Brunch al fresco and Ireland is not something you put in to one sentence generally. But yes, on the rare occasion even The Emerald Isle gets a ray of sunshine. Rare being operative word.
So I hope you will excuse my short post today while I am taking in my annual sun rations. So here are some pictures to prove that we are enjoying the sunshine!!
Tune in tomorrow for few more pictures and our brunch recipes.
These India inspired earrings are my latest addition to MEDUSA JEWELLERY line. What do you think?
I have been Etsy window shopping for Ramen bowls for a while now and after seeing this beautiful pottery from
Bove Pottery by
Jason R Bove I think I could have soup everyday. This USA based artist makes beautiful and functional art for the kitchen. You can see more of his work here.So seeing that an empty bowl is good to no one, I have a little recipe below for you that we have adapted from this book. It is a simple and delicious recipe that takes minutes to prepare. Bon Appetit.
Mushroom Ramen
{adapted from 200 veggie feasts by Louise Pickford}
Serves 4
Preparation time 10 min
Cooking time 20 min
Ingredients
1/2 cup of quinoa. Cooked with 625 ml of water for 20min in a seperate pot.
1.5 litres vegetable stock
75 ml dark soy sauce
4 tablespoons mirin
6-7 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked in water over night) and sliced
6 chestnut mushrooms (fresh) sliced
4 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
300 g silken tofu (firm), drained and diced
2 tablespoons pure sesame oil
Cook quinoa with 625ml of water for 20 min, when cooked set aside. Drain and dice tofu into small cubes and fry on each side with the pure sesame oil. Set aside.
Combine the stock, soy sauce and mirin in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms and simmer gently for a further 5 min. Add cooked quinoa, fried tofu and spring onions and serve. Et Voila!
Last weekend I spent some quality time in the kitchen and caught up with my fading culinary skills. I dusted my utensils off and rustled up some new recipes. With the summer stuck somewhere far away from where we are, I still find myself craving comfort foods and to be honest, comfort drinks too. So here is my favourite new drink in time for the weekend.
Enjoy this drink cold or warm, with or without rum. I had mine hot with a dash of Cuban rum that was given to us by a lovely couple (aka brother & girlfriend) after visiting Cuba. Thanks guys. And the verdict - delish!
Spiced Apple & Plum Drink with or without Rum
Ingredients:
- 4-5 apples (I used Pink Lady)
- 4-5 ripe plums
- hand-full of golden raisins
- 2-3 cm piece of fresh ginger
- 2 star anise
- 5 whole cloves
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- cold water
- 1/2 cup of sugar or less, depending on your fruit.
Directions:
Wash your fruit. Peal, core and chop your apples. Remove stones from plums and chop. Place all into the saucepan (mine holds 3 litres of water) and cover full with cold water to stop apples from browning. Place it on medium heat, cover and bring to the boil. Add all remaining ingredients and reduce the heat, simmer until all the fruit is soft - about 40 min or so. Top-up with water if too sweet. I like to leave mine over night to get the best flavour from all the fruit and spices. When ready to drink - sieve and enjoy cold with some ice. Or do as I did: hot with a dash of rum. Enjoy!
And if you have a drink recipe you would like to share, just let me know. I will try it out and post it here.
These cocktail stirrers made from recycled silver by the New York based jeweller Barbara Michelle Jacobs are my Etsy ♥ this week. Functional art made to be admired. Cocktails never looked so good...
To view beautiful jewellery by the artist go
here.
I recently visited a nearby garden centre and was taken back by all the beautiful flowers on offer. Although it is still too cold to plant anything here, it was very nice to do some window shopping. I wish summer would hurry up already.
Photos: MEDUSA JEWELLERY
EARTH PROVIDES ENOUGH TO SATISFY EVERY MAN'S NEED,
BUT NOT EVERY MAN'S GREED.
~Mahatma Gandhi~
Celebrate today by making an extra effort, but don't forget everyday day is Earth Day! We only have one Earth.
You can find more about Earth Day
here.
Since all the cool kids are doing it, I have decided it's time I join Pinterest. So here we go:
Please come by and join me, or else I'll look rather lonely/sad with no one to follow me there:)
Oh and keep on pinning!!