After the Easter Break

Easter has been and gone and it was a lovely time. We went to church on Easter Sunday and the service was very good. I have to admit I don't go to church as often as I should and it was just nice to be there for that special day. Justine is not a big fan of chocolate but she does eat some dark chocolate and anything Kinder so that that's the type of treats she got for Easter, together with a sweet homemade treat bag. I love crafting homemade cards, as you know by now, and other things too. Unfortunately, I am not partial to one type of chocolate, I am partial to chocolate, period! lol.

Justine with the Brownies flag for their mass at Saint Mary's church, Sunbury

Now school (and work, for me) has resumed and time is an important factor to consider when planning meals or outings. I still have my day off in the week, which makes a difference to what I can do. Without it, Justine would have much less homemade treats and elaborate meals. It doesn't mean that we don't eat out once in a while or have the occasional ready-meal. It has become a bit of a ritual that after Brownies, we have fish and chips (or nuggets and chips in Justine's case).
I made some delicious Mauritian Dhal Puris last time and I want to share the pictures with you. I made it twice and it came out a bit different every time...still delicious!

These dhal puris are soft flatbreads made with split peas (filling) that have been boiled in water to which turmeric and salt have been added. Once they are soft enough to squash between two fingers, they are drained and left to cool down but the cooking water must be reserved to make the dough. The dough is literally just flour, salt, oil and a little bicarbonate of soda. The split peas cooking water is used to bring these ingredients together into a soft dough. The dough is then left to rest for about half an hour, in a bowl, covered with a damp tea towel. Then little balls are made from the dough and stuffed with the split peas (that have been blended to a fine powder first). The balls are rolled out carefully on a well floured surface and cooked in a flat, non-stick frying pan or a tawa if you have one (it's an Indian Mauritian thing. lol). You can research how to make Dhal puris on YouTube or online. There are lots of resources about it. Along the way to perfecting my puris, I learnt that in Trinidad and Tobago, they also make them. There are subtle differences but essentially it's the same thing. 

Justine is very busy watching YouTube;) I better get busy with housework. lol.

Have a very good week and I see you here soon.

Bye for now:)) 

~Natascha~

Rainy days, sunny hearts!

Hi everyone, here in England it's been very grey outside (for a change! ha ha) but no matter, no matter, it's sunny in our hearts:)
So, with Easter fast approaching and Mother's day even closer, there's lots to get ready. I want to make a lovely card for my awesome mum who lives in Mauritius with the rest of my family. However, for some weird reason, often they do not receive my letters...they simply get "lost" in the post. Maybe they should try owls...but no, poor owls, that would be a long journey. Even by plane it is no less than 12 hours on a direct flight!! Speaking of owls, I want to show you a picture of Justine on world book day in her costume (which required some DIY;)) as Tiga Whiccabim of the Witchwars series of books.

Anyway, spring is coming and with it, Easter. I always have to be very creative about what to give my daughter as an Easter present since, unlike me, she is not exactly a chocolate person. If like my Justine your kids are not into chocolates, try these ideas: make a paper basket and fill it with fake straw and place their favourite candy in it. Then to embellish the whole thing, you could try making a crochet heart (if you are good with the crochet hook too;)) or a paper or fabric heart. To top it all off, make a sweet card and wish all matters of lovely things to your little sweethearts and there you have it, Easter presents for non-chocoholics.

These are only ideas and I have not even started anything yet. We have a couple of weeks off from work (because I work in a college) and school, starting on the weekend of the 6th of April. We can't wait! We will be visiting places, relaxing at home with little indoor activities and having walks in the park. It is so important to take the time to relax, with the busy lives we have. Even a five minute lie down on the sofa with your eyes closed and trying to empty your mind is useful to recharge your batteries. Another tip to start the day well and keep your energy levels high is to go to bed early and getting up early. You will see how the calm and quiet of early mornings is energising. You can seize the opportunity to have a bath once in a while (if like me, you are a shower-on-most-days person) and swirl a few drops of calming essential oils in it.

Playground days are already beginning:)

Justine has started to request visits to the playground and although it is still pretty chilly, it's not freezing cold and the fresh air can only be good for us.

What would be my blog if I didn't post a picture of my latest recipes or culinary creations! 😊😉 So, here are my lemony ricotta hotcakes with homemade blueberry syrup.

The recipe follows after the pictures.

For the hotcakes for two people, you will need a 250g tub of ricotta cheese, 90g of self-raising flour, 50g of caster sugar (so it dissolves easily), 3 large eggs (free-range or organic preferable), the zest of two lemons, 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter (softened).

For the homemade syrup, you will need: 150g blueberries, 3 Tbsp. maple syrup, 4 cardamom pods (slightly cracked open), 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.

Place all the syrup ingredients in a saucepan on the hob and bring to a boil. Then turn down to simmering point for about 3 minutes and take off the heat and set aside.

