May 15, 2013

Birthday Party!

By Rock Salt

So, guess what?

You’re right, I have no way to know if you’re guessing or not, and this is a pointless exercise. But still, guess!

That’s right (she said, hearing your guess through the powers of the internet) – it’s my birthday today! Guess what else? Oh OK, we won’t go through that again – it’s my 30th birthday. I have been rocking around on this planet for 30 years and as I type, I’m swinging between casual acceptance, frank disbelief and what can only be described as stomach clenching panic, at a rather alarming rate.

The casual acceptance part is like ‘Yep, it’s just a number. Plus, life is awesome, and you’re not one of those people who’s set any kind of “life targets” that you now feel like you should scrimmage around and get accomplished in the next twenty minutes. Well done. Let’s party.’

The frank disbelief is like ‘Whaaaaaaaaat? I’m just getting started! It can’t possibly have been 30 years.’

The stomach clenching panic is like ‘DEATH IS COMING.’

So, now you know. Your humble writer is 30 years old on this very day, and as you read this she is probably doing some awesome bouldering. If you’re not familiar with it, bouldering is indoor climbing without ropes or helmets or any of that carry on. The G man and I started doing this in the last couple of months, and even though some weeks I’m really scared of climbing to the top of the walls and/or falling off while I’m doing it (which to be honest I think is probably natural, and I try not to give myself a hard time about it), most of the time I love it, and I feel like a spider monkey. The best parts are where you lose your footing and haul yourself back up with your arms – that makes a person feel BADASS, no doubt about it. I’m already getting people to prod the new muscles in my forearms, which I am disproportionately proud of.

Anyway, that is part of my birthday plan. The whole picture looks like this:

10am or thereabouts: wake up without the aid of an alarm clock and relish being at home, in bed, on a work day.

11am: have a long, leisurely shower. Sing ‘Caledonia’, ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ and ‘Life on Mars’ at top of lungs. Sing any other songs that pop into head, also at top of lungs.

12 noon – 1pm: climb to the top of walls and jump back down again like bouldering rock star legend.

2pm: arrive at astonishingly awesome parents’ house, where astonishingly awesome siblings will also be arriving forthwith. Drink bourbon. Laugh until face hurts. Eat food that I have had no hand in preparing, and will have no hand in cleaning up after. Possibly play enthusiastic if amateurish guitar and sing at top of lungs some more.

11pm: arrive back at my flat, escorted by ever-patient G man. Watch a film with dinosaurs or aliens in it. Sleep the sleep of the just.

Doesn’t that sound great?

While I’m off doing that, I thought I’d give you some birthday party pictures to peruse. The week before last, I threw a birthday party for my beloved Thursday Sister Miss Pig. We had banners, paper plates, wine and more snacks than you could shake a stick at – the works. I took a whole bunch of photos, and today I’d like to share them all with you – after this big bunch of words at the top of the post, you deserve them.

Things started off very civilised.

I made some exciting things for us to eat. First of all, blue cheese and walnut sandwich cracker guys:

The recipe for these is here – Stilton and Walnut Crackers. I Scottished it up by using Strathdon Blue for the crackers, and the filling was some Skinny Crowdie with a splash of cream, a sprinkling of blue cheese and some minced spring onion. Delicious.

Then, sticking with the cheese theme, I made these Homemade Goldfish Crackers.

I used a sharp Cornish Cruncher cheese for these – this cheese is great just on its own, but adds a mega flavour boost to the crackers. They didn’t turn out as crunchy as goldfish crackers, instead being more puffy and pastry-ish, but they hit the spot. I also make them in heart and flower shapes, because those are the shapes that Miss Pig likes (and because I don’t have a fish shaped cutter, of course).

The last savoury joy was these sourdough grissini, of which I was extraordinarily proud. They earned me a proposal of sorts when I took the leftovers into work – that good. My sourdough starter Louie is still going strong, almost 18 months on. He did me proud.

There are three kinds of breadstick there – sesame seed, poppy seed and salt, pepper, garlic, chili and fennel. Oh yes. Add a bit of humus and you’re golden. You can find the recipe for Sourdough Grissini on YeastSpotting.

I also made some sweet items for us. First up, a batch of brigadeiros, which you can read a blog post about here. The original recipe is here.

