Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books that Conjure Up Happy Memories (Feel free to tell us about those memories if you’d like!).
I was going to keeping it simple and share ten titles that have some variation of the word happy in the title. I had all the titles chosen and then I realised that I did the same thing two years ago and only two books would be different, so I had to think of something different. I am going to keep those two books in the list though!
So here are some bookish references to things that make me happy
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith- Whilst our street name isn't Zebra Drive, my good husband is from South Africa originally (review)
The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson - I love books and I love books about books, and this authors books about WWII librarians are right up there! They are so good.
The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin- Love travelling, and planning travel. Portugal is my next must visit destination. Reading books set in the destinations I want to visit do give me ideas of things to include in our itinerary (review)
The German Ward by Pip Williams - Love going to author events. I went to an event for this book last night!
You Had Me at Cake by Emelia Jackson - Loving baking out of this book at the moment, or any of her books really
Summer at the French Bakery by Jo Thomas - Set in France and foodie! To be fair I do like Jo Thomas's books wherever they are set. (review)
Mixed Signals by B K Borison - I am loving on B K Borison's books right now, although I am pretty much caught up on all of them. Just need to read her latest book.
The French Christmas Market by Gillian Harvey - For a long time I was a bit of a scrooge when it came to Christmas, or more precisely I was faking it until I made it, but over the last few years I have begun to love Christmas books. This one is the latest one I read and has a bonus element as it is set in France
The Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai - Japanese, foodie and it has the word Happiness in the title! (review)
Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering - I do enjoy Jane Lovering's books which are set predominantly in Yorkshire in England (review)
We are big Bake Off fans in our house. At last count we have watched Australian, Kiwi, Canadian, Kenyan, South African, American, Bake Off The Professionals, celebrity versions and, of course, the original and the best, The Great British Bake Off.
When this book was announced as the next selection for Cook the Books, I read the blurb and went, I am going to love this book. Whilst the show in the book is called Britain Bakes, it is very definitely a knock off of Bake Off.
When 77 year old Jenny Quinn decides to apply to be on Britain Bakes, she keeps it a secret from everyone around her, including her husband of 59 years Bernie. The main reason she keeps it a secret is because she doesn't expect to get past the application stage let alone make it all the way through to being on the TV. Keeping it a secret, is very unusual for Jenny and Bernie. Throughout their long marriage she has only ever kept one secret from him, albeit a very BIG secret.
Baking has been part of Jenny's whole life, but getting ready for competing on the show takes things to a whole new level. Jenny has the recipes that she has known and loves for years, but she needs to show skills for more than just retro baking!
Jenny makes it onto the show and becomes something of a favourite. She insists on using her trusted balancing scales (no electric scales here) and her warm nature, and in particular her friendship with a young fellow contestant by the name of Azeez, endear her to the public and the crew of the show.
By taking this step to do things for herself though, Jenny finds herself thinking back to an earlier time in her life, the point where the biggest choices were taken away from her. This book is, in effect a dual time line, where the recipes Jenny is baking now are conduits back to that earlier time in her life.
The big question is what happens when the show is aired. Will Jenny win? And will all her secrets be revealed? Of course, I can't tell you that! You will just need to read this fun, delicious and delightful read for yourself!
This is Olivia Ford's first and only book so far. I will be looking out for her next book because I really loved this one.
Because this was a read for Cook the Books, I also needed to choose what to make. There is so much delicious food in this book, both savoury and sweet. I did keep a list, but the reality is that I already knew what I was going to be making as soon as I read the second paragraph of the book! That doesn't mean to say that I didn't contemplate other things. This is one of those choices where there were dozens and dozens of different types of food mentioned!
Here is that paragraph:
Recipe one. It had to be her favourite birthday cake - she had quite a reputation for it in the family. She wrote the heading, Jenny's Black Forest Gateau, twisting her best handwriting into loops and flicks as she divided the page into Ingredients and Method. She could feel the wet cloth of the cream-filled piping bag, the magic of neat rosettes spiralling from its nozzle. She thought of the bitter smell of cocoa powder which clung to the back of your throat if you made the mistake of pouring it too enthusiastically, and how it complemented the tender cherry pie filling.
