Meri Meri Cute Kittens

What's cuter than kittens OR cupcakes? Kitten Cupcakes!

Spotted on Babyccino.

The present I gave and those I received

You might think I gave my better half a so-called *boomerang* present, but it was  a cooking tool he has wanted since our trip to Morocco in 2005: a red flame tagine to prepare meat and veggies stews in the Moroccan manner.

Can you detect a theme here? I got two very funny cat books to add to my collection of illustrated fairy tales.

The two books could not be more different: T.S. Eliot's rhymed stories are narrative poetry and accompanied by old fashioned illustrations; Simon's Cat's black and white illustrations without caption are modern and minimal story-telling which relies on your interpretation - and that's the fun. And yet they both chronicle similar behaviours and habits of the most interesting creatures on earth.

My Milky Toof

A friend of a friend posted a link to this blog on Facebook. So, I curiously took a peek. I started laughing and can't stop giggling. Such a funny {and kinda creepy} story! Each post is a story board chronicling the adventures of these two cute Milky Toofs {ickle who is tiny and Lardee who is fat}. Because of my newly discovered obsession with cupcakes, my favourite episode has to be Little Chefs. I have posted a few images below but please please please read the full story from their blog as the fun is in the details and captions. 

C.U.P.C.A.K.E.S

I am excited. I have made a cupcake stand assembling three plates and three vases (voila!), and Steve got me The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. Here they are:
 

My Cupcake Stand & Bakery Book
 

I already have the little baskets, so I only need the ingredients (of course!), a squeezeable decorating kit, a moulded tray and Jo(sephine), who will teach and direct me to bake the most adorable CUPCAKES. Thanks in advance, Jo! I will start with green tea CUPCAKES as they very well match the aqua feather of my stand. 
 

Photo (c) Apartment Therapy
 

CUPCAKES are cute, retro, decorative, photogenic, nostalgic and many! They remind me of a gone-by England in the same way a vespa (i.e. moped) reminds me of a mythical Italy.
   
I have never tasted them. I am making them purely for their aestethic qualities and the sense of security and certainty they exude: "a feeling of solidarity, almost of continuity with the past", as the Tiffany's salesman from Breakfast at Tiffany's would observe.
 

Photos (c) we heart it
 

P.S. In keeping with the retro feel of this post, I used this fun programme to convert digital photos into polaroid-looking style. They look so authentic! UPDATE: Following sister-in-law's advise, I have decided to go and try the best cupcakes in town before venturing into the cupcake-making world. I have short-listed two bakeries for the pleasure: Primrose Bakery and Hummingbird Bakery.

  And now I only have to choose a partner in crime...

Yesterday my caring husband brought home a leaflet about a new macrobiotic cafe in Primrose Hill. Joy! I used to go to the macrobiotic restaurant in my uni city and was so pleased to discover that a branch also opened in my parents' holiday town. I ate there with them in August, and we all enjoyed the quality and simplicity of the well balanced dishes. I explicitly observed that this was a big gap in the UK market and it would be far more popular in avan-garde London than it is in traditional Italy. They couldn't find a better spot than the hippie-chic community of Primrose Hill, a few feet away from one of the most popular yoga centres in town. The idea of macrobiotic cuisine is to reach an equilibrium between the yin and the yang. Some people may find it a bit tasteless, as it was initially developed as a curative nutritional regime, but it has now been developed into a preventive cuisine. "Yang is the initiating impulse, which divides and delineates; yin is the responsive impulse, which nurtures and reunites. Without yang nothing would come into being; without yin all that comes into being would die. yang is mental activity in its forceful aspect, yin the imaginative and poetic, exalting the merely mental to the beautiful. yang goes ahead with things, yin contains things within herself and knows their nature without effort. yang does, yin is. Yang in his givingness bestows the gifts; yin in her being receives, preserves, enhances, and redistributes them. Yang constructs, yin instructs; yang implements, yin complements; yang is strength, yin endurance; yang is knowledge, yin the mystery that reveals itself and becomes knowledge. yang is the discoverer, yin lures toward greater discovery. Yang is the self-developer, inspired by yin, the self dedicator, for her development and his dedication. Yang is the lover, and yin is therefore beloved; yin is the beloved and the source of love. Yang is will and yin is wisdom, and one without the other is neither, and together they are joy. Yang is as the day, turning into night, and yin the night preceding the day; the one is the force that drives the waves of the ocean forward, the other the force that draws them back so that they may go forward again." "Twin Souls," by Patricia Joudry and Maurie D. Pressman

So, if the saying "we are what we eat is true", all of us should try a bit of macrobiotic delicacies to strengthen the yin in us...

