Food Bloggers Unplugged

Haha look at that happy face! I love it.

Susan from A little bit of heaven on a plate came up with this online tagging game to get to know fellow food bloggers. I've been tagged by Baking Addict at The more than occasional baker so here's my entry:

1. What, or who inspired you to start a blog?

I don't particularly know to be honest. After graduating in fine art last year I fancied a fun, stress free project which didn't involve painting (I fell out with paint). A good chunk of my final year work was photographic documentation of landscape and my outdoor work so I suppose I extended the documentation idea into my baking. I've always enjoyed baking but it never occured to me to start a blog until the end of last year when I finally had some free time.

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?

My Granny and her two sisters. All of those ladies really knew how to bake.

3. Your greasiest, batter-splattered food/drink book is?

Probably my mum's little cookbook which is full of tried and tested recipes, mostly from my Granny and her sisters.

4. Tell us all about the best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it, what was it?

To be honest I've only been abroad three times, two of which were when I was quite young. However the best baked good I've ever tasted away from home was when I visited one of my uni friends from Northern Ireland. We went to the tea room she did summer work in and we experienced "The Johnny Depp of baked goods". It was a bit like a white chocolate tiffin but with cranberries on top.

5. Another food blogger's table you'd like to eat at is?

Now that's a hard one, can I not just sample a bit from everybody? I'd certainly like to try one of the Caked Crusader's rocky road cupcakes and the more than occasional baker's banana, pecan and chocolate loaf. Kate's recent Thankgiving mini series has also looked fantastic, the bourbon pecan brownies in particular!

6.What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?

A Kitchenaid! And since money is no object I'll have lots of them, standing in a row on the worktop in a variety of colours please.

7. Who taught you how to cook?

My Mum.

8. I'm coming to you for dinner, what's your signature dish?

I'm not much of a cook to be honest, but I make a fairly tasty lasagne. Ultimately, I'd rather serve cake, cake and more cake.

9. What is your guilty food pleasure?

Nutella straight from the jar, condensed milk straight from the can, eating spoonfuls of left over icing (sweet tooth perhaps?)

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?

I have double jointed fingers which can bend backwards. It either amazes or terrifies people.

Finally... tag 5 other food blogggers with these questions... like a hot baked potato... pass it on!

1. Kim from Cakes from Kim

2. Rachael from Just a girl, her cookbook and her very beautiful kitchenaid

3.The almighty Caked Crusader

4.Laura Elizabeth from Chocolate & Pears

5.Paula from SweetHarts Cakes and Bakes

If you're tagged and fancy taking part, then use the Food Bloggers Unplugged logo and link up your post here and/or tweet #foodbloggersunplugged on Twitter. 

Beetroot brownies

It seems that these are rather controversial brownies, folk either love them or hate them. I researched a couple of recipes and the one on BBC Good Food website had very mixed reviews. I used a recipe from Helen's blog and I like them. The beetroot makes a super moist brownie and I don't think you really taste it, but my brother didn't like them because of the beetroot flavour, but then again he doesn't particularly like chocolate so he's hardly going to be a brownie lover in the first place.

The only changes I made to the recipe were adding an extra egg (as mine were very small) and using two small tins instead of a large one, hence the slimmer looking brownies.

It's a shame the photos don't show how red the brownies are in real life. I wish I took a photo of the batter, it was a crazy colour!

I must admit that I still can't quite get my head round the recipe. Beetroot in a brownie. Red brownies! Then again, carrot can be put in cake and it tastes brilliant. I think the recipe was a bit faffy for my liking, having to boil, peel and puree the beetroot before even doing the brownie mixture, but then again I'm just impatient. It was certainly a fun recipe to try!

Spiced beetroot & orange chutney

My aunty gave me some surplus beetroot this week so I saw it as an excellent excuse for trying my hand at chutney. I've never made any before, but got a chutney/jam making kit for my birthday last month which I've been itching to use. The recipe came from BBC Good Food if anyone else has a glut of beetroot which needs using.

What a lovely smell this made in the kitchen! In hindsight I did cut my beetroot on the chunky side, it probably should be much finer, but there was only so long I could be bothered standing at the kitchen sink chopping messy beetroot. I forgot to buy gloves to wear whilst chopping so I wore clear sandwich bags instead!

I also fancy making some beetroot and chocolate brownies. I keep hearing about them but have never tried them. Wish me luck!

Recent utility china haul

I was in Glasgow for a couple of days and this is what I managed to pick up in the charity/second hand shops.

Two yellow Jasmine Woods Ware sideplates (actually bought in Golspie not Glasgow). Yes, I know I have more sideplates than what is considered healthy (see here and here) but I don't have any of these. Who could resist their sunny yellow charm? I love them for their stylish backstamp alone. I think they're seconds as they have a couple of flaws but at 25p each I'm not complaining.

