Pin It Forward UK

Pinterest how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

You know that feeling you get when you crack open the freshly minted spine of  new magazine? Interiors magazines are my poison - but yours may be something else, food, fashion, gossip? The point is that I love the act of settling down with a new magazine, untouched by any other hand but mine, propped on my elbows, a cup of assam in one hand and my belly on the sheepskin rug.

However, I am often disappointed by what I find there - I hope to graze on images of interiors that I love until my greedy eyes are sated. But what I find is a mix of uninspiring and the odd gem, that sometimes appears to be a bit less sparkly the more I look.

At least this was the case until I discovered Pinterest - an online scrapbook of images pinned by people like you and me, from around the globe.

I'm a visual person - actually, I think we all are. I love to look at images of things that delight me as much as I love to read well written articles and listen to mind expanding radio. I love reading blogs - but I just don't have the time to trawl through all that information. So if I love something and want to look at it later, I can pop it on a Pinterest board (the modern equivalent of a newspaper clipping) and come back to it later (with my cup of assam).

But I'm also a bit of a magpie, so I can use these boards as a way to collect all those shiny things that delight me and pop back every few days to have a look and gloat over my treasures. I have a board of inspirational home images that satisfies my craving for interiors magazines (and with the money saved, I can probably buy something new for the house!). My Primal Food board makes me feel as though I've chased down a bowl of wild greens with chicken broth and wild pigeon pie - plus it links me to all those other primal bloggers that I love, and a few I didn't even know about.

Of course I have a Gluten Free Baking board where I post interesting looking recipes, images from this blog and links to my courses. It's become part of my communication repertoire - like a visual tweet.

I guess Pinterest is a little like Facebook - without the feeling that you're wasting your time. You're building something here! A treasure trove, a recipe box, a font of inspiration for those days when it just isn't flowing.

During the design process for a new venture I'm setting up (very hush hush at the moment) I used the secret board facility to post images for my colleagues in Bahrain and London to see - and they posted images and comments for me. It worked fantastically! In a few days we had achieved what many meetings and 'mood boards' would have done, with the minimum of fuss. Try it yourself!

Suffice it to say that I'm a convert, a devotee even. I would recommend Pinterest to anyone with the smallest particle of visual sense to start creating their own online scrapbook - toss those expensive magazines in the bin.

Check out my Gluten Free board here and sign up if you haven't already done so. You won't regret it.

To check out the next blogger in the Pin it Forward campaign visit Sarah at Maison Cupcake or check out her deliciously sugary boards here

Greek Olive Oil - Direct from the producer!

It's not often I get a request to review a product I can honestly say is 'real food'. As a result, product reviews are few and far between. However, when I'm asked if I would like to try some olive oil, or a local veg box, maybe a new type of free range sausage or a whole-grain flour I leap for joy - pleased to be able to do my bit to remind the world that it's not all supermarkets, ready meals and packet mixes out there. When Pelia asked me to taste their olive oil and let them know what I thought - how could I say no?

Olive oil is great stuff! Full of monounsaturated oleic acid that reduces levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in the blood. Olive oil aids absorption of lycopene from tomatoes, has antibacterial qualities, tonifies the liver and may even keep you regular!

It's important not to overheat olive oil as it is only moderately chemically stable. Unstable fats cause inflammation in the body and should be avoided at all costs. So add your olive oil to food after it has been cooked, or stir a little into your tomato ragout at the end of cooking. If you are gently roasting meat, fish or vegetables (160ºC or lower) then use olive oil for this - otherwise, use a stable fat such as duck fat, lard (also high in oleic acid) or coconut oil that can survive the heat.

I'm generally a fan of Spanish olive oil. I like the extra virgin unfiltered stuff, deep golden green and cloudy, sweet, buttery and fruity - without the pepper kick you get from an Italian olive oil. Pelia is a Greek Olive oil sold in 3 litre packs direct from the producer. It's cold pressed from manaki olives and has a light olive gold colour.

When I tasted it I was reminded of kalamata olives - although these are black and fruity, the oil shares some of the walnut flavour you find in the olives. It's light, creamy textured and with very little acidity - which is great if like me you don't appreciate an oil that burns the back of your throat! High on grassy, seedy flavours in a way that is specifically Greek, I found it was beautifully balanced by my sweet / tart cherry tomatoes at breakfast this morning. Quite moreish actually...

If you're looking for an oil that tastes really distinctive, without the challenging aspects of some more worthy brands, I would visit the Pelia website and check it out yourself. Salad weather is surely on the way and you want to be ready with your olive oil and lemons to celebrate its arrival!

Gluten Free at River Cottage - last minute places on next week's course!

Quick! Hurry, hurry! We've had two last minute cancellations on next week's gluten free day at River Cottage!

Bear in mind if you are hesitating, that this course has been fully booked for well over a month, June's course is also closed and May is going fast. If you are hesitating about booking a place for yourself or a loved one - do it now!

