you aren't going to like this, they have eyes...

mmm... seafood. so nice to have in the cold weather when you are tired of all the heavy stodgy meals that have been seeing you through the winter. last night we went to loch fyne with some friends. it was delicious and very fun.

the colours were pretty impressive. i couldn't tell you everything we had... but there were definitely mussels, crab, lobster, crayfish, prawns and oysters. pretty decadent... but a perfect way to celebrate rachel passing her medical exams.

playing with your food is allowed.

i am not normally a huge fan of my food having eyes. but this time it was okay. i just wripped their little heads off quickly and tried not to look... sounds kind of gruesome, huh?

fred was left with a big dessert board and gave us an insightful run down of what was on offer. we decided to pass and instead came back to our place and had cupcakes (see below) and chocolate pots. mmm... delicious. a wonderful evening indeed.

(side note: our lives may look like they entirely revolve around food, but i promise that isn't the case)

xx

banana & peanut butter cupcakes

cupcakes are so good. i have become a little obsessed lately because there is a delicious little cupcake bakery right by LSE... so it has become a tradition to get cupcakes every friday between classes. what better way is there to start off the weekend? well, i discovered a recipe for cupcakes on sunday in a magazine and figured what better way to start off the week than with cupcakes? so... it is monday, and i have made cupcakes. ah... they are heaven. the recipe said they were based off a recipe from butter lane cupcakes in new york city.

Ingredients:

For batter:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flower

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk (i didn't have buttermilk so got a substitute recipe here)

1 1/4 cups ripe banana, mashed (i only had just under 1 cup and it is fine - so don't worry too much about exact measurements on this one)

For icing:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick softened unsalted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy

3. Add eggs and vanilla, and mix until batter is smooth

4. Combine all dry ingredients and mix into batter in 3 parts, alternating with buttermilk. Reduce speed to low and mix for 2 more minutes.

5. Line cupcake pan with wrappers. Using a spatula gently fold mashed bananas into batter. Scoop into cups until 2/3 full.

6. Bake for 25minutes and let cool.

7. For frosting, combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 stick softened unsalted butter and 1tsp vanilla extract. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and 3tbsp milk. Makes 18.

my cupcakes cooling on top of our ghetto (or you could say retro...?) 1980s stove.

the finished product. i haven't actually had a completed one yet... fred was just finishing up dinner as i was frosting them and i thought it would be wrong to spoil my apetite. but i am definitely going to gobble one up as soon as we eat (once i finish typing this). i did try one without frosting though... and they were delicious. i have only ever known frosting to make things to make things better... so i am sure they are going to be divine!

xx

Spinach Spaghetti

I realise that most of the recipes lately have been tomato based, but don't worry there are new and exciting recipes around the corner which don't use any tomatoes. And lets be honest tomatoes are great, I think they might even be a "superfood" (I am sitting at home chuckling preteniously at the thought of a super food... there is no such thing). So, yes back to the task at hand.

Ingredients:

1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

a couple of cloves of garlic

fresh spinach leaves (young ones, not old and stringy)

hand full of freshly chopped basil

olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 tablespoon oregano

chili flakes (optional)

spaghetti

Directions:

Slice garlic thinly. Fry in saucepan with olive oil on medium heat until they start to turn golden. Add spinach leaves. Mix around and fry for a few mins. Add the tin of tomatoes, and some fresh tomatoes if you like. Add the basil, salt and pepper, oregano, chili flakes. Bring to boil and then leave to simmer. Cook the spaghetti as per usual. Serve with some cheese sprinkled on top. Its a pretty basic meal, but really quick to cook if you are in a rush. Also good if you have veggie friends. You can jazz it up by adding some chorizo at the garlic frying stage, or make it more filling by adding chickpeas at the very end.

taste: 7/10

price: 2/10

difficulty: 2/10

xy

oh breakfast, how i love you.

oh mama. breakfast: the meal of champions. it is so good.

you need to understand something, i got all of this food for 4.80 GBP. yah, that is insane. it was horribly delicious. chips (french fries) for breakfast... i know, right?! seriously, only in england. our friends, andy and lou, have been telling us about the 'half moon cafe' for ages. they live in hammersmith and they very kindly let us stay over at their house when we are in london... and they always say, 'in the morning, go to the half moon cafe.' but we tend to always be running late so have never gotten a chance to go. until this morning. ah, beautiful crisp saturday morning... with nowhere to go and nothing to do except sit and eat a lot of good food and drink good coffee.

the food is very tasty and the price is very reasonable. if you ever happen to find yourself walking along and see this sign... be sure to take the time to stop and grab yourself some fried up delicious food.

it doesn't look like much from the outside... but sometimes those are the best kinds of places.

xx

Spaghetti Bolognese a la Inglesi

I've seen in the news lately that there has been a movement in Italy to stop making bad bolognese and educated people about what it should really taste like. In 1985 some Italian chef wrote down what he thought should go into a spag bol and it includes stuff like milk, carrots, and white wine. I use none of these ingredients as my recipe is firmly routed in swedish cuisine. This is a dish we used to eat quite often at home and I never got tired of it. It is also the thing we eat on the first night of going on holiday (if it was self catered, which it often was). I've made a few additions and hopefully improvements on the recipe that was handed down to my by mama mia herself (not in the religious context).


