November Nibbles

• Love canneloni, but hate the fiddliness required to coax the filling into the tubes? Try this easy way to stuff pasta (via GoodLife Eats).
• Much as I love cooking this is something I can totally relate to: Why I don't cook at home. And if you aren't already in love with the oddball humour that The Oatmeal brings, you're in for a treat.
• Tired of same-old, same-old cakes? No-one will be able to say "been there, done that" when you present them with this Kill Bill themed cake. Personally, I think it's pure genius. 
• The Origins of 10 Food Phrases is not only fascinating, but also a great source of festive season small talk ammo. And I could certainly do with some of that.
• And talking about the season of festivities, joy and (most importantly) fantastic food, these pretty peppermint candies are on top of my to-make list. Along with some homemade Limoncello (watch this space for the recipe).
• Mélanger has the honour of being my FFF* for the month of November. Whipping up delightful looking tarts, flaky pastries and featherlight cakes while juggling a newborn is no mean feat, and yet Julia manages to make it look as easy as pie. Uh, no pun intended. One of my favourite things about her blog is the monthly themes she chooses, which makes for a nice cohesiveness within every month. Past themes include Pink (for Pinktober) featuring a fantastic looking Strawberry Ice Cream and her British Desserts in July, in which she manages to masterfully combine elements of the traditional and the modern in this Chocolate & Orange Trifle 'Sandwich'.
• And my favourite recipe for the past month? It's got to be the fresh, zingy flavours of this unusual Indian Pork with Lime Pickles. If you haven't tried it yet, you're seriously missing out.

*FFF = Favourite Foodblog Find

Warm Chicken & Potato Salad with Sweet Mustard Dressing

Just the other day I got embroiled in a bitter twitter war. Opinions were tossed to and fro and my ego went from wonderfully swollen to very sadly deflated in a matter of minutes. The end result was me having to skulk away, tail firmly tucked between my legs, and a sulky toddler-esque pout taking hold of my lips. Twitter can be detrimental to your mental health, dear readers!

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Kumar's Beetroot Curry

Sometimes you have a special recipe bookmarked for weeks and you have to specifically plan your menu and shopping list to finally be able to make the recipe of your affections. Other times, well, you're faced with a glut of *insert vegetable of your choice here* and your mission is to find a recipe which will assist you in whittling down your stash of said vegetable.

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Skate with Preserved Lemon & Green Olives

Fish scares me. There I've said it. Well, that's not entirely true. I love seafood. Give me some cajun grilled calamari, a platter of sashimi (spicy tuna = mama mia!) or good old fish and chips, glistening with vinegar and I'm as happy as can be. But prepping fish myself? At home? Hmm. It's a bit scary.

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White Chocolate & Berry Souffle

Why what have we here? Pretty little bowls of light-as-air fluffy goodness? Smoothly sweet from the white chocolate ganache with a delightful tartness from the berries and a flavour reminiscent of turkish delight, this is, simply put, a bowl of heaven. Please come in, have a seat, make yourself comfortable. I'll put on some Edith Piaf for us or perhaps some Enya to delight our ears while our tongues curl in ecstasy around  these soufflés. What is the occassion, you ask? 

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Pancar Salatasi (Beetroot with Yoghurt)

Now I'm not normally the world's biggest fan of pink (a certain dou person springs to mind here, eh @polkadotcupcake, @JulyAte and @mdd1985?), but there is something about the brilliant deep pink of beetroot that just screams "Hello world!" It's the vegetable equivalent of slapping on some body glitter, slinging on a feather boa and heading out to town in your tear inducing pointy-toed stilettos.

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Bollywood cooking

If the thought of bowls overflowing with Indian spices and the heady aroma of incense makes you swoon the way it does me, then pull up a chair, because I've got a round-up of Indian food that is sure to get your mouth watering. Got your cumin seeds and garam masala ready? Then  off we go.

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Indian Pork with Lime Pickles

{Updated from the archives with New! Improved! photos for your viewing & cooking pleasure}

Hands up who *doesn't* like Indian food? Yup, just as I thought, I have to squint to see those few and far between hands. Indulging in some buttery naan, crisp poppadums, spicy atchars and creamy curries is my idea of a pretty perfect evening. Add good company in the form of TheHusband (or perhaps some Big Bang Theory) and you're set. Of course in the summer months one doesn't necessarily feel like whipping up a heavy or creamy curry. Or eating it for that matter. 

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Beetroot Burgers

We're quite a carnivorous bunch, aren't we? And by "we", I refer to us here on the southern tip of Africa. As the old joke goes, if you want veggies, you eat boerewors, and chicken is more than sufficient to take care of your fruit requirements. As child I used to drive my mom crazy with my requests for a "veisie" (riff on vleisie = small piece of meat) and there was nothing more pleasurable than sucking the meat off the bones at a braai. Or munching on a crispy, salty, oily piece of pork rind. *crunch* Not to mention fishing out the marrow from marrowbones and slurping it up with all the accompanying sounds that go with it!

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Chicken Lababdar

*Grunt* *Groan* *Sigh* Those are the sounds that you would be privy to if you were indulging in some light stalking activities around us over the weekend. Sadly, those weren't groans and sighs of delight, but rather of anguish. Yes people, moving day arrived this past weekend, bright and sunny (although luckily not too hot), and taxed our poor muscles to the max.

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Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies

{While we're busy drowning amidst never ending stacks of boxes and watching our kitties frolic in their new garden, meals are pretty much grab-what-you-can and take-out affairs, which have left a big gaping hole here on the blog. Collective sigh. Luckily for me, some awesome twitter people have taken pity on me stepped up to the challenge to bring you some reading fodder in my absence. Don't worry, you're in very good hands!

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