Italian chocolate cake: Are you feeling fruity?

sacher chocolate delight

This is another version of the chocolate cake basics are the same of the sachertorte but this time we decided instead of Apricot jam we filled with fruit and whipped cream. To finish we added lot's of cream and candied tropical fruits.

Enjoy your cake and Happy New Year Everybody!

Menu of the day: lift yourself up

Christmas Eve: Our guests were moved with all the cooking that I did. To me it is always a pleasure to see my family and or guests you know eat and eat. It makes me feel sooo happy to see happy faces after all the food. I grew up in the slopes of Mt. Kenya and the way food was presented was really not a great affair. After a hard day working the land, picking coffee in the rain carrying 40 kilos of potatoes to sell in the nearest market, food was something to keep you going.

7 years ago I moved to Italy after I got married and everything changed. Now, food to me is something I love to dedicate time to. Then, with mothers of my husbands friends I quickly learn't the basics of pasta making, baking italian simple cakes which after working on can be made into italian pieces of art.

I wanted to make my Christmas Eve a special one. So I cooked and at the end around 1 in the night I could see the faces of my guests. What a wonderful evening we put together.

I missed Christmas eve at the slopes.

I just wanted to share with you some of the food that we had, maybe you could try that for new year.
For tiramisu recipe find it here
simple cake find it here

Safari Notes: a community of black travellers

I bet many out there have heard of "Safari" safari is a swahili word for journey. Safari Notes is a social network where black travelers come to share ideas, news, experiences and tips.

I have shared this with you here because it's where I'm hanging out lately, very interesting place especially if you are planning a trip or you are just a person who loves to travel. You will get many ideas here.


Visit Safari Notes


You have some tips to share? Well on Safari notes you can join the forums, have your own page, add travel photo's to share with or even connect with other travelers.
See you there!

Christmas Menu

Christmas is done. We had some friends over for dinner.Our visitors represented 4 countries Kenya (cook), Italy (organiser), Italy (guest), Canada (guest) and India (guest).

Our idea was to make the evening as interesting as possible. So we made this menu of the day on the chalk board.

Merry Christmas everybody and I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas

Christmas Punch Recipes

3 qt. of orange juice
2 qt. of pineapple juice
2 qt. of Sprite
1/2 cup grenadine syrup
3 cups ice cubes
to garnish fruit slices


-Combine juices, sprite, and grenadine in a punch bowl then add the ice and fruit slices (oranges, pineapple)

For 24th dinner that I'm having I will prepare this punch for my guests and this is not the first time I prepare this fruit punch and every time it's a hit!

Simple easy quick Italian recipes: Sachertorte simple, now everyone can bake

Christmas is here. We are all getting into the mood. Yesterday night I made this special cake which I want to share with you.
I hope you have a Merry Christmas and keep reading.
This year we are celebrating our Christmas here in Bangkok the land of the smiles.
How I wish I was celebrating at the slopes of Mt.Kenya who knows how many Sacher tortes I could have made....


Merry Christmas readers and bloggers from simple Italian recipes!




Grab your basket and let's go shop.


We will need


200g of dark chocolate
4 eggs
180g flour
180g sugar
180g butter
12g of baking powder

Chocolate icing:
60g of butter
100g dark chocolate
1 spoonful of cream

Steps:
Making your home made Sacher can as be easy, here's how I made it.
Start by mixing the egg yellows with sugar.
The chocolate + butter melted in (bain-marie)

according to wikipedia The bain-marie consists of a large container filled with a working liquid (usually water) and another, smaller container filled with the substance to be heated. The smaller container is partially immersed in the larger container, and the larger container is heated. The temperature of the working liquid cannot normally exceed the boiling point of that liquid at the ambient atmospheric pressure, and so the temperature of the inner container can be brought to a known limit and held there by bringing the outer working liquid to a boil. Convection in the working liquid of the outer container also improves the uniformity of heating in the inner container.
the melted butter and chocolate is added to the yellow sugar mixture. Dissolve baking powder with a small amount of milk and add to the mixture, after which you add the flour and mix. Finally add whisked egg whites.
Cooked in the oven for 45 minutes at 200°c


When the sacher cake is cool cut into half, add a layer of apricot jam.
Now melt the choclate for the icing with butter in bain marie and add the cream. Pour this over the chocolate and leave it to set.

