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It was my mom's birthday recently, so I made her birthday cannolis instead of a cake. She's always loved cannolis but they aren't something which can be readily found in Switzerland. When I was little, trips to NY in the summer had to include a cannoli from Little Italy for her, but those trips have been less and less frequent, so life has been cannoli-less. When I started making my own ricotta and mascarpone though, it was pointed out to me that I should try making cannolis. And then my sister dug out my parents' old cannoli moulds from 30 years ago and the case was settled. The week leading up to her birthday therefore, I made a few different variants of both shells and filling until I found one I was happy with. I trialled using home made vs store-bought ricotta and used home-made mascarpone. The curds in the home made ricotta were a little bigger and so required more beating , and in the end I used a combination of all three. My first tests of the filling came out too liquidy so I let the mascarpone drain for longer to stiffen up the final filling. Ingredients: For the Shells: 3 c flour 1/4 c sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 c butter, cold and diced 1 egg 3 tbsp vinegar 1/4 c whey/milk 1 egg white, beaten For the Filling: 2 c mascarpone 2 1/2 - 3 c ricotta 1 1/2 c sugar 2-3 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 c pistachios, chopped 1/4 c chocolate chips 1/4-1/2 c dark chocolate, chopped and melted over a water bath 1) Mix together the dry ingredients for the shells and then cut in the butter. Mix together with finger tips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. 2) Add in liquids one by one, mixing after each addition until a smooth, elastic dough is achieved. Place in the fridge to rest for about 30 minutes. 3) In the mean time, mix together all the ingredients for the filling except the pistachios and chocolate, whipping until smooth. Place in the fridge to chill. 4) Cut out an oval from paper or cardboard measuring about 15x11.5 cm (6x4.5inches). Roll out the dough to about 3 mm thick and then using your oval template, cut out ovals. Wrap the around moulds, brushing the edge with egg white to stick together, forming a tube. Alternatively, I rolled up my silicone baking mat to about 2 cm in diameter and wrapped 3 ovals around the length of it. Aluminium foil might work too, rolled up in this way. 5)Brush the rest of the tube with egg white and bake for 8-10 minutes in at 175°C in a pre-heated oven, or fry until golden brown at about 175°C. Remove from oven or oil and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing the moulds. 6) Dip the ends of some of the cooled tubes in melted chocolate and allow to set. 7) Split about 1/3 (or more) of the filling from the rest and mix in chocolate chips. Pipe either plain or chocolatey filling into the tubes, sprinkling pistachios onto the ends of some. Chill until ready to eat. Not having had them very frequently myself, things were a little complicated as I didn't have a very clear idea of what I was aiming for, but I am assured by those who know about these things that they came out quite well. I certainly enjoyed them, which hasn't always been the case with cannolis in the past. I have other filling combinations I'd like to try, like almonds, or lime/lemon pieces dehydrated just enough. The shells just needed to be a little thinner. I must also point out that I baked the shells rather than frying them as my mom isn't a bit fan of fried food, but I have an air fryer coming soon, so I want to try and put them in there to see how they do. Results to follow! EDIT: The shell cookie also works well with yogurt - in this case vanilla rhubarb yogurt.

With my cheese-making journey, I suddenly discovered that at times I had a lot of whey on my hands.

I love Scotch eggs, preferably the good kind, rather than the petrol station kind. Living in Scotland, they were ubiquitous and an easy snack. Hubby particularly liked them as an on the go breakfast. Since leaving Scotland though, I have only made them once or twice and have not been able to buy them. Since making my Quail Scotch Eggs last year though, I've been meaning to make them again, and had been wondering about the idea of vegetarian Scotch eggs. During Lent, when I am vegetarian, heading off for a ski week with Little One and Hubby, I decided to try them. I figured they would make for easy, portable food for all of us and it would give me a chance to try out an idea. What better vegetarian base than lentils? To give these a little more body and coherence, I added some potatoes too. I also wanted to try them in the air fryer, having gotten that particular kitchen toy since last making them. Multiple (vegetarian) birds with one stone (or egg) as it were. As a bonus, I had extra coating for the eggs so decided to wrap bits of mozzarella too. Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, minced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 tsp cumin 1 tsp tandoori powder 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp rosemary 1 tsp thyme A pinch of allspice 2c green lentils 4-5 small potatoes, chopped 300-400 ml water 1 c breadcrumbs 4 eggs (1 ball of mozzarella, grated) Salt to taste 1) In a large-ish saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and spices and fry for a couple more minutes until fragrant. 2) Add the lentils, potatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and then cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture is thick enough to be able to be moulded. Beware of burning at the end as it gets thicker! 3) Meanwhile, boil the eggs for 7-8 minutes. The goal is to have eggs on the harder side of mollet, where the yolk is still the slightest bit soft, minutes away from crumbly, but not runny at all. Remove and run under cold water. Peel and set aside. 4) When the lentils have thickened up nicely, mash any remaining potato bits and allow the mixture to cool. 5) When cool enough to handle, wrap a coating of the lentil mixture around each egg (or piece of mozzarella) and then roll in the breadcrumbs. 6) Here you have a choice. I cooked my Scotch eggs in the air fryer at 180°C for about 7 minutes. Alternatively you could shallow fry them in a pan on the stove using vegetable oil at about 180°C until the outside is nicely browned. We had these cold as picnic food (aside from the ones tasted straight out of the fryer). They kept well for a couple of days and made for easy packing and eating (although a little crumbly). They were tasty and I was happy with the spicing. Not exactly like a regular Scotch egg, but then, they weren't going to be as the coating was entirely different. As the lentil mixture was quite moist, I opted not to roll it in egg before in the breadcrumbs and it worked fine. The coating didn't hold together though, so I might strain it a little next time, just to get it a little drier before frying. Something else I would tweak next time would be to boil and mash the potatoes separately. They were an afterthought, and I just chucked them in the pot, but then hunting them down to mash all the bits proved challenging and I missed a few, leading to some potato chunks being left in the final coating. Otherwise, as the first test of an idea, I am quite pleased with these! The mozzarella bits were a bit on the messy side coming out of the air fryer, but also very tasty!

We've tried it with crackers and cheese and a couple of sun dried tomatoes and it held up well!

The Fromage Blanc was the last from my most recent batch of homemade cheese, and the chives were the (I used olive oil left over from preserving my Cabécou Goat's cheese). 6) In a bowl, mix the fresh cheese , chives, garlic powder and salt. 7) Serve the soup hot, with dolloping options of fresh cheese and red Having the fresh cheese and the red pepper paste on the side meant we were each able to spice it up or The fresh cheese was very tasty, and I enjoyed the creaminess as it melted into the soup, but the soul

The minty pesto worked very well on wholegrain seedy bread with cheese and sausage for lunch.

onions, sliced 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted Salt and pepper 1) Strain yogurt through a cheese

It is vegetarian, and can easily be made vegan by omitting the cheese. The cheese I used was my first attempt at Ricotta Salata, salted ricotta.

Sweet yet savoury, Bright and colourful to cheer a grey day, and so very tasty! Cheese and Apple Tart This is a twist on an old favourite. For years cheese tart has had bits of bacon, onions or tomatoes, sometimes a little spinach, but the It adds a sweet note in counterpoint to the salty cheese, and a textural bonus lacking in the original

the tart: 7-8 yellow carrots, quartered or eighthed lengthwise 1 c pesto 1/2 - 1 c ricotta OR Goat cheese beautifully, with the bitter dandelions and sweet carrots and honey and the acidic lemon and the creamy cheese Eating it, it occurred to me that goat cheese could work very nicely on it, so when we heated it up on