Archive | Blog

Our weekend in Norfolk

By Rasa Pelham on September 8, 2014 in English, Travel

Last weekend we were really lucky to visit Norfolk! We stayed in Yarmouth (a seaside town) and the next morning we had an amazing time at Claire and Jason wedding (our first wedding after me and Joni got married!!). But’ lets’s stop there at the seaside. I am big fan of seaside, especially the ones that have white sand and are plain like canvas. Plenty of space for your thoughts!Next, on our last day, we visited our granny in Cley. Here we celebrated aunt Diana’s birthday. I was quite amazed by the countryside and a local town. most of the houses made out of flint stones (ha ha, almost like the Flinstones!) Have a lovely week ;-)

Rasa xoxo

Life in UK

By Rasa Pelham on September 5, 2014 in English, Gardening, Savoury Delights, Sweet Treats, Updates

Love the pic above taken by my friend Jacolien from Stuff to Love! It reminds me of what a great multicultural city I used to live. This is where I lived most of my time while in UK!

Yesterday I passed my life in UK test!!!!! I just thought that I might as well become a british citizen after living here for 14 years and after getting married to my most wonderful english husband. Here are few fundamentals I learned while living in UK.

1. BEEING PART OF COMMUNITY, and this what we are trying to create at Friendly Nettle, a craft community that inspires you to craft :).

2. COOKING. Now, I know Britain is not famous for it’s cuisine, but you would be surprised there are many english dishes you can enjoy! Here are few I have tried: Steak and Ale Pies English Breakfast and Plum Steam Pudding 3. GARDENING. I know that not many of us can enjoy this, but there are plenty of allotments available to rent! Here is how I grew tomatoes this year…Enjoy your weekend!

Rasa xoxo

Pinterest challenge: berry, chocolate and oat cookies

By Rasa Pelham on September 2, 2014 in Pinterest challenge, Sweet Treats

I wanted to bake some cookies to be send to our aunt as a thank you gesture (I really hope she have received them already). This recipe from Lady and Pups have been perfect. I used mixed berries instead of blueberries as I had them. I particularly loved the idea of browning butter for it. This was my first time doing it!! I think it gives a nice rich flavour to any cookie (almost any!). BERRY AND CHOCOLATE OAT COOKIES adopted from Lady and Pups

1/2 cup (1 stick/113 grams) of unsalted butter
1/3 cup (71 grams) of granulated sugar
1/3 cup (63 grams) of dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla extract
3/4 cup (101 grams) of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1 1/2 cup (136 grams) of quick-cooking oats
1/2 heaping cup (85 grams) of chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup (125 grams) of frozen berries

1. Melt the unsalted butter in a small pot over medium heat, and continue to cook for approx 5 min until the butter has turned clear and the milk solids are browned. Pour the browned butter into a large bowl and let cool slightly for 5 min

2. add the granulated sugar and dark brown sugar into the browned butter and whisk until smoothly combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and whisk until thick and velvety. Sift the all-purpose flour, salt, ground cinnamon and baking soda right into the bowl, then whisk again until smooth

3. Switch from the whisk to a spatula, then add the quick-cooking oats and chopped dark chocolate. Fold the mixture until evenly incorporated. 4. Add the frozen blueberries and fold again until even. The cookie-dough will instantly firm-up as the frozen blueberries are mixed in.5. Scoop about 1 1/2 tbsp of cookie-dough onto a parchment-lined baking-sheet, with about 1″ of space in between each. The dough should be firm enough to shape with your hands. Make round dough-ball for a taller/thicker cookie, or press it down into a disk for a thinner cookie6. Bake in the preheated 180C oven for 12-13 min, until the edges are set and the centre is slightly soft. Let it cool for 10 min before transferring onto cooling rack Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

Pinterest challenge: bacon, egg and cheese pastry wrap

By Rasa Pelham on August 25, 2014 in Break-the-fast, Lunch or Dinner, Pinterest challenge

Extended weekend often means we can enjoy brunch! Wake up late and eat full on breakfast, what’s not to like? Me and Joni prefer breakfast that has egg and bacon with it! No wonder why I tried this bacon, egg & cheese pastry wrap from The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife. I took this to a breakfast meeting with our friends the other day and it was gone fast!