The reason why this jumped out so much is that Black Forest Cake is my husband's favourite, and I haven't made it for him for a long time! A quick look through my baking cook books gave me a few different options, but in the end I chose a recipe from the cook book that I have been doing a lot of baking from recently which is You Had Me at Cake by Emelia Jackson
In order to make the recipe as written, I did have to sent Robert to go to a specialty place that does all kind of frozen fruits to get frozen sour cherries, and I also had to go and buy kirsch as we didn't have any in the house.
I also had to adapt because I don't have 18cm cake tins. In the end I used 22 cm cake tins and cooked the cakes for 30 minutes which may have been a fraction too long.
It turns out that really this recipe looks more complicated than it really is. None of the three components is difficult, and it looks fine if you put it together somewhat rustically. At least, that is what I am telling myself!
The next Cook the Books selection is The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai and I am the host! I really hope that everyone enjoys it! I am a bit nervous though! If you would like to know more about Cook the Books, click here for more details.
600g thickened cream 300g double cream 100g caster sugar 2 tsp vanilla bean paste shaved dark chocolate to finish
For the chocolate sponge cakes, preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional) and line three 18cm round cake tins with baking paper.
Combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and has doubled in volume. Sift the flour and cocoa powder over the egg mixture, gently fold together, then mix through the melted butter.
Once combined, divide the batter evenly among three cake tins and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If you only have one or two cake tins, bake each layer separately. The remaining batter is fine to wait as each layer bakes.
Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool in their tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the cherry compote, put the cherries and their juices in a saucepan with the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and allow the cherries to cook for 30 minutes, or until the juices have reduced by half. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla paste and kirsch before letting the compote cool completely. This can be made up to a week ahead and kept in the fridge until ready to use.
For the chantilly cream, combine all the ingredients (except the chocolate) in a mixing bowl and whisk by hand until firm peaks form. It will take a little elbow grease, but I prefer to err on the side of caution and whisk by hand as the higher fat content means it can easily split. Once the cream has thickened, place it in the fridge until the cakes and compote have cooled and you are ready to assemble the cake.
To assemble, place the first cake layer onto the serving plate and soak it liberally with cherry syrup, before layering over ⅓ of the cream and cherries. Repeat this process until you’ve stacked all layers with the fillings. To finish, liberally spread the rest of the cream over the top of the cake and pile it high with cherries. Finish with some curls of dark chocolate shaved with a vegetable peeler and set the cake in the fridge for at least 4 hours (overnight is best) to firm up before serving.
Weekly meals
Saturday - Hamburgers Sunday - Grilled cheese on toast Monday - Pork and beans stir fry Tuesday - Spaghetti bolognaise Wednesday - Thursday - Out for dinner Friday - Away for the weekend
Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month. It's been a busy month. I've had a couple of fun foodie experiences plus a trip to Bali and got some baking done too!
Do you ever get sucked into the recipes that go viral? I am particularly susceptible to baking related ones. During September the recipe that went viral In Australia was for Kingston biscuits with peaches, and I was absolutely going to try it. For those who don't know, Kingston biscuits are two coconut/oaty biscuits that are sandwiched with a chocolate cream. They are not the biscuits that I reach for normally (hello Shortbread Creams) so we had to go and buy some. It turns out it was lucky I could find them because apparently there was a shortage of them in both Australia and New Zealand this month.
The idea is that you empty a packet of biscuits into a baking tray, tip a can of peaches (including the juice) on top and bake for around 20 minutes. We chose to do individual serving in the microwave which was that you break up 4 biscuits. Cut up a few peach slices and put it on top of the biscuits, add a tablespoon of peach juice and then microwave for around 45 seconds. It was actually pretty delicious. Now there are lots of different variations out there such as chocolate biscuits with a can of cherries. We might try a variation at some point. We'll see!
The rest of my bakes this month came from Emelia Jackson's book, You Had Me at Cake, which was the Lamb's Ear Cook Book Club selection for August. The theme ingredient for the month was chocolate, so my first two bakes were chocolate flavoured and then I moved to different flavours.