FOOD FEAST

I was missing blogging and now I can't stop. Ah ah ah. I have got so much to catch up that I will not tell stories in a chronological way. Everything will be told as it springs to my mind. And here some delicious meaty food for your watering mouths:

Homemade pizza

Savoury pancake for Pancake's Day!

Meat feast

OSSO BUCO Giant salmon nigiri prepared by uber-stylish Nippo-friend Hisano Delicious Japanese dumplings courtesy of Hisano

I am off to cook risotto with prawns, mint and asparagus until the next post. Ah ah ah.

king of the kitchen

I am glad to present two master-dishes of Loftino's Kitchen:

Shepherd's Pie (half with sweet potatoes and half with regular potatoes)

happy loftino in action

and Roast-beef:

baked in beer and mustard and garnished by sweet potatoes and veggies (asparagus and runner-beans)

osso buco

i am generally against the idea of bulk food shopping as we are not a family yet and i like to buy and eat daily fresh food, but this weekend i did shopping twice! in wholefood i got chinese cabbage as i loved its shape, juicy white melon, ginger cereals (delicious!) and venisson sausages with blueberries, amongst other items. but the thing that really made my day was OSSO BUCO! i finally found the veal steak with marrow bone which i used to love as a child. in UK it is a rather exclusive dish. i braised it in the oven with vegetables, stock, white wine and oil for over two hours. the result was fantastic - such an intense taste! it's not a case that doggies are so into marrowbone!!!

then, under valentina's instigation and under an impetus of nostalgia i couldn't resist to stock up tons of de cecco pasta, buondi motta, ferrarelle water, lavazza coffee, kinder colazione piu ... (in other words all the groceries of my italian days) from this website. prices are cheaper than sainsbury's and delivery is free. wise choice, non?

sunday lunch

with smudged mascara from the night just passed, i am staring in awe from the window at a snowed-down london, and i feel like a cat. my lounge is reverberating with bright light. as the night will cast upon us, a much warmer light will cuddle us up - the light of our new red pendant lamps.

under valentina's suggestion, i have been browsing food/cooking blogs and made very interesting discoveries. the blogsphere is an infinite well. i so much prefer blogs from websites. they are much more personal and informative!

i got inspired and decide to make Orecchiette with Asparagus Cream and Bacon.


Recipe

wash and cut asparagus up, discarding hard bottoms. cook them in a pot of water for 10-15 minutes. then put asparagus in a blender, add extra virgin olive oil, a splash of tomato sauce, salt and black pepper. in a pan cook the bacon with a drop of oil.

use the pot of water where you did the asparagus to cook pasta: add rock salt and bring water to a boil, add orecchiette and cook them until al dente.

when pasta is ready, serve it with red asparagus sauce and bacon, and sprinkle it with parmesan and chilly.

voilà!

We are making pancakes!

After a tasty shepherds/cottage pie we are now making instant pancakes under the direction of Nigella Express... well the base for future consumption - a sort of winter supply
...

Preparation: 30 minutes (you can store the mix and use whenverver you wish!)
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the dry pancake mix 600g/1lb 5oz plain flour 3 tbsp baking powder 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp salt 40g/2½oz caster sugar
To make the pancakes (amounts per 150g/5¼oz dry mixture) 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten 250ml/9fl oz milk 1 tbsp melted butter
For the blueberry syrup 125ml/4½fl oz maple syrup200g/7oz blueberries

Method

1. For the dry pancake mix, place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Transfer to an airtight container, seal and store until needed.

2. To make the pancakes, add the appropriate quantity of egg, milk and melted butter per 150g/5¼oz of the dry mixture (a filled American cup measure will give you the requisite amount per batch, so you may like to use one and dispense with any weighing). Mix well to form a smooth batter.

3. Heat a flat griddle or non-stick frying pan without adding oil.

4. Spoon drops of 1½-2 tablespoons of the batter onto the hot griddle and when bubbles appear on the surface of the little pancakes, flip them over and cook until golden-brown on both sides. It should take about a minute per side.

5. Meanwhile, for the blueberry syrup, place the maple syrup and blueberries into a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the blueberries have broken down slightly.

6. To serve, pour the blueberry syrup into a jug and take to the breakfast table with the pancakes. If you have any of the syrup left over, you will notice that it sets into a kind of glossy jam. This will keep for a few days decanted into a jar and put in the fridge, and is glorious dolloped into yoghurt or spread on bread.