Weird ingredients for some make a delicious dinner for others

Some people are so used to what they eat on a daily basis, that they can’t really think of other ways to use ordinary ingredients, or when presented with other options they might just say no. I must admit I might have been one of these people until a year ago or so. I never thought about eating parsnips puree, or try a fennel salad garnishing glazed scallops (probably because you can’t find scallops in our shops, and fennel is still a novelty).
However, I hope I’ve conquered my weird fears and habits and I am now on a spree of new ingredients and new ways to combine them.
That’s why last night I got home with 10 Canadian king scallops, 2 fennels and some parsnips. It was a great dinner: new tastes and textures that worked great together, not to mention a beautiful plate.
We had: Glazed scallops on a bed of roasted parsnips puree with pancetta and fennel shavings salad, and we will have it again for sure.

Pickles smell like childhood memories

I am sure all of you have food related childhood memories. Maybe it’s your grand mother’s roast, pie, or her special chocolate cake. I have so many food memories, it will take me ages to tell you all about. However, two of them are soooooo sweet: my grand grand mother’s tomatoe soup, which I never managed to replicate, although I tried so hard, and her absolutely mouth watering pickles.
We really miss home made pickles and most of all we missed pickled cauliflower, so I had to give it a try, and I did.
To be honest I’m not so sure how this experiment went, because I haven’t taste them yet, but I will soon, and I surely hope we will love them! Not only to prove I can pickle, but also because we have loads of them :).

I smell like a giant veggie but I loooooooooooove it

This is how I felt yesterday evening when I left the Blagger’s Banquet kitchen at Hawksmoor in London. I must admit I also felt a bit tired, but most of all I felt extremely excited!!
I also managed to blagg something: two great Kaori chocolate calligraphy sets from Galler. Thanks again Galler!
The event was a great success, and everybody worked so hard: blagging food, drinks, items for the goodie bags and great auction items; cooking; serving; cleaning; and doing all the other bits and bobs that made the event possible, and most of all successful.



This was my first time in a real kitchen and it was greeeat, thanks to some absolutely lovely people that trusted me to help: Charlie@Eatmynels, Neil@TheWarOnCookbooks, Sig@Scandilicious and Niamh@Eatlikeagirl. Thanks guys! It was also great to work next to Cara@Gourmet Chick (see here her post on the event and a picture of me at work) and to fight for the salt with Ben@Food and drink in London. Great to meet you all guys!! It was absolutely lovely to meet everybody and the best thing is that I managed to help. I didn’t have a very glamorous job, but I learned a lot, and I’ll do it again anytime.

Almost Julia Child's mushroom soup

A few months ago I had the pleasure of taking part in a special screening for the movie Julie & Julia, thanks to Niamh at Eat like a girl and to the guys at Duckworth Publishers. Thanks again guys for the movie, and for the lovely book: My life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’homme.
I loved the movie and by the time it finished I was in love with two very special women (please don’t tell Alex!!): Meryl Streep, again, and Julia Child.
I also became obsessed with Julia’s book, and searched for it on the web and all over London: Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

A chestnut smelling memory

A few years ago, the day I turned 22, I decided to have a one day trip to the mountains to celebrate.
We left Bucharest in the morning, my mother and father not so happy about it and went to Brasov.
I remember it was a lovely day: sunny and with a special autumn scent. I ate cinnamon baked apples, wondered around, admired all the colours around me and smelled the forest. I felt amazing.