Chocolate Chiffon Cake - Chiffon cakes are my absolute favourite thing to bake. I love whipping the egg whites and then mixing it to create the batter, and then the lightness of the cake once it has cooked and then cooled by tipping upside down (as long as you are using the specific tin). The cake was then decorated with whipped cream and Maltesers. This was good!
Chocolate Meringue cake - Next up I tried the Chocolate Meringue Cake which featured a denser chocolate cake with a chocolate meringue baked on the top of it!
Peach Crumble Slab Cake - I then chose to make this peach cake, mainly to use up all the leftover peaches from the viral recipe. It was so good. Actually, they all were!
Pandan and Toasted Coconut Swiss Roll - The last thing I made during August was the Pandan and Toasted Coconut Swiss Roll pictured at the top of this post which was inspired by our trip to Bali where I ate quite a few pandan flavoured desserts. I had to go out specifically to find pandan flavouring. Now that I have some, there's a fair chance that there might be some more bakes. I am entering my pandan and coconut era!
We did have a bit of a local foodie adventure during August when we went to Chandon winery for a fondue experience. We took a drive through the Yarra Valley, which is a wine area about an hour and a half away from us. We did something called the Coldstream Food Trail which has about 10 stops on it, although we only did 4 stops. We stopped at a brewery and then went to a place called Coombe Yarra Valley which is a lovely place that has been created in the former home of world-famous Australian opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba. From there we did some cider and cheese tastings. The main reason we went out there was to do a Fondue and Bingo lunch at Chandon which was a lot of fun! I mean, fondue and sparkling wines...what's not to love. It was a beautiful clear winter's day and a lovely way to do some exploration of just one tiny pocket of the Yarra Valley. We did see some amazing looking restaurants that we will go back and visit again at some point!
While we on holidays in Bali, we did have a couple of great foodie experiences. One was something called a Rijstaffel, which translates from Dutch as rice table and is basically a pile of rice which is then surrounded by all different types of accompaniments. We had people stopping to ask us what it was. It will definitely go down as a memorable meal!
We also had a floating breakfast in the private pool of our villa, which seems quite decadent! Not something to do everyday but a lot of fun!
Our final foodie adventure in Bali was to do a cooking class where we helped create a number of dishes. Everyone had to help chop, grind down pastes, cook different dishes including a pandan and coconut crepe dessert. It was a really fun experience. I posted about these experiences here.
Our collection of travel related souvenirs are growing, as is our magnet collection. We recently bought a magnetic board which we are using to display all of our magnets, which I think is much better than trying to cram everything onto the fridge!
We also bought these bowls while we were in Bali. I suspect that they are going to be mostly for display purposes but I do like them!
New recipes
Chocolate Chiffon Cake -
Kingston and Peaches dessert
Chocolate Meringue Cake
Peach Crumble Slab Cake
Pandan and Toasted Coconut Swiss Roll
Thai Beef from Nat Thaipun's book Thai
Mexican Beef - from Poppy Cooks: The Absolutely Delicious Slow Cooker
Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I usually share everything I have made over the previous month. After barely doing any baking during June because I was sick, I started July with a lot of baking and it continued from there. What I wasn't good at was taking pictures of said baking before it got eaten
Lemon Poppyseed Crinkle Cookies - I have made these before but they are so good so I made them again. This is a recipe from Emelia Jackson's Some of my Best Friends are Cookies cookbook. (pictured bottom right)
Dutch Pancakes with Salted Caramel Pears - This is a recipe from the Coles magazine. I was impressed with the pancake part. Not so much with the pears which needed a lot more cooking.
Brownies - We had family come around for dinner so I made brownies using my trusted Bill Granger recipe which can be found here.
Mixed Berry Clafoutis - This is what I chose to make for my Cook the Books post which you can find here. (pictured at the top)
Banana bread - we had bananas so I made banana bread. Whilst I quite like adding icing, or choc chips into the batter or other variations, my husband just likes plain banana bread that he can add a lot of butter to when it is sliced up, so that's what I made. This is the recipe I used, without the banana on top.