Miss Pig's Birthday 016

They’re fudgy, chocolatey truffles, which are so much lighter than your usual chocolate truffle while still delivering a rich flavour. They’re a little trickier and more time consuming to make than normal truffles, too, but worth the effort. People make a face when they eat these – a GOOD face.

Next I made some little tartlets which I’m struggling to name – they’re somewhere between jam tarts and meringue pies, except the meringue is soft, more like marshmallow. This is because I freestyled it, by whipping up an unspecified amount of egg white with enough sugar to make a glossy meringue that stood up in peaks. I eyeballed it, and then piped it over the baked jam tarts and used my cook’s blowtorch to cook and colour the surface of them. Then I sort of looked away when someone took the first bite out of one in case the marshmalloweringue exploded everywhere, instantly sticking everything in the room to everything else in the room. When there were no cries of alarm I looked back – turns out that they were soft and pillowy but not excessively sticky and definitely not explosive. Phew – bullet dodged.

The other great thing about these is that they represent my first successful attempt at wheat free pastry – are you excited about this? Because I *definitely* am. I’ll blog it properly on my next attempt, but for now suffice to say it was light and crisp and did not crumble into ash in our mouths, which is always the fear when you make wheat free pastry and biscuits. Also I made the tartlets flower-shaped, and I loved the end result. They’re so pretty! The jam was rhubarb and ginger, from a jar (shoosh, I made the pastry, what more do you want? Jam on it? Oh…).

The piece de resistance was these wee pig cupcakes, which were inspired by an idea in the book Cupcakes, Cookies and Pie – Oh My!

Check out the colour difference in those photos. THE LEVELS! MY EYES!

The ears and noses are mini marshmallows – to do the ears you snip some marshmallows diagonally to form those sweet wee triangles, and then you wedge them into the icing. The cakes are Devil’s Food Cake (my go-to chocolate cake recipe) and the icing is a vanilla buttercream, tinted pink. The eyes are reversed chocolate chips, and the smiles are drawn on with an icing pen after the icing has set a little.

I was heard to remark that I thought they looked a bit like I made them at nursery – I still feel that way. It’s not a criticism, necessarily, but they do look like a project you might do with your kids. However, given that I don’t have any of those, I get to do this fun stuff myself. Miss Pig, as her name suggests, likes pigs – when I happened across the pigs idea in that book, it was a no-brainer.

The night progressed in the way that these nights do…

Miss Pig's Birthday Wine

Wine was consumed…

Miss Pig's Birthday 080

Sparklers were lit…

Miss Pig's Birthday 093

Things were knocked over…

We laughed, and listened to 80s tunes, and ate until we couldn’t eat any more. We took photographs of all the food with our phones:

2013-05-03 21.16.10

It was a simply lovely party. When everyone went home I had a one-woman dance party round my flat until it was really silly late – and when I say dance party, I really mean it. That thing about dancing like nobody’s watching? That.

Looking over these photos and writing this post was an absolute joy – it’s been a long while since I took on a big kitchen project like this, and having everything work out so successfully was reassuring and pleasing in equal measures.

So, while I’m off enjoying my birthday (30? Really??), I hope you’ve enjoyed checking out our birthday party. I can recommend throwing one, complete with paper cups and a disposable tablecloth. You’ll have a great time.

Baking to excess is optional.

16 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Bread, Cake, Chocolates, Confectionery, Dessert, Other people's recipes, Pastry, Snacks

May 8, 2013

Mothers Day High Tea 2013 (and Devilled Quails Eggs)

By Rock Salt

Before I give anyone in the UK a panic attack, this post is late, late, LATE. To those in the US, it is just in time. Everyone else, I have no idea…

I hereby sentence myself to five hundred lines for blogging lateness. Except they’ll have to wait until I’ve written all the other stuff I’ve got lined up, and the delay caused by this will probably incur a further set of lines, which will have to wait… Hm. Perhaps I will be lenient with myself instead.

Anyway, Mothers Day here in the UK (and possibly in other countries) is in March. In our family, we have started a tradition of having a special afternoon or high tea to celebrate – you can see 2011′s here and here and 2012′s here.

I still don’t know where to put the apostrophe. IT’S A DAY OF MOTHERS, OK?

Here is a picture of our table from this year:

Mothers Day High Tea 023

We got out the special china again, and proper cloth napkins, and we feasted.

