Cakes with Damon and Billy

On Sunday 25th, Marcus and I went to London to see my friend Damon and his boyfriend Billy. They came from Australia and it was the last day in the UK, following day they left to Brussels. It was sooooo exciting and fantastic day that I hadn't seen Damon since early 2000. It's been nearly 10years last time I saw him in Australia. Also, it was soooo lovely to see his boyfriend, Billy. They both suited and loved their company too, chilled and easy to be with. We talked a lot. Wish we had more time to catch up. It was good example, to keep contact with people who you love/like wanna be with, need to make an effort. sometimes lots. And I always enjoy coffee/tea and chat with friends. If there's something going on in my life or in my head, rather than stay in there, let it out and have a chat, and always I  feel better after wards. Even small things, sometimes they are not really significant, but have a chat about them, see how they come out. These were cakes we had. Very very naughty.......

I've been having sugary things a bit too much, I'm going to France this weekend with Marcus, so, I'm hoping I'll be back to no-cake again.... I haven't had a cake for 2 days. Anyway, it was fun chatting with Damon. We used to work together in a Soho restaurant in London years ago. He worked as one of waiting staffs, I was one of chefs in the kitchen. All staffs were lovely people but right characters. the owner-chef used to love drinking Beck's(beer) anytime, the head chef had anger problem, used to throw copper pans(We saw he did threw at the manager, just missed him), and kicking bins when he got frustrated with service or anything. The manager was nice and funny guy, went posh public school all his school life(boarding school) with posh accent and had long fringe and bit sexually frustrated time to time.(used to tell us which porn sites he went previous night etc...funny). the assistant manager was nice lady with Scottish accent. Also there was our favo waiting staff called Ellie, she was a party girl. Oh, mustn't forget to mention our sous chef, he always wanted to be TV chef, now he is. He was always good with people anyway. I remember him and his global knives....He and the head chef didn't get on. I think no-one did with the head chef. Ah! except this chef, she used to flirt with him in the kitchen. She had a partner living with her at the time. Quite often, I was feeling very low, Damon used to handed me piece of papers secretly, they were some drawings(cartoons) of staffs there(pisstake pictures but in a funny way)on them, they used to make me smile and laugh. Always made my nights fun. thank you Damon, I think I still got them somewhere......Hummm, Damon and I wandered what happened all those people.... I hope all's well for them. Anyway, we went some shops after the cake shop. It was fun walking around in Soho. Found more cake shops. Look yummy.

I love looking at cakes like those. they look very pretty. My mission is to make gluten free, sugar-free vegan cake with pretty look. I will spend more time when i get back from France! Oh, I just paid deposit for on line course too. Can't wait to start. Sometimes, I don't feel I got enough time to do things I want/need to do..... Remember to prioritise!!! Damon and Billy are in Brussels at mo, I hope there are having fun time there!!!

Food, Food, more Food in Mallorca

I just got back from Qi-Gong boot camp(in a nice and chilled way) in Mallorca.(please see my other blog) I was looking forward to eat some cakes, I even did detox for it!! well, I just ate even more healthier, that's all. The patisserie in Polensa was as fab as usual, I could see the old guy( the pastry chef) in the back kitchen with his chefs. Oh, one day, I would like to satarge(not sure how to spell... I think it supposed to be French) for a month or so. just have a look how he does it!! Oh, sounds very dangerous.....anyway, theses were cakes... We popped in the afternoon( after siesta) , not a lot left...., still, I bought Lemon meringue pie and apple tart. they were sexy!!!

These are one of the best cakes I ever had, perfect texture, sweetness from meringue and very lemony lemon curd in the middle, and crunchy pate sucre, I was dreaming about this cake for nearly a year. I think he brow torched it on the top of the meringue. On the third day, I had lemon meringue and strawberry tart. Unfortunately, by eating those cakes, clogged up my system. I didn't eat any more. Gutted!☹ Never mind, I really really enjoyed eating them anyway. I hadn't had that much enjoyment for ages. Oh, tell a lie, booja-booja choc truffles give me the same eupholicness. That's enough of cake talks now! We had some salady things in the evenings. Also, we did B.B.Qs for 2 nights. Rachel, Sam and me had veggie/vegan skewers. Andy and Luke had fish and prawns. I made some sun dried tomato(the best sun dried toms ever!) pesto(without cheese of course!) for our dish and salad. Luke made some chili sauce. Cor, blimey, it was nice and spicy!

