Eating my way through London

Eating is something we have to do to survive, but how many times do you really sit down and enjoy your food? How many times do you pick out the different flavors or compare what different breads taste like? I've been watching a documentary and in it one chef said that we need to start thinking about not only what we eat but what we eat eats. We are not only what we eat but we are what we eat eats. It was mind blowing to me. Here's a little bit about what I ate in London. What's your favorite place to eat where you live?

My first meal was a burger and a red stripe beer. I was starving and hadn't eaten since 12 the previous day. Needless to say, it was delicious.

We decided to walk home and got lost. Walking all over Shoreditch and being Jet Lagged equals a very passionate Italian, and hot chocolate.

The next day we had tea! It was delightful and a wonderful opportunity to people watch. 

That evening we decided to venture into The Ritz for drinks and were delighted with some desserts. The colors of the drinks were so beautiful, and the garnish of small flowers was the perfect pop of color. 

This tiny cup of coffee is the best I've ever had. When I ordered at Borough Market I was expecting a normal sized coffee and was saddened when I received the smaller younger brother of coffee. When it tried it all my sadness left and was replaced by delicious true to the bean coffee flavor. I would order that again any day.

Some fish and chips were had, with breakfast tea, on a rooftop terrace.

 

I drank many cups of coffee this trip.

I also had a delicious piece of cake and a white chocolate to die for at Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium. Look at that cute cat paw! 

Finished my last day with some tacos....

and one more cup of coffee before returning to Florida. 

There were many beers had and fun times. Next post will be about the places in London, but the food has been on my mind a lot today! Wishing for my next cup of coffee!

Summer Cranberry Sandwich

Ingredients: 

2 chicken breasts

1 red apple

1/2 cup cranberries

1/4 cup red onion

3/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup dijon mustard

3 celery sticks

1 tsp dill

salt and pepper to taste

lettuce and tomato slices

Method: Cut up your two chicken breasts, cut your apple and onion into small slices (I used a food processor), then cut your celery into small slices. Combine all ingredients, other than your tomato and lettuce, to make your sandwich. Layer your lettuce and tomato on the bread then add your chicken spread. Enjoy! Would be delicious for a picnic.

Healthy Avocado Sandwich

For this Sandwich you need two slices of bread, lettuce, three slices of avocado, pepper jack cheese, hummus, and cucumber. 

Stack your layers whichever way you choose, but don't add your lettuce, then place your sandwich into a pan and melt the cheese slightly. After one minute add your lettuce then flip and let sit for another thirty seconds. Enjoy!

Christmas Party Sweets

I love working with chocolate! I think part of it might be because it is chocolate, but I love how many different aspects you can create with chocolate! For my cheesy Christmas party this year I decided to try to make cake pops again, but this time I decided to not add the "pop" stick part and make it almost more of a chocolate piece. I also added some peppermint to both that dessert and to add it to some delicious pretzel chocolates. I did make actual food for the party but dessert is always my favorite type of food to make for a party.

Personal Apple and Pumpkin Pie Recipe

I can't believe Thanksgiving is sneaking up on us already, but before Thanksgiving comes Friendsgiving. Every week my small group gets together and makes food; it's nice to know that at least once a week we're all going to get a home made meal. This week we're all getting together and having our own version of Thanksgiving (Friendsgiving). I'm going to be making these lovelies again because they were so easy and delicious!

Pumpkin Pie:

Needed: cupcake tin, cooking spray, 1 can of pumpkin, 1 14oz can of condensed milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, a regular pie crust, 1/2 teaspoon of: ginger, nutmeg and salt. 

Spray the bottom and sides of the cupcake tin. next cut up your pie crust and mold it into the tin in making a little bowl for your filling, next combine all of your dry ingredients into one bowl. In another bowl whip your eggs a few times then add in your pumpkin and your dry ingredients. Finally add your condensed milk. It may look a little thin but after it cooks the eggs will help it to set. 

Set your oven to 350. After filling your molds but your little pies into the oven for about 30 minutes. I say about because each oven is different, I would suggest checking after every ten to see if they need more time. Finally take them out and enjoy!

Apple Pie filling:

Needed: 1-2 apples depending on how many you want to make, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, a sprinkle of lemon juice. We don't like our apple pie very sweet. Depending on how many you want to make you can follow a full recipe.

The process is basically the same as the pumpkin pie besides adding your apple filling. To make the lattice I used the scraps from cutting out the full pie crust. Combine them and roll them out on a cutting board. Slice small strips, the thicker they are the more your lattice will cover the pie. Weave each strand and create the lattice look, then place it over your pie and meld the edges to the edges of the crust.  

The oven temperature is still 350 but my apple pies took about 7 minutes longer to cook than my pumpkin did. Be careful removing them from the tin because of the apple it become slightly more tricky to get out. Enjoy both of your pies!

They were so delicious, especially if you add whipped cream! And don't feel guilty about eating more than one, I know I don't.

Easiest Pumpkin Muffins Ever!

I was honestly skeptical when I first heard about this recipe because I though, "It can't be that easy." But it was. To make these delicious muffins you need a can of pumpkin, a yellow cake mix and a little milk. That's it; I know right sound fake. While making it we changed it up a little by adding a little vanilla nut butter and cheese cake frosting.

To make, set your stove to 350 degrees. Next mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. At first it was a little thick which was why we added the milk. We measured by eye until the mixture looked more like a muffin mix and not as thick as before. Then put the mixture in the pan and bake. Set the timer for 15 minutes then poked it to see if the fork came out clear. If it doesn't put it in for a little longer. Finally eat, but be careful. I ate two before even putting any icing on, patience isn't a strong point when it comes to food. Enjoy!

