Pi!

Hi, blog followers from all over the world! This day is unique, like all others, I suppose. But today is the day that the first numbers of Pi coincide -  if, of course, you write the date the American way...

E.g.     3 - 14 - 15

Then at 09:26 and 53 seconds this morning it was:

3 - 14 - 15 - 926 - 53

Here you have the first ten digits if the number PI.

This doesn't happen very often. In fact, just once a century. To celebrate, I am going to try and make a lemon meringue PI. My daughter informed me that she was already busy with a PI pizza for their lunch!

I hope you all have the freakiest day possible.

Said pie:

Munchy Monday #42: Choc chip cookies

This is a recipe which was passed on to me by my half Canadian niece. It has been tried and tested many, many times and is very quick and simple to mix up. Done in a jiffy, you might say.

You will need:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I use margarine)
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
Few drops vanilla essence
1 tblsp creamy peanut butter
Chocolate chips

Method:
Mix all ingredients together to form a stiff dough. Make ping-pong ball sized balls and flatten them down on a greased oven tray. Bake in a medium oven (175º C) for 10 - 12 minutes. If you like them slightly crispier, leave them a couple minutes more. Leave for 2 minutes on the baking tray then remove to a clean tea towel or cooling rack.

Spring bucket update and the BBQ

This is a list of the things we have already achieved from this year's spring bucket list:

# Field trip - The Glass Museum, Vimbodí
# We have been asparagus hunting, we found 12!
# We have had the BBQ (see below)
# We have walked in the rain and splashed in the puddles
# I have completed another but it is a surprise for the moment for a certain person very close to me so I cannot publish it yet...

Yes, the BBQ. We had it last Saturday and here are a few photos to prove it. This time we had a new cook as my youngest daughter, who usually likes to do it, was away at a friend's house.

I must say my dear hubby did a fine job. Bravo and omnomnom...

A mixed salad which I threw together*

BBQ in the making

The end result - well, what hasn't been eaten up already!*

* The salad consisted of: mixed green and purple lettuce leaves, salad tomato, sweet onion (given to us by the neighbour that very morning), grated carrot, thinly sliced, raw purple cabbage and green and black olives, all garnished with olive oil and a shake of salt.

* The meat was: slices of pork belly rashers, pork ribs, lamb cutlets and chops and some prawns.

* The veggies this time were: potatoes, artichoke halves and small courgette cut into three or four blocks each.

For dessert: strawberries marinated in sugar and red wine.

Does anyone else have a spring bucket which they are working on? How are you doing? I'd love to know.

Munchy Monday #31: Rice Krispie cake

This neat little tart/cake is made in a jiffy. You could say it's "easy-peasy, lemon squeezy!" Can serve up to ten people, but this is not the case in our family!

You will need:

50 g margarine or butter
50 g sugar
2 tblsp. golden syrup
15 to 18 tblsp. Kellogg's rice krispies
Chocolate vermicelli, shavings or similar, to decorate

Method:

Slowly melt margarine, sugar and golden syrup in a large saucepan. Bring to boil, then remove from heat. Quickly stir in the krispies making sure that all of them are covered in "goo". Transfer to a pie plate or similar flat dish and even over using the back of a metal spoon.  Decorate with the chocolate vermicelli or shavings. Leave to cool in fridge until needed. Cut as for a cake and eat.

Note: I have tried using store brand krispies but the result was a little mushy, so I would recommend Kellogg's.

Mince pies

As I said in a post a few days ago, I do like mince pies. I made some at the weekend, not without problems! My fluted pastry cutter had gone rusty so I had to use a glass to cut the shapes out. The glass was the biggest I have but still a little too small for the purpose and the cut pastry stuck in the glass each time!

Still, they taste delicious, it seems. I haven't tried one yet but there is always a self - appointed official taster on hand to make sure the goodies I cook are O.K. before they are served!

Actually, these are mince tarts, not pies, as they don't have a lid!