For the hotcakes, using a wooden spoon, beat together the ricotta, flour, sugar, yolks of the eggs, a pinch of salt and the lemon zest. Using electric beaters, beat the whites of the eggs until stiff and fold into the ricotta mixture.

On the hob, place a frying pan on a medium heat and put in it a Tbsp. of butter. Your batter should make 6 hotcakes in total. Put two dessert spoons of batter for one hotcake in the frying pan; make three at a time. Flip them after three minutes and cook for another couple of minutes one the other side. Repeat for the last batch of hotcakes. Serve warm with the syrup. Delicious! You've got to try that one! They are light and sweet and so pillowy. Each hotcake is about 250 kcal if you are interested in managing your calorie intake (I don't care about how many calories I eat, I will never weigh more than 7 stones 3 pounds...lol).

Enjoy the hotcakes and get making Easter crafts...please share any ideas with us;)

Mauritius, paradise island

I realise that I never made a post about where I come from, where I was born and became an integral part of my family, the society, the world and the universe!!
My home land is Mauritius, for those who do not know much about it, here is a map of the island. Mauritius is situated between the latitudes 19⁰58.8 and 20⁰31.7 south and longitudes 57⁰18.0 and 574⁰6.5 east. 

The island is quite small being only roughly 80 km long and 50 km wide, totalling a land area of some 1,800 km square. However, the beaches are so beautiful partly because of their sheltered lagoons which is protected by the third largest coral reef in the world! It's surprising but if you have been there and experienced the warm waters and pleasant bath in the clear sea water, you know there is no comparable feeling to this...simply divine.

In the twelfth century, the Arabs discovered the island but did not settle there (they named it Dina Arobi). It took about another 300 odd years for the Portuguese to come across Mauritius and they called it Cirne but still did not find it suitable for settlement. In 1598, the Dutch found the island and settled there. They cut down the ebony trees that covered most of the land to make furniture and repair their ships. At the time, the Dodo bird existed on the island and it is the only place in the world where it ever existed. Yet the Dutch killed the bird for its flesh and in the long run, the species became extinct. There are skeletons of the Dodo that can now be seen in the museum of natural history in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. The island later on became French (1710-1810) before being taken over by the British (won from the French in 1810 in the battle of Grand-Port) and remained under British legislation until 1968 when it obtained its independence. Mauritius has been a Republic since 1992.

If you ask a Mauritian what is the typical food there, we are at a loss for choice because our food is as diverse as our people. A Mauritian person could be anything between white and black, as well as Indian, Chinese and Tamil. The main religions are Hinduism, Catholicism, Buddhism and Islam. In colonial times, there were white people (from France and Britain mostly) and African people mainly and the influence is clearly reflected in the dishes and everyday food. As time went by, Indian indentured labourers came to Mauritius to work in the sugarcane fields and most of them remained there. Nowadays Mauritian food includes curry, biryani, fried noodles or rice, rice noodle soup, "rougaille" (a tomato based sauce cooked with any meat or fish you want), gratins, pulses....the list is long. The only thing that is for sure is that the food is always tasty and full of flavour.

Creme caramel heaven and Dim Sum

Hello there! How are we all doing? Here in England it's quite a chill time, no honestly, it's pretty chilly, lol. With a big chill comes the need for warm and comforting dishes. I have two recipes for you that don't really go together but I happened to have made them on the same day and thought you might like to have a peek and try them too.
So first things first, the main dish is Chinese dim sum, buns to be precise. They are similar to bao buns but not sure if they are the real deal. Whatever they are, they are tasty and easy to make at home with a few ingredients.
Here is what you will need for the buns:

1 tin coconut milk
2 tins (empty coconut milk tin) self raising flour
Good pinch of salt
16 Muffin cases
Steamer basket or bamboo steamer

You will need the following for the filling:

Chicken or beef
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
A pinch of salt
1/2 Tbsp mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tsp cornflour, diluted in a little water
Oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 spring onion, chopped

Here's what you do:

Cut the beef or chicken quite thinly and fry in hot oil. Add crushed garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and mirin. Mix well and add a little water so it doesn't stick. Sauté until the meat is cooked then add the cornflour slurry to thicken things up. Cook for at least 2 minutes after adding the cornflour. Take off the heat. Mix in the chopped spring onion.

In a food processor, mix the tin of coconut milk with two tins of self raising flour and the salt.  Process until the ingredients come together, forming a loose ball of dough. At this point, switch off the processor and take out the dough and put it on a floured surface. Flour your hands as you knead as the dough is sticky. Knead to form a rough sausage and cut it in 8 equal parts.
Flatten each part with your fingers and place some of the chicken or beef mixture in the middle, pinching the dough upwards to close the bun. Reserve the juices from the chicken or beef for dipping the buns.
Put each bun in a double layer of muffin cases.
In a large pan or wok, boil a good amount of water and lay the steamer on top. Place the muffin cases filled with buns in the steamer and cover. Steam for about 12 to 15 minutes. Enjoy while warm with some chili sauce and the reserved sauce from the meat.