I picked up a couple of bits and pieces this month. The first is from the magical world of the middle aisle of Aldi. I went looking for a sheet set and came home with new pot holders. I love the colours so couldn't resist.
The second thing is a plate from the Reject Shop. They have had some really fun pieces come into their home wares range over the last year or so.
I go back to work next week after several months off so have to work out what my new normal looks like when it comes to baking, books and blogging. To celebrate/commiserate my last day as a lady of leisure we went for a drive to the Yarra Valley which is around 90 minutes away from us and had a lovely lunch at a winery and then went to the nearby Yarra Valley Chocolaterie. Needless to say we did not need dinner that night. And we most certainly didn't need to eat the Dubai chocolate that we bought that day either. Maybe we will get to it this weekend.
One of the other fun things we did this month was to visit the French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition which is currently on at the National Gallery of Victoria. You can read more about the exhibition here.
There was a room filled with still life paintings. Some were flower and some were fruit and vegetables. This quote from Cezanne made me smile so I though I would share it here.
As to flowers, I have given them up. They wilt immediately. Fruits are more reliable.They love having their portraits done.
The painting below isn't by Cezanne but it was in the same room so it fits!
52 Recipes Challenge
Here are the new recipes we tried this month.
Dutch Pancakes with Salted Caramel Pears
Clafoutis
Weekend Cooking posts from the last month
Weekly Meals
Saturday - Out for dinner Sunday - Bacon, vegetable and risoni soup with mini meatballs Monday - Lasagne Tuesday - Lasagne Wednesday - Out Thursday - Nothing Friday - Nothing
I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.
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
Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I usually share everything I have made over the previous month.
I had big baking plans for June. The Lambs Ears Cook Book Club chose Emelia Jackson's latest book Some of My Best Friends are Cookies as the June selection, and I had selected a number of recipes to make as I already owned the book. But there is that saying about best laid plans and all that, and mine came crashing down when I got some kind of winter lurgy and I have been sick for the last couple of weeks. I am getting better but I sound terrible and when I cough...well... it's not pleasant.
So what did I make.
The first thing that I decided to make from the book was traditional Scottish shortbread as it is Robert's favourite. I also saw that there was a variation which was Sour Cherry and Pistachio Shortbread. I have a bag of sour cherries in the pantry and so it was an opportunity for me to use some. I made both recipes from the same batch and both were delicious. I will make them again!
Speaking of pistachios, is it just in Melbourne, or is everyone going crazy for pistachios at the moment? Many years ago now, I had some friends come to visit us and we went to a night market and we had a conversation about why there was so much Nutella everywhere. Now, that conversation would be about pistachios. We recently had a new Costco open near us, and the thing that had everyone excited was a pistchio cheesecake. Now, I would love to try it but the reality is I can't justify buying one because we would never be able to eat it all, so it would be a waste.
That doesn't mean that I am averse to the pistachio craze. I mean, I used it in my own baking this month, and intend to make another recipe that has them as a garnish as well. And we did try these Pistachio Scrolls from our local cafe to see what all the fuss was about on their socials.
We did have a couple of very nice meals this month, before we got sick. It was my birthday in early June so we took a drive down the coast and had lunch at a beautiful winery which had great views and more importantly, great food! It was a pretty cold day, but it was still very enjoyable. I imagine this place is even more popular in summer.
We also had to take a quick trip up to Brisbane for our eldest daughter's 30th birthday celebration. We had dinner at a restaurant on the Skydeck at Star Casino, and the whole experience was exceptional. We were sitting outside on the deck, and it was a bit chilly but there were heaters which helped. The views over the city lights were fabulous, and the food....the food was spectacular. This is just some of the food which included a smoked carrot tartare, spanner crab served with tiny crumpets, a beautiful dry aged bistecca and a whole baked fish.
Finally, I had to say farewell to my favourite pyjama pants this week. It's very sad. I had no option but to buy some super cute breakfast themed replacements, especially seeing as they were on sale!
52 Recipes Challenge
Here are the new recipes we tried this month.