If you have a gluten intolerance or coeliac disease, it's a day that could change your life. We don't just churn out the same old gluten free staples - I'm talking wholegrain, traditional method, real food here people!

The feedback I usually get is that participants leave the day with their head full of new information, excited about getting in their kitchen and baking up a storm. We cover much, much more than just gluten - the whole gamut of food questions are there to be pounced on with delight and tossed in the air like a seal with a ball.

Can you afford not to book a place?

x x x

Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes - Comfort Food

Before we had Finn, we would buy the papers of a weekend and spread them over the breakfast table, whilst our hands cradled cups of coffee and crumbs lingered on our fingers, well into the idle morning. I unashamedly bypassed the serious news sections in favour of the magazine and Nigel Slater's weekly food column - comfort food was his speciality. One weekend he wrote a piece on coffee cake accompanied by a gorgeous photo of a messy forkful, all walnut crumb and soft buttery icing.

I made that cake every chance I got - whenever some comfort was needed. The cake never failed to bring a smile through even the worst of times. It was my tender cake blanket, that I tucked around us and kept the world out of the kitchen just a little bit longer. The recipe was folded and smoothed again and again, sticky with coffee splashes and finger prints.

Recently, Finley fancied looking through my old recipe books at bedtime - the ones that are full of gluten and sugar, but I keep anyway because I love to have them on my shelf. We oohed and aahed over sticky desserts and buttery pastry, truffles and tortes. Then out fell a loose sheet and Finley snatched it up, uncreasing its long folded pages to reveal a very faded recipe for coffee cake - the very one I had probably folded up the year before he was born and consigned to the shelves with all the rest.

I let out a sigh and told Finn all about the cake and what it meant to me. He stroked the furrow out of my brow and told me that I could make a coffee cake if I liked - detailing all the ways I could make it without caffeine, sugar and wheat. What a boy.

After my Aunt's funeral I had a real urge for something treaty. Something buttery and moreish, with crumbs that would stick to my fingers and lips. I remembered the coffee cake and knew that this was exactly the sticking plaster I needed for my sore heart.

I made cupcakes because, somehow, they are even more comforting than a cake to me. Just looking at their frosted tops, adorned with a perfect walnut half makes me feel complete.

I made them without refined sugar, or grains, or caffeine - because I don't want to feel high, just nourished.

x x x

This month's Go Ahead Honey, hosted by Alta of Tasty Eats at Home is all about Comfort Food. This is my contribution. If you would like to contribute something, please post it as soon as you can and email the link to Alta. You can use an old post if you like - just update with a link to Alta's blog.

If you are following SCD or GAPS - these are a very advanced food as they contain lots of dates and coffee. Don't even attempt to eat them until you have been clear of symptoms for 3-6 months and accompany with a dose of probiotic!

Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes (makes 6)

Walnut Cakes
80g Dried Dates - finely chopped
20g Palm Sugar (optional & leave out for SCD)
130g Ground Almonds
3 Large Free Range Eggs
80g Salted Butter
80g Walnuts
1 1/2 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder (1/2 tsp bicarb for SCD)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Lemon Juice

For coffee cake and icing, replace vanilla extract and lemon juice with four tsp of very strong cold coffee. I prefer a walnuty cake and coffee icing.

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Pop six paper muffin cases into a deep muffin tray.

In a food processor, blend dates, palm sugar and ground almonds until they are like coarse bread crumbs.

Add butter, eggs, baking powder and vanilla - or coffee - and blend again until smooth, creamy and paler in colour.

Add walnuts and lemon juice (or leave out for coffee) and blend again until the walnuts are coarsely chopped into the mix.

Spoon into 6 muffin cases, half fill the empty holes in the tray with water and bake for 25 minutes, until golden and well risen. Cool on a rack.

Date and Coffee Buttercream

Make some very strong coffee using 1 heaped dessertspoon of ground coffee and about 150ml of boiling water. 

Cook 45g dried dates in 100ml of the coffee until almost all the liquid is absorbed. Cool completely

Blend coffee dates with 60g salted butter and 1 tsp vanilla extract until creamy and pale.

Ice the cakes and top with a perfect walnut. Keep in a cool place or refridgerate - they won't last long.


http://www.tastyeatsathome.com

Màire

Just over a week ago my mother's sister was taken ill very suddenly. Before we could make our way to Glasgow, she was gone. The cancer we thought a nasty memory had crept about her lungs and liver, silent and deadly. 

Death carried Màire peacefully away in his tender arms, to who knows where? All he left was her body, spent and relieved. Spared a long vicious struggle by some sort of mercy.

We made the long journey from our disparate locations and converged in the little flat that she shared with my uncle. Surrounded by her paintings and photos, little trinkets gathered from around the globe, her presence lingered like scent - catching as I swallowed over the lump in my throat.

