Irish Soda Bread with Dried Cranberries and Candied Orange Peel

12/01/201409/10/2016 Moya10 Comments

Baking home-made bread provides immense satisfaction and even though I have made bread on many occasions I feel a great sense of pride when taking a freshly baked loaf from the oven… every single time. When entertaining I might spend hours preparing for a dinner party and carefully laying the table, but once the home-made bread appears before the guests… all other efforts fade in comparison. With the heavenly baking aromas I would bake fresh bread everyday, but I know I (and the rest of the family) would be the size of a house if I did.

“Bread is the warmest, kindest of words. Write it always with a capital letter, like your own name.” – Russian Cafe Sign. Continue reading “Irish Soda Bread with Dried Cranberries and Candied Orange Peel” →

Vegetable Soup and a Review of 2013

05/01/201410/10/2016 Moya9 Comments

The festivities have come to an end, many rich foods were enjoyed and now the fridge and freezer are almost empty… simple food is craved once again. With the last remaining vegetables I decided to make a pot of soup. Nothing fancy, no special ingredients just a tasty wholesome bowl of soup, served with thick slices of home-made brown bread on the side. You might say I am kicking off the new year with a healthy start but it more comes down to what’s left on the vegetable rack. The soups flavor is determined by the combination of vegetables used and sometimes I like to throw in a granny smith apple for its sweet-tart flavor. I would have used fresh turkey stock but as my good friend Sarah had taken charge of Christmas Day and did an amazing job (I did boxing day), I had no turkey to cook. Continue reading “Vegetable Soup and a Review of 2013” →

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Happy New Year 2014

31/12/201306/02/2015 Moya8 Comments

I have definitely ended the year 2013 on a delicious colorful sweet note after signing up for a Fancy Macaroon Class with Chef Fabrice Perrin at Culina Art Bahrain… looking forward to making them at home and will share with you my efforts. Loved all the flavor combinations of the macaroons, especially the coconut mandarin and the date and orange. A few other Bahrain based bloggers have a secret craving for Macaroons as well and our lovely Georgina from Blondie in Bahrain shares her time spent at Culina Bahrain, as does Anita from Slice of my life in her blog post.

While ending the year on a sweet note I would also like to say a big thank you to all those wonderful people (some personally known) who have subscribed to Food and Tools and look forward to another year of food blogging. With so many fabulous food blogs on the web I know it is impossible to keep up with everyone but I really do appreciate when you take the time and leave a comment… I do love your comments… so please don’t be shy. Also, thank you also for all the likes, without you all it would be me and one big empty web space. 🙂

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day”. -Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Health, Happiness and Best Wishes for 2014.

Moya xxx 🙂