Food Minia

I have been making this salad for years and it's my go to salad to bring to cookouts.  Everyone loves it and if by chance there is any leftover, it's good the next day.  There are a lot of different recipes out there for this salad and I've settled on this one because it's not overdressed and is a perfect balance of crunchy, sweet and salty. Ingredients: 2-3 broccoli crowns (about 6 cups), cut into small florets  10 bacon slices, crisp-cooked and crumbled 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 1/3 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar 3 teaspoons sugar salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1.   Combine broccoli, bacon, onion, sunflower seeds and cranberries in a large bowl. 2.  In a small bowl whisk mayo, vinegar sugar, salt and pepper.  Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. 3.   Cover and refrigerate (at least an hour) until ready to serve.

I had the pleasure of joining my cousin in Italy again, this time on a 9 day trip to Sicily.  We started in Palermo and made our way in a counter-clockwise tour of the island.  One of my favorite stops was the geological formation known as Scala dei Turchi just to the west of Agrigento. It looks like a milky-white set of steps rising out of the Mediterranean Sea, and it's completely free to explore.  While I'm really glad I was able to climb it, I do hope that one day soon the government will decide to protect the area since it will likely become quite damaged from all the human activity.  For more pictures of the trip, check out my Instagram feed . One of my other favorite stops was the UNESCO world heritage Baroque town of Ragusa.  Not only is it absolutely lovely, it has some of the best restaurants on the island including the 2 Michelin-starred Ristorante Duomo.  We were able to have a 7 course lunch there for only 45 euros (that's like $50 with the rec...

Now it's here, the end, I find myself uncharacteristically unable to think of anything profound to say. I'm sure there's so much I've forgotten to tell you. The "drafts" folder of this blog is full of half-written posts, that stop in mid-air, trying to say something. But the thought was too vague, or I was too tired, demented, angry, self-pitying, or just busy, to finish it. Some of you understand why this blog has to stop and others don't. The best way I can put it is that if I carry on, I will feel like I am betraying something. Let me explain. Life with a two year old and a four year old is still demanding, but I can't deny that it's easier. At times it's even nice in the way that life with two under-threes, or a new baby, or being pregnant or whatever just isn't ever. Well not for me anyway. I was always having a good time despite something and I would briefly think "Look! Look it's not relentlessly crap!". Whereas now ...

  A few weeks  ago I went to the Schoolhouse Cafe in Paoli, Wisconsin with a couple friends for lunch.  Paoli is a tiny little town with a few shops and this wonderful cafe.  The schoolhouse was built in 1854 and became a cafe in 2008.  I've been there a few times and each time I've really enjoyed the food along with the atmosphere.     I had the Goat Cheese Salad (mixed greens, pecan encrusted goat cheese, pears, strawberries, grapes, blueberries with a balsamic vinaigrette).  It was so good, especially the fried goat cheese!  I don't know when I'll get back to the Schoolhouse so I had to try and recreate this salad at home.  I didn't have any pecans so I used seasoned bread crumbs and it turned out great!     The first thing you want to do is put the goat cheese in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm it up so it’s easier to slice.  I used 4oz log of goat cheese but i t’s easy to scale up or d...

Mincemeat and apple streusel, what could be more comforting? Perhaps the addition of a big bowl of softly whipped cream or a jug of steaming yellow custard. Without further ado I will give you the recipe as I know that this is a cake that you will want to make immediately. 175g self raising flour 125g sugar 1 egg 125g unsalted butter a pinch of salt 1 large cooking apple, peeled, cored and sliced Half a jar of mincemeat, better if it is homemade. Crumble about 6 digestive biscuits. 1 baking tin approx 18cm x 27cm. It will not be a problem if it is slightly larger or smaller. Not too much though. Heat the oven to C160 fan or C170 top and bottom heat. Put the butter, sugar and egg in a largish bowl and beat well to combine. No need to cream really as this is not going to be a sponge. Fold in the flour to make a fairly stiff mixture. Sort of half wak between a sponge and pastry. Spoon into a  buttered baking tin. Smooth out with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Top with spoonfulls of...

I am not sentimental. My husband complains about it a lot. "Don't go near her, Sam," Giles will warn my son as he toddles towards me, eyes shining, with his chubby arms outstretched. "Your mother doesn't like clinginess. Don't ask for a hug or anything, she hates that. That's not the way to her heart. " "Oh fuck off, you dickhead," I will snap. But he is basically right. How I have ended up with the world's neediest husband and, in turn, the world's neediest toddler, must some sort of dastardly revenge wreaked upon me by some unknown force. At least there's Kitty. Thank God for Kitty! She couldn't give a flying shit whether I'm alive or dead. Anyway, I'm not sentimental. And I've never been more sure about anything as I've been about not having any more kids. I want to want to have more children, just like I want to want to enjoy clubbing, ski-ing and "girlie dinners". But I don't. Yet even I ...

This pastry cream is a standard of patisserie cooking and can be used in many of the cakes that you can buy in your favourite pastry shops. If you don't want as much as this then scale the recipe down. So to make it you will need: 400ml of whole milk 100ml of cream 150g egg yolk, this is approximately 7 yolks. It is best to measure as not all eggs are created equal. 150g sugar 36g cornflour 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence Put the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl and mix lightly.  Add the cornflour and whisk together fo a few seconds until evenly blended. Now add the cold milk and cream and mix to combine the ingredients.  Cook in the microwave for 2 minutes at high power. Open the microwave and mix well. This makes sure that the heat is evenly distributed. Replace the cream into microwave and cook for a further minute. Remove and mix well. Do this twice more and by the time that you have cooked it for 5 minutes in total it should be cooked. If you are nervous, you can cook for 30...