i made

"brownies"


today. i changed the original recipe a bit and it turned out really well. since the summer is nearly here, it is best with vanilla ice-cream.

i made

"fresh ricotta"


today. it is easier than it sounds.

 it was delicious on a country bread, topped with honey and rosemary. 

i want

"a perfect herb garden"


not a big one of course. just a few pots and some herbs. something that you can create at home, adore it and enthusiastically use in cooking. i have some basil growing, but it is really hard to be patient.

i'm going to

"cooking classes"


on saturdays. it is mostly chinese, but there will be thai and japanese as well. also a separate class for only sushi. it is so much fun and also really delicious. yes, we eat all we cook!

 first week was just knife skills.

 the delicious wonton soup!

sweet sour chicken

 next week is just dumplings, wontons and rolls. yum! 

i love

"bread"


and this book "tartine bread" is on my cookbook wishlist. i'm not a really talented bread baker. still, i do bake every now and then. i had a sourdough starter once, that died unfortunately. yet, i quess it is a sign of passion and hopefully a further trial to come.
see the video below that is refreshingly inspiring.

i love

"cooking and baking"


but i don't really like eating alone. last week i was all alone at home, working.  when i'm alone i don't really cook a lot and i do eat less. still, i try. i even tried to make the breakfast fun. yet, how fun can a french toast be.

i baked

"biscuits"


not the best idea at this hour of the night i guess.

took one when just out of the oven.

i baked

"chocolate chip cookies"


and took a photo this time. i'll leave for a small vacation and meet with my family tomorrow and i wanted to make some cookies for them.

i baked

"walnut and carrot cake"


when i should be studying for my finance exam. well i am studying... i just bake some stuff when i take some breaks. yesterday i cooked chocolate chip cookies. before that it was bitter chocolate cake. 
at least i'm just eating a slice or two.

i missed

"cooking"

now that i got the internship that i wanted, i can whine about something else. 

i wake up early and come home not so late but tired. and there is no one home, meaning that no one to cook for.

last summer i went to an eco-village for a week. yes: no electricity, no signal, no nothing. but there was a cute open kitchen with not so many ingredients available. i now remember and realize that even though it's just pasta, i really liked cooking in there. 

i made

"a little herb garden"


with the seeds that i bought last month. it took a little while for them to shoot, but now they look so cute! the chives and the thyme did not come out though. but i re-seeded the thyme. also i bought some arugula seeds yesterday and replaced it with the chives.

 awesome parsley!

cool basil.

poor sage...

i went

"over to my friends"

i like inviting over my friends and i love seeing them enjoy the food that i cook. but, i also enjoy being invited over to a dinner. 

last week i went to a friends' house for dinner. 

they told me to buy some bread and wine on the way, and i said ok. later on, i realized that there was plenty of time to "make" some bread instead. 

i had some rye flour and some regular flour. 

my rye flour on hand was enough to make 4 small ones. and i made 4 more from the white, just in case.

making bread is pretty easy actually, contrary to how it is perceived by many people. 

it is an "ancient" recipe, literally. flour, water, yeast and salt. that is all. it only takes some time. waiting for the dough to rise may be a problem if you have nothing to do meanwhile. 

when the breads and i were ready to go; i jumped into my car and got some red & white wine on the way. when i arrived at their house, the table was looking great and the smell of the food was appetizing. even if i wasn't starving, i wouldn't eat less! 

i don't always like to drink while having the dinner, so when we left the table to continue our chat on the sofas at the opposite side of the kitchen (yes they have a quite large one) i had a glass of white wine (then, continued on of course) and joined the others. 

the night altogether was really nice.

food, wine, friends. what could you want more?.. 

except the next day's hangover to go away.

i made

"mulled wine"


if it is cold and preferably snowy outside (like it is here now) and you have a wine that's not so good in quality (like i do): make some mulled wine. 
the wine that i've used however, may be below the "not so good in quality" line. anyway. 

just put some sugar, apple (the peel and some cubes) , lemon slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and a cup of water in a pot. bring it to a boil and add the wine.

cover the pot with the lid to prevent the alcohol escape. when you see the first bubble turn the heat off. don't boil the wine. keep the lid on for a few minutes. serve in sth that'll keep the wine warm. before serving the wine add some rum or vodka to compensate the wine's alcohol that vaporized. few tsp per serving is fine.

if you'd like to get tipsy without even drinking it, just smell the wine and inhale the alcohol evaporating. even if you wouldn't prefer to do so, that's what's going to happen while you are drinking.

i made

"cupcakes"


well, i cook very often and try different recipes. yet, i haven't made a cupcake before! till, today. 

maybe because i don't like to eat desserts and cakes so much or maybe because of my only "making cupcake attempt" was disappointingly unsuccessful; i did not try again. 

but today i did not go to school - because of the snow that buried the city, so i had a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.

not so bad for a first i guess...

