recipe of the week: mascarpone and lime torte

this is basically a no-bake cheese cake. so quick, so easy, so yummy!

mascarpone and lime torte

200g pack ginger biscuits, crushed
50g butter, melted
2 x 250g tubs mascarpone cheese
40g icing sugar, sifted
2 limes, finely grated zested and juiced

18 inch spring form pan or 6-8 ramekins

mix together the crushed biscuits and the butter and press it into the base of your chosen dish.
whip together the mascarpone cheese, icing sugar and lime zest and juice.
spread cheese over the biscuit base.
chill for 30 minutes.

in rainbows

radiohead is about to release their new album. you can pre-order it on the internet.

you decide how much you want to pay for the album.

what a freaking brilliant idea.

recipe of the week: squash and chicken curry

squash seeds

preheat oven to medium-high.
seperate the squash seeds from the pulp.
toss seeds with oil, salt and pepper and any spices you like - garlic powder, chili powder, anything.
toast seeds in the oven until crunchy, checking and stirring them every 10 minutes.


thai-style curry

splash of vegetable oil
skinless, boneless, chicken cut into chunks (or not for vegetarians)
2 red chillies, de-seeded and minced
2inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1-2 stalks lemongrass, chopped finely
big bunch of coriander, stalks chopped and leaves reserved
3 garlic cloves, grated or crushed
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 tins of coconut milk
handful of sugar snap peas
1-2 limes, zested and juiced

heat oil in a wok until slightly smoking.
add the chicken and cook until just coloured (do not cook through!) and remove to a plate.
add chillies, ginger, lemongrass, coriander stalks, and garlic to wok. cook for a minute, stirring continuously.
add squash, cook for a minute.
add coconut milk, cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
add chicken back to the wok, simmer for 5 minutes.
add the sugar snap peas and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
remove from the heat, stir in the lime zest and juice.
serve over rice, sprinkle coriander leaves and squash seeds over the top.

i mixed chopped mint into my rice as my mint bush is growing out of control and it was a nice addition.

recipe of the week: lime cupcakes

UPDATE: these are really quite wonderful. make them.

cupcake

1C unsalted butter, room temp
2C sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
1C milk
2-3 fresh limes juiced and zested
2 3/4C all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
pinch salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tin with cupcake papers.
cream butter and sugar and then add eggs one at a time.
stir in the milk, lime juice and zest. don't worry if the batter takes on a curd like consistency.
combine all the dry ingredients in a seperate bowl and add to the wet in 3 additions.
spoon into the cupcake papers and almost fill to the top.
bake for 15-20 minutes.


frosting

1/2C unsalted butter, very soft
4C confectioners' (icing) sugar
1/4C milk
1 fresh lime juiced and zested

combine butter, milk, lime and 1 C icing sugar and beat until smooth.
add more and more icing sugar until you get the desired thickness.
smother your cupcakes in icing!

chivalry is still alive in my bedroom

how wonderful is my boy?

anyone who knows me is aware of my intense fear of spiders indoors. it's an irrational and overwhelming phobia. alex knows this and he overcame his own shock and horror when faced with an 8 legged monster in the middle of the night. he protected my sleep from the nightmarish reality that a gargantuan spider probably walked right beside my head while i dreamed. i woke up in the end to the whirr of my wind up torch but was truly unaware of his bravery until i saw the pictures last night. read all about it!

who has $200 to spare?

al gore is going to victoria! i've seen him speak (via tv) in london and i've heard him on the radio. i'm sad i'm missing out, although i couldn't afford the $200 ticket price even if i was in victoria.

thank my lucky stars

3 cheers for my dad and his insomnia! i left it up to fate as to whether or not i would see the lunar eclipse. and sure enough, the universe wanted me to photogrpah it as my dad woke up me at around 3 am.

here's a picture from the lunar eclipse visible in london back in march.


i forgot my tripod so the rest of my photos from march are all horrible and fuzzy. but i had my tripod last night!

the other reason i came home

robin and jonathan got married! i am so wonderfully happy (and only partially jealous) for them. i've never been to a more beautiful wedding. unfortunately (for me) they have moved to vancouver so i'm going to be a bit lost this year without them.


robin was absolutely glowing. it was a completely spectacular day!

and the best part? i got to dance around all night with damien, he flew all the way over from australia for the wedding! it was just like old times back at g-a-y in london. he is pictured here with sarah, another candian teacher who found their way to england.

the reason i came home

my aunt sandra was married to (my new) uncle lloyd! it was all very wonderful. the wedding and reception was a fairly small affair at their home with family and close friends. my mum, darlene, was maid of honour and lloyd's neighbor, ranjit, was best man. my dad gave sandra away and i was the photographer. it was just grand! i'll post some pictures to flickr.

i'm coming home

i'll be arriving in victoria in about 25 hours...

i'll be in touch when the jet lag wears off....

recipe of the week: butterless brownies

you can actually use butter for this recipe but i didn't have enough...

