winosandfoodies

Daring Bakers Do Dough

I have  a much greater appreciation of Julia Child's work  after reading the book My Life In France .  The research that went into her books is astounding. And I thought she'd just fired off a book in her spare time.  I doubt she had any spare time. Each recipe was tested over and over until perfect. Which is why I find her recipes always work. 

Breadchick at The Sour Dough  and Sara at I Like To Cook  have chosen the Julia Child method for  French Bread from her book From Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume Two by Julia Child and Simone Beck.

I decided on the one big loaf. My sous chef was home for the weekend so he helped with the kneading.  I also needed a photo for this event which  I'm hoping you will all join.

Unfortunately I was little impatient and didn't give the final rise the treatment it deserved. Which is why I have a small dense loaf. It didn't detract from the taste in any way. The bread had almost a hint of sour dough with just the right amount of chewiness and crispness in the crust. We had it for lunch today with some excellent Australian washed rind cheese from Tasmania.

Thanks Mary and Sara for hosting the February Daring Bakers (check out the other entries). Thanks also to the Daring Bakers creators Ivonne  and Lis .

Tomorrow Is My Best Friend's Wedding

It will be his second wedding. On February 29th 1980 he married the love of his life. ..and he was the love of her life. They were young and in love and a little  crazy.  They didn't tell  anyone until a few days before.  After all they'd lived together already for 7 years so it wasn't a big deal. They chose the 29th of  February. That way it would be a bit special and they could have a big party every four years.  She wore black and 6 inch heels with diamentes on the straps. He had long hair and a moustache. They invited a few friends around to their tiny flat, hired a marriage celebrant to say a few words, then took a case of champagne and went out to lunch.  They couldn't afford rings so it wasn't a long service. They've been married for 28 years and have  celebrated 7 anniversaries. One year they even bought wedding rings.

Some days she had regrets she hadn't married in a church.

Two months ago they were crossing the road in front of a church and he suddenly said "Let's renew our wedding vows". She said "well it's not the most romantic place to propose, but yes, and we could do it when we celebrate our anniversary on the 29th".

A friend invited them to spend a week with her at her holiday home in Port Douglas.  It would be when they planned on renewing their vows. So she rang the vicar in Port Douglas and he said "yes he would be honoured to help". "I don't want any fuss" she said, " we'll just renew our vows and then share some champagne."

Today we fly to Port Douglas.  Tomorrow my best friend will marry......... for the second time..and I'll be his bride...for the second time.

And just like last time we didn't tell anyone...until now.

UPDATE: I'm obviously so excited about this I posted it a day early in error. It is Thursday we fly to Port Douglas and on Friday 29th we will renew our wedding vows.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE: I then set up  a post called Cupcake Spectacular to release next week and accidently released it today . In trying to correct it I lost it. Some of you may see it in your rss reader but it isn't on my blog as I then pressed the wrong button and lost it.

AND YET: THERE'S EVEN MORE: Sarah at Readable Science kindly sent me the copy from her feeder and I will not need to retype the post for next week.  Fanbloodytastic. Thanks Sarah

A Food Bloggers Dream

The ultimate prop room.

More Than Just The Beach

Summer has finally arrived at the Gold Coast. Today is probably the hottest day since we arrived....and I'm inside. I can look over the balcony and see the pool and it looks so inviting....and I'm inside because Bryan has both sets of keys to our apartment and he's playing at a gig.  I can get down to the pool, its even safe to leave my door unlocked...but I can't get back to my floor without the keys. I could go the beach but I couldn't get back into the building without my keys. I could contact the building manager  but as we live in a residential building and I don't like to disturb them on the weekends.

So here I am blogging when I should be swimming. I thought I'd share some of the things unique to my 'hood that shows we are more than a beach resort.

CatchaCrab on the Tweed River have a restaurant where you can enjoy freshly caught crab without having to catch it yourself or take the tour. Loved the rustic setting but felt the food was   overpriced. Has potential and we may return.

Picnic in the bush at the top of Mt French .

With friends. Click on the second photo to see the big lizard.

and good food.

A day out with a drive through the hills to Springbrook .

Lunch at Paddy Melon's . Quaint but disappointing.

