Weekend Cooking: Advent by Anja Dunk

 

A while ago now I bought a book called Advent by Anja Dunk which was an early selection of the Jamie Oliver Cookbook Club . Actually, the full title  is Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas. So far, I am really loving this book which is separated into 24 different chapters (one for each day of Advent) with all different types of bakes for each chapter. 

The author talks about a Bunter Teller which translates as "colourful plate" and in this context means a colourful plate of Advent biscuits. She talks about how every German household would have a stock of baked goods at this time of year for when visitors arrive, and you then put out a selection of biscuits, and perhaps give some as a gift.

Part of the reason why the book is broken into these 24 different chapters is that there would be a specific order in which you bake the colourful array of biscuits. 

The order in which they are baked acts as a calendar; a countdown measured in biscuits. The butter-less biscuits, many of them old-fashioned varieties such as Lebkuchen, which keep the longest, are baked first, followed by nut biscuits, then macaroons and meringues. We bake butter-rich ones such as Vanillekipferl after all of the aforementioned, and finally the last things we make are all the sweets and truffles. The biscuit are usually stored in a towering stack of tins kept at the ready to plate a selection up whenever neighbours and friends pop round.

It's my kind of advent calendar, although not if I have to do ALL the cooking!!

As an idea, here are some of the different chapters. The second chapter is for several different versions of lebkuchen including how to make your own spice mix, lebkuchen hearts (filled and unfilled),  old-fashioned honey lebkuchen and more.I have made a soft gingerbread biscuit several times previously which is inspired by lebkuchen. I tend to take them to work to share with my colleagues and they are always a hit! I shared this recipe a few years ago! They are honey and orange-y morsels of goodness! However, in this chapter, you will find the real deal.

Chapter 8 is all about Stollen, from full cakes to Stollen bites. Chapter 10 is full of spiced biscuits, from Spekulatius to the famous Pfeffernusse. Did you know that pferffernusse can actually be either white or brown. The difference is the kind of pepper that you use. I swear I have only ever seen the white version. Chapter 16 is all about meringues, including very sweet meringue mice and chapter 22 is all about marzipan sweets. There was an earlier chapter about marzipan biscuits too.

Throughout the book, the chapter divides are Christmassy lithographs which the author created herself, and all the photos are her own as this book was created during lockdowns. As I flick through the book there are so many things which look utterly delicious. There are cakes, biscuits, desserts and more. It's a lovely book! And the cover is gorgeous too. It has a fabric cover with gilded word and decorations, and a lovely yellow ribbon for a book mark. I do love it when a cookbook one of those!

What I will say, is that, maybe unsurprisingly, there are a lot of nut heavy recipes in this book, so if you have any allergies in your house maybe this might be an issue. The big guy, who used to be referred to as the little chef many years ago on this blog, has a tree nut allergy, but most of the time he won't eat what I bake anyway, so I can get away with it a bit! Just have to make sure he knows not to eat any of them.

I chose to make two recipes out of the chapter that is titled Makronen (macaroons). The first was Schokokusschen, which are chocolate kisses. In effect they are not dissimilar to chocolate meringue kisses although you do add in some flour. The other recipe I have made is Kokosmakronen- coconut macaroons, which are super simple to make! These should both keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container! 

Schcolkusschen (Anja Dunk)
Chocolate Kisses

2 egg whites

90g soft light brown sugar

Pinch of fine sea salt

1/2 vanilla extract

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced/350F and line a large baking parchment.

Put the egg whites into the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a mixing bowl and electric hand-held whisk) and whisk for a couple of minutes on high speed until stiff peaks form. Turn the speed down and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking all the while, until it is all incorporated and you have a glossy meringue. Now add the salt and vanilla extract and whisk for a further couple of seconds before adding the remaining ingredients. Whisk for a final 30 seconds so the flour and spices are incorporated.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/ 3/8 inch star shaped nozzle. Alternatively, use a plastic freezer bag, which you have snipped the corner off to leave the same size opening.

Pipe little peaks of 1.5cm /1/2 inch diameter onto the sheet; they don't spread all that much so you only need a little space between each one.

Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until firm to the touch but not browned. Cocoa powder does have a tendency to burn easily, so make sure you check them after 15 minutes. The longer you leave them in the oven the crisper they will be.

Allow to cool completely on the sheet before storing in an airtight container, where they will keep well for up to a month.

