Argh! The diary of an occasional cook 😜
The “Fall/Thanksgiving” work competition called for a pumpkin dish and I was the only entrant 😂 with U.K. chef Nigella Lawson’s Pumpkin & Goats Cheese lasagne (with roasted pine nuts on top (one of these photos has pre-nuts)) and so work gave me a $30 Starbucks gift card anyway!! The occasion called for a potluck so I also made U.S. chef Samrin Nosrat’s almond and cardamom tea cake which was a screaming success.
Tales from the kitchen - there’s very valid reasons why I eat out two meals (sometimes three) a day!! Ingredient sourcing, preparations, and cooking are work work work!!
1. Cutting the pumpkins took hours. Fortunately The Crown Season 3 has dropped so I was able to binge on that while chopping.
6. The dud that Zach and I will still try tonight (and we did! it tasted fine but the inside was a lot darker than the one made according to the recipe). Notice how it sunk in the middle.
7. Second attempt at the cake and success - I made double sure I added Baking Powder and NOT baking soda - lol. The ingredients in this cake are not cheap either. Mistakes can be costly.
8. Nigella Lawson's Goat Cheese and Pumpkin lasagne just out of the oven sans the pine nuts which are toasting now.
9. Nigella called for some crusty bread too - which I sourced this morning to ensure its freshness. The idea is you dip it into the tomato sauce of the lasagne : )
10. And my cake - as you can see, I supplied icecream, cream and sugared strawberries. Again, thanks to Lorien (who sublets her place to me) for the cake dish and apple dish.
The “Fall/Thanksgiving” work competition called for a pumpkin dish and I was the only entrant 😂 with U.K. chef Nigella Lawson’s Pumpkin & Goats Cheese lasagne (with roasted pine nuts on top (one of these photos has pre-nuts)) and so work gave me a $30 Starbucks gift card anyway!! The occasion called for a potluck so I also made U.S. chef Samrin Nosrat’s almond and cardamom tea cake which was a screaming success.
Tales from the kitchen - there’s very valid reasons why I eat out two meals (sometimes three) a day!! Ingredient sourcing, preparations, and cooking are work work work!!
1. Cutting the pumpkins took hours. Fortunately The Crown Season 3 has dropped so I was able to binge on that while chopping.
2. Had to dash out for ANOTHER pumpkin as two didn't cut the weight required. This is what makes food preparation so time consuming too - the actual ingredients shopping.
3. Zachary was after a blow by blow as I made the dish, so I sent him this pic - lol. Chopping chopping. When I wasn't watching The Crown - I was listening to Eddie Vedder's cool tunes from the "Into the Wild" soundtrack.
4. Simmering.
5. Had to make another cake as I bungled the first one by adding baking soda when the recipe called for 'baking powder' - OOPS!
6. The dud that Zach and I will still try tonight (and we did! it tasted fine but the inside was a lot darker than the one made according to the recipe). Notice how it sunk in the middle.
7. Second attempt at the cake and success - I made double sure I added Baking Powder and NOT baking soda - lol. The ingredients in this cake are not cheap either. Mistakes can be costly.
8. Nigella Lawson's Goat Cheese and Pumpkin lasagne just out of the oven sans the pine nuts which are toasting now.
9. Nigella called for some crusty bread too - which I sourced this morning to ensure its freshness. The idea is you dip it into the tomato sauce of the lasagne : )
10. And my cake - as you can see, I supplied icecream, cream and sugared strawberries. Again, thanks to Lorien (who sublets her place to me) for the cake dish and apple dish.
