Fiction, Food, Faith and everything in-between

Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the time of waiting and preparing for the coming of Christ. For many people Advent is a time for rushing about in preparation for Christmas. I always try and slow down in Advent just as I do in Lent. Advent is the beginning of the new church year and a great time to begin anew. I tried some new recipes. Gordon Ramsay's Chilli Poached Pears. These are absolutely delicious with vanilla ice cream. I will definitely make them again. I also made Christmas Buns from one of my Paul Hollywood books.  I wasn't sure about which way to roll the pastry. And changed direction half way through. But they turned out ok. They were not as soft as I would have liked them but a few seconds zapping in the microwave before eating them makes them warm, soft and delicious. The icing is lemon flavour andbit is just so tasty. My baking is not GBBO standards yet but it is just so satisfying to bake and create and think a...

Over the past 18 months I have been working from home like so many other people. I haven't yet returned to the office because my organisation is between offices. We will have a new office in the spring.  I like to work with the Food Network channel murmuring away in the background. One day I spotted Paul Hollywood making vínarterta on one of his City Bakes programmes. I hunted down his recipe and included it on my to - make list.  One year later, I decided to give it a go. Yes my to - make list is very long, just as long as my to - read list (another story). Vinarterta is an Icelandic layer cake but according to Paul Hollywood's recipie it is a biscuit. Either is good. I made the cake/biscuit layers and left them to cool. Then I made chocolate buttercream for the first time ever. This stuff is yummy. Mostly icing sugar, butter and melted chocolate. All those things that I am not really supposed to eat! Anyway a lick here and there won't...

Today (2 Nov 21)  is Caramel week on the Great British Bake Off! Yay! So I decided to join in and try my hand at making caramel.  I made some Peanut Brittle from my Ghanaian cook book. (Zoe's Ghana Kitchen). I have never made caramel before. It looks ok but I had to make two batches of caramel to cover all the nuts. I amnquite sure this is just an excuse for eating sugar but I am looking forward to tasting it because I like nuts in everything. I am waiting for it to cool and I will munch along while watching Bake Off, hopefully with a nice cup of tea. Just right for watching the telly on a dark and chilly November evening.  🍵 ☕ 🍵