We were very happy with our fudge from the Fudge Shop .

At the front Macadamia nut fudge and behind it the jaffa fudge.

And finally shopping for local produce at the markets. Like these tiny pineapples.

Enjoy your weekend.... and don't forget LiveSTRONG 2008 .

 

Hay Hay Donna My Tarts Broke

I wish I'd listened to Bordeaux . He wisely put his coconut mixture into paper cases and removed the paper after they had baked.  I put mine straight into a pan and all but 3   broke as I removed them from the pan. So I ended up with  three tarts and a mass of broken coconut shells. Which I turned into layers with the chocolate cream and mango.

I used a 70% cocoa chocolate which is not very sweet. It needed the fruit to lift the flavour.  The flavours and textures  of the mango, coconut and chocolate were a perfect combination.

Visit Marita Says  for the recipe. If you are joining us at Hay Hay Its Donna Day you need to get you entry to bordeaux76ATmailDOTcom by 02 March.

A Morning At The Beach

His name is Kevin.
He is 70 years old.
He's been married for 27 years.
Two days ago his wife left him...she wanted a life of her own.

We thought he was playing in the waves.
He looked like he was having a good time.
We were just sitting watching the waves as the sun rose in the sky.

We hadn't walked on the beach for a week.
The tide was high so we walked in the dry sand.
It took us longer.
I wore an extra long sleeved top over my t shirt.

He'd taken Cerepax
I could smell alcohol on his breath.
He wanted to die.
I covered his shoulders with my top.
I held his hand and told him my name.
Bryan called an ambulance.

He said he loved the ocean.
He asked why did we help him.
Because we care.
I don't think he really wanted to die.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Marita Says Coconut Chocolate Tarts

Bordeaux at Marita Says is our latest host for Hay Hay Its Donna Day and she has chosen Coconut Chocolate Tarts.  Last day for entries is March 2nd.

LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow - 2008

Ta daaaaaaaaaaaaa.  LiveSTRONG Day 2008 has been announced. This year it is on  May 13th.

Here in the food and wine blogging community we will be supporting  LiveSTRONG Day with our A Taste of Yellow event. Remember last year when 149 bloggers participated?  149 fabulous bloggers made yellow food to show their  support for LiveSTRONG Day 2007 . Some chose to share their own cancer experiences and some told stories of their support for their friends or family experiencing cancer.

Please join me again as we remember those loved ones who are no longer with us, support those still fighting and celebrate with those who have won the fight.

I've added a second element to this years event which I really hope you will join.  A photo competition. You know you all love to play with your camera as much as you play with your food.

To enter the photo competition you will need the Lance Armstrong yellow wrist band. They are available to purchase on line  here at the LiveSTRONG store .   To be considered in the judging  the yellow wristband must appear in the photograph of the recipe you are are submitting to A Taste Of Yellow. If not entering the photo competition just post a photo to accompany your post and recipe.

There will be rules because there is a prize. The publishers of  photographer Lou Manna have kindly donated a copy of his book Digital Food Photography  to go the winner.

RULES FOR LIVESTRONG DAY 2008

1. Event is open to all food and wine bloggers. Photo must be taken by the blogger and photos by professional photographers cannot be accepted.

2. Participants make and post any recipe they chose. Recipe must contain an element of yellow food.

3. Entries can be posted at any time from today but must be forwarded to me by Saturday 19th April. This will give me plenty of time to complete the round up in time for LiveSTRONG Day. Any entries received after this date will not be eligible for photo competition. The write up will be posted on winos and foodies  on 13th May 2008 . Entries must be made specifically for A Taste Of Yellow  and cannot be entered into other blog challenges.

4. To be eligible for the photo competition you  must include a LiveSTRONG yellow wrist band with the recipe dish in your photo.

5. You may include more than one photo in your post but the first photo in the post will be the only photo considered for judging.

6. Judging will be based on quality of photo, originality and creativity.The judges decision will be final. (Judges have yet to be announced).

Please send your entries to me at  atasteofyellowATgmailDOTcom before Saturday 19th April.

Please include:

1. Your name and where you live.
2. Your blog name and URL.
3. The link to your LiveSTRONG with A Taste Of Yellow entry and the name of the recipe.

