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So I am back.... I hope. I know it has been a while. Little Bit and Littler Bit have gotten bigger, we've moved, work has come and gone. I am hoping, now that Littler Bit is in regular day care, to get back to trying out and posting more recipes. Bear with me, and as ever, let me know any comments, additions or questions! The inspiration for this was an Amish recipe we grew up with for a breakfast cake (as odd and decadent a concept as that is) called Amish Cinnamon Flop. It is essentially a white cake, on top of which a butter-brown sugar-cinnamon mix is crumbled. While in the oven, the brown sugar and cinnamon sink through the cake and caramelise at the bottom of the pan. It is rich and decadent and delicious. As would be suggested by the fact that it is a breakfast cake, it is an occasional treat, but always a delectable one. I did, however, decide to try to find a slightly less decadent, slightly healthier version. Given the cinnamon and brown sugar, I decided to try out adding apples and oats. I tried several different versions of this before landing on one I liked. I tried different sugars (white, brown, molasses, and honey), and different amounts of fruit and flour. The final iteration has no oats, less flour, more apples and different spicing. Recipe Cook time: about 1 hour -- Portions: about 15 slices -- Difficulty: Easy Ingredients: 1 1/2 c sugar 2 TBSP soft butter 1 egg 2 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp cinnamon (half coarse, half fine) 1/4 tsp ginger 1/8 tsp nutmeg 1 3/4 flour 1 c milk 2 small apples, grated 3/4 c brown sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 c soft butter 1) Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg. Mix together the dry ingredients together, then add these to the butter and sugar mixture alternately with the milk. Mix in the apples and pour the batter into a greased baking dish. 2) Mix together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Crumble over the top of the batter. 3) Bake at 220°C for 20-30 minutes in a shallow dish. Serve warm. I am very happy with how this came out after the different variations. The caramel no longer sinks all the way to the bottom to solidity on the base of the dish, but rather gets caught in the apple on the way down so that the cake has one single layer rather than two distinct ones. In the end, the flop is a rather different beast than the one I started with, but one I am no less pleased with. I rather enjoy it with plain yogurt or sour cream, but it is also very tasty on its own. The oats, it turned out, made the cake too dense, and too... healthy feeling. I abandoned them after the first trial. I played around with different quantities and mixes of spices, and found that although more spicing than the original recipe was tasty with the apples, less was more when it came to the additional spices. Otherwise, the different notes were drowned out. I also found that using the original quantity of flour left the cake too dense with the addition of the apple, so I adjusted this down. My attempts at changing up the sugars failed, though, leaving the flavours unbalanced, so I have stuck with simple white sugar in the cake and brown sugar in the caramel crumble topping. I still find it a little sweet for my tastes, so I might keep playing with the sugar types and content. Swaps or Substitutions: Try adding orange zest to the crumble (or the cake). Try adding nuts - walnuts or pecans alongside the apple to the cake. Try swapping out the apple for other seasonal fruits (something I intend to do at the first opportunity) - peaches, plums, pears, pumpkin.

temperature - it should be warm, but still cool enough that a (clean) pinky finger dipped in it is comfortable A good combo on the whole though, especially with cream cheese!

balsamic go in changes every time I make this, according to what else it is being served with and what mood

We recently had a dragon-themed birthday party for Little Bit. When asked what kind of cake he wanted, he excitedly said, "Passion fruit!". There is a double reason for this. 1) It is his favourite fruit (this week, anyway. Other times it is mango, or orange, or pear...) 2) I have joked in the past that the slimy inside of passion fruits looks like dragon snot, so as it was a dragon-themed party, he decided that this would be the obvious choice. The only issue was that I didn't have a passion fruit cake recipe, so I made one up. Here it is. Recipe: Cook time: 50 minutes -- Portions: 1 double-layer 8" cake -- Difficulty: easy Ingredients: For the cake: 1 1/4 c sugar 1/4 c passion fruit syrup 2/3 c butter, soft 2 eggs 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 2 3/4 c flour 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 c milk 6 passion fruits, pulp and seeds For the frosting: 200g cream cheese, soft 1/2 c butter, soft 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 1/2 passion fruits, pulp and seeds about 2 c powdered sugar 1) Cream together the sugar, passion fruit syrup and the butter until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and then add the vanilla. 2) Gradually stir in the dry ingredients alternating with the milk. When the batter is smooth, stir in the passion fruit. 3) Pour into two prepared 8" cake tins and bake at 180°C for 30-35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. 4) Allow to cool thoroughly. In the meantime, make the frosting. Beat the butter and cream cheese together. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla extract and the passion fruit. Stirring until combined. Chill until shortly before you are ready to frost the cake. 5) When the cake is completely cool, frost it to your satisfaction. I was pleased with how this came out. I thought the passion fruit flavour came out strongly enough without being overpowering. Based on how much cake was left after the party, I would venture to say that it was a success with the kids, too. The choice to leave in the passion fruit seeds was deliberate, as that is where most of the flavour is, but it did mean that there was a crunch in the cake. I enjoyed it, and as others commented on this, I know I was not the only one. I decorated by rolling out a sheet of marzipan on top, and the almond flavour complemented the passion fruit nicely. I may have to experiment with this recipe some more, possibly adding some almond extract to the cake batter. Swaps and substitutions: Try adding almond extract to the batter, just a dash, though, as almond extract can be overpowering. Try a passion fruit or raspberry coulis over the top instead of frosting. If you would rather have a uniform texture to the cake, you could sieve the passion fruit seeds out or blend the passion fruit to make it smooth before stirring it into the cake or frosting. Add other tropical fruits to the mix for a more exotic cake flavour, rather than a specifically passion fruit one. Book Pairing : While making this cake, I was listening to A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. This one came highly recommended by my husband. Being different people, it took me a bit longer to get into it, but I am thoroughly enjoying it now. Written by a scholar of Byzantine history, this is a sci-fi book that draws much of its culture and political intrigue from Byzantine history. Sci-fi isn't as much my thing as his, which might explain why it took me longer to get into than him, but it is well written. I was also, in between mixing and baking, finalising papier mâché dragon eggs for the party favours. My dragon egg party favours

