slightly chewy middle and then the cream of the filling. I can't wait to try them again, this time with more complex flavours, hopefully the salted peanut caramel ones in Ottolenghi's book.
I'm afraid I won't post the recipe as I just used the base from Ottolenghi with no adaptations - I'm not that confident yet! But hopefully it won't be long before I am playing with flavours.
More Kitchenaid adventures to come, including my first dough hook experiements! Did I mention I love it already?
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