monday, easter & other things.

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happy monday friends, another fresh start to a brand new week. i hope that you enjoyed your easter sunday. my son was home from college and still looked all over the house for his easter basket. you are never too old for chocolates and salted caramels!

i thought i'd share some fun links i've stumbled upon, to start the week off in a fun way. why not?!

• don't you wish all crossing lights were this fun?

• lately loving the instagram art of this guy.

• a samurai ear pin.

• east coast girls are hip card.

• my (expensive) good taste in clutches continues.

• currently obsessing over these rings.

• my son started a blog.

• loving this new foodie blog.
  
  
  that should get you going! go get em' and enjoy your day!
  
   

new blog crush.

i've followed food, lifestyle, and travel photographer nicole franzen on instagram for a while now. but her blog? well i have a serious crush on that now too...

from the oooing and aaahing sounds i make at her indoor and outdoor shots, to her keen perceptiveness with regard to photographing people, and then there's the food, oh the food! i keep clicking from one post to the next. i don't do that on alot of blogs, nicole's blog la buena vida? i'm clicking away. enjoy!

friday food/3

for this weeks friday food i thought...this looks good! a french onion tart constructed over at the english kitchen.

do you guys like french onion soup? ooooooh, i love it! especially if there's alot of cheese and some delicious chunk of beautiful bread to soak up the soup and onions. my mouth is watering already. no really it is, even in the early hours of the morning.

the recipe seems pretty straight forward.
here's how it goes...

Your favourite soup in a tart. delicious!

1 sheet of all butter puff pastry, thawed if frozen
6 medium brown onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 TBS butter
1 TBS olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf, broken in half
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 TBS calvados (apple brandy)
1 tsp liquid beef stock extract
8 TBS finely grated parmesan cheese
4 slices of jarlsberg or gruyere cheese
8 buttery round crackers
to finish:
some milk
coarsely ground black pepper
sea salt flakes

to put it together and make it beautiful and tasty, head to the english kitchen's site here for the rest of it! i am definitely trying this! enjoy...

friday food/2

this is the second friday food feature which i've just started on avant garde design. fridays i'll feature recipes/photos of things i'd like to make, things i've made & things that other people make.

the mouth~watering food blog what katie ate featured the fact that march, in australia, is/has been in the middle of a meat~free week. the point isn't to turn everyone into vegetarians either. it's all to support free range farms and end factory farming of animals.

since i am a vegetarian, among some of the meat~free dishes katie featured, i'd love to try this...a slow roasted tomato & goat's cheese pesto tart. i like all of those things, tomatoes, goat cheese, pesto and tarts. so...

(image via what katie ate)
here's how katie does it:

ingredients,

for the pesto,

2 large handfuls of fresh basil, leaves, stalks removed
1/4 pine nuts, lightly toasted (5-10 mins in a medium heat oven)
1/4 cup olive oil (note: do not use EVOO for this as flavour will be too strong)
100 g soft goat’s cheese
pinch chili flakes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

for the topping,

3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
extra parmesan cheese for serving
fresh oregano leaves
fresh basil leaves
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 sheet pre-rolled all butter puff pastry
1 egg yolk and a dash of milk mixed together to make egg wash.

the method,

1.preheat oven to 120˚C (250˚F) place all cherry tomatoes (and or any other varieties of tomatoes which you may like to include, halved or quartered) onto a baking tray, cut side up and slow roast for 2 hours. to make the pesto:

2.meanwhile into the jug of a blender or food processor add the two handful’s worth of fresh basil leaves, the lightly toasted pine nuts, grated 1/4 parmesan cheese, goat’s cheese, balsamic vinegar, chili flakes and 1/4 cup olive oil and whizz to form a thick, smooth pesto paste, season to taste with salt and black pepper and set aside. using a standard dinner plate, cut a circle out from the sheet of pre-rolled pastry, then using a smaller plate (1/2”/1.5cm smaller than original) centre it evenly on top of the pastry circle and gently press down to form a grooved smaller circle border within the larger pastry circle.

prick inside the border – aka the middle of the pastry shape with a fork a good few times and brush the exterior pastry border with egg wash. spread the pre-made pesto paste thinly within the inner circle – avoiding getting any on the border then place the roasted tomatoes in the centre. season with a pinch of sea salt and a generous sprinkling of black pepper and roast in the oven at 180˚C (350˚F) until the pastry is cooked on the bottom and golden brown around the edges. Serve warm with shavings of fresh parmesan and a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar.

oh yeah...and eat ;) enjoy this friday food/2 recipe!

friday food/1

happy friday friends! i thought i'd start a new series on the blog for fridays. let's call it friday food. i don't pretend to be a chef or an amazing baker or cook. but there are people who are. and so we'll talk about them. we'll share recipes. and through them, perhaps we'll attempt to be better chefs/bakers and cooks.

i first noticed these bowls on designlovefest's pinterest site. then came the recipe. i had to share. after all it's friday. and after all it's chocolate. enough said right?

so the recipe is for chocolate/orange pots de creme. ah, yeah. pots of chocolate and cream? yes please.

the recipe is from a fabulous blog amelia, here.
and here it is for ya:

chocolate organge pots de creme
4-6 servings
250 ml heavy cream
75 ml milk
75 grams dark chocolate, chopped (70%)
3 large egg yolks
50 ml sugar
zest from 1 orange

heat oven to 150°C (325F).
pour cream and milk in a sauce pan and heat until steaming hot. add chocolate and stir until melted. put aside.

meanwhile, lightly whip yolks and sugar. add yolk mixture to chocolate mixture in a thin stream whilst whisking. add finely grated orange zest. place 4-6 ramekins in a large baking pan. divide batter among the ramekins. add enough very hot water to pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
bake until set, but centers move slightly – about 35-55 minutes (depending on how many you make).
remove ramekins from water and let cool. cover and put in fridge for a least 3 hours. serve with chopped nuts or whipped cream.

next on my list from this blog to make, this lemon poppy seed cake. i'm not sure i've seen a prettier cake in quite some time...poppy seeds on the outside of the frosting? brilliant. enjoy!