There are a few foods like that that I've enjoyed de-mythifying over the last few years, but this has

Ramen is something my husband started throwing together as a quick, easy and healthy meal a while back and we have it semi-regularly. He usually makes it with miso and beef broth, but we were out of miso, and I had pumpkin I wanted to use, so I went for a different flavour profile. Not what you might term authentic, Japanese ramen in the least, but tasty! Be aware, this recipe makes rather a large batch. I sometimes have issues with batch cooking... It did reheat very nicely though, with fresh noodles or a little extra stock. Ingredients: 4 onions, chopped 1 head of garlic, minced 3-4" ginger, minced 2-3 tbsp peanut oil 1 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar 1/2 leek, chopped 1 pack mange tout, halved 1 head of broccoli, floretted 3 l beef stock 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp ras-el-hanout 2 tsp Mix spice 2 c roast pumpkin purée 1 small squash, chopped 1/3c soy sauce Noodles sesame seeds 1) Heat the oil in the bottom of a soup pot. Sauté onions until translucent, then add garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant and starting to char a little and add squash. Cook 5 minutes, then add other ingredients except for mangetouts, noodles and sesame for seeds. 2) Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until squash and broccoli have reached just shy of their desired consistency, then add noodles and mangetouts. Taste test. 3) Remove from heat and serve as soon as noodles are cooked. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. I was unsure how this would come out but I am pleased with the end result. It would go very nicely with a little fresh coriander, but I didn't happen to have any on hand. It would also work well with veggie stock if need be. Flatteringly, even my dad, who was over for dinner and an evening with the grandbabies, enjoyed it and went for seconds. Until now, his ramen experience has always been the instant kind in teenage boys' dorm rooms, and he has always complained that it smells like feet. His enjoyment of it, I felt, was therefore quite high praise.

Out playing in the snow in severely negative temperatures the other day at sunset, we needed something quick and easy to feed everyone before heading into bath and bed routines for the Littles. Initially, we had thought of omelettes, then somehow, via savoury crêpes, we settled on sweet crêpes. I had some dried raspberries in the cupboard (they had been destined for some more chocolate flavouring experiments that I haven't gotten to yet), so in the absence of fresh raspberries (it being winter and all), I used the dried ones for a bit of a twist on our regular crêpes. Ingredients: 1 c flour 1/4 c powdered sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 c milk 1/2 c cream 1/4 c dried raspberries, crushed 2 tbsp lemon juice oil for cooking 1) Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Gradually add other liquids, mixing well until a loose batter is achieved. Stir in raspberries and lemon juice. 2) Heat a crêpe pan over medium-low heat (I have a dedicated cast iron one) and brush with vegetable oil. When it is hot, pour 1/2 ladle of batter in and rotate the pan to spread the batter in a thin round. DO NOT pour the oil in before the pan is hot as it will not spread properly or cook evenly. 3) Once the top side is matte and little bubbles have popped on the surface, flip the crêpe and briefly cook the other side. Serve hot. This hit the spot and was enjoyed by all. It's surprising what a difference a slight twist on a recipe can make sometimes. I personally prefer our regular ones, but Hubby and Little Bit insist that these are the best ever, so I'll let you make up your mind. Where do you sit on this question? Book Pairing: I was listening to Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse when we had these. It is a book I thoroughly enjoyed. It is the tale of two men, very different with different fates, and their effect on each other. Throughout though, I had a distinct sense of an echo of the Glass Bead Game, also by Hesse, which I listened to over a year and a half ago. I've not been able to put my finger on why. The plot and characters are different... Maybe it is just a stylistic echo, or maybe it was the same reader. I am not sure. It is amazing the difference that a reader can make to a book when you are listening to it instead of reading it off a page yourself...