Scottish shortbread
Sour Cherry and Pistachio Shortbread
Air-fried sweet potato cubes
Beef Casserole with Herb Dumplings
Given that we are halfway through the year, I thought I would see where we are up to with the 52 recipes challenge. If my count is correct, I think we have tried 23 new recipes this year so far. It does feel like it should be more, but it shouldn't be too hard to catch up. Famous last words
Saturday - Takeaway Sunday - Tuscan chicken pasta bake Monday - Beef casserole with herb dumplings (new) Tuesday - Tomato, Zucchini and Parmesan risotto Wednesday - Pork Nachos Thursday - Meatballs Friday - Butter Chicken and Rice
I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.
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
Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I usually share everything I have made over the previous month. It has been a busy month in our kitchen with lots of baking and new recipes tries!
However, before we talk about this, I shamelessly stole the above pic from Jackie at Junkboat Travel because I feel seen! Often if I am baking I say to my husband that I am creating lots of washing up and the side outcome is something delicious to eat!
Speaking of baking here's what I did make this month
Raspberry Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate - I made this after reading The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer. I reviewed the book and shared the recipe, which is a family recipe, here.
Chocolate Eclairs - My husband had been asking me to make eclairs for a while but I kept on putting it off as I was a bit intimidated by it! However, once I decided to make it, it is doable. The recipe, which I shared as part of my Cook the Books contribution a couple of weeks ago, makes a lot so I still have some in the freezer. When I first filled the eclairs, I made it with a chocolate glaze and chantilly cream filling. The next time, I refreshed the shells in the oven, and then used the passionfruit and milk chocolate ganache from the macarons as the glaze and chocolate cream
Curry sausage rolls - Yes, this is a rare savoury bake, and it was delicious! The recipe comes from Justin Narayan's Everything in Indian.
Passionfruit and Milk Chocolate Macarons - My friend and I went and did a class to learn how to make macarons! It was such a great day. I shared about this experience here.
Chocolate Brownie - It's been an age since I made my favourite chocolate brownie recipe by Bill Granger! It went down a treat!
I haven't bought many cook books this year. When this book, Everything is Indian, was announced as the cook book for Lambs Ear Cook Book Club, I borrowed it from the library. After cooking a few things from it, we agreed that we needed to own it! I am planning to share something about this book in the next couple of weeks. I also got Taverna by Georgina Hayden out from the library. We really liked her book Greekish, so I need to find some time to look through the book before it has to go back to the library!
My most useful purchase this month was two storage containers which are the perfect shape for sheets of premade pastry and things like wraps or rotis. I don't know how I lived without them! I keep on finding new ways to use it, but at this stage, I am resisting the urge to buy any more.
We did have a very nice French dinner a couple of weeks ago. In fact, we had a very French weekend. I had already made eclairs, then we had the dinner before we went to see the arena version of Les Miserables which was amazing, and then I made macarons the next day. I wasn't sure what to expect of the dinner. It was a fixed price menu in the restaurant at the arena, and to be honest I kind of expected to walk away thinking that it was an okay dinner, potentially overpriced but worth it for the convenience of already being in the stadium. It turned out the dinner was delicious, the portions were generous and it was well worth doing!
I had crab tart, mushroom pithivier and potato gratin. In theory, the dessert came boxed up so that you could take it into the show with you to eat later, but we ate it in the restaurant. It was a gingernut base with layers of strawberry and rhubarb.
52 Recipes Challenge
Here are the new recipes we tried this month.
Raspberry and white chocolate shortbread cookies
Curry Roast Chicken, Masala roast potatoes and Raita - from Everything in Indian
Curry Sausage rolls - Another recipe from Everything in Indian. This one got rave reviews from Robert.
Spicy Prawn Noodles - My son was away for a few days so we had prawns. We don't cook these when he is home.
Spicy Beef Noodles - This came from Dominique's Kitchen and we tried this because it was a two person recipes
Chocolate eclairs
Potato Gratin - I had a craving for potato bake. This recipe came from RecipeTin Eats
Cottage Pie - Another recipe from the RecipeTin Eats site.
Sausage and veggie gravy traybake - And yes, another RecipeTin Eats recipe.