Weekly meals

Saturday - egg and chips
Sunday - Honey Pepper chicken
Monday - Sausage mash beans and gravy
Tuesday - Out for dinner
Wednesday - Nothing
Thursday -Baked Tuscan Chicken (new)
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas

When the first line of a book is "How many Lindor chocolates can you fit into your mouth at the same time?" you know that it is going to be a fun read.

When Clara was made redundant from her HR role, she decides that it is time for her to take a chance, in many aspects of her life. Her newish boyfriend, Dan, has just been offered a new role in Switzerland. Clara has two options. Either it is all over with Dan or she can take a chance and move to Switzerland with him. At 40, she thinks it is time to take the chance. In order to make good use of her time, she decides to sign up for a chocolate making class which her previous employer will pay for as part of her exit package. 

Clara thought she was signing up for a somewhat fun chocolate course,but it is actually a big deal, for serious chocolate makers, and they are all vying to win a prize that money can't buy - the opportunity to see their own signature chocolate flavours in the market with a prestigious Swiss chocolate brand.

Right from day one, Clara feels out of her depth. The other people on the course are already professionals, have no problem with any of the key techniques and no patience for someone who shouldn't even be there. However, Clara has no idea, so she knows she is going to have to work harder than anyone else as she has so much to learn. The last thing that she wants is to have to repay her previous employer for the course.

Each week her efforts are judged by the leaders of the course and also by famed chocolatier Gabriel Hartmann. He is grumpy and distant and just wants to be left alone, but when Clara figures out his secret, they begin to work together. And when the professional jealousies amongst the course participants threaten to derail everything for Clara, she is the person who can bring everyone together.

From the first bite, I was fully invested in the chocolatey goodness of this book. From the exploration of flavours and chocolate techniques, to the snowy beauty of Switzerland at Christmas. But there is more to it than that. Clara shows adaptability and strength in deciding that she wants to change, and in recognising when the chances that she has taken are not working out and doing something about it. It was also a reminder that not everyone is necessarily what they seem.

I really enjoyed this book, and it is a perfect read for this time of the year.

I have previously read a couple of Jo Thomas earlier books, and so I was very keen to read more, especially her Christmas books! The ones I have read are very food forward. She often does a cooking post on Instagram as well about food. I will definitely be reading more from her, hopefully before next Christmas!

For the record, I am not sure that I want to even see how many Lindors I can fit into my mouth. We do buy them but usually only for special occasions (like Christmas) and when I have them I want to savour them. I love the way that you bite through to the centre part, which depending on how hot or cold it is can be almost liquid. Delicious. I might need to go and buy some just because it's Saturday. That's a special occasion right?

I will be sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and the 12 Books of Christmas challenge hosted at Just Another Girl and Her Books.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Chicken Shwarma
Sunday - Chicken Shwarma (leftovers)
Monday - Indian Coconut Prawn Curry (new)
Tuesday -
Wednesday - Away
Thursday - Away
Friday - Away

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens

A couple of years ago I read and enjoyed Mary-Lou Stephen's debut novel, Last of the Apple Blossoms, which was set in Tasmania and is about the demise of the apple orchards. This novel, her second, is once again set in Tasmania but this time focuses on the establishment of the Cadbury chocolate factory in a town called Clarement, just outside Hobart, in the 1920s.

Our story starts with a group who are making the journey from the original Cadbury factory near Birmingham in England. Together they are travelling across the world to Hobart where work has begun to build a new Cadbury factory. Our main character is Mrs Dorothy Adwell. She had worked for years in the original factory, and shown a keen interest in the mechanical aspects of the machinery in the factory. Her talent and potential have been recognised and she has been chosen to go to Australia as a supervisor.

Mrs Adwell employs a young woman called Maisie Greenwood. Maisie has had to work from a very young age to help her mother make ends meet. After an interview process which included a home visit to establish her character and her familial situation, Maisie is excited to begin working at Cadbury's and not just because of the endless supplies of chocolate. She hopes that the additional benefits such as night school will help her get on in life. Her main aim is also to ensure that her bright younger sister might escape needing to start working at the tender age of 14 and that she will be able to continue her education.

Both Dorothy and Maisie inadvertently get caught up in in plots to steal the much coveted recipe for Cadbury Dairy Milk. It's hard to believe that establishing a chocolate factory could be such a hotbed of controversary and industrial espionage. There were already Australian chocolate makers and so they weren't keen to have what is one of the largest confectionary companies in the world come to Australia. There was also controversy about how much it was costing Australians in subsidising the new factory.

