New cooking blog!

YO!
since just over two weeks, i have taken the jump and gone vegan!
so to organise myself.
my cooking is now in my new blog:

www.getvegan.blogspot.com

You don't have to be vegan to read!!!
And it's all very light hearted! (so don't worry!)

I will be talking about baking (and more baking), vintage/second hand, ethics, cool finds and a little bit of personal view!

What will happen to this blog?
Well we'll see, but until then, check out get vegan!

White Weddings and shoe coveting...

So my mom got married on saturday! Which was made more exciting by the ridiculous snow we've had!


The lucky man was Tim (the guy to the side of the wheelchair).


So for the wedding I made about 130 cupcakes (the night before....)
They ended up being decorated with fresh strawberries but i was unable to take a photo before they were taken away...

and my dress! (the day before....)

Because there is nothing like a good old panic right??!
I bought new shoes for the event! (any excuse)

These wonderful wedge rubber Melissa brogues! eeeeeeeee!

Despite the fact I was wearing them for 12hrs, they were moderatly comfortable!

But now I want, no, NEED these:

Damn melissa shoes....*saves pennies*

all in all it was a wonderful wedding and I didn't die of hypothemia or anything, exciting!

Hopefully My mom and Tim are going to have a good long marrage and maybe buy me melissa shoes for xmas?? Please? :)

Look yourself in the eyes.

But these raindrops burn

As they fall on my cheeks.
Because it isn't the sky
That's crying,
And there are no puddles on the floor,
Only mirrors in which i see my faults.

#3 Cooking post: Plain Sponge cake with strawberries and Butter icing.

Sponge cake with strawberries, strawberry jam and butter icing.

To make a decent cake I follow one rule:

Add equal parts butter, sugar and flour. Then add eggs until it has a smooth consistancy but doesn't pour like soup.

For this particular cake I used:

Cake:

1. 8oz of self-raising flour.
2. 6oz of sugar ~(this cake has alot of icing and jam in the middle so i used less sugar than if it was un-iced)
3. 6oz of butter (I used less butter because it's spreadable butter which is softer and you don't need as much as if you used a block of butter...)
4. Three large free-range eggs.
   

• Mix everything in a bowl until smooth then pour into two greased tins.
• Bake for 15-20 mins (until it is brown and bouncy to touch!) at 180degrees.
• Take both from their tins (used a knife to ply them out if they stuck to the tin at all) and leave one to cool.

Filling:

• Take the other one and apply a thin layer of jam to the top.
• Then I added a layer of sliced strawberries before placing the top layer of cake above it.

Topping:

• Mix a small box (yes, the whole box...) of icing sugar with three heaped tablespoons of butter (i used spreadable butter)
• When all is mixed to form a thick batter, add water (about four tablespoons) until it is thin enough to spread with a knife.
• (you might want to put some aside before adding the water because it was too thin to pipe...)
• Take your cake and add big drops of icing over the top then spread with the back of a spoon.
• If the cake crumbles under the icing, add more icing.
• do the same with the sides by applying it with the back of the spoon.
• Slice strawberries and put them around the edges
• use a piping gun or bag to add a circle of decorative icing or drops of icing.
• Add more strawberries!

The whole thing took about an hour but it's worth it!

#2 Cooking post: Stuffed mushrooms with rocket salad.

Stuffed mushrooms with rocket and spinach salad with a lemon and balsalmic vinegar dressing and garlic new potatoes.
Cooking time: 20mins.
Preparing time: about 15mins?

Mushrooms:

• Prepare mushrooms (some people peel them, pick out the stalk etc.)
• Place raw,underside-up,on a tin-foil covered tray.
• mix in a bowl:

1. Adiquet cheese (for six mushrooms, about two big handfuls when grated)
2. (I used mature cheddar.)
3. Two teaspoons of parmasan cheese.
4. Three tablespoons of wholegrain mustard.

• Put half a teaspoon of butter in the middle of each mushroom underside.
• add a few spoons of the mixture to each mushroom and spread over the underside.
• Cover all mushrooms with a loose layer of tinfoil and bake at 180 degrees for 15mins.

After 15mins:

• Remove from oven and remove top tinfoil.
• Place under a grill for 5mins until cheese is brown.
• Optional! Wrap warm mushrooms in parma-ham sheets!

Salad:

1. A pre-mixed bag of rocket, water-cress and spinage.
2. An advacado
3. Cucumber, cubed.
4. Four chopped spring onions.
5. Chopped tomatoes.

• Add a squeese of lemon (about five tablespoons)
• Add a drizzle of balsalmic vinegar.
• Mix!

Potatoes:

• Wash, chop and boil!
• (until soft, I cook them in their skins also)
• Leave to cool a little then mix with three tablespoons of butter and three cloves of garlic, crushed.

Really easy and yummy! Could have done with perhaps double the serving haha...

#1 Cooking Post - Sushi and Inari dinner.

Today I did a slight Halloween/Autumn spin on a Japanese meal!

Wasabi (bought in a tube)

Inari pouches (pre-soaked) with seasoning flakes and rice wine vinegar (came all in a packet..)

Aubergine fried in oil and soy sauce with toasted sesame seeds

cucumber, spring onion and sweetcorn sushi

(Nori bought flat, sushi rice cooked in wine vinegar again)

Pumpkin: Cooked in bread-crumbs, sugar, sesame seeds and wine vinegar.

Poor pumpkin!

Also served satay chicken cooked by robyn (I can't cook meat at all)

All in all a sucessful meal, we did finish all of it so can't have been that bad!

Whole thing cost £20 and fed seven people.

If i could change anything i would have baked the pumpkin or boiled then fried it in cubes.

Nine trains but i'd do it again to see you guys.

Spent two days in Birmingham with the wonderful Amelie.

Had a really relaxing time up there.

We had lunch at a crepe/pancake cafe (cute no?)

And look at the leaves! Autumn really does rock.

I also went to Bristol and met up with Pippa and then to Taunton to see my (boyfriend) Paul and my mommy who's planning her winter wedding.

I think i forget how nice it is to catch up with friends even if it means getting a total of 9 trains in four days and being shattered by the end of it.

Oh and of course it was good to come home to the cult house and see everyone again even after four days of being away.

And having sebastian (The cat) sleep on my bed.