Some photos from last weekend…
I baked a batch of Nick Malgieri’s supernatural brownies for our neighbours Shaun and Michelle. Poor darlings have had a hard week, and chocolate always helps…
My friend Dave convinced me to buy Andy Harris’ A Month in Marrakesh. This simple breakfast recipe of boiled egg, chopped boiled potato, olive oil, salt and cumin was a delicious start to the weekend…
Remember my new baking stones from this month’s In My Kitchen post?
They worked so well that I bought two more for the bottom shelf. Now I can bake looong loaves! These ones are filled with roasted garlic…
…and these are a high hydration ciabatta dough…
A simple birthday cake for Pete’s brother, Uncle Steve, made by baking the yoghurt cake recipe in a 20cm/8″ round pan, sandwiching it with Pete’s raspberry jam, and topping it with a vanilla buttercream frosting. The nasturtiums are from the garden…
Our bishop’s crown chillies are ripening! These gorgeous bells are sweet with a medium heat. They were perfect in our eggplant curry last night…
And finally, a new cartoon resides on our fridge, taken from today’s Sun Herald…
Any exciting happenings at your place last weekend?
Your bishop’s crown chillies are amazing! I might have to hunt these down for my garden, just because they look so lovely.
Pam, they’re hard to grow, but the chillies are such a treat to have in the garden. Hope you track some down!
Yes, yes chocolate always helps as I’m sure the very kind thought you had would have hugely helped. Those brownies do look supernaturally good Celia. You’ve been having a very busy baking weekend and it all looks so good. Such gorgeous colours, your nasturtiums and such a lovely shape, your chillies.
Choc, we’ve had a frantic couple of weeks – baking is my way of staying sane. I’m just grateful the neighbours are willing to help us eat! :)
I love those chillies! I am freezing to bits in Bagni di Lucca! Not to worry, perfect weather to stay home and embroider my new curtains for Vergemoli.
Deb, I hope you managed to go out and buy food! It sounds sooo cold over there at the moment!
Awesome looking food, Celia. You do eat well. Looks as though you had a good weekend :D
Thanks Nick! We had a fun but exhausting weekend!
Such beautiful bread.
I’m willing to believe in the supernatural to get one of those brownies!
And those chilies would make a great poster!
Bright and sassy- I love the color!
Heidi, they’re like cheery red bells, ringing in the damp and rainy outdoors! I think the brownies are so named because they’re just so darned easy, yet sooo good. They’re my standby emergency brownies, especially as they don’t require me to drag the mixer out!
Bread recipe, please!
Of course! :)
Here are the ciabattas in the bottom photo:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/03/23/ciabatta-con-semola-rimacinata-di-grano-duro/
And roasted garlic loaves:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/01/28/roasted-garlic/
The garlic was worked into a slightly lower hydration dough:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/08/24/playing-with-bread/
Love the chillies – worth growing just to look at. I need a milder one for this year – the one I grew last year was too hot and too prolific! The dried chillies from that plant will last all year.
Suelle, for some reason the really hot bullet ones are the ones that seem to grow the best, and they’re almost too hot to eat! We’ve got cayennes and serannos in the garden as well, but they’re yet to ripen.
Love the look of that bread! Those chillies are great – such a fun shape. If I liked chillies those would definitely be ones to try out!
Hee hee, great cartoon :-) Have a good week, looks like you’ve had a good weekend to set you up for it!
Thanks C! The weekend was a blast – we had family over on both days, so it was hectic!
I love the look of those peppers. I mean the brownies are truly supernatural, but I want those peppers!
Thanks Greg! I think they’d grow well where you are – we haven’t had quite as much sun as we normally do, so the chillies aren’t doing particularly well, with the exception of this one bishop’s crown bush! :)
Lovely ! All lovely! Brownies, chillis, cakes,breakfast, yum :)
Thank you! Thank you! I wish you could have been here… xx
I think I will just have to move in for one weekend.. I can’t believe what you’ve accomplished! (don’t tell my family or they will expect more from me!!) I love the look of those brownies with their shiny crinkle tops:)
Smidge, the brownies are a cheat – I once timed myself and they only under 14 minutes to make! :)
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/03/11/gin-rummy-and-brownies/
Seriously? That’s my kind of recipe!!
Love the ciabatta! Baking stones do help, don’t they. Hmmm, must look into those chillies… I think they are so pretty.
Lizzy, thank you – I don’t know what we’d do without the baking stones!
Wonderful weekend happenings at your place Celia!… Although, you’ve just made me want brownie for breakfast… that can’t be good.
Brydie, you’re allowed to have anything you want for breakfast at this stage.. ;-)
Sounds like a very productive weekend Celia!
I love that cartoon, and surely the answer isn’t that hard… We all know its YES !
I didn’t include the second panel, because it wasn’t going on my fridge, but it was all the trees saying, “of course, yep, uh-huh..” :)
Gorgeous chillies and I LOVE the sound of the boiled egg, potato and cumin…sarnie. Your kitchen is always on the move x x x x
Oz, it was surprisingly delicious! I didn’t think it would be! It would have been slightly better on a softer roll though…
Those chilli’s look gorgeous – the colour has come through on the photo’s brilliantly.
And your new cartoon has started my day with a big smile – thanks.
Amanda, thank you – the colour came out well, as they really are that red! :)
The more I see those chillies, the more I want to grow them, they are gorgeous!
And the cartoon…. sooooo funny :)
Sounds like you’ve had a great, busy, weekend!