After looking through The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife I have realised that this recipe originated from crescent pastry breakfast ring (or wreath) and have been linked and linked back from another blogs. I guess I am linking it and blogging about it again! The only thing I changed is that I made it slightly smaller (no longer a ring) and I added some dill into it (because I am Lithuanian… Ha ha!). I hope you try it, like it and create your own version!BACON, EGG & CHEESE PASTRY WRAP adopted from The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife

1 puff pastry roll, cut into triangles
7 bacon slices, cooked
50g strong cheddar cheese, shredded
small bunch of dill, finely chopped
4 eggs, scrambled (Joni does it best! although he scrambled 5, I would say 4-3 would work just as well)

1. Place the pastry triangles on the baking paper in the round, in the shape of a star.

2. Place the bacon slice on each triangle.

3. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top together with chopped dill.

4. Arrange scrambled egg on top in the shape of a ring.5. Fold over the triangles to the centre to form a parcel.6. Bake the wrap in 200C oven for 20 min or so. Cut into 7 peaces to serve.Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

A healthier plum steamed pudding

By Rasa Pelham on August 20, 2014 in English, Sweet Treats, Winter

After living with an englishman for over a month, I realised that a pudding is an important part of the meal. Joni’s favourites are figgy dowdy, plum duff and spotted dick (yes, that’s right, thats how they call their puddings). All of these puddings are steamed puddings and that’s what I am going to talk about today. Although steamed puddings are meant to be for winter, it is good to make them now to reflect on current weather! I replaced suet (pure animal fat, similar to shortening in america) with coconut oil and caster sugar with molasses sugar so this can be a healthier option. And you don’t need to have all the equipment! Here I demonstrated how to steam your pudding in a regular steamer using cereal bowl. Go on, try it ;-). PLUM STEAMED PUDDING

55g self raising flour
110 mixed dried fruit
2 slices of bread with no crust, soaked in milk and drained
55 molasses sugar
50g coconut oil
1/2tsp mixed spice
115g plums, cored and chopped
half of an apple, pealed, cored and shredded
2 tbsp orange marmalade
2 tbsp vanilla rum (can be any you have, preferably dark rum)
1 egg
60ml milk
custard to serve

1. mix all the ingredients (except the curd) until all well combined.

2. to steam the pudding place the pudding mixture into the greased bowl (1.) and cover it with baking paper (2.). Place the bowl upside down in the steamer (3.). Steam the pudding for three hours (4.), replenish the water level if necessary. 3. Place the pudding bowl upside down in the plate and slowly lift it up to release the pudding. 4. Enjoy it while still warm with custard. It’s comforting food all over, so indulge ;-)

Rasa xoxo

Our apartment in Tuscany

By Rasa Pelham on August 15, 2014 in Budget £, Travel

We were on the strict budget when planning our honeymoon. If you have read wedding dress alterations post, you probably remember that most of our money went on the reception venue and caterers. But our holidays turned out amazing! Sometime low budget doesn’t have to be less enjoyable. Sometimes you just have to be more creative when it comes to money spending!

Instead of hotel we decided to go with Airbnb. I absolutely love the concept of Airbnb! No, and I am not being sponsored by them for me to write this. I used Airbnb on many occasions to rent out my London apartment when I went on holidays. This time it was my first time experience when it’s other way round! There are so many other holiday homes available for rent that are very unique and are cheaper then hotels. I especially look forward to trying out those tree houses in Sweden!

Anyway, coming back to our honeymoon apartment. Our little villa were surrounded by olive trees and vineyards in little village of Montefiridolfi. So we were surrounded by many very beautiful views!It is very cosy apartment that happened to have playing cards and some books in english.

We also had a Jacuzzi room! We used it well during few days of storms.

I loved rustic interior of our Tuscany apartment. It used to be a stable before it has been made into apartments! We had breakfast outdoors most of the mornings…. really missing that!Swimming pool is where we had most of the fun!

So, yes, Airbnb is my solution to frugal holiday. What’s yours?

Rasa xoxo

Florence of Italy

By Rasa Pelham on August 11, 2014 in Travel

While in Tuscany we visited Florence many times. Not only that our flight was from Florence, but also we visited for many cultural reasons such as architecture, theater (we went to see italian opera once) and some shopping. I personally loved tall, four/three storey buildings with beautiful long windows.If you are in Florence, prepare to walk a lot! And don’t miss out on the Duomo at Piazza Santa Maria del Fiore ;-).

