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My Highlights of 2013

January 01, 2014

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Happy New Year to one and all!

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Recipe: Nigel Slater's Demerara Lemon Cake

Spring and Summer bring with them the beautiful fresh produce and one of my favourite things in the world: lemons. Juicy, tart and aromatic lemons. I love cooking with them, on fish, chicken, pork. They are so versatile lending their aroma so perfectly to both savoury and sweet dishes. Friday has become mine and Matilda's baking or pudding day. Last week we made the delicious Portuguese rice pudding. This week we had a friend over for tea so as the sun was out lemons sprung to mind. I found this fantastic Nigel Slater cake on the Guardian website, which I adapted a little as I didn't have all the ingredients in my cupboard. I substituted the demerara sugar for plain old caster sugar. Not having enough ground almonds but a lot of semolina I chucked it in and thankfully it worked. We had a slice with a nice cup of Lady grey and delicious it was too, light, moist with the lemon infusing each mouthful. Yummy and easy to make, why don't you give it a go over the wee

Recipe: Ottolenghi's Hazelnut and Cinnamon Meringues

Despite being an experienced home Baker I've always shied away from meringues, notoriously hard to get right I tend to leave them to the experts. Having said that, in the hope that one day I would decide to take the plunge, I freeze egg whites whenever a recipe only calls for yolks. I finally plucked up the courage over Easter to attempt Ottolenghi's meringues that look tower so spectacularly on the counters in his cafes. Could I recreate these things of beauty? I must say I didn't do too badly. If you religiously abide by his rules you can also make take the risk and make the perfect meringue! In fact, they are extremely simple to make whilst giving the impression of hours of intensive labour. Go forth and bake! This is the recipe I used from his first book entitled Ottolenghi The Cook Book : Ingredients 200g Egg Whites (about 7) 140g dark brown sugar 260g castor sugar 1tsp cinnamon A small handful of chopped hazelnuts Combine both sugars and egg wh

Traditional Portuguese Handicrafts

Portugal has a great tradition of handicrafts. Each region of Portugal have their own crafts for example Alentejo where my family originates from, is best known for its hand painted pottery, wooden chairs and cork products and the world famous Arraiolos r ugs. The Portuguese are proud of their traditional crafts that are readily available to buy up and down the country. These crafts are not just for the tourist, the Portuguese themselves support their heritage. Summer fairs are packed with handicraft stalls run by families who've been handed down techniques through the generations. My own Paternal Grandmother was taught the art of weaving rush seats for the Alentejano hand painted chairs, sadly that skill stayed with her and was not passed down any further. The Portuguese have always found ways of using their natural resources, cork being a good example. They were the biggest producers of corks supplying the world's leading wine countries, but with the arrival of the screw

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My Highlights of 2013

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