The event brings together food bloggers, TrustedPlaces.com members, food photographers, food journalists, food authors, everyday regular cooks, influential bloggers & senior members of leading UK based internet companies. 12 teams of 2 will be creating a 3 course meal to be judged by a panel of experts and the general public online after the event. The event will be supporting the charity Action Against Hunger. You can read all about it here.
Next week I’ll be posting a diary of the day and you’ll have the chance to judge the best on line record of the day and vote for your favourite. Watch this space!
Recently I was interviewed by BBC Olive Magazine for a feature on food bloggers’ favourite local restaurants across the country. It’s a great article and nine other bloggers appear in it including my ‘In the Bag’ co-host, Scott from Real Epicurean. You can read it in the June edition which is out now.
While I’m here I’d like to say a very big thank you to Sylvie at ‘A Pot of Tea and a Biscuit’ for awarding my blog the 'Arte y Pico Award', how lovely! As the lucky recipient of the award I get to pass it on to 5 other bloggers. It’s always difficult to choose just a handful for these things as there are so many fantastic blogs out there. But after some thought here are the bloggers I’d like to give the award to:
1. You pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language. 2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. 3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself. 4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
We’ve been so fortunate with the weather here in the UK; it was gloriously hot all weekend long in Kent. We certainly made the most of it and did the typical Brit thing of dragging out the barbecue (or in our case buying a new one) as soon as the sun comes out. In fact we had a barbecue two nights in a row - well hell, it’s not often you get such great barbecue weather here in good old Blighty and even rarer to get it over an entire weekend.
Saturday was spent pottering around, doing washing, mowing the lawn and sitting out in the garden, and I planted up some herbs in pots. Let’s hope I don’t kill them like I do every other plant that has the misfortune to be owned by me. I think these herbs stand more of a chance though as I’m going to be able to get some good, and well needed, advice over on my forums. We’ve now got a forum dedicated to growing your own produce; 'The Veg Patch', which is great. Hopefully this will mean that my herbs last me throughout the summer and perhaps even beyond.
On Sunday we were invited out on a trip on my Brother and Sister-in law’s new boat. We had a lovely morning sailing in the River Medway and we got to spend time with our baby niece which was just wonderful. Next we headed back towards home to visit my cousin, his wife and their little girl, our gorgeous God Daughter. We all rode our bikes to a local park where we sat down with ice lollies and then we headed to the swing park. I’m not sure who had more fun, our God daughter or me! I went up (and down) the slide with her, bounced on the sea saw with my cousin’s wife (yes we are both over 30!) and had a go on the swings (I should add at this point that we were alone in the park so not depriving any other children or making a spectacle of ourselves in front of anybody but us!). I hadn’t done that in years and it brought me right back to my childhood. It was one of those days that make you feel warm and smiley inside. Just spending time with loved ones and enjoying the great outdoors on a beautiful day. That's what memories are made of.
The short but glorious British asparagus season is underway now, and we can enjoy this fabulous vegetable in its prime once again. Be sure to make the most of it while it lasts as it’s only here until the end of June.
The sooner you can eat asparagus after picking the better, as its sugars turn to starch very quickly, so try to buy it as fresh as possible and don’t leave it lying around for days in the fridge. It hardly needs any cooking at all - just 3 to 5 minutes depending on its thickness – and you can boil, steam, grill or roast it; you can even serve it raw.
Asparagus not only tastes fantastic but it’s really good for us, being full of vitamins. It’s particularly good for pregnant women, as it’s high in folic acid; 80g contains 60% of the recommended daily allowance*. It’s also said to be an aphrodisiac so perhaps a good pre-pregnancy vegetable too!
Over at Real Epicurean Scott is hosting May’s ‘In the Bag’ event and how could we not make asparagus the feature? The bag also contains eggs and parmesan cheese for you to whip up a dish with. You can make all kinds of dishes with that combination, whether classic or something more original. I’ve opted for classic for my entry with the indulgent, buttery hollandaise sauce poured over griddled asparagus; a fantastic combination. I made this into a salad with spinach, watercress and shaved parmesan.
After the snow in April we now have a heat wave in early May. It’s all very bizarre but I’m not complaining. For a start I’m enjoying lunching in the garden, slathered in sun cream; wearing sandles and strappy tops; and having every window in the house flung wide open. I’ve also enjoyed my first Pimm's of the season; a bottle picked up on my way home from work yesterday and poured into a tall glass with lemonade, ice, fruit and mint.