Now, last year I made a big fuss of the devilled eggs, and said I was going to make them loads and bring them back and eat them all the time. This didn’t happen. I didn’t make one single devilled egg until it was time for the next high tea, a year later. I decided to make them a wee bit different, though, and try quails eggs (no apostrophe here, either).

Quails eggs are delicious – I want to get that straight right now. If you get the chance to try them, definitely go for it. I can take or leave a duck egg, but these little blighters are on another level. They are also a bit more work, being smaller and fiddlier (not in the musical sense), but worth it.

Devilled Quails Eggs 009

Even though that picture is too dark, I really like it. Something about looking at all those freshly-peeled eggs was very satisfying. I tried lightening it and it lost some of its personality. Quails eggs have personality, people. You heard it here first.

Also, the shells are a beautiful colour inside, a really pretty pale blue. I have almost convinced myself that the eggs themselves have a hint, just a tinge, of this blue about them, too. Really, it is lovely to look at.

I used the same recipe to make the devilled quails eggs as I did with the normal eggs last year – mustard, vinegar, minced spring onion, mayonnaise, salt and pepper combine with the egg yolks to make a creamy, savoury, tart filling the you can then pipe back into the hollowed out egg white. Then you sprinkle a bit of paprika over the top – retro is in, you know.

Here they are in their finished form:

Mothers Day High Tea 011Yes, it is more work to make devilled quails eggs, but they were perfect picnic-style food, and tasted perhaps even better than normal devilled eggs.

There was a whole host of other food on offer, of course. Here’s a wee peek at all the different items on the table:

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Miss J (that’s my sister) and I made all the bits and pieces between us – she was responsible for the cream cheese and fruit parcels, which were like superior mince pies, the bagels and the scones – we served the scones with butter, jam and clotted cream, of course. I pitched in with the eggs, heart-shaped mini sponges, caprese skewers with added salami and fairy cakes. It was nice to make a fairy cake instead of a cupcake, for a change, and I loved the little sugar diamonds and pearls! I thought they were suitably pretty for a mum who likes bling and sparkles.

All in all, we had another lovely day, and drank fizzy wine from the china cups, with cocktail umbrellas because I’m really into cocktail umbrellas at the minute. Once you start, it’s hard to stop.

Love you, mum!

5 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Cake, Snacks

May 1, 2013

Flashback: Death Star Cake

By Rock Salt

Remember this guy?

It’s my Death Star cake from last year – a cake I made in part to indulge my own desire to make a Death Star cake, and in part to raise some money and awareness for the MS Society. Miss L from Too Much TV and Diary of an Office Girl is organising another fundraiser this year, again on May the Fourth (Star Wars day… geddit?) and I will be contributing something rather less imposing, but hopefully still fun and, above all, delicious.

If nothing else, it will be delicious. Repeat until feeling calm. No pressure. Etc.

Pictures to follow.

Now, I am going to ask you, my readers, to help Miss L and I out again this year. Last year, we had some super kind donations from Rock Salt readers – I was really touched that people would be generous enough to make a donation to this important charity. If you would like to contribute a few pounds, you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/GeeksFightMSWithCake/

However, if you’re in or around Glasgow, you can do one better than that – you can actually turn up and buy and, crucially, EAT some of the cake that will be available. The event is happening in one of my favourite places in the world, The Flying Duck, this Saturday – here, why don’t you just check out the Facebook event. It begins at 1pm, and after Miss L’s event is over, there will be dancing and, if you’re of the drinking persuasion, drinking. I might be wearing a Jedi cloak.

Please do consider donating, or coming along. I know it would mean a lot to Miss L (and therefore me) personally, and the MS Society as a whole.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Cake

April 30, 2013

Foodie Penpals April 2013

By Rock Salt

This month, I have made a point of sitting down to write a proper Foodie Penpals reveal post. It is so easy to get swept up with things, whisked off into the cyclone of ‘I don’t have time!’ and tumbled in a big mess of minutes that seem to go too fast and days that seem to disappear. Life is busy, for all of us, but sometimes (often) it’s possible to collect up some of those minutes, keep hold of them, and then release them all in one go, to give yourself time to do something – like write a blog post. Poor, trapped minutes, doing my bidding. I hope they don’t mind too much.