Now for the dessert bit, let's talk caramel creme. Everyone likes those...they are oozing caramel and they are sweet and velvety. However, most people who make caramel creme at home make it with milk, sugar, eggs and vanilla. I have tried making it another way and it turned out lovely and just a tad tangy. Here's what I used:

One cup creme fraîche
Whole milk to top up to 300ml
3 large eggs
2 Tbsp caster sugar (you can use one Tbsp white caster and 1 Tbsp golden caster)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 Tbsp water

Proceed like so:

In a Pyrex small jug, or any other heat resistant jug, mix the granulated sugar with the water. Put in in the microwave on high for 2 minutes and then check that the caramel is coming on nicely every 10 seconds. Have a bowl of cold water ready to place the jug in to stop the caramel burning once it is done.  The caramel is done when it's an amber colour but not dark brown.
Pour the caramel into a heat proof dish to cover the bottom completely.
Using a hand whisk or electric whisk, beat the eggs, milk and caster sugar together. Add the vanilla essence and beat again. Make sure the sugar is nearly or completely dissolved into the liquid.
Pour the mixture over the caramel into the heat proof dish.
Boil the kettle and put some boiling hot water into a deep and bigger oven dish than the one containing the dessert mixture. Now place the dish containing the egg/milk into the bigger container with the hot water. This will help the custard cook gently using the technique known as bain marie.
Cook in a preheated oven at 170 degrees C for about an hour to an hour and 10 minutes. It's ok if the middle is still wobbly. Once it's cooled, put in the fridge to set fully. Enjoy cold or at room temperature.

Enjoy the recipes and ask if you want any clarification....see you all soon, time to do homework with my daughter:))

Curry Puffs: Weekend Treat

Start the weekend with these curry puffs and everything will seem better going forwards:)
They are easy to make and even easier to eat with a melt-in-the-mouth pastry. What's great is that they are mild enough to eat for breakfast so if you feel like an early start on the weekend, you could have them ready in an hour.
If you follow my recipe, you really can't fail these.

You will need for the filling:
a quarter of a small onion, chopped finely
a small bunch of coriander (cilantro for you my American friends)
a pinch of fenugreek seeds
a quarter teaspoon of ground coriander seeds
a quarter teaspoon turmeric powder
half a teaspoon of garam masala
2 curry leaves
Salt to taste
a handful of green beans cut in small chunks
one clove garlic and a small piece of ginger
a glug of oil

In a mortar and pestle, crush together the garlic, ginger, coriander leaves and stems. Keep aside.
Heat the oil in a frying pan or sauté pan on medium high heat; put in the curry leaves then the onions. Fry for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic/ginger/coriander puree. Fry for just a minute then add a small amount of water to prevent the garlic from burning. Add the spices to the pan; fenugreek seeds, ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala and a pinch of salt. Finally add the green beans and fry until tender (should take 5 minutes). Add a little water if it gets too dry. Leave this aside for now. Let it cool down.

For the dough you will need:
100g plain flour
50g butter
1 small egg
Salt

In a mixing bowl, rub the butter in the flour until you get a coarse breadcrumbs consistency. Add a little sprinkling of salt and mix it in. Make a well in the centre of the flour/butter mixture. Then, add beaten egg, a little at a time, until you have added just over half of the egg. Mix with a fork until it all comes together then swap the fork for your fingers. Do not knead this dough; just bring it all together and shape it into a disc. Wrap this in cling film and put in the fridge for no less than 30 minutes. When 25 minutes have passed, preheat the oven to 190C. Roll out the dough on a floured surface, cut out discs of roughly 12cm diameter and fill with the curried beans then, fold in half and press with a knife on the edge to crimp and secure the filling inside the puffs. Prick the dough on the top to allow steam to escape while baking. Make an egg wash with the rest of the beaten egg by adding a small amount of water to it. Use this to brush the puffs; this will make them golden, crispier and tastier. Bake a baking sheet lined with foil for about 15 minutes.

 

Take out and let them cool down slightly before tucking it.

Enjoy and let me know how you got on.

Back to Work, Back to School!