Our veggie skewers were: aubergine, courgette, cherry toms, shallots, garlic, peppers! We also b.b.qed whole green pepper( long ones) too. I like mine cruntcy. Full of flavour than ones we get here. There was a little health food shop down in the Polensa. We bought some veggie pates, rice cakes, gluten free flat bread etc... Oh, I found sugar free/dairy free choc too! Love going to nice health food shop. Makes me want to cook!!! On Sunday morning in the Polensa, they have fantastic market. Locals shop there. Water melons were absolutely huge! I love water melon, but didn't buy one. Too heavy to climb up the Puig with it. Anyway, I took some photos.

My Sunday morning naughty breakfast in the market.

Massive water melon...

On the Sunday evening, we ate out in a restaurant there. Rachel and Sam had veggie paella, Andy and Luke had regular paella. I had traditional Mallorcan veggie dish. Oh, the dish was divine. Didn't look very appetising, but very rustic, taste like home cooking and veggies had intense flavour. It was called....oh, I don't remember... anyway, baked with some slice potatoes( I would imagine cooked first.) layered with aubergine, red onions,  courgettes and plenty peppers with yummy tomato sauce. (I added olives on top) Sam and Rachel tasted my dish, they liked it too. Paella was nice but bit greasy. we(me and Rachel) agreed that paella we had in the Puig was yummier. I can defo say, I prefer paella in the Puig. Anyway, these are what we had.

These are Andy and Luke's paella. Smelt gorgeous if you like the sort of thing.

these are Rachel and Sam's paella. And this is what I had.

Oh, on our second day I think, we had light lunch at the puig. I had salad. And, it was even better! Reminded me Greek salad I had in Pillion....

Simple salad with good extra virgin olive oil,  full of flavour and fresh vegetables! The best!!!!

baked sweet potato with samphire coleslow

Thank God! I just had very relaxing weekend. I was working 12 days stretch, about a half way through I was already tired. Last time I did this, was just before I went to Greece, and I wasn't tired at all. Funny sometimes body feels different and how I get stressed. Mentally I was fine but I really felt this time physically. When I was cheffing in London, I was doing this all the time, mind you, I was young at the time and I had some naughty things to deal with the stress, still, now I look back, I wasn't doing very well with it. Anyway, When I have days off, what I look forward the most is food, of course. And chilling out, potter, and peaceful walks are also something I really look forward to as well. I was told once these were sign of getting old. Hey hoo, who give a f**k about getting old, yes, it's sad body feels old and knackered, not be able to walk and eat..... but the most important thing is being content in mind, for me, when I see old peeps with happy attitude in their lives and towards themselves seem to do less illness and have good  coping system with depression!!! That's where I'm heading when I'm 90years old!!! I  still have lots of  things I would like to do before I get too old to move, 30's and 40's is the best years for all my life so far. Might as well make the most of what I have today. This weekend, I cooked Japanesey rice and tofu dish for our dinner, it was a bit like Japanesey meets west dish. Looked like soup risotto...

Yellow paste is miso paste, red one is harrisa. This harrisa is very garlicky and it hasn't got red pepper either. (Some harrisa recipe do have contains roasted red pepper) I cooked farro and short brown rice mix ( half and half) just like how risotto cooked. then add cashew nuts, soyabeans and sun dried tomato, at the end wilted in loads of spinach and tofu bits. The night I cooked this was a bit nippy, I fancied something warm.... Marcus brought some sweet potato, so I baked some sweet potato on Sunday night. On Sunday, we found some samphire in Walberswick(please see my other blog), so I made some "coleslaw" with seaweed and sun dried tomato. "Coleslaw" sounds very naughty doesn't it!? ☹  Regular coleslaw you get in supermarkets contains lots of mayonnaise and some contains cream and creme freiche. No wonder taste naughty but yummy If you eat dairy. My coleslaw usually contains either olive oil to mix or hummus! Good old hummus, very versatile dip. I use quite a lot! That's why I try to make my own, but quite often I end up buying it for my lazy reason. It's bloody easy to make, and I'm soooooo bloody lazy!!!! ( sometimes) ☺ Anyway, this is what I made for our din dins!!!

