"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas."

Happy New Year to all!

"It is very important that you only do what you love to do.
You may be poor, you may go hungry, you may lose your car, you may have to move into a shabby place to live, but you will totally live.
And at the end of your days you will bless your life because you have done what you came here to do."
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Our Christmas dinner.

Recipe of:
- Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder
- Ina's Rosemary Roasted Potatoes.
- Winter pudding bombe
HERE!

Christmas Time.

it's time to cut the grass

Our allotment, harvest 2012.

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Dragonfly.

Сity ​​news.

This is one of the walkways of the city under reconstruction on EU money (the marble slabs for paving were imported all the way from Italy!).

Reconstruction has dragged on for the third summer for us, outside the windows of the apartment that is our home.
It would seem so simple:
- money no object,
- with high unemployment in the country - unlimited choice of labour!
What more could you want! But NO!
Yesterday local news explained that the company that started the contract did not meet expectations, and just the other day was replaced by another contractor according to a tender. When will the work be completed? - Asked the reporter. The answer: "After 6 months".
And today in our city it began to rain. My husband went to the balcony and looked at the vacant site and said: "After 6 months...plus one day!"
The British sense of humour bordering on sarcasm. ... sarcasm, timing, and wit - a dry sense of humour!

Tarte Aux Pommes.

Made by me, Brian, in Visaginas, Lithuania.

Tarte Aux Pommes - French Apple Tart with Pastry Cream Recipe:

- Pâté Sucrée Recipe - French Sweet Pastry Crust Recipe;

- Creme Patissiere (Pastry Cream) Recipe.

Lithuanian reflection.

Carrot Cake.

By me!

Holiday! Lithuania.

Todays Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup.

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
60ml/2fl oz olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5 litres/2 pints 13fl oz vegetable stock.
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

Easy Cranberry & Apple Cake

(Serves 6 - 8)

How to clean decking?

technique -1
Buy one of those large boxes of baking soda, and a large bottle of vinegar (how much depends on how big your deck is).
Wet your deck down with the hose
and then sprinkle the baking soda all over.
You can just sprinkle the vinegar around out the bottle or you can get a spray bottle and spray it around,
it should "foam" up when it hits the baking soda.
Let that sit for a few min.
Then take a broom ( I recommend a push broom) and scrub it into the wood.
Rinse off with the hose and let dry!

The Baking Soda serves as a soft abrasive and cleaner, and the vinegar serves as the "acid" to "eat up" the dirt.
---------
technique -2

Kouign Amann Recipe | David Lebovitz

Kouign Amann Recipe | David Lebovitz:

'via Blog this'

Homemade Pretzel Bites.

Recipe for Mall Food Court Buttery Homemade Pretzel Bites | Dine and Dish:
"Homemade Pretzel Bites for the Bread Machine (from All Recipes.com)

DIY Vanilla Extract.

"Let me introduce you to one of my very best friends in the pantry, homemade vanilla extract. I made my first batch of it back in October of last year – to give as Christmas gifts, and I haven’t looked back! I can’t tell you how much money I’ve saved over the past few months, a small fortune I’m sure.

As with most DIY projects, I really take pride every time I take it out of the cabinet to bake with. It’s so easy too – you just need some cheap vodka, vanilla beans, and time. You need to let the beans “steep” for about 2 months before you start using the extract, but the longer it sits – the better it gets! I keep 2 jars in rotation to ensure that I never run out.

DIY Vanilla Extract
4 vanilla beans
1 cup vodka
pint sized Mason jar

Using a pairing knife, slice each vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Place them in the jar and cover them with the vodka.

Store the jar in a cool, dark place for at least 2 months. Give it a shake every week or so to encourage extraction.

You can get about 3 refills of vodka using the same beans."

Tide and Thyme » DIY: "DIY Vanilla Extract"



'via Blog this'

Recipe for Ann. Strawberry tart. My variant.