Merry Christmas and enjoy your Sacher cake

Simple easy quick Italian recipes: homemade ravioli pasta for Christmas

In the area Romagna of Italy they are called cappelletti, this is mostly a widely used dish on Christmas day which is served in broth.
The most used ingredient to make this Pasta is Mortadella. Mortadella is commonly known around the world as bologna.

mini ravioli:

250g cottage cheese (Ricotta)

150g Parmesan cheese

150g bologna ham

Pinch of nutmeg

Put in a food processor and mix the Mortadella them together into a puree, next you will need to read my older article on how to make the dough as the base is always the one for other filled pastas. Italian pasta, lasagne and pizza making can be very easy once you get the basics. Enjoy and let me know how it comes.

Process of homemade pasta making here

The dough recipe here

Try and you will never stop.
Merry Christmas

Hotel Reservations and travel bookings

Everyone knows that a good vacation need to be planned and it happens that sometime we look forward to a great vacation but we have no time to make all the necessary arrangements. But all unpleasant holidays because of lack of enough time to plan is a thing of the past. Hotel Reservations gives your vacation the planning it deserves leaving you to only relax and enjoy your holidays.

At Hotel Reservations you will find all types of Vacation rentals, hotels, flights, cars and vacation packages and at discounted prices helping you to save up to 70% off on hotels, motels and resorts. you will find great packages to your Beach travels, bed and breakfast holidays,golf vacations, family trips and spas as well.


Hotel Reservations is your guarantee to lowest internet rates.
And what more at Hotel Reservations they cater for different languages French, Italian, Spanish and German.

So next time you think of a vacation then think
Hotel Reservations.

Good evening my love

Every now and then you can break the rules. A simple lemon squeeze can mean so much to the one you love. Serve it with a note saying "I love you". It doesn't have to be lemonade can be any other juice or cocktail.
Ideas of telling someone I Love You. You can do it cheaply with a whole heart and work better than someone doing it in an expensive way. What matters is showing to your sweet half that you care

italian ham: from the shop to the table

italian ham: from the shop to the table its as easy as abc, no cooking no sweating just eating and eating
To add some colour to your table this Christmas the italian simple recipes presents an idea of how you can serve some of the ham you bought the other day and now it's lying in the fridge.
By the way I will be mixing some italian words for you to learn how to call some of the basic ingredients in Italian.
General name for ham is Prosciutto. But then you find there are different types of hams, boiled, smoked, raw etc.

When serving your ham, remember to add some fashion to it, makes it interesting.
Note: the bread to accompany our ham and cheese here is home-made.
Easy, I have used flour, yeast, salt and olive oil. I get dry yeast here which is in sachets weighing I think 11g. Mix that with a 900g of flour add salt and olive oil. I add enough water to make a dough which I cover with a kitchen cloth for about 2 hours to rise. Then I work it, into forms that I want put it into the container that I will use in the oven, I leave it to rise again. Then goes into the oven.
Enjoy

Paris Hilton: loves gelato

I was browsing the internet and looking for interesting stuff and I came across this website. VIPs and desserts (VIP e dolci) follow this link to the original posting here

This is Christmas and everyone is busy coming up with ideas for a peaceful, unforgettable Christmas from home or away from home. All that matters is a Merry Christmas.

Paris Hilton loves Italian gelato. I found this site interesting it has nice recipes of homemade gelato. See what gelato celebrities like Hillary Duff and Hermoine liked when they were in Italy
Here's the blog

Saving time during our Christmas cooking

I was thinking this morning. How could I help my readers this Christmas who will do a lot of cooking because they are expecting many guests.

I know sometimes I have prepared parties for friends and family and we end up being a whole group of 30-40 people. And everyone wonders how did you do that and you have that fresh look on your face?

Here's my secret.
1) I plan ahead - this means I plan plenty of time ahead as I do not like last minute preparations as I have seen many people wait until last minute and then if things do not work out they get stressed.
This evening I have already gone through my cook books and I have already prepared a list of dishes for Christmas. With already the dishes to be cooked on paper and confirmations are coming in for the friends who will be able to join us means that i have plenty of time to get the shopping list done plus go shopping.

Going through my list of dishes I will cook means I know what I can already prepare the day before to save time on the actual Christmas day.

And On the big day? I know I have to wake up at 6 in the morning and start the cooking, the most important thing is I need to make sure that as I work I keep cleaning the dishes (pots and utensils that I'm using) and working place. How does this help me? It helps me not have a mountain of dishes and cooking pots to clean after everyone is gone.
These are some of my rules when I have to cook for a number of friends.

Keep reading friends and sharing.

In the next few days I will be sharing some of the dishes I have planned for Christmas.