School is back in full swing and so is work (I work in a school, lol). It's great to be back in the routine though. Too much of a good thing and it's not good anymore.
Being back to work means things get busier and there is less time to do chores and hobbies. Here are a few tips to clean easily and effortlessly (or with minimal effort;)).
For instance, the shower head...if you live in an area of hard water especially, the shower head soon looks horrible and most of the little holes become blocked. One way to clean the shower head is to pour some vinegar in a zip-lock bag and dilute it a little if you want but pure will do the job faster. Insert the shower head inside the bag and lock as much as possible and leave all day while you are at work. When you come back, take the shower head out of the bag and rinse. Job done!
The tiles in the bathroom also can be sprayed with diluted vinegar (you can add some lemon juice for the nice smell) before you leave the house and scrub a little and rinse when you get back. It will make future cleaning easier as long as you do this regularly, about once every two weeks.
At least once a week, put your pillows near an open window if you live in a flat (apartment) like me. This will aerate them and prevent them from smelling. If they can be put in the washing machine, do this once a year at least.
Keep outdoor shoes for outdoors and have slippers or flip-flops for inside the house. This will help keep the floors cleaner for longer.
Clean as you cook; let me explain. Don't leave all the mess to be cleaned or cleared after you finish cooking. While you are cooking, put things to soak, load the dishwasher or do the dishes by hand while the sauce is simmering or the roast is in the oven. This will leave you with very little mess after dinner.
I hope these tips are helpful and let me know if you want specific tips about particular subjects.
Until next time:)
Have a blast this weekend!!

It's finally the holidays!

Hey, how are you all doing? I am feeling light and happy because it's not until the 7th of January that I will have to think about work again!😊 Then ten days later it will be my birthday, when I will turn 41. Justine broke up on the same day as I and that was so helpful. Have you sorted all your cards and presents? I am slowly getting there...I know, I am late this year, especially with cards. I am known to have wrapped all my presents by November 1st, lol. You must be thinking "Get a life!" but I believe some level of organisation in some areas are quintessential while in some other areas, spontaneity is the key.
Anyway, I would not be true to myself if I didn't pen off after giving you a recipe or recipe idea;) so here goes: try crispy chicken with golden potato wedges and vegetables of your choice.

To be honest, I had planned on making crispy chicken using seasoned flour and breadcrumbs but I was low on all-purpose flour (aka. AP flour) so I decided to venture into new realms...I used fine polenta mixed with the little flour I had left and seasoned it with salt and pepper and a little bit of chicken seasoning mix. I never measure any of these ingredients when making the seasoned flour so just use logic and put in what looks reasonable. I cut my chicken breast quite thin so it would take a very short time to fry. I only shallow fried them after dipping (I think the correct term is dredging) each piece in the seasoned flour/polenta mix. They looked so lovely and golden due to the polenta, it was hard to wait to eat them!
For the wedges, cut each potato in half first (this makes it easier to cut wedges afterwards) then cut each half into wedges but not too thick. The trick to get them all crispy and golden is to use a mixture of coarse polenta, a pinch of garlic powder, salt, pepper and a pinch of onion powder on the wedges. First you need to coat the potato pieces with oil (I use rapeseed a lot for frying and general cooking because it is good for you and it has a high smoke point). After coating them in oil, dredge them into that polenta mixture and bake on a baking sheet in a preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius (that's about 375 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 35 to 40 minutes (just keep an eye on them past the 30 minutes mark).
As for the vegetables, you can cook (boil, steam or roast) whatever you like to go with your dinner but I have an idea for divine green beans. Use fine green beans to be quick but any will work. Cut the beans into short chunks then fry them on a medium high heat into a skillet that has a small amount of hot oil in it. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Continue frying for 5 minutes and take off the heat; they are best served immediately.
Enjoy the ideas and good luck with all the festive preparations, decorations and visits! See you again soon...don't forget to eat mince pies and drink hot chocolate;)

Sorry I look like I just woke up (I had just woken up...lol)

Christmas is fast approaching!!

How ready are you for Christmas? Got some presents, food, drinks, cards sent? I cannot say I can tick all the boxes myself...oops! ;)
I have most of the presents sorted, some of the food, no drinks yet and very few cards sent. Looks like I have to get going!
While all the festive stuff is happening, life still carries on alongside it so I thought of just making this short and sweet post to update you about what we're up to and still slip in a recipe for you to try.
Christmas is a busy period so it helps to save time when possible. This is a fast and delicious breakfast recipe that will keep your energy up but that doesn't compromise on taste...
...you will use:

• Yogurt (full fat has more creaminess and taste)
• One heaped teaspoon marmelade or jam of your choice 
• One teaspoon flaked almonds (or any nuts you like)
• One heaped teaspoon mixed dry berries (raisins do fine too)

Mix everything together and enjoy!
Happy festive season....I will drop back in soon for another post!

Black Friday...

What is Black Friday?

All it is, is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America (Thanksgiving being the fourth Thursday of November). It is one of the busiest shopping days in the whole year because it sort of marks the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

Grabbing Black Friday Deals: Clever or Silly?

Whether it is silly or clever to grab deals on Black Friday and any other day for that matter, depends on whether you need those items you are buying. If you only buy something because it is on sale, it is not so clever. For instance, I needed to buy my Secret Santa gift and some other gifts for my colleagues and I got myself some juicy deals and I say that's a win situation!:)

What are you up to this Friday?