As much as this book is about starting a new industry in Australia, it is also about the aftermath of war. Each of our characters are dealing with the legacy of WWI. Dorothy is dealing with the loss of her husband. Similarly Maisie and her family are living a life where they are having to work hard due to the loss of her father in the conflict, and there are characters with shellshock, for examples.

If you know about the history of British chocolate makers, then you may be aware that Quakerism has  played a huge role in the industry. This is yet another strand of the story that we get to know in the pages of this book.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review, Foodie Reads hosted at Based on a True Story and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host.

When the book was released, the publishers shared a couple of original recipes from the 1920s, so I thought I would share a couple of them here.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Apple and Rhubarb pie with custard and cream
Sunday - Steak nachos
Monday -Chicken Kiev, mash, beans and gravy
Tuesday -Chicken and vegetable stir fry
Wednesday - Pork chop, mash, broccoli, carrots, gravy
Thursday -
Friday - Fancy dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Wonka

My husband and I are going to go and see Wonka later today. We are going to a brand new cinema which has only been open for a few days in a suburb around 30 minutes away. While we are there wll go to a new branch of the coffee shop where we had our first ever date!

It kind of surprised me but from the first moment I saw the trailer for this movie I knew I wanted to see it.It is the movie  remake that I didn't even know that I wanted to see. In fact, until I saw the trailer I had no idea that it was even being made!

I am not really sure what it is about this clip that made me want to see it so badly.I remember watching the Gene Wilder version and liking it well enough. I didn't particularly love the Johnny Depp version. I will be back later with my thoughts on the Timothy Chalamet version.

But first here's the trailer:

And we're back! And what's my take on the movie....it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. I am not sure I was expecting it to be as much of a musical as it was! 

This is in effect a prequel to the first Wonka movie, and tells the story of how Willie Wonka came to own the chocolate factory. There are no golden tickets here, but there are plenty of nods back to the original movie including the Oompa Loompa song. Here there is really only one Oompa Loompa, played in a really fun way by Hugh Grant. 

In some ways this is a very black and white movie when it comes to the good guys and the bad guys. The existing chocolate owners are definitely on the bad side, and Wonka and his friends are definitely the good guys. There are lot of familiar faces on both sides, including Olivia Colman as Mrs Scrubit and Jim Carter from Downton Abbey as Abacus, the former accountant.

Another famous face was Rowan Atkinson as Father Julius. I was a little surprised to hear the kids in the theatre recognise him as Mr Bean, even after all these years.

All in all, this was a fun story telling us how Willy Wonka came to be the character that we know and love from the later movies! I will say we had some M&Ms during the movie. By the time that the movie finished, I was all chocolated out because there is lots and lots and lots of chocolate in the movie!

Going to watch this movie was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, especially as a respite from Christmas preparations!

I just wanted to thank everyone for your participation in Weekend Cooking over the last year.

Next week, I am planning to announce my cookbook of the year and recipe of the year! If you would like to join and share you favourite cookbook and recipes of the year please feel free to do so.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season, whatever it is that you celebrate. For me, that means  Merry Christmas!

Weekly meals

Saturday -  

Sunday -  Christmas Dinner with the family

Monday - Pressure Cookie Spaghetti Bolognaise

Tuesday - Pork chops with mash

Wednesday - Asian glaze Salmon

Thursday - Mac and cheese

Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked (In My Kitchen) in September

The first Saturday of the month is when I share all the things that I baked in the previous month. This month, I am not sure I really need to use the word all, because I actually only baked two items, and they were both exactly the same recipe. There will be even less this month because we are away for most of the month.

I have been making my go-to chocolate cake for years. Every now and again I try a new one but I hadn't found one that replace it....until now.

This month I thought I would try making the chocolate cake from Nagi Maehashi's cookbook RecipeTinEats: Dinner. Like most of the recipes I have tried from this cookbook it was another really successful bake. I then topped it with her recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting.

First, I made the cake just for fun, and then I made it for my son's birthday and everyone who was at dinner loved it. I like to think that I had ALMOST convinced my 16 year old nephew that it was so simple that even he could make it. I say almost because I don't think he ended up trying, but he definitely could. So here are the two versions that I made:

I did offer people sprinkles which they could add themselves if they wanted!

