World Peace Cookies

[HEART] sunny
[EYES] It's A Wonderful Life
[EARS] squeaky violin
[HEAD] Sunday night blues...
[HANDS] fluffy soft bread

I'm sure most of you have heard of the amazing Dorie Greenspan - author of Baking From My Home to Yours and co-author of Desserts by Pierre Herme!

I first came across her recipes from reading those raving reviews of those who tried and tested her recipes.

This lady must be a cookie queen, I thought.

Then about a year ago, I read about her pop-up cookie store, called Cookie Bar, in New York City.

Big chunky buttery cookies perfectly placed on trays one after another.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I not only wanted to taste and make her cookies, but I wanted to open a cookie shop like hers. Pop-up or not. Before the next morning, I had the interior decoration and shop location all thought out (being my usual obsessive self!)

The next day at work, too excited to contain myself, I even shared my idea with colleagues.

It's going to be none of that Mrs Fields or Cookie Man from the malls, but each cookie will be made with some good old TLC.

I was on cloud nine for the next few days and envisioned myself working with butter morning til night. Oh the joys.

Whilst that small 'dream' of mine never really did come true as it was not mine to have, I'm happy as I am baking Dorie's cookies from my kitchen and seeing them bring smiles to people's faces when I do share them.

These cookies are called World Peace cookies. Which really tells you a lot about what they can do to you. Yeah, pretty powerful stuff.

Dark rich chocolate that crumbles and melt in your mouth with each bite. No wonder these babies have won the hearts of people from all over the world!

While I doubt we will ever have world peace as long as there are human beings on earth, I know that if you bake these and share, it will make your day just that much brighter and sweeter.

Try it and you'll see.

World Peace Cookies
adapted from Bon Appetit Sept 2010
makes about 36 cookies

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 5 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 85% cacao), chopped (no pieces bigger than 1/3 inch)

1. Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda into medium bowl.

2. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth but not fluffy. Add both sugars, vanilla, and sea salt; beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Add flour mixture; beat just until blended (mixture may be crumbly).

4. Add chopped chocolate; mix just to distribute (if dough doesn't come together, knead lightly in bowl to form ball). Divide dough in half. Place each half on sheet of plastic wrap. Form each into 1 1/2-inch-diameter log. Wrap each in plastic; chill until firm, about 3 hours.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.

5. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

6. Using thin sharp knife, cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on prepared sheets.

7. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies appear dry (cookies will not be firm or golden at edges), 11 to 12 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

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Apricot Jam

[HEART] heavy...
[EYES] NZ earthquakes headlines :'(
[EARS] impatient fingers tapping
[HEAD] better is one day in Your court than a thousand elsewhere
[HANDS] scrubbing sink

I pondered while simmering a pot of golden apricots recently, whether there have been other women in my family to have ever taken part in this jam making activity.

It doesn't seem likely. Especially when I look back a few generations and I cannot imagine any of the women in their circumstances in life to do such thing (Many of them probably have not heard of such thing as jams before!)

I guess it also depends on how far I want to trace back on my family tree.

But it just hard to imagine that I have ancestors from the Netherlands who happened to live on a fruit farm and preserved their apricots every summer?

Anyways, I digress.

Apricot is one of my favourite fruit for jams, so when I saw a box of ripe apricots on sale I knew straight away that those would be used for me jam making session. I've always read about awesome people making awesome jams and it's one of those things on my 1001 things to do.

Some things I've learnt while researching for my first jam making experiment:

1. You need both pectin and sugar (and HEAPS of it...shudders) to make jams.

2. Pectin is a naturally occurring substance which thickens when heated together with sugar (which prevents the jam from being runny or soupy).

3. Pectin can be found in fruits like apples, plums, oranges and citrus fruits (their peels). However cherries, grapes and strawberries have small amounts of pectin.

4. So if the fruit you are using has very little pectin, you may add some other fruit(s) which are rich in pectin e.g. adding lemon juice/peel and their seeds (tied in muslin cloth to be taken out afterwards) into your your pot or you can purchase commercial pectin packets from the shops.