Make Your own Jam

A great summer jam is delicious. Bagels have been a large part of my breakfast this summer, it's time to make some jam to add! Here is a little variation of a simple jam recipe, that makes it even better.

What you will need: 2lbs of Strawberries, 1 1/2 lemons zested and juiced , 2 cups of sugar. This amount made the two jars above and another smaller one, but I ate that one. 

I love a recipe that is delicious and super easy to make. The longest part is the waiting. Cut up your strawberries into small pieces (at first I had mine as big as the picture above but then I cut them even smaller).


 Zest and juice your lemons, and add the lemons and the sugar in your sauce pan. Put the oven top on low and allow for your sugar to melt.After 7-10 minutes add your strawberries in and boost the temperature up to medium heat. After 10 more minutes taste and check your consistency. 

I've checked around and people say that if you put a plate in the freezer you can test your jam by taking a little from the pan and setting it on you cold plate. If it runs easily when you tilt the plate then you need to allow it to cook longer. I tried this and mine was still a more liquid consistency, but I've heard a lot of people using this technique when they make jam.

Even though mine didn't pass the cold plate test it is still delicious. With the added half of the lemon added, it gave the jam an extra lemon taste that I enjoy. If you only add one lemon, or even a half of a lemon the flavor pallet will change. With a simple recipe like this you can exchange strawberries for blueberries or change the lemon for some raspberries. It's up to you. If you make jam let me know, I would love to see the pictures!

Revitalize Thanksgiving Day 2

It's thanksgiving day 2. Here are a couple ways you can redo your menu to keep it interesting.


Super Easy Whipped Cream
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 table spoon of powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Recipe:

Taste it to see if you like the taste or if you need to add any more sugar or extract. Mix together until peaks form. Hint (it will take four times longer if you try to hand mix it. If you have a mixer use it!) 

Redo Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• Cranberries to the color you want
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/16 cup of sugar
• A couple walnuts 

Recipe: 

Bring your water to a boil and add in the sugar until it dissolves. Add your cranberries in and bring the sauce back to a boil. ( I only had canned cranberries. I was a little nervous that it wouldn't turn out but it stilled tasted good.) Add in your walnuts. Only let it the walnuts stay in for a minute or so. Don't let them burn. It may look a little thin but it will thicken once you let it cool in the fridge. 

A couple add ons to the top:

• Add a little brown sugar on top of the sweet potatoes
• Add garlic to your white potatoes
• OR rub some garlic on the plate before you add your white potatoes or your stuffing 

5 minute Christmas Apple Dessert

I was hungry yesterday and felt like making a snack. At first I was going to add peanuts instead of peppermint but I saw peppermints on the counter and thought it would taste good, and it did! It's a super simple dessert, but it's really delicious. I'm definitely making this for my Christmas party.

Ingredients:

• 2 apples
• 3oz milk chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons of caramel
• 3 crushed peppermints

             

Directions:

• Cut up your apples into slices
• Melt the chocolate
• Drizzle the chocolate and melted caramel on top
• Sprinkle the peppermint on top while the chocolate and caramel are still melted so it sticks too it 
• Put into the fridge to harden
• EAT

Food Prep

Honestly I don't spend the little free time I have cooking, but I'm in a food prep class at school and I love it! Here are a couple dishes I have actually made. My favorite was the chocolate truffles, what's your favorite thing to cook?

Blueberry Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

• Ice
• Handful of blueberries (or any other fruit you want)
• A little less than a cup of milk
• Honey
• Vanilla extract (Put a little in then test how it tastes. Too much and it will taste weird)

Directions:

• Put everything in a blender and tada! It's really that simple. It only took about 5 minutes and I had a great snack, and it was healthy! 

Cake Pops Recipe

Yesterday my small group didn't know what to eat for dessert so we decided to make cake pops. They were super easy and delicious. We even ended up making too many expecting the guys to eat like 12 each. They were so rich and filling that we only used one cake mix and had leftovers. All in all cake pops were a great decision! Can you tell which one I made? 

Ingredients: 

• Cake mix (any kind)
• All the necessary ingredients to make a cake (for example- eggs, water, oil)
• Icing (we used vanilla) 
• Chocolate (we used both white and milk)
• Any extra toppings you want to add
• Ice cream scoop
• Cookie sheet(s)
• Sticks/ lollipop sticks (we found ours in the baking aisle) 

Directions:

• Bake your cake using the normal ingredients and time
• When you take it out of the oven instead of adding the icing on top and eating, tear the cake apart and put it into a bowl
• Mix in your icing (one tub of store bought icing per cake)
• Take your ice cream scoop and mold the cake into small balls and place on your cookie sheet
• Put the cake balls into the freezer till they're cold
• Melt your chocolate and dip the end of your sticks into the chocolate then put them into your cake balls (you dip them into chocolate first so the chocolate acts like a glue and helps the sticks from falling out)
• Cover the cake pops in chocolate and add any extra topping or design you want
• Put them back into the freezer to harden
• EAT!

Vintage Bundt Cake

I went thrifting and found a beautifully buttercream yellow vintage bundt cake mold, and as soon as I saw it I felt like baking! It turned out to be very simple. I took a regular cake mix, swirled in some cocoa, and baked it normally. For the frosting I put it in the microwave for 15 seconds then drizzled it over the top. It turned out great and the pan only cost $1