Thursday 27 September 2012

mixing, grating, melting, infusing

A little like the excitement of returning to my autumn clothes after a summer of lighter clothes, even though I was longing to wear them in May. My thoughts for cooking are turning autumnal now. I've loved the summer salads, but now I want warm and comforting.

''There is a kind of sorcery in all cooking: in the choosing of ingredients, the process of mixing, grating, melting, infusing and flavouring, the recipes taken from ancient books, the traditional utensils - the pestle and mortar with which my mother made her incense turned to a more homely purpose, her spices and aromatics giving up their subtleties to a baser, more sensual magic. And it is partly the transience of it that delights me; so much loving preparation, so much art and experience put into a pleasure which can last only a moment, and which only a few will ever fully appreciate." Joanne Harris Chocolat
bake


What have you been cooking up recently?

12 comments:

  1. Breakfast flapjacks as my daughter has decided she's not hungry until 10am and needs something to snack on between classes! To be honest, I'm not sure they make it off the bus though.

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    1. Tonia - I keep meaning to make a batch of flapjacks for the week but I'm sure they'd all be nibbled away by Wednesday!

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  2. roasting the last of the beetroot from my garden to make beetroot pesto, yum.

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    1. Lilac - Betroot Pesto sounds delicious & oh so colourful.

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  3. This passage perfectly describes the magical qualities of cooking!
    I haven't been cooking much lately, but this weekend I plan to make a white bean and kielbasa stew in the slow cooker.

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    1. Anbolyn - What's kielbasa? Sounds delicious happy slow cooking.

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  4. Veg soup, but I would happily share Zulieka's meal with the Duke.

    "Between them, they made short work of a cold chicken, a salad, a gooseberry tart and a Camembert." Zulieka Dobson by Max Beerbohm.

    Dear Lilac, please can I have your pesto recipe?

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    1. SMG - The gooseberry tart & camembert would be especially delicious.

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  5. Yesterday my daughter and I made fairy cakes and I learned not to entrust a small child with the hundreds-and-thousands or at least not without prior instruction... One cake almost collapsed under the weight of them while the others remain naked, and we will be finding stray hundreds-and-thousands in odd corners of the house for the rest of our lives (have already found a few here in the 'study')...

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    1. Helen - This made me smile. I bet your daughter loved it though.

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  6. I haven't started any fall baking yet, but your post has inspired me. This weekend I want to make pumpkin bread. Love the quote!

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Ooh how lovely more stripes on the page...
Thank you for taking the time.