4. Underripe fruits have more pectin than ripe fruits. Who would've thought.

3. So basically I can't really cut the amount of sugar by too much even if I wanted to. Unless I want apricot soup.

And what I've read so far, it seems like the golden rule is this:

For every cup of the fruit puree that you make, add 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar.

I got to admit that I just couldn't bring myself to add that much sugar. I like my jams on the tart side. Sweet sweet jams just ain't my thing. So, I more than halved the amount of sugar than I know I should, because I tasted the jam after the addition of one cup of sugar, and knew that it was already sweet enough for me.

So yes, my jam is on the slightly runnier side which I don't mind at all since it tastes great on my homemade wholemeal bread.

Apricot Jam
Adapted from David Lebovitz

• 2 pounds (1kg) fresh apricots
• 1/4 cup (125ml) water
• 6 cups (1kg) sugar (I used ~1 cup)
• 1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice + peels
• optional: 1 tablespoon kirsch 

1. Cut the apricots in half and extract the pits. If you wish, crack a few open and put a kernel in each jam jar you plan to fill.

2. Place the apricots in a very large stockpot, and add the water. Cover the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until the apricots are tender and cooked through.

3. Put a small plate in the freezer.

4. Add the sugar to the apricots and cook, uncovered, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. As the mixture thickens and reduces, stir frequently to make sure the jam isn’t burning on the bottom.

5. When the jam looks thick and is looks slightly-jelled, turn off the heat and put a small amount of jam on the chilled plate. Put back in the freezer for a few minutes, then do the nudge test: If the jam mounds and wrinkles (as shown in the photo), it’s done. If not, continue to cook, then re-test the jam until it reaches that consistency.

(You can use a candy thermometer if you wish. The finished jam will be about 220ºF, 104ºC.)

6. Once done, stir in the lemon juice and kirsch, if using, and ladle the jam into clean jars. Cover tightly and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, refrigerate until ready to use.

Hope your week is going well.

Please keep the Christchurch people in your prayers too...

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Brown sugar pavlova with banana cream and butterscotch sauce

[HEART] still pumping

[EYES] Pleasant words are like honeycomb, sweet to the soul... - Prov 16:24

[EARS] swishing laundry

[HEAD] You are what you eat? Of course not!

[HANDS] useful 

I like to challenge myself to try something new everyday.

Last week, I allowed someone to pluck my eyebrows. Now one side is thicker than the other. (You can imagine the shock when I looked into the mirror).

The other day, I brushed my teeth with my left-hand. Standing on one leg. Ok, maybe I didn't. Hmmmm.

Last night, I overcame my fear of yeast and finally made a pizza dough from scratch.

Then today, I tried to make a pavlova with minimal sugar. I should've known better.

Because it failed.

Big time.

After over an hour in the oven, there were no signs of a cracking or crunchy looking exterior - the best part of the pav. It is just a huge brown marshmallow blob only just very slightly crisp crusted. My heart sank. Especially after waiting so long for it in the oven.

Sometimes, you just shouldn't try too many new things at once.

The thing is I do like pavlovas (and if you had met me 10 years ago, I'd tell you in my perfect kiwi accent that the pav is New Zealand born and bred!) but I just find them a bit sweet for my liking. Plus, I have been working to reduce my sugar intake lately (sugar addiction is a hard thing to kick I tell ya). So I reduced the amount of sugar to at least a 1/4 of what was stated in the recipe and just sprinkled some dark brown sugar at the end. The result is a pillowy soft/chewy pav. I don't know if it qualifies as a pav actually. Or maybe I just didn't whip up the egg whites long enough to be thick, glossy and smooth.

If anything amazing resulted from this incident, it's the butterscotch sauce that was whipped up in 5 minutes. You have to try it. It is so good, so simple. And when I think of butterscotch, I think of bananas (might be because of banana butterscotch pudding...yummm!). So I just couldn't resist adding some mashed bananas in with the cream.

The resulting dessert is still delicious sans the crisp crust. I'm sure you'll have better luck with this recipe than I have. Or have more sense not to omit so much of the sugar ;)

Butterscotch sauce
Adapted from SmittenKitchen
About 2/3 to 3/4 cup sauce

• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (about 109 grams) packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (118 ml) heavy cream (thickened cream)
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) flaky sea salt (or 1/4 teaspoon regular salt), plus more to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 ml) vanilla extract, plus more to taste

1. Melt butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar, cream and salt and whisk until well blended. Bring to a very gentle boil and cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally.

