Jubilee? What Jubilee?

Tags

Busyellebee, DailyPost, Fashion, jasper conran, postaday

Yes ladies and gents, I’m all Jubileed out! Bearing in mind this is the first day of a 4 day Jubilee Weekend, I know I’m already in trouble.  I have nothing against the Jubilee, it is a great excuse for a party, but facing 4 days of non-stop celebration is rather daunting, even for me.

So to escape the TV repeats and the miles and miles of Union Jacks, I do what I like best – explore the wonders of the world wide web.  So far I’ve come across this fabulous video showcasing Jasper Conran’s Spring Summer 2012 collection.  Jasper Conran is another of my favourite designers, and I shall be posting some more info about him at a later time.  I really like th simple colour palette and the fabrications used for the pieces in this collection.

Please note the matching head ties – an idea I had come up with myself independently earlier this year, but it is always nice to know I am in good company

Enjoy!

Elle’s Elderflower Pilaf

Tags

Basmati, Black pepper, Busyellebee, Butter, Cook, DailyPost, dinner, Food, Olive oil, Onion, Pilaf, postaday, Stock, vegetarian, white wine vinegar, Wine

Basmati Rice (Photo credit: cookbookman17)

Hello,

What? Elderflower Pilaf? Yes I know, it sounds weird, but it surprisingly works. Well I like it anyway Here is the basic pilaf recipe, and here is my new take;

Ingredients:   

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 35g unsalted butter
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 600g basmati rice
• 300ml elderflower wine
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 1l hot vegetable stock, either fresh or made from a stock cube
• 2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method:

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat until the butter melts.
2. Add the onion and sauté for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
4. Add the rice, making sure to the coat all the grains.
5. Add the wine, then bring to a rapid boil.
6. When almost all the wine has evaporated add the bay leaves, peppercorns and hot stock. Allow the mixture to simmer.
7. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the temperature to very low and simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and pour over the vinegar. Replace the lid and set aside for 10 more minutes.
9. With a fork, fluff up the rice to separate all the grains, check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if required.

This is a fairly large quality, so you may wish to cool the extra rice quickly and freeze as soon as possible.  The vinegar helps to cut the sweetness of the elderflower wine. Let me know if you try the recipe and what you think of it. 

Homemade cheese spread – 101 Cookbooks recipe adaptation

Tags

adaptations, Busyellebee, Cheese, Cheese spread, cookbooks, Cooking, crackers, DailyPost, Food, Home, parmesan cheese, postaday, Recipe

Hello,

Having made the super delicious crackers, I tried my hand at the cheese spread recipe as created by Heidi over on 101 Cookbooks.

I made some adaptations to the recipe because I didn’t want to use up my parmesan cheese all in one go.  So I swapped half the amount with cheddar.

That’s 2 of Heidi recipes in a row that I have become addicted to. But unlike the crackers, I won’t be making this for my family and friends until Christmas.  I’ve learnt my lesson!

Please try out the recipes and let me know what you think.

Related articles

• Parmesan Cheese Spread (101cookbooks.com)
• Crackers recipe (busyellebee.wordpress.com)

Gone crackers! 101 Cookbooks recipe adaptation

Tags

bread flour, Busyellebee, Cheese, Cook, Cookbook, Cooking, DailyPost, Flour, Food, Home, nigella seeds, Olive oil, postaday, rapeseed oil, Recipe, Seeded Crackers, Sesame, vegetarian, Whole grain

Hello,

Like many fellow foodies, I follow the wonderful blog that is 101 cookbooks, and for the first time I stopped looking jealously at the photos and tried one of the recipes – olive oil crackers.

Unfortunately I didn’t have all the ingredients to hand, so I made a few adaptations as follows:

• 1 1/2 cups Allison wholemeal seed & grain bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups white spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup rapeseed oil

All I have to say is – these crackers are additively delicious! I made a whole batch of crackers and proceeded to seat 90% of them in one sitting.

Some of the crackers as you can see from the photo above, had sesame seeds or Nigella seeds sprinkled on prior to baking. Others were left plain.  This is a great recipe to experiment with. I have since given some, reluctantly, to family and how they are submitting orders for more.

Thanks 101 cookbooks for the inspiration, but not for the extra work or pounds I’m going to gain – oh dear!

Europe: A time lapse history

Tags

Busyellebee, daily post, History, History of Europe, postaday, Roman Empire, Time-lapse photography, YouTube

Hello,

I came across this moving time lapse YouTube video, showing the border changes in Europe since 1000.  It’s moving because with most, if not all of the border changes, millions of people died as a result.

Source: Harru no’ stæsj? YouTube

It is a very educational piece - I had no idea that Spain used to be a muslim country nor that the Holy Roman Empire covered most of Germany.  At school we were taught about Kings and Queens, not about the human suffering and the 100′s of conflicts across Europe, which shaped how we all live today.

But what really struck me that there has been so many conflicts and wars over the years, each resulting in millions of deaths, often for just a few yards of land. If nothing else, we should learn from this video, that we must strive for peace with our neighbours. We don’t own the land we live on, we are merely temporary custodians. If we are not aware of our shared global history, we are bound to repeat the mistakes of those who lived, suffered and died before us.