Italian tiramisu recipe: step by step homemade tiramisu

For most of you who are looking for christmas dinner recipes e.g.tiramisu with pictures, here you go. I'm re-posting this recipe for the second time as this is going to be most famous dessert this Christmas.
ingredients:
250g of Mascarpone cheese
3 eggs
finger biscuits
3 teaspoons of sugar
cofee
Cocoa powder

In a container I mix the egg yolks with the sugar. I then beat the egg whites and I add them to the yolk and sugar mixture. Then I add the mascarpone and mix really well.

I then dip the biscuits into coffee and arrange them in the container, alternating a layer of biscuits with that of cream. I continue like this until I have used all cream. Then with the help of a sieve I put a small quantity of cocoa powder on top.
Then into the fridge.
If you have no time can have it done on the previous day.
Enjoy!
If you would like to do it step by step with me, contact me!
Have a nice Tiramisu, will you?

by the way if you click here you can review my post and get paid for it.

Salads

Wednesday during the Kings 80th birthday we went to the celebrations see pictures in the post below.

After we had dinner at a restaurant in Khaosan road also in the past I have posted on Khaosan road it is the backpackers paradise in Bangkok.

My son is a very funny character at only 4 and half years he has mixed characters of an actor and a politician... So after he had dinner in this restaurant he woke up and started going round like the manager shaking hands and saying hallo to people around. One of the waitress asked him to go to see what was going on in the kitchen.

Later they asked us not to leave as the boy had with the help of the cook prepared a gift for father (fathers day)and he came and presented this wonderfully arranged salad. It was amazing. Everyone clapped.

We loved the salad, we ate as much as could because really it was so so nice.

If you like it try and create your own this Christmas and please send me the pictures and we add them to this blog. I would be happy to see whatever I'm bringing you is inspiring you to go try.

DelightfulDeliveries.com Recognized as Hot 100 Retail Website

Press Release:

DelightfulDeliveries.com Recognized as Hot 100 Retail Website

Internet Retailer Ranks Website Among Best in Nation for 2008

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–DelightfulDeliveries.com, the premiere Internet Gift Retailer and America’s #1 Gift Basket Website, today announced it has been named one of The Hot 100 Retail Websites for 2008 by leading industry magazine, Internet Retailer. The Hot 100 list represents the best of what retailers are doing online, highlighting innovation and setting the standards in online for what the rest of the industry should be doing.

DelightfulDeliveries.com, a privately-held company, with one of the largest and most unique selections of gourmet gifts, ranked alongside larger sites such as Dell, Nike and Amazon.com, by building its award-winning site on selection, functionality, speed and the complete customer experience. A recent re-design has improved the customer’s shopping experience to make holiday gift-giving easy and enjoyable, including rating and reviews, behavioral recommendations and free shipping offers.

“We are extremely honored to be recognized as a pacesetter in online retailing,” said Eric Lituchy, Founder and CEO of DelightfulDeliveries.com. “We pride ourselves on using the latest technology to make gift-giving fun and easy. Being named among the best in the nation validates we are succeeding in our efforts to deliver the best possible customer experience.”

In addition to making Internet Retailer’s The Hot 100 list for 2008, DelightfulDeliveries.com was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine as part of its Inc. 5000, which highlights the fastest growing private companies.

DelightfulDeliveries.com offers over 2000 unique and delicious gifts from America’s best brands to the finest boutique shops. Consumers can easily shop the site by gift or food category, occasion, type and best-seller. Corporate gift-givers can choose from hundreds of customized gourmet treats.

For additional information, and to see a complete selection of gifts available, visit www.DelightfulDeliveries.com.

About Delightful Deliveries
DelightfulDeliveries.com is an award-winning website that began in 1998 and quickly established itself as one of the premier Internet gift retailers. Its mission is to bring great products to gift-givers, while providing world-class service. The company selects its offerings from a broad variety of fine food gift products for consumers and for corporate gifts, and gathers them in one place to make the selection process quick and simple.

Easy simple and quickbBeef stew with rice: Egyptian recipe

Sometime back I talked about my love for cook books, my last trip which took us to Cairo saw an additional book to my collection. I had promised to try the recipes and post them here.
So today we are moving away a little from Italian recipe to this delicious recipe from the land of the Pyramids. It was so so good I kept eating and eating you can tell by the look of the picture that it is very very inviting.