2. Remove from heat and add one teaspoon of the vanilla extract, stirring to combine and this is where, despite the simplicity of the recipe, you get to feel all “chef-y”. Dip a spoon in the sauce and carefully taste the sauce (without burning your tongue!) to see if you want to add additional pinches or salt or splashes of vanilla. Tweak it to your taste, whisking well after each addition. I ended up using a full teaspoon of flaky salt and the listed amount of vanilla to get a butterscotch sauce with a very loud, impressive butterscotch flavor but the strength of your vanilla and intensity of your salt may vary.

3. Serve cold or warm over vanilla ice cream, roasted pears or pound cake. The sauce will thicken as it cools. It can be refrigerated in an airtight container and reheated in a microwave or small saucepan.

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Brown Sugar Pavlova with banana cream and butterscotch sauce
Makes 6 small pavlovas

• 4 egg whites
• 150g caster sugar
• 120g brown sugar
• 10g cornflour
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 400ml thickened cream
• 2 banana, mashed
• 2 small punnet blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Whisk eggwhites with a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until soft peaks form, then with motor running, gradually add caster sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks form and mixture is thick and glossy. Add 70g brown sugar, whisk until sugar is incorporated and mixture is glossy. Fold in cornflour, vinegar and vanilla extract.

2. Spoon meringue into 6 9cm diameter mound on a baking paper lined oven tray and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off oven and cool completely.

3. Whisk cream and remaining brown sugar together until soft peaks form. Spoon on top of pavlova, top with the mashed banana, blueberries and drizzle with butterscotch sauce.

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What's for dinner this week?

[HEART] gratefulness

[EYES] The King's Speech

[EARS] Vienna by Billy Joel

[HEAD] where to, for lunch?

[HANDS] playing Angry Bird

Excuse me for the longish period of silence on this space (and thanks especially for your thoughtful e-mails/comments asking my whereabouts!)

I've been blogging telepathically (and rather often too!) just because I thought we have that connection between us by now. Uh... no? So it was just me then!

So I have been re-prioritising my life. It's almost a full-time job.

Not that I didn't know my priorities were before.

But it's one thing to know...and another thing to do. Don't you think so too? I'm learning. Head knowledge is nothing when there's no heart knowledge. Oui?

On the kitchen front, making dinner obviously takes priority over my love of baking.

Since I live by myself most of the time, people often ask me...

What do you cook for yourself each night? 

To which I reply...I cook whatever I'm in the mood for. If I am craving cereal and peanut butter sandwiches, please don't deprive me of that for dinner! :)

Last week, I had a thing for Italian (or rather, my take on Italian)...

I know that I rarely post about dinner (it has mostly been...desserts, something sweet and oh, more desserts!) - but I'm learning to be a better cook these days so I thought it'd be good to document and share those recipes here.

Here are the three recipes I've cooked in the past week:

• Spaghetti Bolognese - this is a great recipe and it's perfect to store the sauce in the freezer in individual portions for those unforeseen lazy days ahead.
• Brie, Chorizo, Caramelised onion and Apple Pizza - Love homemade pizza like no other. I ran out of apples one night so made another version with juicy mangoes and tomato slices! I love the flavour combination of sweet, tangy and salty.
• Thyme, lemon and mushroom pasta - Simple yet flavoursome...good recipe for a meatless day!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Adapted from DaintyBaker

Serves 4-6

• 3 Tbsp olive oil + 1 Tbsp extra
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 sprigs Thyme - remove leaves off the stem
• handful of Basil leaves
• handful of Oregano leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can (800g) whole tomatoes
• 500g pork and veal mince
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium pot with onions, garlic and bay leaves until onions turn translucent.

2. Add the can of tomatoes to the pot and break up the whole tomatoes with the back of a fork, bring to the boil.

3. Once it has reached boiling point reduce heat, let simmer for about 40 mins - 1 hr until it is reduced. At this point, throw in your herbs, chilli (if using - you can turn the heat up or down to your liking by adding more or less chilli flakes) and wine and simmer for about another 15 mins. Remove bay leaves.

