MONTHLY ROUND-UP JANUARY. CAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW.

Well, it might have been that, of those only three posts that were published this month, you missed one.
And that would be a real tragedy.
Because it's when things gets rare that you realize how amazing and essential they are.

Ok, truth is that I got I new job and, together with it, a new life.
This new life implies abandoning my old one in favour of my office. In other words, abandoning my life. Period.
Then I don't have much time anymore, which is a shame, cause Baby is growing and she is really healthy, if you were wondering.
Nevertheless, even if I don't have any time to write about it, I still have time to eat -most of the times- which is reasonably good.

So, in case you missed it:

 we started with a kicking breakfast, on the  day in which you need it the most.
The basic recipe for pancakes, that I keep on forgetting, so I thought you might as well. I know you do.

And them some burnt home-made granola. Yummy!

And some do-I-need-to-describe-it home-made bread.
Wait for the Baby version!







Happy february and happy eating.

HERE IT COMES

Here it comes!
And here I come, after a week of eating and... well, not much more actually - back in Italy.
Besides from the emotional breakdowns you have to go through from time to time, not to be home very often has also some positive side: your grandmas, for example, gathering to write down a cooking agenda - which is to say a plan structured in order to make sure they will cook everything I want without the risk of overlappings.
That's kinda good.
That makes it even more heart-breaking when I go. - Not because of the food, but becouse of how lovely they are, I meant.-

In any case, when I said IT comes, I meant this:

Do you see where all my emotion about bread came from?


INGREDIENTS (make one nice loaf):

• 500 gr/4 cups flour  
• 15gr yeast
• 2 half-glasses lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 ts salt
• pinch of sugar
• 3 TBS seeds oil (peanuts, sunflower, or also olive oil, actually. Of course each one will give a slightly different flavour. You just try and see which one you like the most.)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put the flour in a bowl and make a hole at the center.
2. Melt the yeast in one of the two half-glasses of water, add the pinch of sugar, and mix everything with the flour.
3. Start kneading and do it for a few minutes, than melt the salt in the second glass and add it as well to the dough. Now add 3 TBS of the oil of your choice to the dough and keep on kneading for about 10 minutes.
4. Now, if you see your dough is kinda sticky, add some more flour. In case it seems too hard, add a tiny bit of water. If you think it has a nice consistency, but could be a bit more elastic, you might add a spoon of oil.
5. keep on kneading until you obtain a smooth, soft and elastic dough.
6. put it in a pot, cover it with a canvas and leave it rest in a place protected from drafts for 3 hours (or until when it doubles in volume.)
7. this time passed, take it off the pot, knead for a couple of minutes and give it the shape you like: you can divide it into smaller rolls, or leave it as it is.
8. Cover your oven plate with baking sheet while pre-heating the oven to 250°C/482°F a bake it for about 20/25 minutes. 

Or until when it looks like this.

THE "I'M-GONNA-BE-SELF-SUFFICIENT" WAVE

Lately i got totally into this "I'm-gonna-be-self-sufficient" wave. So, anything I can avoid buying, I decided, I will.

It requires way more time and efforts, that's for sure but, besides from the obvious thing that it's a lot healthier, do you really wanna compare a quarter of hour queue at the bakery with having your house filled with the scent of baking bread?

To the joy of opening the oven and seeing your puffy, golden brown, crunchy-at-the-outside-soft-in-the-inside loaf of bread? I don't know, I get kind of maternal feelings when it comes to food. fEspecially food that gets all puffy, I noticed.

By the way, this is not about home-made bread.

Sorry.

Well, granola, we said. Or, we wanted to.

Then, granola. Mine got bunt. Just a tiny bit, but I took pictures of it so, even though that was the first plan, I can’t deny I did. But if you wanted to use this as an argument in favour of bought granola, my answer would be “C’mon, I know you can do better than this”. And this said, wonderful thing of home-made granola is that you can just choose anything you want. I actually got into it because I had this crazy craving for some almond-honey-coconut granola, and I just couldn’t find it anywhere. So that superdangerous loop for which the more you can’t find something the more you want it started, and I was just getting crazy over almond-honey-coconut granola.

And then, I just made it myself.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup silvered almonds
• 1/4 cup ligh-brown sugar
• 2 TBS honey
• 2 TBS (28gr) unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a saucepan melt together butter and honey over low heat. Then add sugar and stir until it melts completely in butter. Remove from the fire and add 2 TBS of water.

2. In a alarge bowl, stir together oats, coconut and almonds and spread the butter mixture over it. Stir everything until evenly combined.

3. Spread the granola mixture on a baking sheet and put it in the oven pre-heated to 325F°/160C°. Bake stirring frequently until golden brown, say 25-30 minutes.

4. Store in a supercute mason-jar. (No idea of how long you can actually keep it, we finished it in two days.)

GO PANCAKES

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

How did your celebrations go? Has a proper stuck-up wannabe, I feel like saying that of course I hate all the expectations about it, I love glitter but I hate clubbing, I love the 80’s but I hate stinking like smoke.

BUT, what  I do love about New Year’s Eve, is that it’s THE excuse to have lovely –and too abundant- dinners with your friends. After herb-cheese filled mushrooms, pasta, a mozzarella and zucchini quiche and chocolate mini cakes with a melting heart, we are now left with some chili con carne and tandoori chicken.

GO BREAKFAST!

Or, as an alternative for the delicate stomached, go pancakes.

INGREDIENTS (Makes about 7):

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

50 grs butter

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

TBS sugar (Optional)

Cinnamon (Optional)

DIRECTIONS: 

In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and the optional sugar a nd cinnamon) and the melted butter. Stir and stir.

In a second bowl, whisk together milk and the egg, then add –always stirring- to the dry ingredients.

Grab the pan in which you have previously melted the butter. And put more butter. Yess. When melted, pour a ladle of batter and let cook for a few minuts. Turn on the other side when you see borders are ready.

Start your 2013 with a proper breakfast.

Because sometimes, easy, fast and satisfying is the only combination.

Especially on the 1^st of january.