*sigh, this picture would be so much nicer had I ironed out the crease*

I found this lovely Johnson Bros Greydawn soup/dessert bowl. There were actually two but the other had a massive crack through the middle so I decided to leave it. Sadly I'm still no further in finding any dinner plates. I'd love to track down some Greendawn or Rosedawn but ultimately I'll take whatever I can find!

However I finally got my greedy hands on a little Woods Ware teapot! She (I've decided it's a "her") is in perfect condition and pours brilliantly; I can get just over 3 cups of tea from her.

Although not utility china, I found this gorgeous little Royal Winton jug too. It's not in perfect nick (has a tiny chip on the bottom and a couple of flaws in her glazing) but definitely very pretty and useable. It also has the same 1930s backstamp as my rosebud teacup and green cakestand but I haven't discovered which pattern it's from. If anybody does know then please let me know because I'm a geek.

Has anybody else found any pretty china this week? Go on, make me jealous.

Caramel cupcakes

I had some left over dulche de leche from making sticky toffee cupcakes last week (which were so good I didn't get a chance to photograph them) so I decided to try the caramel cupcake recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery book.

The recipe calls for a lot of sugar, A LOT. I was fairly concerned about it but carried on regardless. Although the cupcakes aren't bad by any means, they are very sweet, even by my standards. I just don't understand why the recipe needs so much sugar. I loved the idea of a caramel cupcake and the icing tastes brilliant but I think I'll use a different sponge recipe next time.

Check out my juvenile piped caramel! I had some leftover caramel so I thought I'd have fun with it. This is also the first time this cake stand has appeared on the blog. One of my friends made it for my 21st birthday (her mum is a ceramicist) and it has my name and a birthday message scored onto the underside, so it's completely unique. It's nice having arty friends :)

I'll add the recipe at a later date, promise! It's getting late and I need my bed.

Has anybody else tried this recipe and felt unsure about it?

Date scones

Mum said she would make some date scones today and I held her to it. I've had plain, chocolate chip and sultana scones before, but never dates so I was pretty excited about it.

I ate mine plain, fresh out the oven (definitely the best way) but we put some jam in Dad's scone to go with his coffee. Unfortunately we nearly burned the first tray of scones because we got distracted by the tv.

I also baked a batch of sticky toffee cupcakes for Bonfire Night. They were so good, almost too good because they all disappeared before I could take a photograph! The recipe was from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book and I'll definitely be making them again.

Other than the sticky toffee cupcakes, I really enjoyed the sparklers on Bonfire Night. My camera took some pretty funky photos on a slow shutter speed. The first one is a heart shape I made and the second one is with my cousin.

Date scones
Recipe from Mum's baking book, so probably from Granny.

3/4lb (340g) self-raising flour
3oz (85g) butter or marg.
3oz (85g) sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg
a little milk
handful of chopped dates.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6 and line two oblong trays with baking parchment. Rub together the flour and butter until it has a breadcrumb texture. Add the other dry ingredients and then the egg, mixing together with a knife. Add a little milk until the mixture is fairly stiff and then add anything extra such as a handful of chopped dates or sultanas. Press the mixture out with your hands to roughly half an inch in thickness (just over a 1cm) on a floured surface and cut out your scones. My cutter was just over 2 inches in diameter (5 or 6cm) and made just over 20 scones. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until risen and lightly golden on top.

No tricks but lots of treats

Many people may throw their hands up in horror, but I'm just not a fan of carving pumpkin lanterns at Hallowe'en. Give me a neepy lantern any day! *a "neep" is Scots for "turnip"*

My mum made the spooky owl and I made the witch's cat.

After two weeks of lying around due to my sore back I finally went back to work yesterday. Only two days a week at the moment though just to ease myself back in. I think mum took pity on me after my lousy two weeks and picked up a few treats for me yesterday. She knows me so well.

I don't think I've mentioned it before on my blog, but I absolutely LOVE buttons. So much that I have at least three tubs of them. I bought a pair of button earrings from Miss Selfridge a few years ago and I've been determined to make some button jewellery since. Mum bought some earring hooks and little crafty pliers and nippers so I can finally do it.

She also found these gorgeous pieces of coloured glass in a second hand shop.

They look pretty with little earrings hanging round the edge (check out my dolly mixture earrings!) I haven't completely decided what to use them for, I'm too busy admiring them at the moment.

This week I also knitted my first bow brooch! I first noticed them on Tea at Weasel's but the original pattern can be found here. I know the knot is meant to be on the front but to me it felt more bow-like this way round. My bow is nowhere near as neat as theirs (bear in mind I've only ever knitted two things and they were done 3 years ago) but I'm really proud of it. It was a really easy pattern to follow too. I might even make a few for Christmas presents.

I'm planning to bake some cupcakes this weekend so baking posts shall finally return this week. Hurray! I'd also like to thank everybody for all the lovely comments about my haircut in the previous post. It's always good to have the bloggers' seal of approval!