4. Whilst your sauce is simmering, heat the extra 1 Tbsp oil in a fry pan. Cook the mince until browned all over. Add the sauce to the meat and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Spaghetti with mushrooms in a lemon, cream and thyme sauce
Adapted from CheekyChilli
Serves 3-4

• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 1/2 red onion 
• 1 tbsp thyme 
• Lemon zest of 1 lemon
• Lemon juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup porcini or wild mushrooms
• 1/2 cup cream 
• 2 sausage (optional), diced (I omitted this)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I omitted this)
• 1/2 tsp orange flower honey  (use regular honey if you don’t have this)
• Dried Spaghetti to serve 3-4 people
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan for grating over

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti into the pot. Boil pasta as per directions on box.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a shallow pan on medium low. Add the garlic and fry until slightly brown.

3.  Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the thyme.

4.  Roughly chop the mushrooms and add to the pan. Mix to incorporate, then bring to a boil.

5. Add the lemon juice and zest and cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the cream.

6. Reduce heat and simmer the sauce for a bit and let reduce slightly. Add the honey and mix it in.

7. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the sauce and toss together to coat the strands of pasta.

8. Serve with a fresh grating of Parmesan over each dish, along with some fresh ground pepper.

Apple, Brie, Chorizo and Caramelised onion Pizza

Serves 1-2 

Note: For the pizza base, either make it from scratch or if you're short on time like I was, make sure you buy it fresh (made daily) from a good pasta/pizza stall in your local market. You can freeze them too - just need to thaw for around 5-10 minutes.

• 1 fresh pizza base 
• 1 apple, sliced thinly (I used fuji) or 1 small mango, sliced
• 100 gram double brie
• 1 link chorizo
• 1 onion, sliced
• ~2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ~1 tbsp honey
• handful of salad greens

1. Preheat oven to 220C (or 430F)

2. Cut apple (or mango) into thin slices. Layer onto pizza.

3. Cook onion in a pan until soft and slightly browned. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar and honey to taste. Layer onto pizza.

4. Add the brie slices onto the pizza on top of the onion.

5. Cook the chorizo in the same pan as the onion. Once cooked through, cut into many slices. Or alternatively, remove sausage from it's casing. Cook in a the pan, crumbling it up using a spatula, until it is crisp and browned. Sprinkle over the brie layer.

6. Put in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until bottom of dough is starting to get brown.

7. Scatter the greens over the cooked pizza! Enjoy!

So, what have you been craving for this week?

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Chicken & Mushroom Rice Burger + Product Review

I've decided to have no resolutions this year.

I figured that I don't do too well with them. They have this negative connotation for me and I associate the word with the likes of promises on cereal boxes - 'Get into shape this new year!' Over time, it occurred to me that any resolutions I make would eventually be broken sooner or later.

So instead, I just have goals now. A different word - but to me it has a more positive vibe. I think about how I will follow through with it, and I visualise myself standing on the other side waving the mission accomplished flag.

Here are a few food-related goals on my list...

{one} Learn about different the types of cheese to be able to identify them at the markets and know what kind of drink/food to pair them with.

{two} Make an effort to freeze more left over food and minimize food wastage. Tips here and here. I'm also adopting the FIFO rules - first in, first out! This is a hard goal but I guess once it becomes a habit it wouldn't be too difficult.

{three} Have 5 servings of fruit and vegetable a day. It should be easy most of the times, although I did find myself with around 3-4 servings a day last year.

{four} Update the Recipe Index section of this blog. It has been 'Work in Progress' since its birth. Time to let this baby grow!

{five} Experience more with different types of flours like rye, quinoa, spelt and buckwheat in my recipes.

{six} Bake a fancy and impressive-looking cake that tastes as good as it looks. I tend to bake more rustic, homey kind of treats and don't really use much cream, always cut back on the sugar and sometimes over think the nutritional values of the food I make. I'd like to master a totally decadent, over-indulgent kind of cake though.
  

{seven} Learn to quickly clean and dissemble a whole chicken. I still feel clumsy when I handle large meat.