Munchy Monday #25: Profiteroles

A week ago today Hubby turned half a century old! We celebrated the occasion, due to circumstances, on the Saturday before.

Here is the menu:

1st course:
Tomato soup with crisps, peanuts, pistachio nuts, roasted broad beans and a green salad in the centre of the table

2nd course:
Roasted pork cheek served with steamed broccoli

Dessert: 
Profiterole birthday tower, made with 50 profiteroles!

Nobody thought of taking a photo of the whole meal, just the dessert.

Here is how to make them:

For the pastry:
50 g butter/margarine
150 ml water
65 g plain (all purpose) flour, sifted
2 medium eggs, beaten

Chocolate sauce:
175 g plain cooking chocolate
150 ml water
1 tsp. instant coffee granules
125 g sugar

Filling:
1 tblsp. icing sugar, sifted
2 - 3 drops vanilla essence
170 ml whipping cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 220º C.
Melt the fat in a large pan, add water and bring to boil. Add flour all at once and beat until the mixture leaves the side of the pan. Cool slightly, and add the eggs, a little at a time, beating vigorously. Put the mixture in a piping bag with 1 cm nozzle, and pipe small mounds on a dampened baking sheet. Gently press down the "crest" of each mound using a dampened knife.
Bake for 10 mins. and lower oven temp. to 190. Bake for a further 20 - 25 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, gently melt together the chocolate, instant coffee and 2 tblsps. of water in a small pan. Add remaining water and sugar and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 mins. and leave to cool.
To prepare the filling, just whisk the cream until stiff, adding icing sugar and vanilla drops. Pipe a small quantity of cream into the centre of each profiterole, pile them on a serving plate and pour chocolate sauce over the top.

This recipe will make 20 profiteroles. 

Munchy Monday #16: Summer fruit salad

This is so refreshing, and a good way to use up fruit which is ripening too quickly. It makes a pretty dessert, too. As for quantities, the choice is yours.

You will need:

Slices of water melon
Nectarines or peaches
Melon
Apples
Pears
Seedless red and white grapes
Orange juice
A small squirt of lemon or lime juice

Method:

Peel and chop the pear and apple. Toss the pieces in the lemon or lime juice in a serving bowl. Peel and chop the water melon, nectarine and melon into small pieces. Add to other fruit. Add the grapes and pour orange juice over all the fruit. Stir well. Keep in the fridge until required.

 

Note: I know that orange juice cannot really be considered a summer thing but it does add a special, refreshing flavour to this fruit salad.

Munchy Monday #1: 20 min. Rice pudding

Serves 4-6

You will need:

1 litre of whole or semi-skimmed milk
3 tblsp sugar
150 g short grain or pudding rice
1 small stick of cinnamon
2 or 3 pieces of orange or lemon skin, pared from the outside of the fruit.

Method:
Pour the milk into a milk pan or similar and add all the ingredients EXCEPT the rice. Stir to dissolve sugar and bring to boil. When almost boiling, stir, add rice, and stir again. Turn heat down to minimum and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Leave to cool.

Note: I make this in the evening, to eat the next morning for breakfast. This way the rice has much more flavour, as it has been allowed to "sit" with the other ingredients.

Arròs amb llet en 20 min.

4-6 racions

Es necessita:

1 litre de llet sencera o semi desnatada
3 cullerades soperes de sucre
150 g d'arròs de gra petit
1 bastonet de canyella
2 o 3 trossets de pell de llimona o de taronja, sense la fibra blanca

Instruccions:
Es posa la llet i la resta dels ingredients (EXCEPTE l'arròs) en una cassola, i es remena per dissoldre el sucre. S'escalfa la barrega fins que estigui a punt de bullir i s'afegeix l'arròs tot remenant. Es baixa el foc al mínim i es deixa coure uns 15 minuts. Cal remenar de tant en tant. 

Nota: Es pot menjar calent o fred. Jo ho preparo la nit anterior i ho mengem per l'esmorzar del dia següent. D'aquesta manera l'arròs és molt més gustós.