I happen to be off work today and my daughter and myself plan to spend the day at home mostly, if not entirely. What are you all up to? I guess most people are working...on the plus side, it's nearly the weekend!:)) This morning, I made crepes (thin pancakes) and I need to share (or re share) the recipe with you because they turn out perfect and light every time. 

The amount of ingredients below makes about 6 small pancakes or 4 large ones.

You will need:

50g all purpose flour (sifted to remove lumps)

150ml milk (I use whole milk)

1/2 Tbsp. melted butter (melt it in a small bowl in the microwave on the low setting) - plus some butter for the pan

1/2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg (beaten)

Vegetable oil for the pan

How you make the pancakes:

Beat the egg with the sugar in a small bowl.

In a jug, put the sifted flour and half the milk then beat well and then slowly beat in the rest of the milk. Now add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Pour in the vanilla and mix in well, along with the melted butter. Let your batter rest for at least half an hour in the fridge before cooking them, if you have time. 

When you are ready to cook the pancakes, heat up your pan on medium high and pour in a 1/2 tsp. oil plus a little butter. As it sizzles, pour some batter to evenly coat the surface of the pan and cook for about a minute on one side then flip and cook for 30 seconds. You can put some hazelnut chocolate spread on the pancakes or squeeze some lemon and sprinkle some sugar on them. Both are delicious. 

Enjoy guys!

Perfect light and fluffy pancakes

If any of my friends or family members visit my blog, here is a picture of Justine (my eight year old daughter) - this was taken yesterday on the way to school...

Justine wrapped up warm; it was -1 degree after all!

I guess I better start on some housework...long overdue! 😆 Ok everyone, enjoy your weekend if I don't check back in here for a few days. I will keep you posted about what we are up to and give you plenty of interesting ideas for the holidays!

Big kiss and warm hugs...xoxo

It is beginning to feel a lot like....

...Christmas! With this special time of year just round the corner, the pressure is on to get all Christmassy and festive, to think of gifts for loved ones and to think of ideas for the Christmas meal.
I personally like to include a little personalised something when I give away my gifts to friends and family. Already I feel like I left it a bit late to get crafting those personalised somethings but I will try my best to get them done;)
One item I found last year (to be repeated this year definitely!) is a cute crochet 3D puffy heart. So adorable! Take a look...

They are quick to make and are always loved by the receivers. Look for 3D crochet heart free patterns online and you will find an array of websites that offer a free pattern. I have tried a few and they all work fine.

Soon we will be baking gingerbread cookies. Apparently saying gingerbread 'men' is wrong nowadays and we are supposed to say gingerbread 'person', lol, can you believe the nonsense?! I am sure my little Justine will be eager to help me decorate these gingerbread men (oh yes, I will say it the way I like! lol).

A short but sweet post and hope you are all well and kicking:) Day off today for me so a spot of shopping, a spot of cleaning and a lot of relaxing I hope. Tomorrow is another day, make the most of the present time. Happy Wednesday everybody!

Happiness comes from within

You must be thinking, "she is out of her usual territory of keeping things light". Well, not really. I just notice so many unhappy people around me, including some very special ones that I care about deeply. This makes me sad because so many people have it all wrong; they expect life to veer round the corner and to just be perfect, or, they expect their partner, friends and/or kids to make them happy. To sum up their expectations, they want their happiness to come from external sources, from other people or happenings. I doubt if they will ever feel happy...
Happiness comes from within ourselves. We make ourselves happy by doing what we enjoy, by reaching out to people who we value, by creating enjoyable moments. We can give without expecting anything in return, we can like and love without expectations of being liked or loved back. You can smile when you feel like it and just enjoy little, everyday things.
Enjoying a cup of your favourite herbal tea, watching your favourite series of the moment, or crafting something out of that amazing shiny card you bought....all those things are so simple but are what makes a simple everyday special. Keep doing what you enjoy doing, that's the only way to be happy. What we enjoy may evolve and that's ok too, just as long as it happened naturally and not through pressure from other people.
Ok, enough of all that deep talk:) Now on to serious business, food! (how did you guess?? lol)
Yesterday I thought how nice it would be to have some cheesy scones to eat for lunch and the only way to get exactly what I wanted was to make it! So I did!

Perfect flaky soft cheese scones

Now I've done it, I made you hungry! lol That's ok, you can go and try to make these scones too. They are easy and quick to whip up and take only 15 minutes to bake. The recipe is from Rachel Allen and appeared on someone's blog. That's how I found it: I looked for cheese buttermilk scones. Anyway, I would post the recipe but not sure if it's allowed.

Something else I| made that was quick, easy and tasty is Jamie Oliver's pizza dough. I topped it with some tomato and basil pasta sauce, slices of basic mozzarella and finished with a layer of pepperoni slices. Justine (my daughter) loved it and I also thought that this dough was a keeper.

That is how it turned out...

