Meme - Foodie Book Wisdom

The lovely Fiona over at The Cottage Smallholder has tagged me for a meme. This is a fun one.

The rules are:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Fiona has passed it on in the hope of keeping a foodie theme happening. I am happy to oblige. The nearest foodie books, were two old favourites sitting on my desk. They are my go to references for all kinds of foodie questions. I had pulled them out to look up cooking times for roast pork.

Surprisingly, the correct paragraphs in both books yielded something other than a list of ingredients or instructions to cream the butter and sugar and add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

Here they are.

Cook's Companion - Stephanie Alexander on basil

'Its most famous partnership is with a ripe tomato and extra virgin olive oil, although some might argue that pesto deserves that accolade. I have one Italian friend who tells me that he only ever eats his pesto the next season and that he makes bottles and leaves his pesto topped with a film of olive oil to mature. On the other hand, in Rome and other Italian towns where I have shopped, brilliant green, just-made pesto is on sale in every salumeria each day throughout the summer months.'

Delia's How to Cook Book Two - Delia Smith on cauliflower

'Then place them, along with the leaves, in a steamer, sitting them up vertically (ie stalk-side at the base and flower heads up). Now pop a bay leaf in, which has a fragrant affinity with cauliflower. I also add some salt, and I like to use another very English flavouring, nutmeg, which I grate lightly over the surface of the florets. Now pour in boiling water from the kettle and steam for 6-7 minutes, or until tender when tested with a skewer. Serve with a little butter or grated cheese , or in our modern variation of cauliflower cheese on page 135.'

So there you have it. I'm going to tag the following people whose blogs I enjoy:

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Kelly-Jane - Cooking the Books
Dharm - Dad, Baker & Chef
Chriesi - Almond Corner
Anita - Married With Dinner

What have the photos here got to do with anything. Well, nothing actually. I took them at the Botanical Gardens a few weeks back and I really like them. I have been looking for an excuse to post them. I still don't have one, so I am just going to do it anyway.

A Very Special Guest Meme

Hi, I am the newest member of Kitchen Chez KJ. When KJ told me that she was tagged for a meme by Fiona over at Cottage Smallholder I begged her to let me do it. You know as a way of introducing myself to the world. She said I could, so here goes.

What I was doing ten years ago

Oh you know, just hanging around underground as ore and stuff. Finally I got dug up and processed and here I am.

My to do-list today.

Well mornings are my busiest time. I’ll start off doing some slices of thick cut wholemeal flour loaf at around 8am-ish.

Then I've got a meeting of the Breakfast Cereals are Evil League. Toasters have come together to foil a massive conspiracy to weaken the human race. Greedy breakfast cereal manufacturers are using subliminal messaging to turn people away from physcially, socially and emotionally nurturing toasted bread products and toward the empty debilitating nothingness of corn flakes and coco pops. They must be stopped.

Then I’ll have a bit of a snooze until about 7pm-ish when I’ll be working on some ciabatta to go with soup for dinner. Then I’ll hang out and gossip with the jaffle iron until about 10pm-ish when I’ll knock up some fruit ‘n spice muffins for a late night supper.



Snacks I enjoy

Well naturally I enjoy all kinds of bread products, but my favourite has to be crumpets. Getting that crisp crunch just right and with the oozing butter and syrup, just yummy. Thanks to my dedicated setting I'm a bit of a crumpet expert, if I do say so myself.

Things I would do if I was a Billionaire

I would retire to a custom built kitchen by the sea and toast just for fun. You know the odd bap here and there. Maybe a bit of turkish bread every now and then just for kicks.



3 Bad Habits

I beep annoyingly at people if they don’t come and collect their toast asap. I’ve taken the time to toast it, the least they can do is eat it while it’s still hot.

Other than that I am a well functioning machine. I do not do idiosyncrasies.

5 placed I have lived

Various mines. Dull and dirty places. I was glad to get out of there.

The Breville toaster factory where I was born. My memory of those days is pretty hazy.

The wholesale wharehouse. It was fun hanging out with all the other toasters. We had some wild nights in that place. The stories I could tell.

David Jones small appliances section. It was hard work, you always had to be putting your best foot forward. Keep yourself shiny that kind of thing. The staff got testy if their sales figures weren’t up to scratch.

The cupboard under the sink. It’s a cool pad. The pasta machine and I are best buds. And there’s a very fit little magimix living in the far corner. We’ve been looking at each other significantly for a while now. I’m in with a chance there. So long as that moronic food mill doesn't keep pushing his way in. Idiot!!!



5 jobs I’ve had

Well it's just been domestic work so far. But I'm keen to go into showbiz. I've got the looks. But just as a sideline you know. Maybe a bit part in Neighbours or Home and Away. Those people are always hanging about in the kitchen. I could just be an extra sitting on the kitchen bench. Maybe getting the odd action shot in breakfast scenes - doing a bit of toast or muffins here and there. Who knows!!

So that’s me. KJ said not to tag anyone. Rather anyone who wants to join in feel free. Casting agents can contact me through KJ's email address.