I thought I would share the video from the Recipetineats website for this cake.  The recipe in the book is ever so slightly different in that you add some coffee but other than that it is fundamentally the same:

Each month I link up with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings. It is an opportunity to share anything new in your kitchen.

The only major new thing for us is that we bought a barbecue this month!! It is un-Australian not to have some sort of barbecue in the backyard but when we were moving house over a year ago we had to throw ours out as it had definitely seen better days! Now, we have a nice shiny new one which we have used a couple of times already! It's just a middle of the range barbie, not really fancy but it does have a sideburner which I have never had before. No idea what we will use it for but we will figure it out I am sure!

One of the reasons why we didn't make much is that I went to Perth to see my dad who isn't well, and then we went to Adelaide for my mum's 75th birthday dinner. Every time I go to Perth I make sure that I get some Spearmint Milk which is something we can't get here! This month I'll be baking even less as we are about to go on holidays for 3 weeks.

We did visit the fabulous LaManna supermarket this morning and I was finally able to track down an ingredient I have been looking for for months. It took four staff members to help me find it but I finally got hold of some Nduja paste which is a Sicilian ingredient. Now I have to remember which recipes I needed it for. One of them was a recipe for Broken Eggs from Rice Table, but at this particular moment in time I can't remember what the other one was.

I also bought one new cook book. This was the Jamie Oliver cookbook of the month for September and I wasn't going to buy it but succumbed at the last minute as there were some delicious sounding recipes being cooked!

Weekly meals

Saturday -  Out for dinner

Sunday -  Roast pork rolls

Monday - Steak and salad

Tuesday - Pork chops, mash and gravy

Wednesday - Zucchini Risotto

Thursday - Cheese on toast

Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking: Hot chocolate

It's been very cold here this week.  The temperatures have only been around 13 degrees celsius (55 fahrenheit) during the day. In the mornings there has been ice on the windscreens and frost on the grass. Now, I know full well that isn't particularly cold depending on where you live in the world. It is, however, cold for us!  

Because we were in Europe at the beginning of the year, it almost feels like this is our second winter for the year. One day this week I stuck my hand in my pocket and found a ticket from our visit to Chambord which is a chateau in the Loire Valley.

When we go out for coffee I will either have a flat white (which is my one cup of coffee for the week) or a hot chocolate. Occasionally I might have a chai to change things up. Given the weather, I have been contemplating hot chocolate that I have had this year. 

Before we went to Europe I hadn't given a lot of thought to what the hot chocolate would be like, so it was a complete surprise when they looked like this! This is actually from the second day we were in The Netherlands. The first day we had a similar hot chocolate but I didn't think to take a picture. My husband loves cream so this is definitely very close to his idea of heaven. This hot chocolate was very much appreciated as we had just spent a couple of hours walking around a replica of the Batavia, a Dutch ship that sank off the coast of Western Australia in the 1600s. It went down very well with a kind of apple pie!

Chocomel is a brand of chocolate milk in The Netherlands and it is so good! Luckily my in-laws  live very close to a supermarket so we were able to get our fill while we there.  You can get it here but it is very expensive. This particular treat was consumed after we walked through the Christmas markets in The Hague which is where my mother-in-law grew up. This was where I tried a very traditional version of croquettes served simply with soft white bread, mustard and slaw.

We ate many delicious apple treats during our time in The Netherlands and northern France. This particular apple pie was at one of the few cafes that were open in the town of Denhelder which is where my father-in-law grew up. Funny story about this hot chocolate. We were trying to order hot chocolate with cream but somehow the order was mixed up so some of us got hot chocolate with rum and cream. Not sure that was a winning combination.

Given how famous Belgium is for it's chocolate, it's probably not a surprise that they do a delicious hot chocolate too. Here we are in the town of Ypres.

Once we were in France we could order hot chocolate either with or without cream. This particular one was imbibed sitting outside a cafe outside in the centre of Chartres. We stopped here on the way from the Loire Valley to Paris.

Hot chocolate on the Champs Elysee!

And finally an early morning hot chocolate sitting outside a cafe in the Marais before we started our foodie walking tour.

So what does a hot chocolate look like here in Australia? Well, not like any of those, that's for sure. Our iced chocolates can look a lot like these, but not hot ones! 