I mixes seaweed with it, but they don't taste very much all they do is; to give the coleslaw sea flavour. I add some chopped chilies too. It contrast spiced(garlic and chili) coleslaw and sweet potato. I think I blogged before, I love♥ food which has contrast of taste. Soft and crunchy, sweet and hot, sweet and sour, hot and sour....etc And we finished our dinner with lovely sugar and alcohol free sparkling drinks!  And When I make salad, I can hear my ex-house mate Johnny used to say " That's huge salad for a little person!" Yes, I eat lots especially salad....Love it. Everytime I have yummy foods(doesn't matter who cooks & where I eat) always makes me appreciate how lucky I am and good to be alive!!! ☺ Bone a petti!

Almond and raisin Magdalenas

I'm sure this is how it's spelt..."Magdalenas". Never quite sure the spelling, I think it's Spanish....I found this recipe long time ago, and used to make them for former "W.I market" now called "country market".

those days(only till roughly 3years ago though), I wanted to bake and sell my cakes for living, but it didn't quite turn up like that. Well, I would need to sell tones of cakes wouldn't I??!! Anyway, mostly our customers were old(ish) ladies and some young families. Anything I didn't sell my products, I used to give them to my friends or take them to the charity shop(where I work) for cuppa for ladies. And of course, I ate lots too. I love my cakes, Magdalenas is one of (many) my favo cakes. Nobody round here make them, so I need to make them. ( I don't have to, but it's fun anyway) Raisins inside usually soaked in sherry, since I don't drink, I normally soak in apple juice if I have one in my fridge. When you bite the cake, juice from raisins come out and make them moist and pine nuts make them texture. AND, it's lemony too. Lemony cakes are always winner with a cup of coffee/tea.  I just missed them. So, last night I decided to bake a tray. I usually bake them into cupcakes. (I don't have proper moulds for them....) I used maple syrup( I wanted to use honey, but I didn't have it.) instead of sugar, coconut butter instead of butter, tofu instead of eggs, gluten free flour instead of regular one, rest, I just added some lemon juice and oats milk to make them right consistency. Only thing is; I wasn't quite sure of baking time. So, I baked them till nicely set( springy). When they come out from oven, they smelt sweet, lemony and yummy. They were still moist. Then I had 2 of them with my cuppa. They were absolutely yummy and very moooorish.

Today, at work ( charity shop-place for fun), I had two cakes. I noticed they were bit harder than last night. I think I baked them a tiny bit long. Gluten free flour takes up quite bit liquid. But, bottom of cakes became chewy and texture of pine nuts somehow go well together and taste even better! I like it! Dangerous thing is; I'll be eating loads of them this week. I always justify myself for eating cakes like these by telling myself; "they are healthier than regular cakes...no gluten, no sugar and vegan..." Is it still healthy though??? sometimes I'm not quite sure. Anyway, If I eat something, I always enjoy, so, better not to analyse.☹  Tomorrow, I'm going for coffee with Karen! Hooray! I haven't seen her for a while, looking forward to that. Being a woman, I do like some good yupping sometimes.  Last couple of weeks, what I missed the most is coffee with friends. Karen recently got herself  a job, and had to drive to Ipswich(which made her really knackered), classes(gym) in evenings, so she's been busy girl. No time for coffee with me. My best mate Tony just moved to Brighton, which miles away from Bury, I really miss him. Andy is busy too. Anyway, I thought country living was going to make life to slow down, but nooooo! Still busy. well I suppose, it never has been as busy as when I was in London.... Shouldn't complain really. I'm grateful I've got time to think, feel, see, spending time with friends, and blogging!!! ☺ Now, time to have a cuppa with the cake.