1/2C vegetable oil or melted butter
1C sugar
1 t mint extract
2 eggs
1/2C all purpose flour
1/3C cocoa
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a 9inch square pan and coat in cocoa.
mix oil and sugar in large bowl, add mint and eggs.
mix, in seperate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
sift the dry ingredients into the wet gradually and mix thoroughly after each addition.
pour batter into baking pan.
bake for 20-25 mins or until brownies start to come away from the sides.
cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

i haven't actually tried the brownies yet as they have just come out of the oven. but smell and look tells me this recipe is a winner. if it's not, this post will magically disappear...

recipe of the week: duck wraps

i've had so much good food recently...i've just been really quite lame in sharing the joy. here's the first of many to come.

duck wraps

1 duck breast per person
your favourite wrap - tortilla, rice, etc
cucumber sliced long and thin
hoisin sacue - i was lucky enough to use wagamama's spicy cherry hoisin sauce

preheat a grill pan to medium and place duck breast skin side down.
cook for 12-15 minutes, draining away fat when needed (keep the fat and roast potatos in it!).
turn the breast and cook for 5-7 mins.
turn the breast again and crank the heat for 3 mins - or so - to get the skin crispy.
allow duck to rest and cool for at least 10 minutes if not longer and then slice thinly. the meat should be slightly pink.
assemble wraps with duck, sauce and cucumber.

salad dressing

4 limes, zested and juiced
spoonful of powdered mustard
splash of soy sauce
minced garlic
grated ginger
olive oil (double the amount of the lime juice)

whisk the first 5 ingredients and then drizzle in the oil, continually whisking.
toss with favourite salad fixings.

edible seaside: a step by step guide

i was proclaimed the 'best teacher ever' today all because we made an edible seaside.




we made the blue jelly yesterday and let it set in the fridge overnight....







we crushed up some digestive biscuits really finely to make the sand...







we mashed up the set jelly to give our ocean a 'choppy' appearance....







we carefully pushed our beach to one side and spooned on the sea...








we then squelched the sea into place, with our fingers of course...







we then added jelly fish and jelly people...








some of us had a little difficulty opening our cocktail parasols...








and then we were done...








all that was left to do was tuck in!!

recipe of the week: mozzerella sticks and bbq sauce

i had a giada de laurentiis dinner and i highly recommend you do the same.

here's her mozzerella stick recipe. i didn't read the directions very carefully and missed the second coating of bread crumbs. i don't think it harmed the recipe in any way. but definitely do not leave out freezing the little guys before frying, the ooziness was intense and i'm sure i would have been left with bread crumbs and goo if i hadn't frozen the sticks. i probably would cut the sticks in half next time, they were a bit long and wobbly coming out of the pan.

instead of the marinara sauce giada recommends for dipping i used her balsamic bbq sauce. YUM! i also bbq's some steaks with the sauce. i'll probably bake some chicken in the left over sauce tomorrow. it's just that good.

happy cooking.

it appears england is under attack again

the terror alert for england has been raised to 'critical', the highest level possible. it basically means a terrorist attack is imminent.

it's all a bit bizarre. it all started with a car bomb that was left outside a nightclub near piccadilly circus. thankfully the bomb didn't go off. and then a second car full of petrol and explosives was found not too far away.

but the most intense situation was when a flaming car full of petrol cylinders was driven into glasgow airport. police somehow arrested 2 men from the car but one of them, shouting 'allah' - apparently - who was completely ablaze, tried to attack the police while others were trying to quench the flames with an extinguisher.

is it all a coincidence that tony blair stepped down and gordon brown took up the role of prime minister days ago?

is it a coincidence that it's almost 2 years since the 7/7 bombings?

and in other news...

north england is severely flooded.

tony blair is no longer prime minister, gordon brown is.

all enclosed public places are now totally smoke free.

8 teenagers have been stabbed or shot in london in as many days.

happy canada day everyone!