bread I'll be making

look at this yummy bread. oh.so.good.

i've not been making enough bread lately. i do hate buying bread. be it from the shops in a plastic bag (eeekkkkk hate that) or from the bakery in a paper bag (a much better option than plastic, and i can take my own paper bag to reuse. but the "gourmet" bakeries around here can get a bit $$ for something my family will consume in 1-2 days).

i'm planning on bread making this week.

rye is the only flour i have in the cupboard. trying to stop the excess wheat.

monday is studio working day (Sam is off work, to be an at-home-dad). so tuesday will be bread making day. perhaps you'll want to come back and share some fresh warm bread (with dripply butter and Vegemite, maybe) with us.

what's your best bread recipe? i don't really have one, as such - just bung it all in and knead it up. even though i've seen a lot of no-knead bloggers out there, the kneading is the thing for me. that's the part that always makes me think of my mum. and that's good.

*image used with thanks from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes.

otherwise known as....... {yum}

I love the current phase of macaron love that's happening around the globe. Been going around for a while now, hasn't it? If you ask me, or any other sweet-tooth.adore.pretty.things sort of person, then it can go on for a whole lot longer.

I'm waiting until I have a decent oven again (miss this one, that's for sure) before I delve into trying to make these intriguing little masterpieces.

{Cannelle et Vanille}

{I Heart Macarons}

{Cannelle et Vanille: Cherry Blossom Macarons}

{Cannelle et Vanille: Cherry Blossom Macarons}

{Cannelle et Vanille: Strawberries and Vanilla Bean}

{and just another reason why I love my dear friend Sandrine and her French style}

{Miniature Macarons}

{The Clever Bride}

{Gourmet Traveller - Macarons with White Chocolate & Raspberry Ganache}

{I wanted to show you every single amazing image from Cannelle et Vanille, instead you'll have to go over and look at all the other beautiful, intoxicating, drool-inducing images yourself}.

Oh golly, I'm hungry now. For something sweet and light as air. And deliciously indulgent. And a little like a fairy tale. Or heaven.

*All images used with kind regards from the wonderful chefs.

eat :: this post is brought to you by burnt eschallots

Dinner tonight was a simple affair of market tomatoes. A delicious combination of green, black, bright red and yellow heirloom varieties. Slowly simmered until nicely thick and rich, then add some bok choy and snap peas. Just right for spooning over fettuchini and serving with fresh ricotta.

I cannot wait until we have our own house and garden and space to grow enough tomatoes, basil and beautiful simple foods to feed us each and every day. Soon, I'm hoping (if I keep whispering in Sam's ear, and showing him lovely houses to live in at the country).

Luckily the eschallots, that burnt while I was taking these photos, didn't overpower the sauce. In fact there was not one complaint. Well, okay - the two smallest* kids didn't care too much for the snap peas, and pushed them to the side. But the thinly sliced bok choy slipped sneakily past their fussy lips.

These over-ripe figs will serve as dessert. A perfect combination with the rich dense chocolate brownie we have sitting in the fridge, in one of those special white boxes from a bakery. {Sylv's new boyfriend works for an organic bakery; he does the market stall three times a week. Any left over cakes are his to bring home, and he doesn't mind sharing the deliciousness with us. They even have dessert parties after market day, once a week.}

*my nephew is visiting. he's the oldest, and will eat most anything. by most accounts he is my child, rather than only my nephew. i love living in, being part of a family, where all the cousins are like siblings - where my sisters + brother trust me totally and wholly with their children.

baby cakes, hearts and an ant

My kids like having "something sweet" for afternoon tea.

We all sit down, at our outside table (where we eat most every meal at the moment), and share our treats, an afternoon coffee, or warm milk, and some conversation. Talking over our day, or trying to decide on our dinner (every day, the thing of trying to decide what to make for dinner).

Yesterday we baked some little cakes. Some for Ari to take for school lunch. And some for us to have for afternoon tea.

Very easy to make, very delicious, and quite good for you - in the scheme of chocolate cake. 

As you can see, they don't last very long. These photos were literally taken click, by click, by click - my camera could barely keep up with the little hands disappearing cakes!

Recipe (if you're interested) goes a little bit like this* :: Chocolate Beetroot Baby Cakes

Cream together 50g butter + 50g soft brown sugar (you can also melt it together in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water, if your butter is too hard - like ours was!). Stir really well, to cool it down a bit, then beat in 2 eggs. Add 75g cocoa powder, 100g finely dessicated coconut and 1-2 finely grated fresh beetroots. Stir well. Then add 2T plain yoghurt and 1 cup milk. Gently stir in 100g self raising flour. You want a fairly wetish (but not totally runny) mixture, that is easy to transfer to your cup cake cases. So add more yoghurt if it's too dry, or more coconut if it's too wet. 

Spoon into little cupcake cakes, and bake until nicely cooked. (Our old oven is so unpredictable, I can't honestly tell you what temperature it bakes at; but most little cakes take about 12-15mins in 179 degrees C, oven. I do so so so miss our beautiful new oven, at our other home, and can't wait until we buy our own home again so we can have a beautiful kitchen!).

We bought these heart shaped cupcakes, at the insistence of Mishi - she wants them for her birthday party. (The little round ones have been in quite constant use for a long time). I've been using silicon cupcake moulds for quite a while now (year or so?), and while I guess the plastic isn't a fantastic thing to be using, I have never had any cakes that haven't unmoulded with ease, and don't have to use papercases all the time. (I have, in the past, had big issues with metal cupcake tins not unmoulding easily, and having half cakes fall out inside of the whole cake slipping out easily - I do recommend these little silicon baking cases, if you're having those issues).

*baking with two smalls means that measurements are never quite accurate, and stirring is a bit erratic. And given my personality, I never follow a recipe, making the cake and quantities up as we go along.

 

{can you see the little ant who was enjoying our tasty cakes, too}.

cookie factory

We made some cookies, yesterday, to give the kindy teachers today.

We mixed, measured, rolled and cut. Then waited and waited for our (old old) oven to bake them. We made 5 batches in total. Enough cookies for everyone.

This morning the kids wrote their labels, and filled the bags - carefully counting them out, and deciding which shapes would go in which bag. While Ari + I tied the labels on with some lovely hemp twine, he talked about us being the packing and wrapping section of the cookie factory.

He's quite into factories at the moment. Mainly because of Willy Wonka.

The smell of orange throughout the house last night, was so lovely. I'll for sure be making some orange cookies again. Ari did declare them to be quite yummy.

Vanilla + Spice Cookies ::

Start with 125g room softened butter, mix with your fingertips into 225g plain flour, until resembles breadcrumbs. Add 80g soft brown sugar, 2 capfuls of vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice or ginger powder. Roll out onto a flat surface, with some flour to prevent sticking. Using your favourite cookie cutters, cut as many shapes as you can. Then re-roll and cut again until you're used all the mixture. Place onto baking tray, lined with baking paper. Bake at 180C for about 15-20 mins, or until just golden.

Orange + Coconut Cookies ::

As above, but substitute about half the flour with dessicated coconut. Finely grate orange zest, not peel or rind, into the mixture. Add sugar and vanilla. A little squeeze of fresh orange juice, is you need the mixture to be a little bit wetter. Roll, cut and bake as above.

Enjoy!