Claire, thank you – it was a packed weekend full of friends and laughing. A great joy!
Oh Celia I love the cartoon it’s hilarious!
Your bread looks amazing. Yet another post that makes me wish I was your neighbour.
I’m thinking of adding some of those baking stones to my wedding register. People will think I’m strange but that’s what I love!
Claire, they’re not really that expensive – from memory each of the rectangular ones was $15 each, and the round ones are often under $10! But if you and I were neighbours, we’d be the size of barns! :)
Oh the bread. What a lovely and productive weekend. Chillis are looking glorious
Thanks Tania! The bread was shared around the neighbours! :)
Those chillies are so cute I’d be keeping them as a dried decoration!
Your loaves are very inspiring Celia, my own err on the side of ‘decidedly rustic’, never mind practice makes perfect.
Rose, ciabatta is a very forgiving shape once you get a handle on manipulating wet dough. I wrote about it here, in case it’s of interest:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/06/22/pane-de-casa-a-tutorial/
Wonderful woman, thank you for pointing me to that tute.
Most welcome! I hope you find it useful! :)
What a busy weekend in your kitchen! I love everything – the bread, the beautiful and vibrant Bishop Crown chillies (are they mild?), the birthday cake and that breakfast bun. All delicious. And the comic at the end is priceless! Glad you had a good weekend.
Thanks Charlie! Hope yours was brilliant too! :)
Celia, not sure what would be my favorite “thing” of all your weekend, you are soooo productive!
I might go for the supernatural brownies, I’ve made them once and never blogged about them, my pictures turned out horrible (sigh)…
but the cartoon cracked me up…. I showed to Phil, he was a bit too quick to say it is absolutely perfect… :-)
Hehehe…well, we know what the answer to the cartoon is, right? ;-) Hope you and Phil had a great weekend too! xx
Hi Celia,
those chillies are so cute. they make me giggle :))
Wow you always make so many breads. Do you know the best way to store homemade bread? We are a family of two.
I normally bake 1kg or 750gr worth of bread. cut in half and freeze the other half. Homemade bread goes stale very quickly :(
Diana, we always freeze any bread we don’t eat on the day it’s baked. I really think that’s the best way – it tastes nearly as good once it’s defrosted. We do bake a LOT of bread – usually once a week – and it’s stashed in the freezer for school lunches and weekday eating. About a third gets given away!
all that on one weekend!.. i feel exhausted but also hungry just looking at all your wonderful creations..
Jane, it was great to take photos, made me feel like I’d been productive! :)
Those chillies are amazing! :O I’ve never seen ones quite like them before :)
Aren’t they beautiful? They really are my favourites…
LERVE the chillies! never seen them before and they look fantastic.
Anne, they seem to be the only chillies that are growing in the yard at the moment. The cayennes are struggling badly with the wet…
As usual that bread looks fantastic, you are one hell of a baker. You are also a hoot. I let you know that A Month in Marrakesh is one of my top cookbooks for the year and ergo, I have convinced you to buy it. I know what ‘convincing’ is; I have to do a lot of it around here and that ain’t it! ;-)
What can I say, Davey? I’m suggestible…but you know that, so it is absolutely your fault.. ;-)
love the peppers! and the cartoon is soooo funny O)
Thanks Tandy! It made us all laugh! :)
What a lovely cake! Raspberry jam is the best between cake layers, especially chocolate cake. I love nasturtiums, but I’ve never been able to grow them very well. Its too bad those bishop’s chilies are difficult to grow, as they are so fun to look at. I wonder if they sell plants for those over here. I’ll have to ask at the plant nursery in the spring.
Mel, nasturtiums grow like a weed here! We have a whole bed of them – we eat it in salads, make pesto from it, and feed it to the chooks!
I’m going to try making this cake today for P using “Half Spoon” sweetener. Fingers crossed!
Misk, I was so happy it worked for you! Yaay! :)
P absolutely loves the flavour. Me, too. I might need another go at this recipe though as it has an unusual amount of air bubble holes in it. Maybe I whisked too much air into it?
Misk, might have something to do with the different sugar you’re using?
You have been busy! divine looking brownies, bread and chillies, I have been very slack in comparison.
No comparison, Sue, I never meant to invite it! Some weekends are lazy and relaxing, this one was just hectic! :)
I have serious baking stone envy. We have a pizza stone but I haven’t had much success with it for baking bread and pizza. I’ve had better luck with cookie sheets and steam or a cast iron skillet.
Yesterday, we planted herbs in pots, strawberries out front, and pansies and impatiens in the back flower beds. Getting ready for a glorious Spring.
Hugs, Maz
Maz, I wonder why you don’t have luck with the stone? Hmm..will drop you an email! :)
Your are a busy bee! Look at all those goodness!
Thanks Tes! It was a fun weekend! :)
Oh what a lovely weekend in your home Celia.
Pete and I went on a 20km ride on the beach to the river mouth over the weekend – was brilliant! Cooking wise, very slack!
:-) Mandy
Mandy, that was probably the one thing I didn’t get into the weekend – exercise! :)
I have several bushes of those red hot bullet chillies and they won’t stop fruiting. I’ve given away kilos. The secret is to find an Indonesian friend!
Melissa, they’re sooo hot! I find anything more than one in a dish to be overwhelming! I have great admiration for people who can eat them by the bowlful.. ;-)
Love those peppers! Never seen anything like them!