This is one of Marco’s exhibition I told you before. The archiviarti 2010, curated by Fiordialice Sette at Fabbrica Borroni. It was great! The space was amazing and there are many interesting people. Super! :)
The mandatory photo with the artist :P (more…)
I think you can guess where I am now. Yes, I am back in Milano, for a month. This is my second week here, still getting used to autumn, that makes me feel so sleepy all the time! But it is nice to be back. I have made a long pause on writing on the blog. I needed it. It started with this: Charlie died, in such a terrible way…that left us devastated for a long period, that led us to find a new house, and after went through loads of hassle, we did found one, but we needed to renovate that house, and it was quite a mess, and in the same time, some project started: photography and furniture. In the same time, Marco had a little accident that gave him 11 stitches in the time when he had to finish his painting, and started his new series of paintings. Our house renovation was still ongoing by the time we had to leave for Milano, almost made me cancel my trip, I am glad I didn’t.
We are basically here because I kind of need a break, otherwise I think I’d fall into pieces and also because Marco is having two collective exhibition: One is in Galleria San Lorenzo, Milano, this exhibition is going to be until November 20th. And another one in Fabbrica Borroni that will be opened on November 10th, if you are around, please do come on the 10th, starting at 18.30 there will be an opening party. Will be nice to see you there.
So, here I am now, pampered with much needed delicious Italian food and good old friends.
It has been more than a month, a lot of stories, but I am still not ready to share. For now, I’ll tell you about these cookies, and summer. This year we have quite a short summer here, the rainy season seems to start again. Two weeks ago it was raining outside and I really want to have some cookies, our fridge was almost empty except for: half stick of butter, a half eaten bag of cornflakes, a handful of raisins, and a bit of oat and some eggs… you know, those lazy lazy days when you just don’t want to go for food shopping.
Anyway, I made the cookies, and it was yum :) and when I was baking I was kind of missing the summer in Milan. It is abit magical for me, because the city is almost empty every August, everybody goes to the sea. I prefer to stay and do my holiday in September when everybody is back in the city and the beach is much quieter. During August, most people who are left in Milan usually go to parco sempione where they install a temporary amusement park every summer:
…beautiful. I must remember to bring here my polaroid next time I go to Milan. Btw, back to cookies, I was too lazy to measure everything, so I just used tablespoon and hand, and juts kind of throwing everything and mixed them
Then, when the cookies was ready, there was a bit of sun. So I sat in my terrace, enjoying a little of some last piece of summer, with warm cookies and sipping a little glass of macchiato caldo:
Beautiful people, wherever you are, I hope you still have a little last piece of summer. Hugs!
Raisin, Corn Flakes and Oatmeal Cookies
Music: Buona Vista Social Club Soundtrack
One handful of raisin
Three handful of cornflakes, slightly crushed
One egg
5 tablespoons of sugar
100 gram of butter, softened
5 tablespoons of oatmeal
12 tablespoons of flour
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 180C
Mix butter with sugar, then add the egg, mix well.
Add the flour, baking powder and oatmeal, mix then add raisin and crushed cornflakes.
Butter a cookie sheet, and using the tablespoon, transfer the dough to the sheet, make around 5cm distance among them, then flatten abit with a fork.
Bake around 15-18 minutes or until golden. Makes around 18 cookies.
Let cool and enjoy :)
My little sister called me from New York few weeks ago, asking me for banana cake recipe, and of course my answer was: look for it in the blog.
And she did. (I think)
The few days ago, I called her, while we were talking, I asked her about the banana cake and her answer was: “oh, I didn’t use your recipe, it is just too complicated:
…
I was a little sad in the beginning, but when I saw my recipe, I think may be she was right, I mean, I am sure it is hard to find black rice flour in New York and all. And after all, my recipe was more bready than cakey.
Well, darling girl, this one is for you. Simple banana and to the point banana cake. You don’t even need a mixer to make it.
And it is soft, sweet, crumbly. Just like you. Hugs!
Banana Cake
115 gram unsalted butter, softened
100 gram sugar
1 egg
125 ml plain yoghurt
2 ripe medium banana, pureed
170 gram all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp sugar for sprinkling
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
Preheat the oven to 350F/Gas 4/180C
Butter and flour one 28×16cm pan
Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Mix well the softened butter and sugar with hand, then add the egg, mix well, then the yoghurt, mix well, then pureed banana, mix well then vanilla seeds. Add the flour mixture, mix until just incorporate, don’t over mix.
Transfer to the baking pan, spread well, sprinkle that 1 tablespoon of sugar on top
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted come out clean.
Wait until it cools down abit (20 minutes) before cutting it. I know it is hard to wait for the cake :) In fact, I took photos of Charlie to keep me distracted from the cake:
Have a nice weekend everyone! :)
It has been like…zillion years ago since I wrote my last post here. Not that I have not had anything to say, I have been having a lot of things in my mind, may be a bit too much…and the thing is: I think my MIND got CONSTIPATED. I could not get these things out of my mind. Everything I do feels so wrong. Everything I do could not express what I think.
I don’t like my own cooking.
I don’t like my photographs.
I don’t like my design.
I don’t like my…things
Just not good enough. Everything I do. Just not what I have in mind.
Ugh.
And then I got to this point where I could not see any point of letting it out. And it has been 2 months. 2 long months.
This week: We have just returned from a whole month in Jakarta trip, Jakarta is a stressing city for me, Charlie made a mess of our house. I cleaned like a crazy lady for the whole week, and suddenly I did not like anything here anymore, so I started moving the furniture around like mad hatter. Turning our house into one big mess.