Still delicious but not quite as decadent. If you are really lucky you might get a marshmallow. I am always torn when I do though. Do I just want to eat the marshmallow or do I want to put it in the hot chocolate so that it melts a bit. Sometimes I end up eating half of it and putting the rest of it in the drink. Maybe I should just ask for two!

I thought I would finish this post of by sharing a different type of Hot Chocolate

Weekly meals

Saturday - Chilli con Carne and rice

Sunday -  Chilli con carne with baked potato

Monday - Enchiladas

Tuesday - Mac and cheese

Wednesday - Takeaway

Thursday - Out for dinner

Friday - Chicken Shwarma

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

When I saw the current list of selections for Cook the Books, I knew that this book was definitely going to be a must read. I mean, it's a foodie novel set in WWII. And yet, if you think about it, that can't be that easy to write, given that there were strict rations in place. However, that is really what this book is about. How to eat well when you have such limited access to ingredients.

The story revolves around four women who find themselves competing against each other in a cooking competition in order to win a coveted role as a co-presenter in a radio show called The Kitchen Front. The show exists to provide information and inspiration to women, talking about creative ways to cook taking into consideration the limited food resources that they currently have.

Two of the women are sisters but Audrey and Gwendoline are estranged. Audrey's husband has been killed in the war and she is barely managing to keep her family house from falling down around her. She needs to keep things going in order to look after her sons.

Gwendoline married well and is now a titled Lady living in the big house. Everything she does is designed to ensure that her position in the community is enhanced and maintained. Gwendoline also has a massive chip on her shoulder about Audrey being their mother's favourite, and it has lead to the sisters being alienated from each other. However, for all that Gwendoline is meant to be living the dream, it isn't all sunshine and roses. She has secrets that really need to stay secret.

Nell works in the kitchen of the big house alongside the cook who is almost her substitute mother. Nell is a shy young woman, but she  is a very talented cook. She sees that she is assisting Mrs Quince but really Mrs Quince knows that winning this competition is going to give Nell the opportunity she needs to get away from working in the big house and making her way into the world.

The final contestant is Zelda. She currently works as a cook in the pie factory which is owned by Lady Gwendoline's husband. She has her own secret, one that isn't going to be able to keep a secret for too much longer. She needs to win this competition so that she can get back to her real life being a chef in London.

As the competition continues, we get insights into each contestants thinking about each of the 3 dishes that they need to make, where they get their inspiration from\, and how they manage their day to day lives in the midst of the turmoil and challenges of life in WWII. The unexpected outcome of competing against each other, is that they actually started to become closer to each other

I enjoyed watching the relationships betwen the women evolve and another highlight for me was the fact that there really was a show called The Kitchen Front on the radio in WWII, and there really were cooking competitions which were designed to help lift morale

As you would expect, there are many food references in the book and there were even some recipes. Some of the recipes are not recipes that we would want to eat now. An example of this would be the Sardine tart in which the pastry is made using the oil from the sardine tin - ugh!. But there are definitely some that would definitely still be tasty! As soon as I saw it mentioned, I had a penchant to cook Chicken Cacciatore, and there is a recipe included in the book so that was my plan to cook, but then I saw that Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures had already made it, so I have ended up sticking in my swim lane and making an Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake.  

I have had an idea to make a WWII cake since I first read about a one agg cake in a Viola Shipman book a few years ago, but I hadn't been able to find a recipe for that cake so instead this was a good substitute.

Now, I wouldn't call this an unqualified success! I ended up making the recipe twice because the first time my cakes came out looking very much like giant cookies! They tasted fine, especially when I dished them up broken into pieces with lashes of cream and berries,  but I was wondering if maybe I didn't measure it properly as I am not used to cooking in pounds and ounces. The second time I made the recipe, it was better, mainly because I only cooked it in one cake tin. I also added a bit more milk to the mixture. It still wasn't pourable but it was better. Texturally it still looked a bit like a giant cookie from the top, but it was at least a giant cookie that had depth and was spongy like cake should be!

Gwendoline’s Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake 

Serves 4 to 6 

For the cake 

1¾ ounces sugar 

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 

4 fluid ounces milk and water mixed 

3 ounces butter or margarine 

1 tablespoon golden syrup or treacle 

6½ ounces flour 1½ ounces cocoa 

½ teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

For the icing 

2 ounces butter or margarine 

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 ounce powdered milk 2 tablespoons sugar 

½ teaspoon vanilla essence 

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar and bicarbonate of soda in the milk and water. Add the butter or margarine and syrup or treacle and mix slowly but well. 

