The Road Not Taken

I could not choose one…

Elena G

How Much Is Enough?

Good question! Listen to the answers and give your own answer too. In these trying times, a moment of pause and thinking is welcomed. And don’t forget to calm down, get it all in and enjoy a tranquil video about life and it’s simple joys. ‘The true essence of why we are here is to appreciate this world more, in all it’s form.’

And smile! 🤗

Good night! ♥️

Elena G

Someday (Maybe)

 

Someday I am in a sarcastic mood so just listen to this beautiful song without paying attention to the lyrics and you have such a good tune to move your body. For me it works wonders because I just Love to dance. I can’t sit on the chair, it is absolutely delightful and cheerful at the same time. 🙂

Now, returning to the sarcastic mood, what a polite way to say Never! When you hear that from a person, leave. And don’t look back. It hurts terribly but you can’t do anything. And remember, you can also say that to someone. Try to show some empathy and think how deeply your words and actions can affect others. Say the truth or whatever you want to say and leave too. It’s a two way street always.

Now, if I see this from a romantic point of view, it means that there is some hope there. At least one of them is romantic and loves more. Or they both are romantics and there is love in their hearts to say such a thing when they know that, at that moment, their lives must part ways. But no, I am sarcastic so I don’t believe in fairy tales. There you go!

Enjoy a lovely tune and feel whatever you want. Feel like dancing? 😉

Bonus: Michael Buble is singing. (one of my fave singers)

Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

I tried to put the title in Aramaic but then, searching the internet, I found out that in the language of Jesus, there is no mention of bread. I found bread in the Syriac version of the Lord’s Prayer, which is not the original Aramaic. Well, I can not argue with that as my knowledge of both is zero and I decided to go for the English version, thank you very much. Why have I put this title? Because I am writing a recipe with our daily bread, an old, traditional, English one. And it is just amazing because I have never thought of a desert so delicious with bread, the main ingredient. Apart from the desert I used to eat, sometimes, when I was a child, with bread and sugar, very popular among children those days. You just had a slice of bread, damp it with a bit of water and sprinkle sugar on top. And there it was, something quick and nice for the craving children. Now I will write about something that requires a bit of work, but not too much and it is much more tasty. Imho, it is very easy to make and delicious, and I know as I did it myself, lots of times and following different recipes. Today, I am presenting you a very good one, though I haven’t made it yet. It is from “The Lady” magazine, from 30 of November 2004. I will also mention what you can replace as, you know, being creative in the kitchen, is a MUST.

Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 400 ml (3/4 pint) double cream (replace with milk if you don’t have cream)
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) Baileys Irish Cream liqueur (or serve yourself and forget about using it in the recipe)
• 200 g (7 oz) caster sugar (or any organic substitute you use)
• 2 vanilla pods, split in half lengthways (or 2 tbsp vanilla sugar)
• 6 free-range egg yolks (you can do without)
• 6 whole free-range eggs
• 10 slices brioche, each slice about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick (or our daily bread)
• 200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (at least 70 % cocoa solids), chopped (please, please, leave the chocolate alone)

Method:

• Place the cream, Baileys, sugar and vanilla pods in a large saucepan and heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool. Remove the vanilla pods.
• Pre-heat the oven to 140 °C/ 275˚F or Gas Mark 1 and grease a shallow 2-3 pint capacity ovenproof dish. Whisk the egg yolks and eggs together in a large bowl and strain in the cream mixture. Whisk lightly to blend. Cut the brioche slices in half diagonally and arrange in the dish in slightly overlapping layers. Pour the cream mixture over the top and leave for 10 minutes.
• Melt the chocolate in a microwave oven or by placing it in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water, making sure that the water does not touch the bowl. Pour over the top of the pudding. I don’t have to say to dip your fingers in the chocolate. 😉 Place in a baking dish half-filled with warm water and transfer to the oven. Bake until set, about 50 minutes.

Bon appetite!

Three Years Old

Happy birthday, my beautiful, beloved blog! My sweet child of mine! I love you for all the joy you brought to me when I wrote you and all the hours I spent with you, for all the thoughts I shared and thought of sharing with you, for all the patience you had with me when I stopped writing you, for understanding why I stopped writing you and still never leaving me once.

2012 In Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,200 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Biscuits With Love

Today I would love to eat some homemade biscuits. I will not cook them though as I am not in the mood. Would there anyone make them for me? Mum? Anyone? Lol. At least I can describe the way I make them. With love, of course. This is the main ingredient. I am afraid I didn’t write down on the printed recipe, the name of the book I took it from. If anyone knows it, please, write to me. I am concentrating in visualising the biscuits. I made them a few times and I loved them every time. I could eat them all and because the recipe here gives me just a few biscuits, I double the ingredients and I have to my heart’s desire. Yummy! Here they are:

Soft biscotti with chocolate

Biscotti morbidi con cioccolata

Serves 10

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 250 g plain flour
• 65 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 100 g chocolate chunks or roughly chopped plain chocolate (use a good one, of at least 70% cocoa)
• 150 g pistachio nuts
• 100 g butter, softened
• 225 g unrefined golden caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs, at room temperature

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180˚C/ 350˚F, gas mark 4.
• Grease a baking sheet with a little butter and dust lightly with a little of the flour.
• Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, chocolate chunks and pistachio nuts in a bowl.
• In another bowl, beat together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until well combined.
• Stir in the flour mixture until it forms a stiff dough. Place the dough on the baking sheet and press onto shape until it is 30 cm long and 10 cm wide.
• Bake for 35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean when you insert it into the biscotti. Remove and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool to room temperature. Slice into thick fingers and serve with coffee or vin santo.

Bon appetite!