Penguin and mushroom salad

I'm probably inviting all sorts of weird web search results with a title like that - what a world of difference a missing comma makes (as I said to my students this week in a seminar that rather worryingly had to turn into a grammar lesson on how to use an apostrophe). Needless to say, the penguin was only matched with the mushrooms in the course of writing this post, and neither was harmed in the process.


The mushroom salad was actually my entry to Lisa and Jacqueline's monthly No Croutons Required event, which was featuring chickpeas this month. Chickpeas are our favourite pulse (is that sad or with-the-moment?) so I really wanted to enter - but busy-ness got the better of me actually posting it before the deadline. I had paired my chickpeas with a marinated and grilled portobello mushroom, serving it with mixed leaves and sundried tomato, and with some home-made blackberry vinegar drizzled over the top. I would have added avocado too if I'd had any - I think that would be a nice additional texture. You can't really see the vinegar in the photo but it gave a nice fruity acidity. I kept the marinade simple as I didn't want the vinegar to get drowned - just a bit of shaosing wine, some balsamic vinegar and some garlic powder.

Inquisitive penguin

The penguin was another matter entirely. I started him quite a while ago but then didn't have any orange wool, so he sat rather sinisterly beakless and featureless for several weeks. Then I got some more wool and made him his beak, but didn't get round to attaching his wings or giving him any eyes. So when I finally got him all together I was pleasantly surprised at how cute he was. He's another character from my book of knitted toys, and the reason I was pushed to finally finish him, is because he's one of several ambassadors from my sewing group, to an exhibition of toys in Cardiff. One of our remote members lives there, so she will be taking them in, and hopefully seeing them in situ. They come back to their owners eventually, which I'm pleased about - I felt rather sad squishing him into the postbox to go off on his important errand.

Scholarly penguin

The Easter break starts at the end of this week so hopefully I will get a few more posts up - including an award from the lovely Johanna :)

Thoughtful penguin

'Just had to' brownies

I'm sure that I'm not alone in bookmarking copious numbers of recipes from other food blogs. Occasionally I even get round to making some of them :) But sometimes a recipe pops up in your reader and you just have to make it right there and then. This happened to me twice in one day last week - once with Wendy's Baked Honey and Mustard Butterbeans which I only didn't make that night because I already had dinner planned (but looking at the picture again just now I still really really want to eat that dish right now!). The other was Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies which popped up on The Wednesday Chef. I don't know quite what lured me in about these brownies quite so irrevocably. It's an interesting recipe, using cocoa powder and no chocolate, and very little flour, but I suspect that it was the chocolatey photos that seduced me. I did go and make a half batch that very evening, and took most of them to my sewing group the next night.


I've made a lot of brownie recipes in the past, and what generally wins me over or puts me off is whether the darn things cook through properly. I like some barely cooked fudginess as much as the next person (who likes barely cooked fudginess - it must be said that this seems to really divide people, as evidenced by the two brownie-eaters in this house). But completely uncooked goop: not so much. These brownies did cook all the way through and firmed up nicely to cut into little pieces. Taste-wise they were very cocoa-ey - actually a bit more than I like, but The Scientist and my sewing buddies liked them. I'm just not too cocoa-y a sort of girl. So while I may not eat them myself again, I will happily make them for other people :)


Now, butterbeans, you say....?

Alice Medrich's cocoa brownie recipe at The Wednesday Chef

Chocolate mousse at Tiffany's

Somehow I have never seen Breakfast at Tiffany's. I think that means I can never be truly sophisticated (as if!). But I felt better when it turned out that several of my friends hadn't seen it either, and it very quickly turned into an opportunity for a film night. I was delighted when they all rose to the occasion: Lauren turned up in a vintage suit and hot pink tights, Kate in a dotty tea dress, Caroline in her new skinny jeans, and Helen - was late. From round the corner. And she doesn't have a blog. But it was lovely to see her :) I wished I wasn't wearing my favourite fleecy skirt which is sadly a magnet for cat hair (but hang on - isn't there a cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's???).