.
.
.
This morning.
I woke up at 6. Marco was still sleeping. It started to rain slowly. I made coffee in my kitchen. Turned on my computer. Charlie sleeping on the blue cushion next to me.
And the world just seems…quite right.
Yes.
I took some photos.
It is just a beginning. It is just me. It might not look nice. But it is okay.
I want to take more.
Sloooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy….
I wanted to make muffins.
I have NOT that muffin paper cups.
I baked them PAPERLESS in duralex glasses.
This makes me think: Why do we always put the paper when we bake muffins or cupcakes? Imagine six billions people eating one muffin…that is six billions paper trash! And how many trees died for this? And what is the purpose? Portability? I don’t think so. Even when you buy one muffin to take away in a cafe or bakery, the would always give you paper bag and napkins with it. I rarely see people carrying muffin just like that, even when they do, they still use napkin to hold it. So, why not paperless muffin? Imagine how many muffin I have already baked in my life? And how mindless I was?
I believe, being green should first be an attitude, not lifestyle.
And I believe, even by starting from little things like muffin paper we could reduce trash.
So, from now, I will always bake PAPERLESS MUFFINS.
I was thinking to give you recipes, but you know, the web is flooded enough with zillion of banana and chocolate muffins recipes :) I think you can just google it :) The thing is, just bake it…paperLESS :)
Love.
e
It takes a while to return to my normal rhythm of life, it has been full of friends and family visits for this past three weeks, and now, finally just us. This is Marco’s lunch today, I had a late late breakfast, so, I guess I will fix myself a bowl of green salad with tofu after writing this post. It was some kind of hachis parmentier. “Some kind” because I did not use diced meat and sauce lynnoaise, but ground beef and some fresh tomatoes, plus some shallots and lemon thyme (I prefer to use the common thyme but we only have this at home right now).
I wanted to make that delicious chocolate and raspberry tart from Michel Roux. And ended up with my kind (but still delicious) of chocolate and strawberry tartlets.
Because.
When I went to my usual shop for grocery shopping, I have problem finding the two important ingredients for this tart: the dark chocolate and raspberry…of course I can NOT make a chocolate and raspberry tart without the chocolate and raspberry themselves.
So.
I switched to a serious ingredients hunting mode. And I found this:
1. Looking badly at many many local supermarket for finding that 200 grams of good quality dark chocolate = Impossible!
2. At the baking shop: only greeted by arrays of scary (a.k.a chemical) looking chocolate block = I will not put that in my stomach
3. At the import/specialty supermarket = Found one…kind of…for Rp. 48.000 for 100g = 4 euros = Not gonna pay that much for a chocolate that actually costs only 1 euro in Milan.
4. A pack of raspberry (100 grams) cost around Rp. 70.000 = Almost 6 euros = errrr….only when I was desperate for raspberry and only Peck in Milan had it that I ever paid that much for a pack of raspberry = No!
*Sigh…I never thought it would be this complicated only to make a tart. but since I have already make the tart dough (which was sitting restlessly in my fridge), there is no way I would give up making chocolate tart, so I tried to make it with dutch press cocoa powder (which comes in the cutest packaging) and bought a kilo of strawberry instead.
These cookies reminds me of that Spike Jonze movie: Where The Wild Things Are :)
Why? No idea, I haven’t even finished watching it :P
May be because I am still amused by these too-cute-to-be-true Japanese cookies cutters, in Indonesia we usually find those moon, heart, star shapes, not these ones:
It has been ages! I know…what kept me from posting: we had to move house. Remember I told you about my leaking roof? Last time, it rained so bad and it rained outside-IN! The roof could not be fixed, because it was an antique joglo and to fix it would require a biiiiiig effort and of course living in tropical country with a badly leaking roof is not an option. So we moved. Still an antique joglo, but with a strong strong roof and an extra room for guests. The house is still bare, and we are still waiting for the kitchen tables and we have a new family member: Charlie.
Lots of stories, but right now I really just want to share this recipe with you, this was light but satisfying (don’t see my portion, I mostly eat like a bird… :) I did not have pine nuts here, and kind of difficult and expensive to buy in Indonesia, macadamia is more available and accessible as we are quite near to Australia. I think basil tastes different in here and in Italy, but it still tasted great!
Tagliatelle with Macadamia and Basil Pesto, Baby Green Beans and Kabocha
Serves 2/3
250g dried tagliatelle
1/6 medium kabocha, peel, throw away the seeds and very thinly sliced
1 small potato, peel and very thinly sliced
A handful of baby green beans, washed
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Freshly grated parmesan, sea salt and pepper
Pesto:
5 stalks of fresh basil, leaves picked, washed and roughly chopped
10 macadamia, lightly toasted, and roughly chopped
1/2 clove of garlic
a handful of freshly grated parmesan
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Bring to boil water (and a tablespoon of salt) in a pot big enough for the pasta and the vegetables
In the meantime, put all the ingredients of pesto in the food processor (just put a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a bit of salt in the beginning, you can adjust this later) and blitz until smooth, remove and season to taste with sea salt. If you feel the pesto is too thick, add some more extra virgin olive oil.
When the water boils, add the potato, kabocha and green beans, when it comes to boil again, add the pasta and cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve some of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Throw the pasta back to the pot, add the pesto and stir well, if it is too thick, add some of the reserved cooking water to thin it.
Divide to plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan and ground black pepper. Serve with fresh bread and big big smile.
Buon apetito! xx