Before next month I should check to see what the tally is and how close I am
Saturday - Schnitzel, chips, broccoli, mushroom sauce Sunday - Sausages and potato gratin Monday - Beef and broccoli noodles Tuesday - Cottage Pie Wednesday - Sausage, vegetable and gravy traybake Thursday - Chilli Con Carne Friday - Out for dinner
I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.
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
It seems impossible to me that it has been more than 14 years since I read Helen Simonson's first book Major Pettigrew's Last Stand which I reviewed here. I know that there has been another book since, which I haven't read, but as soon as I heard about this book I knew that I wanted to read it, so when it was chosen as the April/May selection for Cook the Books, it was serendipitous.
The year is 1919 and Britain is returning to normal after the end of WWI, whatever normal means.
During the war, Constance Haverhill ran a country estate. Now that the men are back from war, she has been asked to give up that role and the cottage that comes with it. Her employer, Lady Mercer, who was also sort of kind of a lifelong friend of her mother, is suggesting that she might become a governess, a thought that Constance dreads. She hopes to find a role as a bookkeeper or something similar. However, before that she has been asked to perform one last role - accompany Lady Mercer's mother, Mrs Fog, to holiday in Hazelbourne-by-the-Sea. What neither Constance or Lady Mercer know is that Mrs Fog has her own reasons for visiting the town, one that is bound to cause upset in due course.
There Constance meets Poppy Wirrall, daughter of local gentry, and they become firm friends. Poppy runs a taxi and delivery service where the drivers are all local women. She also runs a motorcycle club for women and wants to add a flying club. Like Constance, many of her drivers are facing the loss of their jobs due to the fact that they are seen as men's roles.
Constance also meet's Poppy's brother, Harris. He too is struggling with what the future looks like. He has friends who own an airfield but they won't allow him to fly due to his war injuries. The estate that he has now inherited is struggling, and the way of life that he would have expected to live before the war are pretty much gone. However, no-one seems to have told his mother who still lives extravagantly.
Harris struggles to adapt back to normal life, or as normal as it can be when you have lost part of your leg, but also the mental challenges, the shellshock and the survivors guilt. I am not normally someone who takes notice and shares quotes but there were two in this book from Harris that really stopped me in my reading tracks and take notice.
The CO was still with them at the forward base in Saint-Omer. By the time he disappeared during the Third Battle of Ypres, the numbers of dead had become numbing, the grief briefer.
Brief grief: always there was the moment of turning away, of giving up on straining to hear another engine coming home behind the hill. A sandwich or a hot pie chewed in silence and a cup of strong tea burning the throat. Then a quick wash and maybe a sleep. Because in the Flying Corps, the ritual was clear. To honour the men who did not come home in the evening, the dawn flight would go out uninterrupted.
In this second passage, Harris is speaking to Constance.
"It would be nice to think that something good might come out of all these years of misery," she said. "World peace is all very well, but for the average person - let us say the average woman - it would be nice to think there might be some enduring changes. Some additional respect, some freedom, some scope for a larger life."
and then a bit later
"What would you like to see come from these shadowed years of misery?" she asked as gently as she could. "You who have given the greatest sacrifice should design our future."
He laughed sharply, but his eyes, when he looked up from his cocoa, did not blaze with contempt. He took a moment to consider her question, turning it in his mind as if it was a think of many facets.
"Those who have given the greatest sacrifice are not here to speak," he said, his voice hoarse. "Those of us who are - Well, I must rack my brain every day to discover if I am a coward. If I made some decision to save myself. Because why else am I here and better men are gone?" He buried his head in his hands and made a low animal moan of pain.
Once again Helen Simonson has given us a book which feels lighthearted, and yet covers many serious topics including racism, the effects of war, class differences and social change, and asks questions like how should the end of WWI, or indeed any war, be commemorated the year after it ended. She does it with a gentle humour and wry observations about society and class. Now I need to go and find her last book, The Summer Before the War because I really have enjoyed both of her other books.
