The Adventures of Sarah and Paul
May 16th 2008sarahScotland & Sweet things & Weird things
I absolutely LOVE this Scottish advert!
Maybe this is what it will be like at the ceilidh next Friday!
Edit: Because we don’t get them in the States, you can find out all about wine gums here.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho7gIb91Jc0
May 11th 2008sarahDessert & Food
Yum. It turned out well, although I nearly forgot to put the brown sugar on top. Plus, I used soy milk instead of evaporated for the topping. Either way, though, it tasted good and I proved to Paul that he does like coconut! It doesn’t look like much, but tasted lovely!
I haven’t been able to make this cake in the UK because of the fact I haven’t been able to find a yellow cake mix. I refuse to pay the money for the imports, and sometimes I admit I’m too stubborn to try to find alternatives to things – let alone be bothered to do it. So after five years, it was definitely a treat.
Bake 325 F for 45 minutes
1 yellow cake mix
1 can fruit cocktail
2 1/3 cup coconut
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup butter or oleo
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup evap milk or regular milk
Combine cake mix, fruit with juice, 1 cup coconut and the eggs. Blend, then beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Pour into greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake 325F for 45 minutes or until done – springs back in the center.
Bring butter, white sugar and milk to a boil, boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining coconut. Spoon over hot cake in pan. Serve warm or cold.
May 3rd 2008sarahDessert & Food & Life
The weary traveler has returned. Yep, that’s right, Paul’s back from his travels to the states. For those of you who didn’t know, Paul was in Houston for work recently. And what did he bring back for me?
Yes, you see that right! A Betty Crocker Yellow Cake mix, plus a few more other goodies.
Good job it’s a Bank Holiday weekend. One Ugly Duckling Cake, coming right up!
Apr 19th 2008sarahChocolate & Dessert & Food
Looking at my statistics, I’ve found a lot of people find my site looking for chocolate rice pudding. Because of this, I’ve decided to post my recipe, which I got out of a Sainsbury’s magazine. I’ve mentioned before that the recipe is from Nigella Lawson, and it’s also been published in her book, Feast, but for a much larger crowd.
I find this a really easy, gorgeous recipe. Nigella gives specific instructions on how to mix everything, but I tend to just throw everything together in a casserole dish and stick it in the oven. I find it to be quite liquidy, so I also end up cooking it for longer than she calls for, stirring it every half hour or so. I don’t know if it turns out right, but Paul likes it, so why change things now?
When I gave the recipe to my mom, it was in British style, meaning you have to get out the scales, which I don’t find that difficult or off putting anymore. However, because I suspect my mother hasn’t made it yet because of the British measurements and funny oven temperatures, I’ve tried to convert these. It’s all a bit hodgepodge, but I don’t think this pudding is a science. It tastes good, and that’s about it.
Chocolate Rice Pudding
3 tbsp cocoa
4 tbsp boiling water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
125 grams (about 1 1/2 cups) of arborio or pudding rice
100 grams (about 1/2 cup) sugar
1 litre (1 3/4 pints) (about 4 cups) milk
1 1/2 litre (2 1/2 pint) baking dish
Heat your oven to 150 C (300 F)
Dissolve the cocoa and water, and then stir in the milk. Add the vanilla extract, and pour this mixture into your baking dish. Then add the rice and sugar to the dish and stir together. Put this all into the over and bake for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
And that’s it! Enjoy!
Mar 30th 2008sarahFood & Restaurants
Paul and I went out on Friday night to Baltic. In short, it’s a restaurant with an Eastern European menu, and also apparently does live music, which I didn’t know about until I looked at their website. We booked our table for 7pm, and were seated right away when we arrived a bit early. The place was already a bit busy, and our orders were taken quite quickly. I thought they might try to push us a long, but no, they didn’t. The bill came quickly when we asked for it, (which is a change for us) but they didn’t even try to move us to the bar after we had paid and were taking our time on some after dinner drinks.
The place had a really nice atmosphere, polite waitstaff, the lighting was good and the food was gorgeous as well. I had pierogi to start, followed by cabbage stuffed with pork and veal. Paul had blinis to start, with a selection of items to go with and for his main he had a delicious venison dish. It was so good it made me wonder why I don’t order venison more often when we’re out… Dessert was a chocolate torte followed by some after dinner drinks.
We had a really good night there, and would definitely go back – even just for drinks.