Hat Makeovers

Tags

Blair Waldorf, Busyellebee, Cloche hat, Crafts, DailyPost, Grosgrain, hat, postaday, Ribbon, River Island, Shopping

Hi all,

Gosh, talk about fast.  These gems arrived the day after I ordered them. Kudos for River Island, I’m very impressed.

Well, here they are, my new cloche and my new pretend Eric Javits.

As I predicted, I wasn’t happy with the rhinestones on the bow of the cloche hat.  To me they are a little tacky on an otherwise chic and classic hat.

You can even see the dried glue trails! I know at £7 you get what you pay for, and this is a lovely, and well constructed hat. But I feel a little adjustment is required …

There, I think it looks much better. All it took was a quick search through my stash of ribbons. I had previously cut the grosgrain ribbon, which happened to exactly match the one on the hat, from an old paper shopping bag! Waste not, want not! I then tied a new bow, and tack stitched it on top of bow on the hat, making sure to cover the rhinestones.

For the ‘pretend Javits’ hat, or for my I “wannabe Blair Waldorf” moments (of which I have far too many!), I raided my ribbon stash again, this time retrieving a satin ribbon saved from a gift. I simply tied a bow, positioned it so it was at the front of the hat, and attached using small tacking stitches. I could have glued on the ribbon, but I like to be able to change embellishments now and again.

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The hat is a little more flexible than I thought it would be, so I may have to experiment using fabric stiffeners. But for a £20 price tag, it is not bad.

All in all, I think a pretty good result. Hope you like them. Please have a go at upcycling or embellishing your accessories and post your photos and comments below.

Have fun

• Gardening, shopping, fashion and an unexpected day off! (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• eBay Find of the Week (fabsugar.com)

Elle’s Chunky Lentil and Mixed Vegetable Soup

Tags

Black pepper, Busyellebee, Cook, DailyPost, dinner, Food, Home, Lentil, postaday, rapeseed oil, Tablespoon, Tomato, vegetarian, veggie stock cube

Hello,

I fancied some soup yesterday, and raided the fridge and the store cupboard for the ingredients.  Here is the result.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 red onion, roughly diced
• 1 large leek, roughly diced
• 4 stems of celery, roughly diced
• 2 carrots, roughly diced
• 1 1/2 cups red lentils, washed and drained
• 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 veggie stock cube
• 1/2 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns, crushed
• 1 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
• freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• About 2 litres of cold water

Method:

1. In a large saucepan add the oil and heat on a medium temperature or flame for about 3 minutes.
2. Add to the saucepan the onion, leek, celery and carrot and cook for about 4 minutes, until beginning to soften.
3. Add the garlic  and lentils and stir the ingredients in the saucepan until well combined.
4. Pour in the tomatoes and add one tin of water which has been swirled around in the tomato tin to get any remaining tomato sauce.
5. Crumble in the stock cube in the saucepan.
6. Season with the 2 peppers, then add cold water to the vegetables. The water should be about 2 cm above the vegetables (no more than 1.5 litres).
7. Cover the saucepan with a lid and leave to cook for at least 40 mins.
8. Check for correct seasoning and adjust if required. Also make sure the lentils are cooked, but still with a bite.

Serve with a bread roll per serving.  This recipe should be enough to easily serve 6.

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• Elle’s Pepper Soup (busyellebee.wordpress.com)

Table decorating idea

Tags

Busyellebee, Cutlery, DailyPost, Home and Garden, Kitchen and Dining, postaday

Hello,

Earlier this month, I suggested the idea of reusing those free wooden cutlery you get from coffee shops as plant labels.

Well you can buy them from here and next time you are hosting a buffet, don’t worry about finding enough knifes and forks for everyone. Just gather a few decorative glasses or vessels to hold the disposable cutlery, and place them on the buffet table.  They can double up as a cute decorative feature. Everyone can help themselves, and you don’t have to worry about cleaning and polishing your best silver cutlery afterwards.

Of course you can then ask your guests to place all the used cutlery in a tub, so you can later give them a rise in some disinfectant solution and reuse them as plant labels As they say, waste not, want not.

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• Homemade Garden Plant Labels (busyellebee.wordpress.com)

The Hairy Bikers – Potato Bread recipe

Tags

Bread, Busyellebee, Cooking, DailyPost, Hairy Biker, postaday, Potato, Potato bread, Recipe, Sesame, Sweet potato

Hello,

Having caught the Hairy Biker’s brilliant last series Hairy Bikers‘ Bakeation, I was really excited to try out some of the lovely recipes from the show.

So I thought I should have a go at making Potato bread, aka Kartoffelbrot.

Here is the link to the recipe.

Here is my attempt …

This bread is delicious and moist. I would tend to use it as a replacement for starchy foods (such as rice or pasta) when eaten with a meal, or as a picnic food, served with a good quality strong hard cheese like cheddar. Although it may be tempting to forgo the onion seeds, I think they add to the flavour of the bread, and they would be missed if omitted.  As an alternative, perhaps use sesame seeds.

It is also essential to measure the potatoes exactly as instructed, otherwise the consistency of the dough will not be correct, leading to a poor result.

I may try this recipe again using with sweet potatoes instead.  It is definitely a bread I will be experimenting with – parsnip and nutmeg or carrot and caraway bread anyone?  A winning recipe this one

Weekly Photo Challenge: Blue

Tags

Busyellebee, photo, picture, postaday2011

“Blue boats on a blue sea, below a blue sky”

© Busyellebee