temperature - it should be warm, but still cool enough that a (clean) pinky finger dipped in it is comfortable

Last night at dinner, à propos of nothing whatsoever, Little Bit declared amusingly that he wanted to make pear sorbet... with spices, maybe...and squeeze in some lemon. So today, that is what we did, although at the last minute, he decided against spices. What better occupation for a snowy day, with the thermometer at -10°C all day, than making a frozen dessert? I must add though, that having received a new ice cream maker for Christmas (the 30-year-old one from my parents finally gave up the ghost), I was not opposed to this idea. Below are two variations on the method, one with an ice cream maker, and one without. Ingredients: 2 c of pear, chopped up 3/4 c water 3/4 c light brown sugar juice of 1 lemon 1) Bring water and sugar to a boil, then reduce heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved to create a simple syrup, then set aside to cool. 2) Blend pear, lemon juice and syrup until smooth. Taste test. 3) Set aside in fridge until cool, then pour into ice cream maker as per instructions. OR: 2) Place pear chunks in freezer, spread on a tray in a single layer, until frozen. 3) Blend frozen pear, lemon juice and simple syrup. Taste test and place in freezer. I had wanted to make this with either maple sugar instead of the brown sugar or a dash of maple syrup but discovered that I was out of maple sugar, and the only maple syrup in the house was bourbon flavoured, so I gave that a miss. On the whole though, I was very happy with both the sorbet and the ice cream maker. The sorbet was nice and simple. Most importantly though, the instigator of this whole thing was happy with it. Definitely a keeper! We tried it on its own, then also as a Sundae (on Saturday) with toasted almonds, warm chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Oh the decadence! I might still try another version with some cinnamon and maybe a little of something else, or an elderflower and pear sorbet, but that is for another day. For now, there is very tasty sorbet to eat.

I like black pudding, which I know some consider to be an odd statement. (For those who don't know, black pudding is a blood sausage, frequently served as part of a full English or Scottish breakfast - also known as a fry-up. I do like them in that context, but this time when my sister exported some from Wales for me, I felt like doing something a bit different. For some reason, the idea of turning it into a pie, and of adding pumpkin to it occurred to me, and once it had come to mind, I had to put it into action or it would keep buzzing around in my brain. And what better for a cold winter evening than a warming stodge pie? So it was that we tried it out, and it hit the spot! Having tried vinegar in a pie crust a few weeks back and discovering that it works, I decided to take that route again with the crust, reducing the richness a little, and adding some flavour, without sacrificing flakiness. Starting out, I had no idea, beyond very broad brushstrokes, where I was going with this dish, and it only came together in the process of making it.I love it when that happens and things do come together well! Ingredients: For the crust: 2 1/2 c flour 1 c butter, cold 1/2 c apple cider vinegar 2 tsp thyme Nutmeg Pepper to taste For the filling: 2 - 2 1/2 c slab bacon, cubed 3ish c black pudding, cubed 2 small pumpkins, cubed 2 large onions, chopped 3 potatoes, chopped 2 tbsp lard 1 c red cooking wine 3 tbsp tomato paste 1/2 c apple cider vinegar (I used my homemade apple and rosehip vinegar actually) 1 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp rosemary 1 tsp allspice 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp sumac 1 1/2 tsp pul biber 6ish cloves 2 tsp dried orange peel Juice of 1/2 lemon 1/2 leek, in rings 1) To make the pie crust, place flour, thyme and pepper in a bowl. Grate in the fresh nutmeg and mix. Cut in the cold butter and rub into the flour with fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add vinegar and mix until just combined. Chill at least 30 minutes. 2) Spread the pumpkin out on a baking tray and roast at 180°C for about 30 minutes, until it is lovely and soft. Scoop out of the skin and set aside. 3)In a heavy skillet ( I used the cast iron one that was my grandmother and great-grandmother's, that I will be haunted for if I abuse it!), melt the lard. Add the onions, and fry until translucent, then add the bacon, potatoes and black pudding. Cook further. 4) When the contents of the pan appear to need some liquid, add the red wine, the vinegar, the lemon juice and the tomato paste. Stir in the roast pumpkin and the spices. Cook for about 10 minutes. 5) Roll out half of the pastry and line a pie plate with it. Scoop in the filling and lay the leek rounds over the top. Roll out the rest of the pastry, place on top of the pie and crimp on. Cut vents in the centre, and bake at 180°C for about 30-40 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot with greens on the side. This was delicious and so satisfying. It didn't come out as I had imagined it, with chunks of meat, and gravy. Everything all kind of fell apart and turned into a homogenous filling, but that is ok. It was pure stodge and did need greens on the side to offset the richness a little. We had kale and broccoli done with lemon juice. The only thing I think I might tweak would be the addition of fresh zest, and the use of more bacon. One slice was plenty, but so very tasty!