Looking sultry and sophisticated - it's obviously seen Breakfast at Tiffany's

We actually had such a great time chatting and laughing that we didn't get round to watching the film. But I'd thought that with such a sophisticated lady as Audrey Hepburn in the room (even if we did keep her inside her dvd case) we needed a sophisticated dessert. These are coffee chocolate mousses from the Green and Black's cookbook. I served them in some vintage teacups which were my Grandad's and which I like to get out and use in careful company sometimes. I knew that the girls would appreciate them particularly.


The mousse wasn't as silky as the one in the cookbook picture, but it was actually a lot less full-on chocolatey rich as I'd expected (a good thing as far as I'm concerned). It also definitely tasted of coffee, but again without being overpowering (a good thing as far as both Kate and I were concerned!). I was so busy trying to photograph the pretty teacups that I didn't really pay much attention to the fact that the mousse looks a bit lumpy. Sigh - unsophisticates it and me both. It tasted good though - I'd definitely make it again, and with vegan marge instead of butter, it's dairy free.


Coffee and chocolate mousse (from the Green and Black's cookbook)
150g dark chocolate
2 Tbsp filter coffee powder
60g butter (or vegan marge)
3 eggs, separated
3 Tbsp caster sugar
cocoa powder, to decorate

Melt the broken up chocolate with the butter and coffee powder, stirring gently. Add the three egg yolks and stir until well combined.

Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add the caster sugar and continue whisking until stiff and shiny. Fold into the chocolate mixture and combine gently until there is no white showing anywhere. This took a little while and I thought it wouldn't combine, but it did.

Chill for at least 6 hours, and serve with powdered cocoa on the top. Don't put the mousse back in the fridge once it's been cocoa'd though, as it will meld in and spoil the look of the mousse. Or you can forget to do anything with the cocoa powder, like I did.

Not finishing, but getting there

I didn't register how busy I've been recently until I got home from teaching on Thursday and realised how relieved I was it's the reading week next week. I've been feeling as though I haven't been getting anything done because I haven't finished any of my big tasks, but with a bit of time away from the university, I've reflected that I've actually made a lot of progress on them all. The Scientist has been away this weekend, and so I've made sure to spend time just relaxing. I've made meals that involved minimal cooking, I've watched girly films he'd hate (Sex and the City, and Chicago - last of the highbrow academics that I am :) ), I've done lots of crafting, and I spent a really nice few hours with my friend Jane in Bicester.

The flowered tin on the top shelf was The Scientist's grandmother's button box; the one under neath it was my great-grandmother's. And the wooden box on the lower shelf was a present from The Scientist, found in an antiques shop in Lewes

One of the other things I did was sort out my crafting bits. I've been looking out for a little cabinet to go at my end of the sofa for a while, as my space is being slowly taken over by an assortment of books, knitted mice, and half-finished projects. This weekend I was doing a volunteering session at the Recycle Warehouse in Leamington, and found what I hoped was just the thing. I brought it back and was delighted to discover that it fitted the space perfectly - and all my bits and pieces fitted it perfectly too. I really can't buy any more craft books now though :) I spent ages sorting out all my embroidery threads and now I feel all happy and organised.

Look! Escaped mice!

I also pounced on this lovely item at the Recycle Warehouse:


It had only just been brought in, and it's full of someone's old sewing things. I wonder who they were, and am a bit sad that no one in their family wanted it (although not that sad, since it meant I got to revel in it instead). It even goes with the cabinet, and for a hoarding social historian it was a perfect addition to my new-look sewing station.


While I'm on the topic, I can't say enough good things about the Recycle Warehouse. I volunteer there once a month or so, and it's full of weird and wonderful things that people don't want any more. I usually limit myself to picking up a few books but this time I got a bit carried away. It's just amazing what people bring in (and quite horrifying sometimes too) but I love seeing things find a new home when their old owners had decided they were junk. Someone brought in a little unit about the size of my sewing station this week, but the front pulled forward on a hinge to reveal a chute for coal. It didn't stick around for long - I wonder what the new owners will use it for? Anyway, if you're local I recommend taking a look. It's run by Action 21, who put all the profits back into their other local community and environmental initiatives. And if you want to feel good about yourself and get a discount on all the items that take your fancy, then become a volunteer!