Ingredients

Pate Sucree ( French Pastry )

125g of butter
60g of icing sugar
2 egg yolks or 1 egg
250g of plain flour, plus more for dusting
3 sprigs of lemon thyme, leaves picked


200ml of milk
40g of sugar
2 egg yolks
14g of cornflour
1 vanilla pod, cut and deseeded or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Marinated strawberries

18 strawberries, roughly quartered
30ml of rosé wine
1 tsp of caster sugar
1 tbsp of clear honey

22cm Tart tin

1.To begin the strawberry tart, Sift the flour onto a worktop, with your hand make a large ring, Sift icing sugar into the ring and make a well. Place the butter and egg yolks in the well and using a pecking motion combine the butterand egg yolks. Gather in the flour and icing sugar to combine the dough. Knead very lightly until a smooth ball. Chill if necessary.
2. Sprinkle the lemon thyme onto the dough and roll out to 1/2cm thickness, Place in greased tart tin and bake at160C/Gas3 for 13 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool.
3.Put the milk and vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, mix the sugar and egg yolks in a seperate bowl until creamy and smooth.Whisk in the cornflour.
4. Once the milk has boiled, pour half into the bowl whisking thoroughly, Retun this mixture to the milk in the pan and continue to whisk over a low heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 3 minutes continue whisking. Allow to cool. When chilled place in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Transfer to the fridge until ready to serve
5. For the marinated strawberries, place the cut strawberries into a bowl. Add the caster sugar, rosé wine and honey. Mix until glazed
6.Before serving, spread a generous 1cm layer of crème patissière across your cooked tart and place your marinated strawberries to cover. Once covered, drizzle the excess marinade across the tart to glaze

Recipe for Ann. Super Moist Carrot Cake.

... with Cream Cheese Frosting. (if You like)

Serves: 8

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Oven Temperature: 180° C - 360° F

Ingredients

180 g self raising flour
180 g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
3 eggs
220 g grated raw carrot
¼ tsp salt
300 ml sunflower oil
for the frosting:
180 g cream cheese
180 g melted butter
220 g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat the oven 180°C

2. Sieve together 175g self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

3. Put 300ml oil in a large bowl and beat with 350g the sugar. Beat in 3 eggs one at a time, then fold in the dry ingredients and stir in 225g grated carrot.

4. Place the mixture in the tin, level off the top, and bake for 45 mins. Then turn the oven down to 170C/325F/gas 3 for a further 20 mins. When it's done, take the cake out of the oven and cool in the tin for 5 mins. Then remove from the tin to cool on a wire rack.

5. While the cake is cooling, beat together the 175g cream cheese and 175g butter and add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence. Gradually add 225g sieved icing sugar until the mixture is stiff but spreadable.

6. When the cake is cool, split it in half horizontally and use the icing to sandwich it back together and cover the top.
PS
Cake becomes more mature next day and day after...

Recipe for Ann: Orange rice cake.

Nutritious and filling, this rice cake is perfect as a teatime snack for children, or even for breakfast!

Ingredients
1.7 litre/3 pints milk
1 vanilla pod
½ lemon, zest only, in large pieces
200g/7oz sugar
300g/10½oz arborio rice
5 large free-range eggs, separated
50ml/2fl oz orange liqueur
40g/1½oz raisins
1 orange, zest only, grated, plus extra for serving
Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a 24cm/10in loose-bottomed cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Place the milk, vanilla pod, lemon zest and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the rice and simmer on a medium to low heat for about 20–25 minutes, until the rice is al dente and has absorbed the milk but still has a creamy consistency.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Remove vanilla pod and lemon zest.
3. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and liqueur until creamy. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form when the whisk is
removed.
4. Add the egg yolk mixture to the cooled rice, then fold in the stiffened egg whites, followed by the raisins and orange zest. Pour in the
prepared tin and bake in the oven for one hour. Serve warm or cold, sprinkled with a little extra orange zest to finish.

preparation time -less than 30 mins

cooking time - 30 mins to 1 hour
Serves 8-10

By Antonio Carluccio and
Gennaro Contaldo
From Two Greedy Italians

Our traditional route of the first day of New Year.

December Scones (name of recipe!)

From Jamie "Making you a better cook." magazine.