Messy, gooey, homemade delicious pizza

Today I will be cooking some Mauritian dishes, ready for when my work friends come over for dinner on Thursday. A lot of Mauritian dishes actually taste much better if they sit in the fridge for a couple of days so that will work very well. "Vindaye Poisson"* with French bread slices for starters, brown lentils, "beef rougaille"* and plain rice as the first main, Mauritian pilau rice with sausages, peas and egg as the second main. For dessert, I am thinking along the lines of a pudding...."Poudine Mais" (translation: maize pudding).

* Vindaye is a mustard seed, turmeric and vinegar paste

   Rougaille is a tomato sauce with ginger, garlic, thyme and parsley 

I will be busy cooking while Justine goes off with her friend to the trampoline park and has a sleepover. Tomorrow, my friend is coming with her two kids and I have booked a slime workshop and bowling to keep them entertained! 

Be happy, keep smiling!

Hello! It's Half-Term Break, Hurray!

Hello everyone!
I really hope you are all doing ok. Justine and myself are both on half-term break and it's a relief. I do have a lot on though but good things; Justine's cousins are coming over tomorrow to play with her. Then Tuesday, Justine is off to the trampoline park with a friend and will have a sleepover at her house afterwards. Wednesday my best friend is coming over with her two children and will stay with us for one night. Thursday my colleagues are coming to mine for dinner and I am starting on the cooking on Tuesday. Mauritian food tastes better if it sits in the fridge for a couple of days anyway. Friday will be mostly a chill day for us but I will have to tidy up and clean a little bit I guess. Although that could wait for the weekend because Justine will be at her dad's.
That's my schedule for the week; pretty full on as you can see:)
Anyway, in my last post, I promised to put a picture of Justine's wand up in this post and here it is...

Justine now has a Harry Potter wand from the Harry Potter Studio Tour shop but I do like the one dad made for her, it's rugged and magical!;)

Now it's time for a little recipe for another kind of magical spell - a delicious rice dish!

What would be my blog without talking about food?! I absolutely love food, sweet and savoury but I have a particularly sweet tooth:)) This recipe is inspired from Hainan's chicken rice but without the Pandanus leaves which can be hard to find in some regions of the world.

You will need:

• ginger (two 2cm pieces)
• garlic (2 cloves)
• shallot (quarter, cut into small pieces)
• lime (half)
• sea salt 
• rice (or white) vinegar
• chicken breast left whole (one)
• soy sauce
• spring onions
• vegetable oil (preferably not olive)
• mortar and pestle
• rice (washed and soaked in tap water for 10 minutes)

Using the mortar and pestle, make a paste of a 2cm piece of ginger, 2 garlic cloves, a good pinch of sea salt, and a good squeeze of lime juice. Add the shallot pieces and further bash to make a paste. Drain the rice. Cut slits all over the chicken breast and insert slices of ginger and spring onion in these slits. Put the chicken in a saucepan of cold water (just cover the chicken) and add a good pinch of salt to the water. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to allow for a gentle simmer. Let the chicken simmer for 15 minutes. In the meantime, pour a swig of vegetable oil into a sauté pan and heat on medium heat. Fry the garlic, ginger, shallot and salt mixture for around 5 minutes (do not let it brown too much). Spoon out the mixture and put into a bowl. Immediately pour a tablespoon of rice or white vinegar on the hot mixture. 

Fry the drained rice in the same oil used for the mixture ; fry for 2 minutes then use the chicken stock (chicken cooking water) to cook the rice - pour enough stock over the rice to just cover it and bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to lowest setting. Cook for approximately 10 minutes. Taste to see doneness. 

Slice spring onions finely to sprinkle over finished dish. Slice chicken and reserve the rest of the broth to moisten rice when served. Serve rice, mix some soy sauce in the broth and pour some of this over the rice. Mix some of the ginger/garlic/shallot mixture into the rice. Place a few chicken slices on the rice and sprinkle some spring onion on top.

If you happen to have some salad cress lying about, it can be used as an accompaniment to this dish. It adds freshness and a further bit of green. Just squeeze some lime juice over the cress before serving. 

Enjoy!

Let me know if you tried it, if you liked it and if you made any changes, let me know what worked for you:)

I guess I will pen off for now, Justine is back from her sleepover, I will go spend some time with her!

Bye!!!

Hello from Mauritius!

Hello everybody. If you are a student from the United Kingdom, I hope you are enjoying a well deserved summer break. We are enjoying our time with family, friends and acquaintances:) Justine especially likes a day at the beach, splashing in the warm sea water and building sand castles. My favourite beach is Pereybere in the north of the island. The water is clear and shallow and the sand is fine; if heaven is on earth, I would not be surprised if it's there;)

We have lots of relatives here and we are trying to visit as many people as possible without missing out on some sight seeing (especially for Justine's benefit). So far, so good! We have not only been to the beach but also to gardens and various towns. Shopping in Mauritius can be very interesting;) you can try yourself at haggling with the hawkers and grab yourself a bargain in branded shops. The food here is basically asian but there is also some creole dishes due to the strong african influence from colonial times. I particularly like the "rougaille", a tomato based sauce in which Mauritians put meat, salted fish or sausage. It's a real explosion of flavour. If ever you visit here, be sure to try this with a "bouillon brede", which is a soupy, leafy vegetable dish. Rice is the staple food of Mauritius; it's eaten with practically everything and every day. 