To elaborate on the last goal -  I have not cooked chicken ever since I've moved to Melbourne. I come from a chicken-loving family where everyone has their own winning recipe. Because of that, it was never required of me to learn to cook the bird (which my salmonella-phobic self is completely fine with!) so naturally, I've been staying away from cooking it now that I'm away from home.

Thankfully, a few weeks ago I was given a packet of freshly cooked chicken to try from Moira Mac. Perfect for as me I didn't have to deal with defrosting and then cutting/cooking the meat after a long day.

Moira Mac’s is a new brand in the ham/salami section of your supermet. The company specialises in cooked poultry products and has become the first company to launch a cooked fresh chicken breast range that contains no preservatives, is dairy free and gluten free. The chicken can be eaten straight from their resealable pack or used as an ingredient in hot or cold recipes.

The range comes in four styles: Mediterranean, Homestyle, Barbeque, and Tandoori. 

I was also told that the product is 100% real chicken breast fillet and is 97% fat free. It also has the Heart Foundation Tick of approval for meeting strict standards for saturated fat and sodium.

I've decided to test the Homestyle chicken with this rice burger recipe I've been thinking about lately. Great when you're pressed for time because this is a super fast meal if you've left over rice and a few other things on hand. The chicken chunks are lean and will work well in salads and sandwiches too!

Chicken & Mushroom Rice Burger
Serves 2

• 2 cups leftover white rice
• 1 packet Moira Mac's Homestyle chicken (or replace with beef or pork slices)
• 2 leaves of lettuce
• handful (4-6) of oyster mushroom, washed and sliced
• 1/2 pack of enoki mushroom, rinsed
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp mirin
• 2 tsp sake
• 1/2 tsp garlic paste 
• 1/2 tsp ginger paste 
• empty milk carton

1. Wash the milk carton and cut it across to get a 1cm ring (see photo below):

2. Wrap a quarter of the rice in plastic foil and roll it around until it is circular.

3. Place the rice with the foil in the milk ring and push it down to fill up the ring.

4. Remove the ring and repeat the process to make the rest of the rice patties.

5. Place the rice patties in a pan on low heat.

6. Brush them with some soy sauce for flavouring.

7. In another pan, add a splash of oil and add the garlic and ginger paste. Stir around for a minute.

8. Add into the pan enoki and oyster mushroom. Cook for a few minutes before adding Moira Mac's chicken cubes to heat up.

9. Add the sauces - soy, mirin and sake and let cook for another few minutes.

10. To assemble, place a leaf of lettuce on a rice patty, followed by the chicken and mushroom (I added a bit of mayo on top of this as well!), then top with another rice patty. Wrap in aluminum foil if desired.

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Goma Dofu - Sesame Tofu

I'm still living in 2010 at the moment in my head.

Because I haven't the chance to think about New Year's resolutions yet.

And I haven't passed on my greetings and best wishes to you.

So I'm doing it now. Passing on my greetings I mean. Resolutions don't necessarily have to start in January in my book.

So I hope your holiday season was very nice.

And that you got to be with the ones you love to plant kisses on and share food with...

And that you thought about the meaning of Christmas....

And if you were going through a rough time, I hope you found hope and consolation in the midst of it all.

Thank you for your readership and encouraging comments over the past year. You've made this journey so much more fun than a while ago when I used to begin my posts with 'Dear void'. Thanks for turning that void into friends. Or virtual friends.

So I was home for the holidays and was joyfully stuffed with Chinese food - crispy duck, shallot pancakes, stir fried noodles, dumplings, and everything else drool-worthy. Not your typical Christmas-type food. We also dined out almost everyday and that's the way it has been all my life - Christmas is celebrated with Chinese food usually not prepared at home. It's a tradition!

This post is rather special to me because because this goma dofu (sesame 'tofu' - not really tofu) has been planned for a long time now. Why so long, you ask? Ever since I saw this post on JustHungry, I knew straight away that I needed to make this - sesame tofu is one of my favourites to order in Japanese restaurants, but they're usually in fried form like agedashi tofu. I love the intense sesame flavour (from tahini) and the smooth tofu-like texture of this dish!

However, the problem I had was sourcing pure kuzu powder. The ones at the Japanese stores are usually sweet potato starch and arrowroot, which would not work according to the recipe. So for the past few months, I've scoured every Asian or Japanese grocery store I came across with no luck. 

