posts

A year gone by 2012

Moya

 

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Already one week into the New Year… so please 2013 go slow! Looking back over the past twelve months there have been a few favourites on the Food and Tools blog! But first I would like to say a big thank you to all the readers, subscribers, viewers, also those that have liked and taken the time to comment on food and tools blog posts! Look forward to another years blogging with you all!

  Favourites on Food and Tools

Meeting Happy Hens: On a visit to Ireland my lovely nieces introduced me to their Happy Hens, all very friendly and I was equally happy to eat their freshly laid eggs for breakfast every morning! Sadly, some months later a pine marten managed to enter the chicken coop during the night and kill every hen… I had never heard of a pine marten until then! After recovering from the shock and horror of witnessing such a scene, my sister bought some more hens… a few weeks later a buzzard hovering around swooped down and made off with one of their young bantam hens… it seems hens living in the countryside have their challenges!

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Food Workshop: Meeting the lovely Silke Croppe, an artisan cheese maker and attending one of her cheese making courses at Corleggy in Ireland was such a lovely experience and a wonderful way to spend a day outdoors in the Irish countryside!

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New Kitchen Jewellery: Apart from acquiring a  yoghurt/cheese maker, my favourite baking tin for 2012… the muffins tin from Ikea, loving the tall shaped cupcakes and muffins!1-2013-01-057

Styling and Photography: Attending Meeta K Wolff’s two-day Food and Styling Workshop (day one – day two), hosted by Sally Prosser in Dubai was an event that I was glad not to have missed… and meeting Giorgio Locatelli… what a surprise!

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New Cookbooks: Got to meet the lovely Suzanne Husseine and Ariana Bundy at book signing events at Words Bookstore and Cafe in Bahrain… adding new cookbooks to my collection, “When Suzanne Cooks” and “Pomegranates and Roses”!  A signed copy of Bobby Chinn’s cookbook “Vietnamese Cooking” was a gift from a lovely friend!  Lots of delicious mouthwatering recipes!

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Travel: Traveled to Turkey for the first time, first visiting the charming town of Alacati (a blog post soon) for a couple of days and then to the bustling city of Istanbul! Definitely a place to visit again!

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Farmers Market: Excited to have visited Bahrain’s first Farmers Market and pick up some lovely fresh vegetables and herbs, also good to know that it will be held every Saturday until next May!

Cheers to the year ahead… 2013!

desserts · food + drink

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream

Moya16 Comments

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream-0119Using left over Christmas pudding to make an easy pudding ice cream is a refreshing alternative and makes a delicious festive dessert. Anytime I’ve served this dessert its gone down a treat. Buying a good quality ice cream saves time with preparation but you could also make your own using this recipe, omit the Kahlua and replace the pumpkin with Christmas pudding. Use individual pudding moulds for dinner parties or, use a large pudding mould for informal gatherings.

The new year is around the corner so I wish you all a very Happy New Year 2013 and hope it’s filled with health, happiness, lots of good times with friends and family and of course… delicious food!

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 liter of good quality vanilla ice cream, softened
  • 175g Christmas pudding, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

for decoration

  • silver degrees
  • icing sugar

How to make: Before you start; chill the Christmas pudding (if not already in the fridge), bowls and utensils! Line individual pudding moulds (or large mould) with some cling-film, over lapping at the edges.

Place the ice cream, christmas pudding and nutmeg into a bowl and quickly mix until combined. Spoon into 6 (150ml) pudding moulds, cover with cling-film and place into the freezer for a couple of hours before serving.

To serve, turn out the christmas pudding ice-cream onto plates and remove the cling-film. Decorate with degrees and dust with some icing sugar, if desired.

This dessert can be made a couple of days in advance, before serving you might want to leave the dessert in the fridge for about 10 to 20 minutes (depending on size) to soften.

This post is part of the December photography challenge by Simone from Junglefrog Cooking, who is also hosting the Monthly Mingle from What’s for Lunch Honey by Meeta Wolff!

posts · style

Candle Napkin Fold

Moya8 Comments

napkin--3When setting the table for a dinner party or an informal gathering… napkins are always part of setting the scene! Depending on the occasion or maybe even the mood I try to be a little creative and sometimes fold freshly laundered napkins in a particular way to complement the table setting!

The candle fold is one of my favourites and really looks fabulous on a table! Do not fret if you find your napkins are not very symmetrical when folding, mine are not…  but it works out just fine! Linen napkins are best, but you could use thick paper napkins instead!

Hanging a wine charm on each napkin is optional and when seated guests can place the wine charm around the stem of their glass! Continue reading “Candle Napkin Fold” →