If you are not on holidays already then have a lovely week!

Rasa xoxo

Marmalade tart with rosemary crust

By Rasa Pelham on August 5, 2014 in Preserves, Sweet Treats

Last week Joni asked me to bake a cake for his work so he could celebrate our wedding with his colleagues. As soon as he asked I thought ‘great’! I can use up at least one jar of marmalade that we got in the house (for some reason people think that Joni LOOOOOAAAVES marmalade so we ended up with 5 whole jars!). Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really like marmalade and Joni just likes it. If he loved marmalade that much I suppose we would have one jar of it or two at the max in the house. Luckily one jar of marmalade went straight to the bin (I think it was off as the texture was all sugary/candy like) and another has been used up to bake this tart. So if you are ok with your maths, we now have only three jars of marmalade…. wooohoo!!!!

Ok, I am very sorry to be so negative about the marmalade. After all it makes great tarts! And if you unlike me and like marmalade, then this tart is for you. It’s tastefully combined with rosemary flavour, therefore making it an amazing afternoon treat! How do I know that? Well… although I did not taste it (even if I wanted to have a one slice to see how my experiment turned out), apparently Joni’s colleagues really liked it and wanted more… All I can say ‘Success!!!’

MARMALADE TART WITH ROSEMARY CRUST

200g unsalted butter
6-8 tbsp sugar
2 egg yolks
15-20 tbsp flour
1 rosemary spring, leaves finely chopped (plus 3-4 springs for decoration)
1 jar of marmalade
icing sugar for dusting

1. Make the pastry dough by creaming butter with sugar. Gradually add egg yolks, flour and finely chopped rosemary. Wrap the dough into cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 15 min or so (it will be easer to handle it later). 2. Roll out the dough and line prepared baking tin with it (lined with baking paper prior that).3. Fill the tart with the marmalade

4. Cover the tart with the remaining dough. Just make little balls out the dough and place them evenly over the marmalade.

5. Bake in preheated 170C oven for 30-45min constantly checking if not over-baked, but lightly golden.

Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

P.S. Thanks to Ann-Mary for this beautiful cake stand ;-)

Visiting Thermal Springs in Italy

By Rasa Pelham on August 2, 2014 in Summery, Travel

If you are going to Italy sometime soon, be sure to visit thermal springs in Saturnia. We were lucky to stay in North Tuscany, so we reached this little town in two and a half hours by car. It was totally worth it! The only thing I would have done differently is to visit different locations of the hot springs instead of settling for a free one. In fact the setup is so confusing that we did not even know where to go once we are in Saturnia itself. We took at least an hour to actually figure this out. We used information listed on Discover Tuscany website, which have been quite useful in getting there and had some clues how to find this place. However I have recently found this comment on Trip Advisor that would have been useful if only… well, I did find it earlier before going to Italy!It’s quite amazing to dip yourself into warm waters while adoring a wonderful view of an Italian landscape. I suppose it would be much more interesting to experience the thermal springs in autumn or even winter when the air temperature drops. The only think I should warn you about however is that you will be smelling of rotten eggs (just slightly) because of sulphurous waters.

Have a lovely weekend!

Rasa xoxo

Tuscan bread salad

By Rasa Pelham on July 31, 2014 in Lunch or Dinner, Savoury Delights

While in Tuscany we took some classes in cooking. Although the most intricate food we learned to make was fresh pasta, my favourite thing to eat and to make was bread salad (otherwise called Panzanella). It’s a perfect summertime appetiser and in my opinion this can be served with meat dishes as well!

TUSCAN BREAD SALAD

3 slices harden stale bread (good quality, home baked not the regular shop bought sliced bread)
3 medium sized tomatoes (my favourite is beefsteak tomato if you can find them in stores)
1/2 red onion
1 cucumber
1-2 celery sticks
Balsamic vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt

1. Soak Bread in water for about 15 min. I recently have been trying to bake focaccia bread so this is what I used to make the salad this time. 2. Meanwhile slice tomatoes, cucumber, onion and chop celery. Place everything in one salad bowl. 3. Drain the bread and squeeze out the excess water and coarsely crumble with your hands. Place in a bowl with vegetables.4. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with vinegar and olive oil.