Until last month Mother went to Japan and bought some for me. 

Probably the best Christmas present ever.

I hope you can find kuzu powder easier than I have and give this a go. Oh, and do you know that kuzu has a lot of health benefits and is also used as a hangover remedy in China as it detoxifies the liver? You learn something new everyday, huh?

This dish is eaten cold, with a dash of soy sauce (as the tofu itself is bland) and wasabi (which I didn't have).

Enjoy.

(p.s. I used the rest of the kuzu powder to make kuzumochi - sticky mochi cake. One of the yummiest Japanese summertime dessert!)

Goma Dofu (Sesame Tofu)

From Just Hungry

Serves 4

• 70g (2.5 oz) tahini or nerigoma that has been stirred very well
• 50 g (1.75 oz) kuzu powder
• 500ml (2 cups plus a tablespoon) water, filtered water preferred
• Equipment needed: bowl, pan, square container to mold the goma dofu

1. Combine the kuzu powder with a little water to make a paste. Add the rest of the water and mix well.

2. Put into a pan over medium heat, and add the tahini or nerigoma. Mix continuously, smooshing any lumps of sesame paste and incorporating it as well as possible into the liquid. When it heats up it will start to thicken and get a bit lumpy - keep stirring to smooth out the lumps. After a while, it will turn from milky to a bit more translucent in color and have the consistency of a thick pudding.

3. Wet the inside of the square container you’ll use as the mold. Pour in the hot pudding-like mixture and smooth out the top. Bang the container a few times onto a countertop or table to get rid of bubbles. Let cool to room temperature, and then put into the refrigerator to cool, about 2 hours.

4. Unmold and cut into squares. Serve chilled, with wasabi or grated fresh ginger and soy sauce. (The goma dofu on its own is quite bland, so it does need the sauce.) It’s really nice as a cold appetizer on a warm day. It can be stored, well covered, in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Happy New Year.

It's 2011. I'm here and I'm present. And hope you are too!

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Roasted Dutch Carrots with Balsamic Vinegar and Honey

One of my favourite activities during the week is grocery shopping. Or more precisely, shopping at the food markets with my fashionable granny trolley (which was on my Christmas wishlist but I couldn't wait and got it myself a few weeks ago!)

Apart from the obvious pleasures of smelling/touching/purchasing the freshest produce and seeing all the seasonal items in abundance - I enjoy observing how people around me go about this activity and seeing their different purchasing patterns.

I also love to listening on to people's conversations at the markets (yes, I eavesdrop while I shop!). Like the time I was picking carrots, a man next to me asked his young son,

"Do you know what these are called?" 

"Errr...purple carrots?"

"No, these are called heirloom carrots, ok?"

Good on ya, dad! I adore conversations like this. 

Teaching kids that carrots don't come in a packet off the supermarket shelf. 

Then just a few days ago, I was picking some corns and this young boy came up next to me and asked,

"So, what do you look for in a corn? How do you know if it's any good?"

I taught him to pick ones which are bright and plump. Then he proceeded to have a conversation with me which rocked me socks off. With such genuine enthusiasm, he talked about how awesome that the blackberries in his basket are and how cheap they are now. Maybe it's because I don't have any kids myself yet, but it feels rather strange to be talking to a young kid as if you are talking to a grown-up.

Anyways, so this is the first time I have purchased those dutch carrots! December has a way of making you do things you normally wouldn't do. And plus I couldn't take my eyes off these when I saw them all vibrant and joyful, almost singing out to me.

These are so sweet and simply delicious - I'm sure they'd make a great side to any meaty Christmas dishes!

I wish your Monday was very nice and you keep safe during this festive time... 

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Dutch carrots
• 30 ml  olive oil
• 3-4 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp honey
• Splash of balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• Few sprigs of dills (although I would recommend using thyme since dill don't really quite work as well as thyme - just what I had in the fridge).

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. Trim carrot tops and wash carrots well.
3. Place carrots in medium baking dish with combined oil, garlic and honey and balsamic vinegar; toss well. Sprinkle salt and pepper.
4. Roast, uncovered, 15 minutes.
5. Add thyme leaves, roast further 3 minutes or until tender.

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