Come with me let's go shop for today's recipe

shopping list
500g lean beaf
3 cups vegetable broth
Cumin
2 tablespoon of tomato concentrate
Rice
Olive Oil
Fresh Parsley

Now, its time to get to work. Cut meat into small cubes brown in the pan in olive oil then add the chopped garlic, salt and 1 tablespoon of cumin. When the meat is golden add 2 cups of vegetable broth and tomato. Cover and lower the heat. Cook slowly until the meat is tender. I cooked for over 1 hour.

Serve this delicious stew with steamed or boiled rice. Decorate with parsley.

I give this recipe 5 stars as it is simple but very very delicious.

Winter Sales!

Golden rules for a healthy Christmas

1. Eat balanced diet (cereals, fruits, vegetables, meat and milk
2. Use little oil for cooking. This is a rule you should actually consider for the whole year.
3. Steam, grill or oven bake your food avoid much deep fried foods.
4. Add salads to your main course dishes
5. Make sure you include fruit, a fruit salad could also work miracles to those who would not settle for fruit. It works for me, try it could work for you too
7. I never use maiyonnaise throughout the year in my house if you feel your family cannot do without it try low fat type.
8. Exercise. Add exercise activities to this coming Christmas period must do for the family. Choose something interesting.

Snowman Cookie Jar

This cookie jar snowman arrives bearing gifts of the sweetest variety. A bite-sized sampler with 24 Nibblers® bite-sized cookies, 18 Brownie Bites, and two hand-frosted cookies. 6 1/2" round, 12" high.

Christmas goodies

Warm up the winter with this selection of gourmet treats: 24 Nibblers® bite-sized cookies, 18 Brownie Bites, eight ounces of Jelly Belly® jelly beans, four chocolate grahams, and two frosted cookies. 14 1/2" high

Chicken with rosemary and sage

This is my favourite Chicken. It is simple and tasty.
Shopping list:
chicken fillet

Rosemary

Sage

Black pepper


What do I do?
Prepare your Rosemary and Sage hint: I always buy a good potion of rosemary and sage. I cut them into small pieces and add salt to them. Then put them on a kitchen cloth to dry. Then I store that in a container and I use over time.
See in picture.


Then?
Cut the meat and add a little of sage and rosemary salt mixture plus black ground black pepper to taste.

After which?

I cook on the pan until ready and serve mostly with potatoes. Can also grill.

Another hint: Sometimes I cook this with white wine, this is optional.
Give it a try and let me know.

Christmas on the radar screen

Well, even if we are not quite talking radars here, OpticsPlanet may have just the right range of Christmas present for your family and friends.
Whether its Junior's newly-found passion for astronomy, Dad's long experience in nature-watching or Mummy's craving for flashy new sunglasses, OpticsPlanet is sure to be the one stop you need for your Christmas shopping.
Their huge selection includes finest-quality brand-name binoculars, telescopes, sunglasses, goggles, prescription goggles, rifle scopes, range finders, spotting scopes, flashlights, microscopes, night vision, and more.
Throw into that a 100% satisfaction guarantee and free shipping for orders above $29.95, and you'll see that OpticsPlanet could be the solution for your Christmas presents.

Your Girlfriend this Christmas

For a special girlfriend choose a gift that tells her that you really love her. Know what she loves, does she have hobbies, what has been on her must buy shopping list. If all this does not help then seek help from her closest girlfriend.


List is endless:
Music

Gift certificates - to let them choose what they want

Jewels there are many ideas online below are 2 examples click images and get more ideas from the store at cheap prices.







Natural white pearl sterling silver cluster Earrings for only $7.99 USD. Can you afford to miss this for your loved one?

else



This 3 CT Genuine Amethyst & Rhodolite Garnet Sterling Silver Ring at only $36.99 USD

Italian simple potatoe recipe

I wanted to prepare some chicken but did not want to make potato puree to go with it. This is what I did instead, peeled the potatoes and sliced them into little pieces, then I added a layer of thinly peeled and sliced tomatoes. After which I added some cheese, chicken broth, pepper to taste and some milk. For a perfect result add some cooking cream. Then cook in the oven at 200°c for around 1 hour.

For the chicken was simple, chicken fillet add some pepper, salt, rosemary and sage. Cook oil in a pan add 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and cook your chicken. For the chicken you can add some white wine if you have it will make it more tasty.
Then I served together with the potatoes. Let me know if you try this dish.

Chef Novelli at France Show (London)

The France Show (18-20 January 2008) is to host celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli at London's Olympia.

Among the most celebrated chefs in Britain, Novelli will be conducting 3 live cooking demonstrations, a foretaste of what is on offer at the Novelli Academy, one of the top cookery schools in the world.