Saffron rice with chicken 

Today we took a break from going out and decided for a chilled day at my parent's. I did some leaf rubbings and just helped around the house, like old times, like when I lived here. Justine played on her tablet and ate some local delicacies made by my parents and my uncle. Dad is quite good at wood carving. He made a magic wand for Justine who is of course thrilled by it! I don't have a picture of it yet but I will soon get one and post it in my next entry.

Below I am including some pictures of our time here so far. Lots more adventures to be had;)

Spring at last?

- "Hey, how ya doin'?"

- "Good thanks, and you?"

Don't you find that we often say we are "good", "fine", or "well" even if sometimes it's not entirely true? I find myself saying that and then just afterwards, I realise it's not totally the case. I guess we give that reply for several reasons; it takes too long to say why we are not ok or we might think people ask us how we are just out of good manners so we would probably bother them if we were to say "actually, I am not all that well"! It calls for a 'lol', doesn't it? ;)

Enough of those reflexions...

On a less nerdy note, spring might be on its way or it could be that we won't have much of a spring and jump right into summer. The trees and bushes are in bloom and all the daffodils are showing off their lovely flowers.

It's so much more pleasant to walk and be out of doors when the weather is so generous, providing long days and enough warmth to make it comfortable.

My daughter and I have started going out and about again, by the riverside and the park. The ducks certainly seemed to like the attention, or maybe it was just the bread...

At home, as usual we have been busy. Justine is gradually playing with the toys she got for her birthday. She already wore her new booties and pyjamas. She took her new bag to school and had her new plushy key chain on the zip. Plenty more to go:)

I  have been baking, cooking and just trying myself at origami.

Grilled courgettes with melted cheese

Today I made biryani for dinner, fish biryani. Absolutely yummy! I made a cucumber salad to go with it. I know it's daunting to make but it doesn't have to be . You just have to start the marinating the night before. All you need to do is marinate fish, beef or chicken in yogurt in which you mix ground coriander, shredded mint leaves, salt, cinnamon powder, cloves powder, cruched garlic and ginger, melted ghee. Then you need to grab a large potato, cut it into wedges and fry in oil till all sides are golden. You also need onions, quite a lot, cut in slices and fry on medium low until golden and crispy. Rinse some rice in cold water, drain. Time for layering; thin rice layer, some potato wedges and some onions, rice layer, fish/chicken/beef (brown chicken or beef first beforehand), rice layer, potato and onions, rice layer and finally rest of onions.  Now infuse some boiling hot water with saffron and mix in some salt. Pour this over the layers until hot water just goes past the top rice layer. Cover and cook for 25 minutes without opening the lid. Enjoy with slices of cucumber.

I am by no means an origami expert but I can say I mastered the folds and unfolds and my favourite piece of origami of the moment is this cute heart bookmark. So easy and so useful too. We use them in our bedtime storybooks and we offered them as gifts.

After dinner, since I totally forgot to take my daughter to her swimming lesson (ha ha ha), I thought I might as well make her a scrumptious cake. She is a plain kind of girl (I mean she likes her pasta mostly plain, plain cakes, crackers separate from her cheese...you get me) so I went ahead and made Japanese cloudy sponge cake. So yum! So fluffy! Tastes like taiyaki (little fish-shaped custard filled buns).

I think I have done enough blogging for today. Enjoy reading through my blog and please do ask me any questions about what you read. Have a good day, afternoon or evening, depending where you are in the world. Fairy kisses....

Craft, cook, dance, sing and laugh!

Craft, cook, dance, sing and laugh!

Yeah, I mean it; if you do what you like, you will be happy. Not rocket science. I often came home from work feeling exhausted and wanting only one thing: shut the outside world out and put my feet up with a cup of steaming tea. However great that might sound, it's not always possible. We all have responsibilities and chores to do. I decided anyway, no matter how tired I might feel, my 'putting my feet up after work' time would not exceed a half hour. I get on with doing things and not just chores but playing Legos with my daughter, trying out a new bake, crafting something or listening to music and dancing to it. It is working in making me feel loads better. I don't feel as exhausted because I am happy to be self motivating myself to doing the activities I enjoy, if only I begin them and don't fall into a slumber. 

Here is an Easter basket I made out of old magazine pages. Paper crafting is a great way to recycle old magazines, which are usually colourful and bright.