5. Mix carefully and refrigerate.

Buon Appetito!

Rasa xoxo

Super easy fresh strawberry ice-cream

By Rasa Pelham on July 28, 2014 in Summery, Sweet Treats

While in Italy I fall in love with strawberry ice-cream, otherwise called gelato alla fragola. You might think this is very basic, but actually it taste really refreshing as it taste of real strawberry! Sadly, I often find the shop bought strawberry ice-cream taste like candy powder. This strawberry ice-cream might not be traditional Italian, but it is really easy to make as it requires little effort. Unlike other ice-cream I made it doesn’t contain any egg and there is no need to keep mixing it while freezing!

FRESH STRAWBERRY ICE-CREAM

500ml whipping cream
1 can condensed milk (397g)
400g-700g fresh strawberries

1. Whip the cream and carefully combine it with condensed milk and pureed strawberries (can also be finely shopped).2. Once the ice-cream mixture is combined pour it into plastic container and freeze it for at least 4 hours. 3. Serve ice-cream in your favourite cups or glass jars ;-).

I have recently discovered that aged balsamic vinegar goes really well with ice-cream. I dare you to try it!

Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

Our honeymoon in Tuscany

By Rasa Pelham on July 25, 2014 in Summery, Travel, Updates

It has been almost a week since we are back, but it feels like we are still on the honeymoon (this is probably to do with the hot weather here in Bedford). We have really enjoyed our time in Tuscany while eating (lots of delicious food including gelato everyday!!!), wine tasting, swimming in the hot springs (more about this later), sightseeing, participating in cooking classes and playing cards (Joni got me addicted to that) and many more. This is just a preview of our special time in Italy.

I think the only think I could not quite capture with the camera is the fireflies at night. We saw them one night and it was quite magical! It was our first time seeing flying little lights so hoping to see them again in the future :-).

Wishing you a warm weekend ;-)

Rasa xoxo

P.S really big thanks for my new sister, Nicola, for lending us a DSLR camera (so much better than my iPhone!!!)

Sunny Bedford, here we come!

By Rasa Pelham on June 25, 2014 in Travel

For those who don’t know, we will be moving to Bedford very soon. After spending sunny weekend here, I am getting really excited about this! Here it is the preview of the area we are moving to ;-).

Happy Thursday ;-)

Rasa xoxo

Joni’s birthday cupcakes

By Rasa Pelham on June 23, 2014 in Sweet Treats

Last friday Joni turned 30 and we have been celebrating this the whole weekend! I made cupcakes… and not just any cupcakes, I tried to make it reeeeeaaaly MANLY ones ;-). First of all I have used beer, in fact I got many type of beers, but Joni is still very loyal to his favourite London Pride beer. However I have used Guinness for its chocolaty notes.CHOCOLATE BEER CUPCAKES WITH VANILLA BEAN CREAM TOPPING

60g butter, softened
250g soft brown sugar
1 egg
240ml Stout (such as Guinness)
60g cocoa powder
125g flour
1 tsp baking powder

(for the topping)

360ml whipping cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
1-2 vanilla pods scrapped off
bunch of blackberries (optional)

1. Make the cake mixture by creaming butter with sugar and combining with the rest of the ingredients.

2.Spoon the mixture into prepared muffin pan and bake in preheated 180C oven for 15-20min

3. Meanwhile make the cream topping. Whisk whipping cream together with vanilla seeds and icing sugar until it becomes stiff. 4. Pipe the cream topping onto baked cupcakes. Optionally top with blackberries as well.

I really love these starred black candles, they go perfectly with the theme :-).

Have a lovely week :)

Rasa xoxo

Going to the highest place

By Rasa Pelham on June 16, 2014 in Love London, Travel

Last weekend we had an opportunity to visit one of the highest hills in London (well, almost!). That is Pole Hill on the border of Greater London and Essex. My old friend Alex thought that it would be great to do a little cycle trip while I am spending my last weeks in London before moving to Bedford with Joni. I must admit I was feeling lazy at first, but I am happy we did it. The view of London City (from so far away) is unimaginably pretty!