Ingredients (serves a small army... but no worries just freeze it and I use it as a base for many other recipes)

500g minced beef
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
1 beef stock cube
2 500g tins of chopped tomato
3-4 fresh tomatoes
1/2 glass red wine
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese
spaghetti (100g per person?)


Directions:

Finely chop onion and and peel and put garlic in a garlic press (or chop finely). Add to a saucepan and with a splash of olive oil. Fry on medium heat till onions start turning golden. Add beef mince and sprinkle over crushed beef stock cube. Fry till beef has browned nicely. Add the two tins of tomatos and mix in with the rest of the stuff on the pan. Chop the fresh tomoatoes roughly and add to the pan with the red wine. Bring to boil and then simmer (this can last for ages... my friend Harry suggests a few hours as a minimum... but I reckon 30 mins is fine... I guess the longer the better). Add the two bay leaves and I normally add the oregano now but my mother always told me to add it at the very end bc it can make the sauce bitter (in my experience this has never happened). Salt and pepper to taste and then just leave to sputter till you are ready to eat.

As for the spaghetti. Just cook it like is says on the package. A few tips though are to add plenty of salt to the boiling water and use LOADS of water as it prevents it from all sticking together.

Serve with parmesan sprinkled on top, some nice rustic bread, a green salad, glass of wine, and a good movie (like the Godfather trilogy).

Price: 3/10 (good cheap food)
Difficulty: 2/10 (one of the first meals I learnt to cook)
Taste: 9/10 (simple flavours for simple people)

xy

too. much. food.

a wise woman once told me, 'every time i eat artichoke dip i instantly gain 2 pounds.' i seriously don't doubt the truth of that comment. this stuff is seriously potent... you might as well dump cheese, mayonnaise, and a little more cheese into a blender and drink it... ok that's not entirely true. but it is pretty intense. i am sure i have probably put you all off of it now... lets just say its a seriously delicious melted cheesy goodness. the recipe is one that is meant to be based on one used by the olive garden. i have never had it there so i can't vouch for how close of a match it is... but i know it was super simple to make and very good.

here is the recipe:

ingredients: 8oz cream cheese, 14 ox artichoke hearts drained/chopped, 1/2 cup frozen spinach thawed (i just used two big handfuls of fresh), 1/4 cup mayo, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1 clove garlic finely minced, 1/2 basil, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese grated, 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (i didn't have this so didn't bother), and salt/pepper to taste

directions: cream together mayo, cream cheese, parmesan, garlic, basil and garlic salt. mix well. add the artichoke hearts and spinach and mix until blended. grease pan, pour in dip and top with cheese. bake at 350F/180C for 25min or until the top is browned... i like to leave it a little extra so that it is very hot!

we had it with tuc crackers (freddy's favourite crackers of all time) along with cheese and black olive m&s crackers. also had a selection of m&s deli meets... which were so good with the dip.

as if that weren't enough food... i decided to try out a new recipe i found: marshmallow milkshakes.

ingredients: 3 scoops vanilla ice cream, 1 large dollop yoghurt, 1 tablespoon whole milk, 5 jumbo marshmallows, whipped cream

directions: toast marshmallows under a broiler (more on this later) - put the milk, yoghurt, and then ice cream in the blender, blend carefully and just until you get a 'donut' - add three of the toasted marshmallows to the blender, and whirl it until they are just broken up and distributed evenly, be careful not to over blend it - pour shake into a glass, top with a dollop of whipped cream, break the last two marshmallows on top - repeat if necessary. it probably will be.

now... just so you know, these two photos were not taken by me nor were they taken in my house. i got them here. ok... so that is what the marshmallows are supposed to look like: white, fluffy yet firm, browned on top. this, on the other hand, is what my marshmallows looked like

yeeeah. a big fat mess pretty much. i gave it another try though and they turned out better the second time around... still no where close to as gorgeous as they should have been, but hey - i think they tasted the same. that gooey mess is going to haunt you in your sleep...

xx

cupcakes...

I went to the Primrose Bakery for the first time on Friday.

It is so good. It is right by LSE and is the perfect place to spend a Friday afternoon between classes. Not only are the cupcakes seriously divine but the bakery is so lovely. Its so chic, sweet, and just the most beautiful little place to sit. It sort of feels like a fancy little diner.... just without the sweaty biker men and instead just beautiful cupcakes (seriously, it feels like a dream).

Meera with her lemon and coconut cupcake.

They have cheeky little decorations around like these little cupids.