Easter weaved paper basket

It is presently nearly 11 pm a2nd I 2have just taken out a batch of rolls from the oven (and have also eaten 2 already with butter!). Justine will have them for breakfast and I am guessing she won't have hers with butter or any other spread. To be fair, those rolls are delicious as they are. 

Soft pillowy rolls

These rolls are easy to make, hardly any kneading required and they bake for 20 minutes. However, it must be said that they need double rising; the time can be well spent painting your nails or doing your hair or even watching an episode of your favourite series on Netflix or Amazon Prime videos. Alternatively, if you have children, you could end up being Mia or Stephanie in a Lego session😉. They are worth it though. So delicious! I hope the Pioneer Woman won't mind that I reveal that the recipe is from her website. I absolutely love her show and her recipes. Please visit her website and try out the delicious recipes. It's no nonsense meals that are hearty, scrumptious and family-friendly. 

Anyway, time to dash, to read my book before some shut-eye. Have a good day, morning, afternoon, evening or night, wherever you may be. Until next time...

Nailed it!

I know this blog is supposed to be about life (yours) and style but let's face it, we spend a lot of our life eating or more precisely, cooking, thinking about what to make for dinner and so on. Therefore it's not surprising that recipes, tips and tricks are useful.
Everyone loves a little pot de crème or creme caramel dessert. I tweaked all the recipes I have found along the years and came up with my own very successful recipe. Silky, delicious and indulgent, this is an easy recipe to get perfect creme caramel every time.
It serves 6 in little ramekins or 4 in medium sized ones.
You will need 3 large eggs, 200ml whole milk, 100ml whipping cream, 3 heaped Tbsp granulated sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat everything together with an electric whisk. You will also need 1/3 of a cup of granulated sugar to caramelise for the bottom of the ramekins. If caramelising sugar on the hob is not your strong point, do it in the microwave in a heatproof jug; use a small jug to make pouring easy. Add 1 and a half Tbsp water to the sugar and place it in the microwave on medium high and set to 2 and a half minutes. Then you have to do it by eye (and nose;)) until you get a nice brown colour and that unmistakable caramel smell. Increase the time by increments of 10 seconds. Stop the sugar cooking by placing the jug quickly in a bowl of cold water. Get your kettle ready with boiling water for the water bath. Pour the caramel quickly in the ramekins while still liquid. Then place the ramekins in a baking dish or deep tray and pour boiling water in the tray to about halfway up the ramekins. Pour the milk and egg mixture in the ramekins and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes. Your pots are ready! If you like nutmeg, grate a little bit finely on the surface of the creme caramel. Chill your little pots for an even better experience.

Happy Easter holidays!

Have you been having fun? We have been on Easter break for about five days. Rest was our priority as the last five weeks have been pretty full on at work and I am sure Justine worked very hard at school too:)

I always find time to cook tasty balanced meals though, no matter how tired I am. Justine has sometimes helped;) She loves mixing up various soaps in the bath (maybe she will be a chemist) and she extends her love of mixing in the kitchen!

I have also been crafting and watching my favourite movies again. I am reading The Hobbit (again!) and trying to make it last. 

Below, I am sharing some recipes with you and some ideas to make your everyday cooking easier. 

Pancakes 

These pancakes are easy to make, perfect for breakfast or snacking and they are practically foolproof. Here's how to make them:

Mix 150ml whole milk with one egg and 50g all-purpose flour. Add a dash of vanilla extract and beat well with a hand whisk. Last but not least, melt about half a Tbsp of butter and pour it in the mixture and beat again. Let this rest while you get the pan ready. A non-stick large frying pan is your buddy here. Heat it up on high until it's pretty hot then pour in a little bit of oil (about a tsp). Tilt the pan to coat it well with the oil. Reduce the heat to medium. Beat the batter before pouring each portion in the pan; there is enough for four big pancakes. Make sure there is a little oil in the pan before cooking each pancake and cook each of them for about one minute on the first side and 30 seconds on the other side. Spread with honey, Nutella or peanut butter or anything you want really!

Justine with the pizza we made

We made pizza a few times too. Making pizza at home is not as daunting as some might think. I followed Jamie Oliver's recipe; it always gives a great result. The crust is perfect and the topping leaves room for anything you might want to add or vary.

Me:)

Two of our colleagues left the college and we went out for a farewell dinner with them at the Indian Zest (by the riverside). The meal was lovely, the decor amazing yet simple and the staff very efficient. I took that picture just before going out. I am forty years old now, in case you were wondering about my age;)

Justine as Harry Potter for World Book Day

Justine dressed up as Harry for World Book Day:) and soon we will be going to Harry Potter world in Watford. We are both very excited!

My little caramel creme pots

These caramel creme pots are easy to put together. I will make sure to include the recipe soon. Below is the crochet basket I made for Justine to hold her Easter treats. I used chunky fabric yarn for it and basket stitch.

The card we made for one of our dearest friends

Feel free to ask me questions about the posts and its contents. Enjoy!