To be honest, I was a bit surprised when this book was announced as the Cook the Books selection because nothing on the cover, or in the blurb, suggests that it is foodie book. I mean, if the title had of been the the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Fly Club Cafe, yes, but it wasn't. However, I needn't have worried because while it isn't foodie like a book about a cafe would be, there is plenty of food throughout the pages. I was keeping notes as I read through the book every time food was mentioned, and there were a lot, ranging from bacon and onion sandwiches to anchovy toast to blancmange. However, it was around half way through the book when I found what I was going to make.
The characters are sitting on the Palm Terrace of the hotel eating chocolate eclairs and drinking hot chocolate, waiting for the German submarine which has been left stranded on the beach to be destroyed.
"Ah yes, we are to be assaulted with the noise of that dreadful submarine on the beach being blown to pieces," said Lady Mercer as Klaus approached with a bouillon cup on a saucer. "But the young man assured us we only need cover our ears briefly. "
"Yes, madam," said the waiter. "I believe they expect to slice it in two with a single cannon blast. You will enjoy a front row view from here."
"Extraordinary," said Lady Mercer, in a voice that carried to all the neighbouring tables. "I can't imagine such a thing passing as entertainment in Brighton or in St-Tropez." Constance suppressed a grin, having never personally seen Lady Mercer leave her gardens in Surrey to visit the seaside either at home or abroad.
"I suppose it's entirely safe," said Mrs Fog. "Perhaps we should move away from the windows?"
"Nonsense, Mother, the view is in obvious demand." Indeed, there were more hotel guests and others crowding at the door and Klaus moved away to assist the undermanager in finding seats for the new arrivals.
Needless to say, things don't quite go to plan.
My husband has been asking me to make eclairs for the longest time, but I have been putting it off as I was a little bit intimidated at the thought. I have made choux pastry once before, but not eclairs, but now is the time for it to happen. I should mention that a bit further along in the passage, Lady Mercer swallows a piece of eclair awkwardly and nearly chokes. I hope that doesn't happen with hubby!
To make the eclairs I used Masterchef Australia winner Emelia Jackson's recipe from her book First, Cream the Butter and Sugar. On Masterchef she is known as the Choux Queen! I have posted about this book before here. I then used stabilised cream and chocolate ganache recipes that I have used in other recipes before to make the filling and topping.
I tried to make these as perfectly as I could, but as you probably recall I have said before, I am better at baking things that taste good rather than looking pretty. I tried to put lines on the baking tray so that I could pipe exactly 10cm long eclairs, but I couldn't see the lines against my tray so I ended up having to freehand them! Straight lines are not my forte!
This recipe made a LOT of eclair shells, way too many for 2 people, so I ended up freezing a lot of them. Maybe I will experiment with some other flavour combinations over the coming weeks. Watch this space. I suspect I will be asked to make the chantilly cream in that same way again. Robert, my husband, is very happy with all of it, but especially the cream! Happy husband!
Chocolate Eclairs
Choux Pastry
225g water 100g unsalted butter 1tspn caster sugar 1tspn salt 140g plain flour 265g whole eggs (about 5 large eggs), weight without shells
Preheat the oven to 150C (no fan). Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
To make the dough, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a rapid boil before adding the plain flour. Cook this roux stirring rapidly for 5-7 minutes or until a thick crust forms at the base of the saucepan - this ensures the flour is well hydrated and you achieve the most consistent results.
Transfer the hot roux to the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed until all of the steam dissipates – this helps to evaporate off any excess moisture that could weigh down the choux, leaving you with the lightest possible pastry.
Start adding the eggs, a little bit at a time, and mix until the dough comes together to a silky, shiny batter. The dough should be firm enough to hold its shape, falling off your scraper when you lift it out of the bowl.
Transfer the choux to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (approx 1.5cm diameter) and pipe each eclair around 10cm long, leaving ample space between them so they can spread and rise.
Bake the choux for at least 45 minutes before opening the oven door. Cook until a deep-golden, caramelised brown colour all over. Remove from the oven and cool at room temperature.
Cut the eclairs in half then dip the top halves in the chocolate glaze. Cool in the fridge before filling with whipped cream using a piping bag fitted with a star shaped nozzle.
Chocolate Glaze
Finely chop 100g of dark chocolate. Heat 2/3 cup of cream and 3 teaspoons of glucose syrup until hot and then pour over the chocolate. Leave for 1 minute and then stir until thick and glossy.