Mmmmm... my chocolate marshmallow cupcake and latte.

Flowers.

The cupcakes are seriously almost too pretty to eat.

Little yellow bakery on the corner in Covent Garden... definitely worthy of visit.

xx

Minestrone Soup

So, I know we are blogging like fiends at the moment. But this can be ascribed to two factors. 1) Jenny is "working" from home, instead of going to the library. 2) Im trying archive as many recipes as possible to get my full repertoire of dishes that I cook on the blog. This makes it easier to decide what we should make for dinner as we can just check the blog.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

6 tomatoes (or 1 400g can of tomatoes without the juice)

1 large carrot

1 leek

3 sticks of celery

1 red onion

1/2 a cabbage (i just buy a bag of ready chopped cabbage)

1 clove of garlic finely sliced

1 tbsp rosemary

500 ml vegetable or chicken stock

1 and 1/2 handfuls of torn fresh basil

90g spaghetti

salt and pepper

olive oil

parmesan

Directions:

Score tomatoes and place briefly in boiling water. Skin, deseed, and dice roughly. Peel and quarter carrots lengthwise and then chop. Quarter leeks lengthwise and then chop. Cut celery in half lengthwise and then chop. Peel and chop onion. Try to chop all veg about the same size. Roughly chop cabbage.

Put olive oil into a pan on medium heat. Add the carrots, leeks, celery, onion, garlic and rosemary. Let them sweat for about 15 mins till they become tender. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a couple of mins. Add the stock, bring to boil and simmer for 15 mins. Add the cabbage and cover pan for 10 mins, then add the basil and pasta. Simmer until pasta is cooked (10 mins or so). Taste and season.

Enjoy!

Taste: 7/10

Price: 2/10 (veg is cheap)

Difficulty: 3/10

xy

the new ashmolean...

The Ashmolean underwent a massive $100-million renovation. I think it re-opened back in September... and we have been meaning to go, but just never got around to it. Which is pretty silly seeing as we cycle past every time we go into town and it is 10 min from our house. Anyway... we finally went this past Saturday and were seriously impressed. It is way bigger than it was before. They have kept the older parts the same, which is nice (it is always sad when places just totally destroy how something was), and there is plenty of room for all the new fancy and shiny things.

Massive staircase that meanders up the wall. It is all much brighter, lighter, more open and spacious than it was before.

Love how they put the sculpture on the right back together.

Busts.

Pocahontas's daddy's cape. Seriously.

Special commissioned artwork about the building of the new Ashmolean...

Going down all the stairs...

Kisses goodbye before cycling home.

xx

Video of the snow that we forgot to post

the fondue recipes

In case you want to try this at home.

Cheese Fondue

Ingredients (serves 6)

500g Emmental

300g Appenzeller

200g Gruyere

400ml dry white wine

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp corn flour

pepper

Large loaf of rustic bread (sourdough or something similarly dense)

Directions:

Grate all the cheese. Peel clove of garlic and slice in half. Rub the garlic all over (the inside of) your fondue pot. Heat 300ml of wine in your fondue pot. Add cheese. Mix together till all the same consistency. Add the corn flour to the remaining wine and dissolve. Add this mixture to the cheese. Stir until all is the same consistency. Add pepper to taste. Meanwhile cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Once the cheesy goodness is simmering lightly enjoy by dipping bread into it. A fresh green salad goes really nicely with the meal.

Taste: 9/10

Price: 5/10

Difficulty: 5/10 (can be a bit finicky getting everything melted)

Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients (serves at least 4 but probably way more depending on how hungry you are)

500g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

500ml milk or cream or mixture of both

Fruit/marshmallows/cookies... whatever you think sounds good dipped in chocolate. We used strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, cherries, and bananas

Directions:

Heat milk (either in fondue pot or on in a saucepan). Either grate or finely chop the chocolate. Add the two together and stir till the chocolate is completely melted and mixed in with the milk. Allow to simmer slightly. Once mixture is warm and thick dip pieces of fruit in it and savour.

Taste: 9/10

Price: 4/10

Difficulty: 4/10

xy

fondu and pipes...

Mmm... cheese. What's better than cheese? Melted cheese... followed by melted chocolate. Oh yes... that's right. Fred managed to receive two, yes two, fondu pots this Christmas. Two fondu pots actually works out very well... one for cheese and one for chocolate (it could be worse... we could be like my sister who has five). We decided to have some people round and try it out... it went down a serious treat.

Waiting anxiously.

The chef hard at work.

Cheese and wine.

Mix together....

Cheesy goodness.

Stage two: chocolate fondu. Yummm.... yummy yum.

Dippin away.

What better way is there to follow a decadent dinner than by sitting by the fire in tweed jackets and cords smoking pipes...?

xx

a quote...

'you know why i like my beard? when i have it i feel like a norse god.'

- Fred

i say, if that's all that it takes to make you feel like a norse god... keep it.

xx