Pimm’s is surely the quintessential English summer drink and it’s not difficult to see why. It’s wonderfully refreshing with a hint of spiciness and is absolutely delicious laced with summer fruits and mint. And here’s a random fact for you; it was the very first alcoholic drink I had as a married woman! We said our vows on a gloriously hot summer’s day in June on the terrace of a beautiful Kentish house in front of our friends and family. We signed the register and then descended the steps onto the green lawns and were offered the most welcoming glass of Pimm’s I’ve ever had. I’m smiling now just thinking about it.
For the perfect summer Pimm’s fill a glass with ice and pour in 1 part Pimm’s No 1 with 3 parts lemonade (which I forgot in my haste and excitement last night, so my cocktail was a rather large 1 part Pimm’s to 2 parts lemonade...cheers!). Mix well with a stirrer and add a sprig or two of mint, some cucumber if you like (although I don't usually), and pieces of fruit such as lemon; apple; strawberries; orange. Or better still mix up a large jugful and take it into the garden to enjoy with friends.
It’s been a beautiful weekend here in Kent, and it’s not often you can say that on a Bank Holiday! Yesterday Rob and I took a trip to my favourite fish monger at Whitstable Harbour (which I think I may have mentioned once or twice on this blog!) and I picked up some beautiful fresh mussels for a late lunch. They’re the quickest thing to cook and are so delicious, especially when served with a broth and lots of crusty bread to soak it all up. I tried this recipe from Antony Worrall Thompson which was very nice, although a little too buttery for my taste so I’d cut back on that if I made it again. Don’t forget the golden rule with mussels; discard those that are open (and don't close when you tap them) before you cook them and discard those that are closed after you’ve cooked them.
I hope you’ve all had a fabulous weekend too. It may be back to school tomorrow but it looks like the good weather’s here to stay so that’s something to smile about. Have a great week!
Sadly the seasonal Jersey Royal potatoes in April's bag have been somewhat hard to come by this year, and those that can be found have been very expensive. We've therefore only had a handful of entries, which is a shame, but nonetheless they've been fantastic entries; as always. If you are able to get hold of these potatoes and can splurge out I hope these recipes inspire you, but not to worry if not; we'll have May's bag stocked full of brand new seasonal ingredients for you very soon - so watch this space.
Ian of 'The Pie Times' was so inspired by the event this month that he entered not one, but two dishes! Take a look at his inspirational Watercress Soup with Feta, Potato and Thyme Bread and the Spring Salad he made with what he had left over. How frugal!
I’m thrilled to tell you that I’ve joined the Daring Bakers, that fearless group of blogging bakers that dare to go where no other baker has gone before. OK well maybe that’s over dramatising things a touch but nonetheless I’m sure that they’ll help me to push my baking boundaries and experiment with recipes that I otherwise wouldn’t have come across or tried.
For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the Daring Bakers, they’re a group of over 400 bloggers across the world that each bake the same recipe each month, chosen by fellow members. For this month, and my first challenge, the recipe was for these Cheescake Pops from the book ‘Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey’ by Jill O’Connorc.
To make these cute lollipops you bake a cheesecake, create little balls from it and coat them in chocolate. It was all very straightforward but I found forming the balls quite messy and at times the cheesecake mixture came apart in my hands. I also found, as did several other Daring Bakers, that the cake took much longer to cook than specified – 70 minutes for me. I halved the recipe and used 3 whole eggs, which worked out just fine. Here’s the original recipe:
Cheesecake Pops
Makes 30 – 40 Pops
Ingredients 5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature 2 cups sugar ¼ cup all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt 5 large eggs 2 egg yolks 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ¼ cup heavy cream Boiling water as needed Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks 1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.) 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening - Optional (Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible) Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees)
Method 1. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.
3. Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.
4. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
5. When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.
6. When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety. Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.
7. Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
8. Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.
And here’s the list of ingredients, converted into British measurements, which I used:
I used an 8 inch pan and this was perfect. I did actually use a springform pan despite advice to the contrary and simply covered the bottom in two layers of tin foil to prevent the water leaking in. I couldn’t find any lollipop sticks so I just cut up some drinking straws.
P.S. I've been listening to Mika's album recently and thought this was apt and would be good for some Sunday evening entertainment:
Hello and a very warm welcome to 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'.
I'm Julia and this is my blog, which is dedicated to my love of food. I live in Kent in England and I’m a self-taught cook who’s passionate about good food and home cooking.
To me, good food and home cooking is all about comfort, pleasure, indulgence, relaxation, looking after body and mind, creating a home and welcoming friends.
I love hearing from you so please do feel free to comment on anything you read here, or drop me an email at asliceofcherrypie AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk (or click on 'Contact me' under the 'Interact' section).
I hope you enjoy your visit here!
Love Julia x
With thanks to Gene Weatherley for the photograph.