While we’re sort of on the subject: part of the reason for my blogging absence, and my FPP post brevity, is that I have a second job – one that I didn’t really announce. I will do so now: I’m working as an intern for Leite’s Culinaria. Some of you may have seen me mentioning Leite’s before now, as until I became their web production intern I was a recipe tester for the site. Food glory abounds, there, and for the last four or so years it has been my first port of call when I’m on a recipe hunt. It is exciting to be working with the team in a bigger capacity, now – they are a delightful bunch. Also it means I’ve spoken to David Leite on the phone – he’s a great chef, he’s been on the TV and all sorts, and he has my mobile number. No biggie.

While we’re talking about Leite’s, let me offer you a link to the latest endeavour from that fine culinary establishment: Talking With My Mouth Full, the Leite’s Culinaria podcast. If you like food and drink, or if you simply like hearing people bicker good-naturedly, tune in and see what you think.

Wait, wait, I have another link to share! I SAID WAIT! I know there are photos down there but hang on just a moment longer.

This Saturday, my chum Miss L is running a fundraiser for the MS Society – I’ll be posting a blog with more details tomorrow, but for now allow me to share two key pieces of info. One, the event involves CAKE and STAR WARS which are both exciting and should tempt you down to the Flying Duck in Glasgow, from 1pm, to buy and eat cake (and hang out with me, obviously). Two, if you cannot make it to the actual event to buy cake and raffle tickets, but would still like to offer help and support, you can make a donation of any size here: https://www.justgiving.com/GeeksFightMSWithCake/ Consider it a Foodie Penpals call to arms.

Right, back to the original point of this post – my Foodie Penpals parcel for this month. My parcel came from Ireland, sent by the fair hand of Bridget at From a Country Cottage. The very first thing I saw when I opened the top of my parcel – which was all wrapped up in dotty paper, which made it feel like a lovely present – was this guy smiling up at me:

FPP April 13 001

He is the Tayto crisp man! I’ve heard a *lot* about Tayto crisps from Irish chums, over the years, and I couldn’t wait to tuck into them. I had no idea they came in such happy packaging! And how did Bridget know that salt and vinegar is my favourite? The FPP Psychic Streak comes into play, yet again. They lasted about a minute after me opening the parcel – long enough for me to photograph everything, and no longer. They truly are lovely – really crunchy, but not the same as Kettle Chips, or Brannigan’s, or any other crisp I can think of. I suppose they’re just Tayto, and that’s all there is to it.

Bridget had also included a long note, explaining to me what all the items were, and letting me know that she’d sent me all Irish products bar one item, which is really good going. I like to send Scottish products but so often get beguiled by more exotic (to me, at least) goods, and end up filling my parcels with an eclectic mix. I feel like Bridget really took time and effort to choose Irish things to send to me, and I really appreciate it.

FPP April 13 005

FPP April 13 008

Next was a selection of Irish chocolate – a big bag of caramels (still going – I’m planning a baking adventure with them unless I eat them all first…), plus a macaroon bar and a mint crisp bar. Bridget said she remembered buying the macaroon bar when she was at school; that’s one of the things I like about Foodie Penpals, you can try things that people really have an emotional connection with, and happy memories of.

The macaroon was completely different from a Lee’s macaroon, which is a Scottish staple, and an item I’ve sent to more than one penpal before now. Ours is made of mashed potato and icing sugar (yes, mashed potato) and then coated with chocolate, then coconut. This macaroon was solid chocolate with little crunchy coconutty bits inside, and not nearly as sweet as the one I’m used to, which will give you fillings if you look at it for too long. I have to admit a preference for the mint crisp, though – I love anything mint chocolatey, and the little nibbly minty bits in this satisfied that craving more than satisfactorily.

The caramels are real jaw-welding chewy, with just at thin layer of chocolate and a creamy flavour. I suspect they will be rather good wrapped up in cookie dough and baked – but that’s a story for another day. Also it might be a horror story where I set my kitchen on fire, or at least end up with a baking tray indelibly covered in caramel. We will see.