i baked

"gingerbread cookies"


my holiday reached to its end and i'm back in school. before i left my parents house i cooked for them and baked a little. this is one of my favourite cookie recipes. 

i made

"pizza"


and it's from scratch. and it tasted great. 


yesterday i was in the mood for cooking. again. i literally spent the whole day cooking. first thing that i've done was this pizza. i don't like precooked, canned, frozen products. and i love cooking! so, making a pizza is not a big deal - even though it takes quite a bit of my time. well, i'm in my holiday. no school or anything... time is the last thing that's on my mind these days. 
i made a little shopping for the poor fridge. and i invited over a friend of mine. while talking and catching up i prepared this pizza that we loved. 


plus from now on i think i'll share my recipes! not that they are a big secret. it's just i was always too lazy to even write them down on a piece of paper. or even in the cook(note)book that i've made.

for the dough:

• 3.5 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp instant dry yeast
• 3 tsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil. 
• 1 cup warm water

mix the dry ingredients, then add the remaining ones. mix and then knead. you should have a somewhat sticky dough. you can add some more flour on the way. when the dough is uniform, grease a bowl with oliveoil and put the dough in. cover and let the dough sit in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until the size is doubled. when all your other ingredients are ready you can place it on an oven paper after shaping it slightly. then just pull the dough from the sides lightly so it gets thin(about 0.5-0.3 cm) and uniform everywhere. 

this makes 2 quite large, thin crust pizzas. for approximately 4 people if you eat it as a seperate meal.  you can divide the dough and make smaller ones of course.

 for the tomato sauce:

• 1-2 tbsp oliveoil
• 1 small onion (until translucent)
• 100-150 g tomato paste
• 3-4 tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
• 2 tbsp oregano

just cook these in order. and let it simmer until it resembles a mild paste(about 20 mins medium heat). then smooth it out with a blender or a rough sieve. you can also add some minced garlic on the way if you like.

  prepare the mozarella and the additional ingredients like mushrooms, corn, pepperoni, bacon etc.

par-bake the pizza dough then put the tomato sauce and then the mozarella on. then the other ingredients of your choice.
then bake it until the sides are golden.
if you'll add bacon or any kind of meat that's thinly sliced, do so towards the end. or they get very dry and unpleasantly stiff.

and here is my easy pizza recipe! 
congrats to me on my first shared recipe. yay!

i ate

"my first shrimps"


i haven't eaten shrimps, ever! until a few days ago. i love cooking and i do cook shrimps, prawns etc. but i had never eaten them before. stupid i know but it's because they are a kind of an insect. at least they look like one. anyway, lately i decided that i have to start trying to eat what i didn't want to before. of course i won't go and eat monkey brains or dogs. but i'll "try to try" what many people have no problems eating. what i don't eat is basicly what looks ugly when alive. or cute. i don't eat calamari, ugly looking fish, crab, octopus, lobster etc. and i also don't eat rabbit, duck and other cute little things. i'm not sure if i'll ever be able to -not that i want to- eat the second group, ever.
anyway... this eating shrimps thing may look as one small step for mankind, but it is one giant leap for me!

i made

"quince jam"


yes i did. and concentrating on cooking does not mess up my finals either. i proved that today.
after taking my exam i came back home to do as i've said yesterday. i don't really know how they will turn out because i haven't made jam before. never. and when they are hot/warm i can't really tell how they exactly taste.
anyway. i used reduced apple juice instead of sugar and water, so it tasted bit more sour than the ordinary jams -not that i'm the expert on jams. even if they are not so sweet i think they will taste really good, just as they look.

i bought

"jars"


it was like the love at first sight. i knew i had to have them! there are 4 of these little guys and they are all so cute. i think i may be a little crazy about all these kitchen stuff. anyway. when i saw these i decided that i could make some jam. since it is winter, i'll go with the quince i guess. i don't really like jam but quince is less sweet and sugary, so it is much better for me. also i won't use any sugar. instead i'll reduce some apple juice and also add a bit of natural pectin.
tomorrow if i have time, i'll do it.

i made

"banana pudding"


i know that i made chocolate-banana yesterday. and today it is banana pudding. opposite of what you may think, i don't eat much of the stuff that i make. especially sweets. i'm not a sweet tooth myself. i just taste them usually. that's why, no i'm not overdosing myself with glucose lately. 
few months ago i wanted some chocolate pudding. and i don't really like the stuff that are coming out of packages full with chemicals that make the stuff last longer. i want to make the things that i eat myself, from fresh. that's why i make my own pasta most of the time. the fresh pasta keeps up to a month at most, when dried. but for the ones that are in a package, it takes years to reach the expiration date. isn't it weird and disturbing? anyway. when i craved(!) for that chocolate pudding -which is rare- i wanted to make it myself. that was when i realised that it is really easy to make. i just don't know why people (until that time including me) just use the ready-made powders.
today i wanted to make banana pudding. and here it is.