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The energy food of bikers and hikers is called Gorp: Good Old Raisins and Peanuts.
More Facts
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If you have difficulty in opening a jam or a pickle bottle, just pierce a hole in the lid.
More Kitchen Tips
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A two-tier cake is a fabulous gift idea. It is a wee bit time consuming and would seem daunting at first, but when it comes down to basics; it is essentially two cakes stacked one on top of the other and decorated. Now that doesn't sound very hard, does it? As my favourite celebrity chef Donna Hay says "Transform Simple into Special". Weekend Project No. 5 was "2-tier Orange Buttercake with White Chocolate & Orange Peel Buttercream Icing". It turned out to be the perfect birthday gift for my significant other. And I couldn't believe how simple it really was. Decorate it with loads of imagination and finesse. I promise you that you will end up creating a masterpiece.
I baked 2 different sized round cakes. Once cooled, I leveled and sliced each into half. I filled both cakes with buttercream and sandwiched them back together. After laying the larger cake at the bottom, I inserted 3 wooden skewers in the cake and fit the smaller cake through them on top of the larger cake. I iced the two-tier cakes together trying to achieve a smooth finish. After decorating with icing and silver beads, I plopped a fluttery purple butterfly on top and mounted the cake on a chantilly pink cake stand by Casa Domani.
 
Weekend Project No. 4 was "Buttercream". In the last few day's before my son's birthday I wanted to practice making the perfect buttercream. Perfect Buttercream would be the right amount of fluffy, the right amount of creamy and would taste great too. I made a couple of batches in different flavours. Although it was hard to judge which flavour was the best [anything sinful, buttery, creamy always tastes good right?], I would have to say that the "White Chocolate & Orange Buttercream" was my favourite. I later used it to ice my husband's two-tier birthday cake which also happens to be Weekend Project No. 5
Some of the other flavours I tried out were "Chocolate Truffle Buttercream", "Lemon Buttercream", "White Chocolate & Strawberry Buttercream", "Vanilla Buttercream in Sage and Cornflour Colors". Buttercream is to a cake what a great accessory is to an outfit [I am sure most women out there will agree with me]. A cake just by itself is pretty scrumptious anyway, but if you have it topped with gorgeous buttercream; it can instantly transform a plain cake into a celebration!! It is simple and quick to make, not forgetting the fact that it is extremely versatile too.
Check out the Lemon Buttercream Recipe here. I will put up the other buttercream recipes shortly.
 
It was time for Weekend Project No 3 and as luck would have it, it was our 5th Wedding Anniversary that weekend and the ocassion called for a special cake. So a week ago I started scouring hundreds of Novelty Cake recipes and design ideas. The idea of the 'Dirt Cake' in a plastic flower pot intrigued me. But I wanted a proper cake, not a dessert ladled into a store-bought pot, which is what the 'Dirt Cake' really is.
After a bit of thought I braved the 'Pot Of Mud' Cake and it turned out quite nice. The idea was pretty straightforward and required minimum fuss on my part. I baked a Chocolate Mudcake in a deep souffle pan, to achieve the 'flower pot' shape. Next, I dug up the top to resemble loose, wet soil. The cake crumbs which I dug up were scattered at the base of the cake and decorated with raspberries and green marzipan leaves to get a garden 'look and feel'. I decorated the upper rim of the 'flower pot' with white marzipan trim and handmade blue marzipan flowers. I stuck an actual steel and wood mini spade in the mud to complete the cake.
It is really very simple although a bit time consuming and the decorations are a breeze especially if you have spent hours playing with playdough alongwith your little ones. I will put up the detailed recipe as soon as I collect my thoughts and write it down in an orderly fashion.
Browse Cake Recipes ...
 
 
You can all relate to me when I say that there is just no time for fancy cooking nowadays. After a hard day's work, the last thing you want to do is toil away at the stove. Eating out, takeaways, frozen dinners and fast under 15 minute meals have been a trend for as long as I can remember. So this time around we decided to make 'Elaborate Cooking' our Weekend Project. We chose the full-bodied, flavoursome and detailed recipe of 'Sambhar' also know as Sambar which is a South Indian Lentil & Vegetable Curry/Daal. It is delicious and is the base for popular South Indian snacks like Wada Sambhar, Idli Sambhar etc. A staple of the people in the southern region of India and a regular in the abundant South Indian Thali, Sambhar has many variations and cooking it is an art in itself. Usually prepared in 2 or 3 stages, it is made in large quantities as the leftover Sambhar tastes even better the next day and freezes well too.
Above are some pictures we clicked to document the process. It was great fun doing something detailed in the kitchen for a change, instead of just rushing things.
I will put up the recipe soon ..
Browse Indian Recipes ...
  
It has been raining peaches here and we got a great bargain on a tray of 35 peaches. They looked too delicious to pass up, so we got them home and embarked on our first 'Weekend Project' for the site ... Peach & Lemon Jam. I scoured the internet for Peach Jam recipes and came across many I liked, but I felt there was something missing in each. So I adapted one and changed the quantities of the ingredients adding spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The result was 5 jars of sweet, tangy and spicy jam that could also pass off as chutney.
It is one of the simplest and most gratifying thing you will ever do in your kitchen. And if you love free-styling [not being restrained by precise measurements and use of proper gadgets], you can adapt and improvise as the jam cooks without needing a 'Jam Thermometer'. Here I share with you some pictures I took while I made my first jam. The recipe Peach & Lemon Jam ...
Browse Jam, Jelly & Preserve Recipes ...
Browse Pickle Recipes ...
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Weekend Projects 