FPP April 13 009 FPP April 13 011My next treat was a packet of Lovely Day tea, which was so charmingly named that I liked it even before I tasted it. How can you dislike a tea called Lovely Day? It’s beyond me. As you can see from the label, the tea contains lots of lovely fruits, and is so refreshing. I made up some tea bags, using the empties I bought a while back, and have sipped my way through a couple of huge mugs at work. I really enjoy a herbal tea as a pick-me-up, especially in that slow hour after lunch. This was the perfect antidote to the usual lethargy that creeps over even the best of us of an afternoon…

FPP April 13 007

This ginger is the only non-Irish item in my parcel – but you may remember that I love crystallised ginger, to the point of making my own a while back. The ginger was accompanied by a recipe for rhubarb and ginger jam, which is seasonally spot on! The G man’s mum has a rhubarb patch so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to try making this jam with home-grown fruit; if not, there’s always the farmers market. I still have aspirations to be a jam maker, yet another ambition on the ever-growing list!

Bridget also included these pretty cards from a local company:

FPP April 13 012

It is always good practise to have some blank cards around the house (you should see the selection my mum always has, it’s immense) and so now I am prepared! I especially like the blue tit, such a pretty bird, but I also like the vintage look flowers, and the bee buzzing around the fresh lavender – they are all gorgeous, and will surely come in handy – perhaps I will even spread the love and pop one in next month’s Foodie Penpal parcel.

Bridget, thank you so much for my cheerful, day-brightening parcel – it made my day when it arrived and has been continuing to add little rays of sunshine in the days that have followed. So kind of you to really stop and think about what to send, I love all of your choices.

If you would like to find out more about Foodie Penpals, here are your links:

For Euro Foodie Penpals, check out the drop down menu at the top or click here.

For USA and Canada Foodie Penpals, visit The Lean Green Bean.

For Kenyan Foodie Penpals, visit Foodie in the Desert.

To see some of this month’s Foodie Penpals posts from around the world, go over to the linkup post on The Lean Green Bean.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Uncategorized

April 24, 2013

Easy Fig Treats

By Rock Salt

You know what is easier than writing a blog post about making these crunchy, chewy fig treats? Only one thing – making them.

Alright I suppose that technically NOT making them or writing a blog post about them would be easier. No need to be a spoilsport.

First, buy dried figs and dessicated coconut. Those are the only two ingredients, which is more than you can say for most snacks. Next, throw the figs into a food processor. Make sure to take out any stems – I didn’t do this the first time, not realising that ‘ready to eat’ actually meant ‘not really ready to eat until you’ve gone through and removed any stems’, and while it doesn’t stop you enjoying the snacks it is a bit of a pain – like watermelon seeds are, you know? If you’re home alone, especially home alone in a house with a porch, rocking chair and back garden, you could just spit them out, giving yourself points for distance, but otherwise I’d suggest just taking them out of the equation altogether.

Process the figs until you get a thick, sticky paste, like this:

Fig Treats 003

Appetising, no?

OK, no – net YET. In fact it looks a little like a Golgothan. But we won’t talk about that.

Next, sprinkle a surface with coconut – you can toast the coconut if you prefer, though it does add an extra step. Scoop the fig paste into small portions; if you have a tiny scoop, great. If not, get all lo-fi and just use your hands. Roll the paste into a ball, then roll in the coconut to cover. You’re done!

Before you know it you’ll have rows of the beauties, like this:

Fig Treats 005

 
Now wash your hands, cos they’ll be covered in fig paste.

I dare say you could add to these – some dates in with the figs might be good, or a splash of vanilla extract, or what about a big spoonful of cocoa powder? The fruit is naturally very sweet, and they have a great crackly texture from the seeds that is really satisfying, though you do run the risk of finding them in your teeth hours later. This is a snack that keeps on giving… They are chewy and a bit fudgey at room temperature – I stored some of mine that way for a week and they were still good. I figured, dried figs don’t need to be refrigerated, they should still be fine after they’re processed, right? If you’re not sure, or prefer a firmer texture, you can always keep them in the fridge.

It seems to me that these would be a good stand-by snack, and they’re probably pretty ace for an energy boost what with the natural sugar in the figs. They also count towards your five a day – two dried figs is one portion, so depending what size you make the treats you only need one or two to count towards your optimum fruit and veg intake.

Fig Treats 008 Fig Treats 010

These treats are raw, free from the most common allergens (nut, wheat, dairy, soy and egg, to name but five), contain only natural ingredients, are vegan friendly and take less than ten minutes to make. What are you waiting for?

5 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Confectionery, Dairy free, Gluten free, Healthy, Original recipes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

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