Monday, February 26, 2007

The right utensils

I've said it several times to people; the better cooking utensils you have the easier it is to cook! And it usually goes much smoother as well.
I like easy and quick.That's my motto when I cook.

So I always look for new kitchen utensils and anything that can make my life easier in the kitchen. And sometimes I do find what I am looking for.

Unfortuantely where I live there aren't many big kitchen stores around so then I dream myself away on the internet. And Oh did I find what I was looking for at Instawares!

They have everything you could possibly imagine!

Everyone knows I have a sweet tooth and I am always on the lookout for new things to get me inspired. Actually I haven't got a small baking pan and I will have to buy one soon. It's on my list of "things I need for the kitchen". And I could make my list longer!

Cutters..molds, pans... it's best to stop actually...

I would really like a flour sifter......

Monday, February 12, 2007

Valentines Days Goodies

We are all looking forward to the 14th February. It’s the day that we show our loved ones we appreciate and love them.
Of course we show them our love by buying teddy bears, love cards and chocolate.

Get your valentine something different this year.
Show you Valentine you really care about him/her.

Why not make a beautiful hamper full of goodies. Natural and nutritious goodies that is.
Go to a good and well sorted health store and ask for some advice.

Suggested goodies are; dried fruit (yes it contains sugar but it’s still better than sweet unnutritious chocolate), various kinds of nuts, vitamin supplement, a nice relaxing tea, aloe Vera juice drink, healthy cooking ingredients.
Make sure to find out is your Valentine suffers from any allergies. You don’t want to be ruining your night.

If the healthy snack idea isn’t your cup of tea then why not go for something more exciting?
Bring your Valentine on an adventure!
Why not take a nice ride in the air- a baloon ride? Or take your darling horseriding, yes it’s smelly but afterwards you cuddle up and massage those sore bones.
There are loads of offers out there, take a look in your local newspaper or why not search Last Minute.com? They have plenty of offers that you must be able to find some activity for you to do together.

Have a nice Valentines Day, and don’t forget; you should still buy that red rose to show your love.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Maracujá

In Brazil there are over 150 different types of passion fruit, 60 of them being eatable and the rest are used within different medical researches.
Passion fruit contains a lot of carbohydrates, vitamin A,B,C, calcium and important minerals and iron.
A juice made of passion fruit is calming and anti inflammatory. Tea made from the passion fruit leaves can have healing effects on infections.

The fruits name comes from the beautiful flower Passaflora or Flor da Paixáo. The most commonly imported passion fruit in Europe is the Violet passion fruit, whereas here in Brazil we eat the yellow one. The yellow passion fruit is much bigger and not as sweet as the smaller ones.

Cocada de Maracujá

240ml water
600ml sugar
320ml passion fruit juice
2 egg yolks
3 whole cloves
650-700 g grated coco

Add sugar, juice and water to a pan, put it to the boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
Mix egg yolks, cloves and coco and add to pan, let simmer for another 10minutes.
Stirr well.
Let it cool and pour into a suitable container and cut into squares.