Sieve the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add the mixed ingredients from the saucepan and mix well, again slowly. Pour into two cake tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When cooked, leave the cakes in their pans until cool. 

Next, make the icing. Melt the butter or margarine, then mix with the cocoa powder, powdered milk, sugar, and vanilla essence until soft and shiny.

The next Cook the Books selection is Lessons in Chemisty by Bonnie Garmus which I am very much looking forward to reading!

I have also linked this post up with Foodies Read hosted at Based an a True Story, British Isles Friday (hosted at Joy's Book Blog) and for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted here at The Intrepid Reader!

Important note:



l am away this week and can't access Mr Linky so for this week only, please add your links in the comment!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner

Sunday -  Out for dinner

Monday -  Out for dinner

Tuesday - Out for dinner

Wednesday - Butter chicken and rice

Thursday - Meatballs

Friday - on holiday

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked (In My Kitchen) in January

The first Saturday of the month is when I share all the things that I baked in the previous month, which is great when you have been baking but this month I only made one thing! This is the third month in a row that I have only made one thing, but I think next month should be more productive. Maybe. Especially seeing as I have singed up for an online baking course. I can do it at my own pace, but that means that I am free to procrastinate actually starting it!

I am happy to report that the one thing that I did make was a big hit! My husband is still talking about it a week later.

I made this chocolate mousse cake for our very late Christmas lunch with our kids. This is basically a chocolate biscuit base, similar to what you would use on a cheesecake, with a chocolate mousse and then a chocolate ganache. 

I have made this before and I will make it again. 

I often share these month posts with In My Kitchen, hosted at Sherry's Picking. Many times the participants share new things that they have acquired for their kitchens so today I am going to do the same.

While we were away we picked up a few little bits and pieces for the kitchen.

The first item we bought is this paint palette cheeseboard. We picked this up from a shop that was just down the street from our hotel on Ile St Louis in Paris. We loved the concept and that the paint brush is actually the cheese knife. What we didn't realise is that the shop we bought it from was, in effect, part of a homewares chain and therefore we could have bought it from different places, including from Rome. Oh well.

We bought the tea towel with the idea that it will be hung up somewhere in our butler's pantry. We just need to figure out where.

The other thing that we bought might seem a bit strange. We first saw one of these triple egg timers at a hotel and we were fascinated with it. The idea is that you can use it to time eggs to either the soft, medium or hard boiled stage of eggs. I have no idea if you can get them here or not, but I've never seen them. We bought it from a shop in Amboise in the Loire Valley. Guess what we are having for breakfast on Sunday!

Since we got home, I have also bought myself a new cookbook.

We have cooked a couple of recipes from the book so far, and both were good! One of these recipes will definitely be making it onto our regular meal rotations. You can see the tip of the pages that I have tagged as being interesting.

Expect to hear more about this book in upcoming future Weekend Cooking posts!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Macaroni cheese

Sunday -  Nothing

Monday - Paccheri with leeks, Parmesan and prosciutto di Parma

Tuesday - Meatballs with crostini and bocconcini

Wednesday - 

Thursday - Takeaway

Friday - "Fried" chicken, mash and veggies

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked (In My Kitchen) in October

 The first Saturday of the month is when I share all the things that I baked in the previous month. 

I just had a look at last month's post  and I note that it looks very similar to this one in that there was a chiffon cake and a self saucing pudding. In my defence, they were both new recipes to me.

First, I made Butterscotch self saucing pudding. This one was really good, but if I had to pick a favourite out of the ones I have tried so far, it is still the  Spicy Apple and Ginger self saucing pudding recipe that I shared a couple of years ago.

The other thing I made was another variation on a chiffon/angel food cake, this time it was a chocolate chiffon cake. It was oh so good! Beautiful and light but also very chocolatey.

Yes, I am still mildly obsessed with making these kind of cakes. I do think that maybe it is time to try and challenge myself to making something different in the next month, but the question is what. I have several cookbooks out from the library so I should surely be able to find something new to challenge myself with.

I am sharing this post as part of In My Kitchen, hosted at Sherry's Pickings

Weekly meals

Saturday - Beef Pepper Pot Pie

Sunday -  

Monday - 

Tuesday - Anniversary dinner

Wednesday - Chicken tenders with chips

Thursday - Loaded beef tacos

Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page