And on the craft note, one of the members of my sewing group is having a felt give-away! Have a look at her blog, the Felt Fairy

The Recycle Warehouse is at the Princes Drive Recycling Centre, Leamington Spa, CV31 3PH

Stratford stash

For the last couple of years The Scientist and I have given each other a weekend away for our Christmas present. That is to say, we have gone away together and each paid for the other's half. Sending each other away for separate weekends probably wouldn't be so romantic. Anyway, it was The Scientist's turn to organise it this year, and he kept it a complete secret until Monday, when he found me faffing about with a theatre seating plan and wondering if I could take up a special offer for King Lear at Stratford for us. He grinned a big grin and revealed that that was my surprise - a weekend in Stratford with tickets to King Lear - and all the Shakespeare houses. The weekend away was lovely enough, but RSC tickets AND all that extra thoughtful planning as well? He's in credit with the brownie points for some time. (And in this house brownie points can be exchanged for actual brownies :) ).


We've just come back and we had a lovely time. The play was amazing - neither of us had seen Lear before, but we both loved it. The hotel was nice, the room luxurious, Stratford cold but pretty (and not too crowded), and the Shakespeare houses we visited beautiful and interesting. And particularly informative given that I'm writing a lecture on homes and families in the past which was a bonus for me and no doubt quite tedious for The Scientist - but he kindly acted interested.



One of the best things about the weekend was not being in any sort of a rush. We ended up doing quite a bit of unexpected whimsical shopping as a result, and this is the stash I came back with. Most of it was from Book Depot, and a kitchen/furniture shop the name of which I forget (too busy ogling haberdashery :) ). The bookshop produced two craft books, some felt and some little handy notepads, and the other the lush selection of fabrics and a needle for knitting in the round to make this bag pattern some day when I've finished my other projects. Yes that is Liberty fabric - on sale and gorgeous. The brighter one is to make some table mats and coasters for a friend's wedding present (the red and the bias binding are to finish them), and the other is to make into a bag. And the pinky one is maybe to make some PJs - or alternatively to make something cute for The Munchkinette. I was really tempted by some fine Liberty cord as well but managed to restrain myself. The noodles were from a health food shop - it's not a good trip if you don't come back with some new noodles. In this case black rice and wakame, and green tea. I feel slightly guilty from all the shopping, but some of it's for presents or present ideas, and I know that my sewing buddies will laugh and sympathise anyway! The Scientist had a good shopping trip too - several books and a good sit-down to read the sports section while I fussed over notions.

Spinach and lentil soup revisited

We half live off soup during the winter months and have lots of home-cooked favourites - but I don't eat soup out that often any more as it so often has butter, milk or cream in it. So when I saw that the theme of Jaqueline and Lisa's No Croutons Required this month was copycats I was at a bit of a loss. Definitely the best soup I've eaten in a cafe or restaurant in years though was the spinach and lentil soup from Earth Cafe in Manchester which I already blogged about. When I tried to recreate it that time I put mushrooms in it, and made a nice soup, but not that like the original. But I have to admit that I have a cheat now. The soup was so amazing that I emailed the cafe afterwards to tell them, and to ask if I might possibly be able to have the recipe. Lovely people that they are, they estimated a recipe based on four people and sent it back to me. I don't like to reproduce it directly since they were so nice as to pass it on, but the copycat theme made me think to make a variant on it this week, based on what we had in the house. It was pretty much as good as the one I had at the cafe if memory serves correctly - thick and earthy and pleasingly green. The original recipe called for quite a lot more lentils than I used, but I made mine to eat the next day and it thickened up lots. If you're eating it straight away I'd think about adding some more.