LiveSTRONG with A Taste Of Yellow has been accepted  by the Lance Armstrong Foundation  as an official LiveSTRONG Day event.

Last year Recipezaar supported us with their own A Taste Of Yellow event.  Hopefully they will  participate again this year. 

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments section as they maybe helpful to other bloggers.

Hay Hay Spanako-Pizza's A Winner

 
Congratulations to Bordeaux of Marita Says  with their Spanako-Pizza which has been voted top pizza in the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day. We'll be announcing the next event very soon so stayed tuned. Thanks to Joey for hosting Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza.

Kat's Mango Bread

Kat who shares her adventures in Japan  kindly shared her Mango bread recipe with me. Although it's called bread it is really cake....and it is delicious. I halved the original recipe and baked it in a slice pan so I could control my portions a little more. It's too easy to cut a large slice of a deep cake and I need to lose a bit of weight.

Here is the full recipe as written by Kat. It would make two loaves.

KAT'S MANGO BREAD

4c flour
4 tsp baking soda
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3 c sugar
1 1/2 c oil
6 eggs
1 c nuts chopped
1 c raisins
4 c mangoes, diced

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Let stand for 20 minutes
Pour into lined baking loaf pans
Bake at 350F (180C) for 45-60 minutes  (time depends on size of pans)

Cupcake Spectacular

There are just so many food blog events now days I find it hard to keep up.  As much as I'd like to participate  in them all I can't.   An unfortunate ongoing side effect from previous  chemotheraphy is tiredness.  I need to plan ahead and make sure I shop the day before I am making and photographing my entry. That way my day is free to make my entry and photographed it and still leave me with the energy to write my post.

No matter how tired I was though I wanted to support Arfi's Cupcake Spectacular .  She is a friend I met through blogging and I miss her now I live in Australia.

And I wanted chocolate cupcakes, very chocolate cupcakes. With real chocolate not just cocoa powder. I searched the web with the words "chocolate cupcakes made with chocolate". Which is where I found these very chocolatey chocolate cupcakes.  Veronica's Test Kitchen adapted a Dorie Greenspan recipe. So here is my adaptation of Veronica's adaptation of Dorie.

Chocolatey Chocolate Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

120 grams cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup milk

60 grams dark chocolate, melted and cooled

For the glaze

100 grams dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 tbs icing sugar, sifted

30 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place paper muffin cases in a muffin pan

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Beat the butter at until soft and creamy.

Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until it is blended into the butter.

Add the egg, then the yolk, beating 1 minute after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla,

Stir in the  half the dry ingredients,

Add the milk, mixing until incorporated, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.

Stir in the melted chocolate and mix it in with a metal spoon. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cases.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes are dry and springy to the touch and a knife inserted into their center comes out clean.  Cool to room temperature on the rack before glazing.

To make the Glaze

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of shimmering water.

Stir the icing sugar into the chocolate, followed by the pieces of cold butter.

Spread onto cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.

An Apple A Day

You will see this is a little dark on the top. That will happen if you try to bake a cake on fan grill.  It didn't detract from the taste.

Nor did my first attempt at making baking powder and not quite getting the ingredients correct.  Heidi has a recipe for baking powder in her book Super Natural Cooking , a gift I received from the kind and lovely Sam.  Mistakenly  I had purchased tartaric acid instead of cream of tartar.

As the cake tasted perfectly alright I guess it didn't matter.

This cake is dedicated to my new friend Rossella over at  Ma Che Ti Sei Mangiato in Italy. Rossella is celebrating a year surviving a stroke.  It was on the 3rd March 2007 Rossella suffered a stroke...and she is only 30 years old young.  Rosella would like everyone to help her celebrate a year on with her blog event An Apple A Day .

My apple recipe is an apple cake from Clotildes Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook . Her original recipe  using pears is called  Gateau de Mamy and can be found here.  I added a sprinkling of cinnamon in with the icing sugar to comply with Rossella's rules.

You have until 3rd March to help Rossella celebrate with a recipe featuring apples.

Hay Hay Joey You're A Star

Joey has posted the round up of Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza . Don't forget to send your votes to Joey at  eighty_breakfasts(AT)yahoo(DOT)com!