Come and discover the Novelli secrets. A must see event for lovers of food. Find out more in the press release below.




Press Release:

Jean-Christophe Novelli, Britain's favourite French Chef, will be one of the star attractions at The France Show 2008, which runs at London's Olympia from 18-20 January.

He will be conducting three live cookery demonstrations each day at the show with his "mobile" Novelli Academy Cookery School, revealing the secrets that have made him one of the most celebrated Chefs in Britain.

The Novelli master classes will be among the main highlights of an already mouth-watering line-up for the Olympia show, which is expected to attract 30,000 visitors. It is being organised by Archant Life, publisher of the UK's three leading French lifestyle magazines - France, Living France and French Property News.

Miller Hogg, Regional Managing Director of Archant Life France, said: "We have had a wonderful response to the France Show so far from the public and are extremely excited about working with one of the world's greatest Chefs.For anyone with a love of French food, watching Jean-Christophe Novelli inaction is a must."

Jean-Christophe, who started work at the age of 14 as a baker in his home town of Arras came to Britain in 1984. He is a Michelin and 5AA Rosette award winning Chef, whose attributes include AA Chef's Chef of the Year,European Chef of the Year finalist representing Great Britain and the prestigious Egon Ronay Dessert of the Year. He won Restaurant of the Year on numerous occasions and many other awards for culinary excellence.

In 2005 Jean-Christophe established the Novelli Academy, which was voted among the 'Top 25 Cookery Schools in the World' within three months and offers a diverse range of courses to suit aspiring cooks of all levels. A year ago he branched out again to open his first gastro pub, 'A Touch of Novelli' at The White Horse in Harpenden.

During 2007 Jean-Christophe launched Novelli Wines - "I have always been as passionate about wine as I am about food. As a chef, I know that if you serve the right wine with the right food you can turn a good meal into a truly great one. There is a wealth of small producers in France creating wonderful, and affordable, wines. The France Show is all about sharing and appreciating everything that France can offer."

Jean-Christophe's new recipe book "Everyday Novelli" will be available from1 February 2008, from Headline Publishing, and advance copies can be ordered at the show.

The Novelli Food Theatre will be one of the main attractions at the France Show offering demonstrations of cookery to suit all palates. There will be six cookery demonstrations each day, three by Novelli, two by his protégé,Steven Kitchen and one by Franck Raymond, the head Chef of London's oldest French restaurant, Mon Plaisir.

Other highlights of the France Show 2008 include a huge property zone,London's largest French market and an extensive holiday travel fair, as well as insights into French culture, language and lifestyle.

Visitors who pre-register can obtain free tickets or else pay £8 at the door on the day. For your free tickets and further information about the France Show,visit the official website at www.thefranceshow.com

Gift ideas and dinner for your Boyfriend.

When it comes to special occassions like Christmas a romantic idea for a your Boyfriend is what counts.

What options do I have?
Gift ideas
The most important thing is considering the things that you know he likes. Need to ask yourself about his hobbies, interests and or sports that he really enjoys.
Clothing: sports related clothes or normal clothes just make sure you get the sizes right.If you are unsure then I'm sure many of the gift stores will give you a possibility of a gift voucher and he can go choose for himself.

Romantic home made dinner
Another kind of gift that we tend to leave out most is a homemade meal. I think it is very powerful ideal gift you can give to someone you love and care for.
Get to know what he likes, attention to the presentation a great plate of starters, wine, main course and of course dessert. If you are not good with desserts then you can order from your local (in Italy they call them Pasticceria) bakery around the corner.

Create that candle lit dinner right in your house and win your loves heart forever!

Show that you care by going this extra mile and of preparing a home made meal. To me a gift of Homemade meal is everything

Music ratatouille

Friday night music fever is here to stay, both small, young and old.
Are you in caught up in the fever too? Starring Luca B.

Left-overs oh! Not me. Is this you?

I'm sure many people they get sick when they think of left-over food. But come to think of it, you make pizza and you are not able to finish it all. You are a busy working Mom and there is no way you will make it into making pizza every 2 days during the week. You can opt to organise yourself this way. Make extra pizza and free some of it for another day in the week.

You can make all your food for the week and freeze, let's be practical Italy is the land of Pizza right? But do you think that supermarkets are not full of frozen pizza that you just microwave or oven heat? Yes, they are. So if you can make your own home made pizza and lasagne and any other food and freeze don't you think it can save you working families the madness of Monday to Friday dinners?
Think about it.
Love your left over pizza, lasagne.