Earth Cafe redux spinach and lentil soup
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp tomato puree
1 Tbsp dried thyme
200g red lentils
1.2 litres stock
Big load of spinach, washed

Fry onion and carrots in a little oil until soft. Add tomato puree and stir. Add lentils, thyme and stock, and simmer until lentils are done. Add spinach and let it wilt like crazy. Blend. Yum.

Earth Cafe is at 16-20 Turner Street, Manchester

Chinese new year cupcakes

We're not over the cupcake obsession round here yet. I don't know quite what's happened - it's not like cupcakes haven't been trendy for years. Anyway, these ones were for my craft group's first cooking meetup (we use 'craft' to mean anything we all like, from films to books to shopping to actual crafting :) ). Cie, of the famous blueberry nutella cake, was demonstrating how to make Chinese pork dumplings, and while I had to (unobtrusively, I hope) hold my nose while they were cooking, they were an amazing success. My lack of tolerance for the sight or smell of meat shouldn't detract from Cie and her production line's efforts anyway - a bit of pre-planning and work on her part and a choice of boiled or fried perfect little moon-shaped pillows of [skim over that part, la la la] were fairly rolling off the stove and into eager eaters' mouths.


My contribution to the feast was dessert. Naturally there is a back story to it, so you'd better get comfy - or skip straight to the recipe links. This back story starts in a Chinese restaurant in Pasadena, veers into a Chinese supermarket in Coventry, backtracks into a spring roll (sounds messy), and finally ended in cupcakes. The Pasadena part is from my visit to Tracy (who I am seeing tomorrow - yay!) a few years ago. She ordered us some bean paste dumplings for dessert at lunch on my last day and they were delicious (though we were probably too full to do them full justice!). The veer into Coventry happened a few months ago when we we there for some reason or other and stopped into a Chinese supermarket opportunistically for some shingshao wine. I spotted a tin of red bean paste, remembered those dumplings and picked it up. I regretted this somewhat after it had sat in the cupboard for quite a long time, but then I noticed a recipe for banana and red bean paste spring rolls in a cookbook I found in a charity shop. I'd thought about buying this book before so was very pleased to find it for 50p. I have to admit that I'm glad I didn't pay full price as there aren't too many veggie recipes and there's a limit to how many times you can sub more veggies or tofu for different types of meat. But this recipe was a winner and I made it to take to Vicki and Paul's house for dinner. You just get some filo (or spring roll wrappers), spray some oil over them, spread some paste over it, slice some banana over the top and fold up. They could be fried but we baked them because the oven was already on. They were amazing - the bean paste went all melty and nutella-like.

Bean paste added, ready for more batter over the top. Note Chinese new year red cupcake liners

But that wasn't the end of the bean paste and so when the Chinese new year meetup was announced I knew exactly what I was making, and even what recipe. For the cakes I went to Chockylit, and for the frosting, to Cupcake Project - my two favourite cupcake blogs. The cakes were just vanilla with bean paste in the middle (mine sank to the bottom as I think my cakes were a bit larger but shallower than Chockylit's). I reduced the sugar quite a lot as well as my paste was from a tin, whereas Chockylit had made her own and made it less sweet. I went down to a bit over half what was in the recipe. The frosting Chockylit used was a cream cheese one though and I'm trying to avoid using dairy in my baking now too, so I went for Stef's red bean paste buttercream, using vegan margarine again. She has a Chinese new year cupcake to go with it, but it involved glutinous rice flour which I wasn't sure I could get without more advanced planning.

Finished cupcakes. Note not at all seasonal blue spotty liners

I almost forgot about the cupcakes as we were having such a good natter after the dumplings, but luckily I remembered in time to share them out. Everyone said nice things about them, though I thought they were a bit dense when I tried one later, and The Scientist, while liking the cake, said they could do without the bean paste. What does he know?? We've agreed that vegan marge is no less disgusting than ordinary marge now though, so he should be less traumatised than last time to realise that's what he was eating :)

Whew - long story, good cupcakes, happy Chinese New Year.

Chinese new year cupcake recipe here (I halved it and then almost halved the sugar as well)

Chinese new year cupcake frosting here