Chantilly cream
Whip 3 cups of whipped cream, 1 cup of mascarpone, 1 and 2/3 cups of icing sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste until stiff peaks form.
I am sharing this review with the Foodies Read challenge hosted at Based on a True Story, with the other participants in Cook the Books and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host!
I am very excited about the next selection which is Aimie K Runyan's A Bakery in Paris. At this stage I am planning to post about this book some time in July as part of Paris in July
Weekly meals
Saturday - Away Sunday - Away Monday - Nasi Goreng Tuesday - Sausages, mash, gravy and broccolini Wednesday - Spicy Beef Noodles (new) Thursday - Zucchin, Tomato and Parmesan Risotto Friday - Out for 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
Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I usually share everything I have made over the previous month. Here's what I made
Pineapple Fridge Tart - We had some friends around for a (mostly) South African themed barbecue. We served up pork ribs and boerwoers, a dish called pap which is a maize based staple, plus some potato salad. We have made Peppermint Crisp Tart for these people a few times now, so I wanted to serve up something different so I said to my husband what about Pineapple Fridge Tart. He looked at me very strangely and said I don't remember making that for you. I had to go and find my post from 7 years ago for him to read about the first time we had it!
Japanese Strawberry Shortcake - This was what I had decided to make for my Cook the Books post. I made it for the same dinner I mentioned above, but we didn't even touch it because the Pineapple Fridge Tart was such a hit, and also because we were all too full!
Lemon Poppyseed Crinkle Cookies - Every time we see these particular friends they always bring us some lemons from their trees, which is lovely of them. We don't always get to use them before they rot, so this time I was determined to make something. I ended up deciding on making these Lemon Poppyseed Crinkle Cookies from Emelia Jackson's book Some of my Best Friends Are Cookie.
Lemon Curd - Because I still had lemons left over, I decided to make lemon curd. I have made curd before a few times but this time I used the recipe from Bake with Brooki.
Lemon Mousse Cake - A bit later in the month, I made a lemon mousse cake. This was a bit of a mash up cake. I used a lemon cake from RecipeTin Eats website, and then made a lemon mousse (which I have previously shared here) using the lemon curd from Bake with Brooki. The end result though - delicious! It may not have looked super pretty but it tasted super delicious! And I had a small ramekin of mousse left which was also fab by itself.
In Sherry's January In My Kitchen post she mentioned getting knives from Coles, which reminded me that we had points to cash in. Turns out, we had enough for three knives made by Smeg! Lucky we got them when we did as a couple of weeks later the campaign was withdrawn.
I went up to Yarrawonga a couple of weeks ago to visit some other friends, and had a lovely meal at one of the wineries up there. We sat outside in then courtyard and we were the only ones there. There were other people inside, but it felt like our own personal restaurant. I had rolled lamb shoulder with a pistachio and apricot crumb and malted honey carrots. Everything was good, but the carrots were amazing.
I have tasked my friend with finding all the wineries which have good food (not just tastings because she doesn't like wine at all) so that we can then mark them off one by one each time we visit!
52 Recipes Challenge
Here are the new recipes we tried this month.
White Vinegar Vinaigrette - I know this is super simple but we don't really make our own vinaigrettes. I will make this one again.
Air Fryer Poached Eggs - I am determined that we are going to use our Air Fryer more given that we bought a new one last week. This, however, is not a recipe we will be making again. It was a disaster!
Air Fryer Baked Potatoes - This one worked out much better!
Japanese Strawberry Shortcake - Made for Cook the Books
Lemon Salmon with Potato Gratin - This is a recipe from Nagi Mahaeshi's latest book Tonight. We loved it.
Lemon Poppyseed Crinkle Cookies - Used a recipe from Emelia Jackson's latest book.
Saturday - Ham and Cheese Toastie Sunday - Smash Burgers Monday - Baked Tuscan Chicken and Rice Tuesday - Pork Chops, mash, beans and gravy Wednesday -Hunters Chicken (Chicken Cacciatore) - new Thursday - Italian Meatballs Friday - Out for dinner
I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.
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
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