Semolina pasta

A quick yummy dish that we usually have after a filling soup. I had this many times when I was a kid, my Grandma used to make it in a large cast iron pan and nicely sear the bottom. Mmmm, it was so crunchy!
Now, who doesn't know this recipe might be suprised by the unusual match of semolina and pasta. Who was fed this as a child too might be abhorred by my choice of pasta (I had only spaghetti in the cupboard!!).
Anyway, here it goes:

Ingredients:

4-5 tbsp semolina

1 tbsp oil or lard

350g pasta, cooked

jam of your choice (plenty!)

 Heat the oil or lard in a larg frying pan. If you have a cast iron pan that's the best! Pour in the semolina and cook stirring until browned.

 Stir in 1-2 tbsp water and cook until the semolina absorbed it. You might want to add more if it's still too dry. Mine always get stuck together, but it will be broken up when you add the pasta.

 Add the pasta and stir well.

 Choose your jam. We had some lovely homemade blackcurrant jam from the local shop in Kilconnel.

 Keep stirring the pasta until it's well covered with the semolina and browned a bit. If you are lucky to have an iron pan try to sear the bottom part, it gets sweeter!

Mix with the jam and enjoy! But make sure you have loads as the kids love it!

A morning quickie...

Finally I made a headband that fits my daughter! I only had the time to make the flower while they were having a bath last night and the headband this morning, nevertheless she was very happy with the result.

 Thanks to Sherry at anniescupboards for the fab fabric flower tutorial!

And off to play school in her new headband! :D

Pork with walnut sauce

This is a delicious recipe, it is the best served with mashed potatoes, but very nice with pasta too.

 Ingredients:

600g pork loin

500ml milk

a good handful walnut

2 tbsp flour

2 garlic cloves

1 bayleaf

1 tsp herbes de Provance or thyme

20g butter

olive oil

salt and pepper

 Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the meat all over.

 Place the meat in a cooking bag (the one you can put into the oven) with pepper, bayleaf, milk, garlic. Tie close and cut one corner of the bag. Place in a pre-heated (190 C) oven and bake for about 30 mins or until the meat is cooked.

 Heat the butter in pan and when hot add the flour and stir. Add the milk from the bag and simmer slowly, constantly stirring until it thickens.

 Take off the heat, stir in the walnuts and blizz with a blender until smooth.

Serve with some salad.

If you have leftover sauce it's delicious with pasta the next day!

Rain

Today the weather was lovely. Warm (ahem, compared to the previous days...) and dry. I kinda missed the rain so made some for ourselves :D

 It supposed to hung in front of the window but by the time I finished it it was too dark, so I took the photo in front of a cabinet door.

 I used leftover fabric scraps and wadding, and some beads and embroidery thread.

 The idea is from a craft magazine I got from my Mum.

And speaking about a dry day, finally I managed to wash Boy Bunny! He had too much hot chocolate...

World's Best Chocolate Cake - baked and sewn

When I was a child my Grandma used to make my birthday cake every single year. And it was the same every time. I still use her recipe to make it for my daughters' birthdays (as one year the carrot cake wasn't a success...).

Ingredients:

for the cream:

200g sugar

227g butter

30g cocoa powder

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp strong coffee

 Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time.

 While your food processor is at work line a round spring form with baking parchment. Ahem, I still need to practice this...

 Add the cocoa powder, coffeee, vanilla essence to the mixture and beat until smooth. Put in a bowl and put in the fridge while you make the sponge.

 for the sponge:

250g sugar (icing is the best, sifted)

4 eggs, separated

1 lemon, zest and juice

200g flour

4 tbsp hot water

1 heaped tsp baking powder

 First, beat the eggwhites in a bowl until stiff and doesn't fall out when you upturn the bowl.
In a separate bowl beat the yolks, sugar and lemon juice until white. Add the hot water, one tbsp at a tim e and beat well.

Stir in the zest.

 Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold.

 Gently fold in the egg white.

 Pour into your neatly lined form. :D Place in a pre-heated (180 C) oven and bake for 20 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Do not open the oven in the first 15 mins, or your cake will collapse.

 While it's baking you can sew a chocolate-strawberry cake! :D :D

 Leave the sponge to cool on a wire rack. When cooled slice in half horizontally and spread with half of the chocolate cream. Place the other half on top and spread the top as well.

 Spread the sides with the remaining cream and decorate with walnuts, or chocolate pieces or whatever you have at hand.

It's best if you can leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours, but alas, sometimes it disappears too quick.

As the recipe uses raw eggs the cake can't be stored for more than a day in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Anita

Anita is very gentle and quiet. She loves sheep, mountains and olives. She can't wait to start her journey to her new home...

 She is wearing a blue dress with floral motives and a white embroidered trim...

 ...and a wooden sheep button :)

 Her light brown hair is in two little buns at the ears.

Getting the hair-do.

I have only one doll dress-ful left of this beautiful material. ;)

Lemon poppyseed muffins

A basic recipe with some unusual flavour. Lovely with jam and a mug of hot chocolate!

Ingredients:

125g butter

2 tbsp lemon flavouring (use lemon zest and juice if you have them!)

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

300g flour

1 tsp baking powder

125ml milk

2 tbsp ground or whole poppyseed

 Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined.

 Make sure you used the attachement for dough and not the whisk as me above...

 Divide the mixture between 12-14 muffin cases and place in a pre-heated (190 C) oven and bake for 25 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

              

Enjoy!

Three friends

These three bunny girls wear cosy jumpers and pretty trousers too keep warm in the autumn chill. Their outfit is kept simple and strongly stitched so they can keep company for long to a little girl.


Cornflower, Poppy and Clover

 They can't wait to start their journey to their new owners, three little girls.

 All three of them have a little colour on the trousers :)

Clover

Poppy

Cornflower

 To pretty up they put a little bow just behind the ear. I machine stitched it in place with triple thread, so the wind (or little hands...) can't pull it off.

Aren't they pretty? Hope they will be good friends with the little girls!