I hadn't seen my aunt in years. Thinking that I had time, I let the spring and summer roll round year after year. We raised Finn, built our house and filled the time in between with a hundred little things. I sent Christmas cards and always thought fondly of her. 

I remembered the time that she arrived from  some airport on my birthday, bearing some purple eye shadow as a gift. I guess I was six or seven. I looked at my mum - a staunch feminist - wondering if this gift was ok? Màire laughed as she apologised for the funny gift, and yet it was so thoughtful of her! She thought of me between security and the sky, remembering that a gift - any gift - is better than turning up empty handed. 

I loved that eye shadow.

At Màire's cremation her daughter and husband spoke beautifully of her life and talents, her warm heart and eclectic tastes. I read Kalil Gibran, crumbling into messy tears in the last stanza and squeaking out the final phrase. Their strength humbled me.

I felt angry with myself for missing out on more time with her, simply by imagining that my life was already too full for a few trips to Glasgow. Regret welled up in my sore heart as I sighed through the journey back home.

After a fitful night, tired and tearful. I resolved to act differently in future. My huge, diverse and wonderful family are out there, all that is required of me is to reach out and touch them.

Thank you Màire for reminding me how precious life is. I wish you a safe journey wherever you're headed and know that they'll be glad to see you when you get there.

Love,

Naomi x x x

Go Ahead Honey - Winter Pickles

Well, it was a small bunch of picklers who turned up for my virtual carnival in a jar this month! Maybe it's the inertia of January, as everyone struggles to pick up the pace again after the haven of a Christmas rest? Maybe I could have visited and blogged more recently? Time does seem to slip away of late, with so many pots to keep attending to...

Please go and check out Alta at Tasty Eats at Home, for her February theme if you missed contributing to this one. Thank you to everyone who did contribute!

Nooshin of For The Love of Food made one of my favourite pickles - Pickled Garlic and gave it a lovely Persian twist with cardamom, cumin and coriander seeds. This garlic pickle is also probiotic - not vinegary, so it provides a little treat for your gut flora too!

Marisa of Food In Jars made a delicious Asian spiced pear pickle with some gorgeous Nashi Pears. Curls of fragrant lemon zest and fiery ginger root give those delicate pears quick a kick! She peps up a salad with it, but I could imagine a slice of this gracing many a spicy plate.

Michelle of Michelle Doll / Bakeshop 360 made another pear pickle - this time a Pear and Rosemary Agrodolce from an authentic Italian kitchen and perfect for bringing that sweet / savoury note to a pear and goat cheese salad.

Austin of Fermenters Club made an incredible looking Slow Sauerkraut with red cabbage - fermented the traditional way with salt, juniper and caraway. Time is the final ingredient that turns the whole thing into a nourishing winter treat - with lovely medicinal notes from the spices. I'd happily nestle some of this in with any slow cooked winter fare for an instant kick of fresh. Fermented pickles also have the added benefit of retaining all their enzymes and increasing production of digestive juices - ideal in winter when we tend to consume less raw food.

Anyone who knows me will have heard me eulogizing the merits of pickled turnips this month in my Awesome Turnip Pickle. But I also have a large place in my heart (and at the side of my plate) for Kimchi, Ginger Carrots, Cardamom Beets and Pickled Radishes - when they come back into season in the spring. I do love the incredible magenta colour that you get from beets, or red cabbage and the burst of orange that a spoonful of carrot pickle brings - feeding the eyes, is as important as tickling your tastebuds.

So what are you waiting for? - get pickling!

x x x

River Cottage Gluten Free Day - the perfect valentine's gift!

I really look forward to my teaching days at River Cottage! There is something magical about gathering together a group of like minded souls and spending a day cooking up a gluten free storm. Park Farm is set deep in a lusciously green valley, without the sound of traffic to distract from the song of over wintering birds and early lambs.

Of course, inside the kitchen it's all go! I make sure that the day is as full as possible with recipes and bakers take home a fragrant booty of brownies, breads, savoury tarts and muffins to enjoy over the following days. One woman claimed that she could hardly stand the drive home as her newly minted roast onion tart sat temptingly on the passenger seat!

As I'm currently involved in writing a gluten free Middle Eastern cookbook, I have been experimenting with flat breads and khubz (pitta). I look forward to showing how simply these can be made with whole grain gluten free flours at the next day in February.

If you're looking for a Valentine's gift, birthday present or even just a great day out for yourself or a gluten free friend, my gluten free day is sure to fill them with excitement about the potential delights of the gluten free kitchen. For anyone just diagnosed with coeliac disease, or looking for a way to eat well without wheat, I can explain away the mystery and fill you with hope and curiosity for all the amazing foods you can make with your newfound baking knowledge!

We are offering the last few places at a reduced price, so bag yours quick! For more information or to book a place click here. Enter the discount code GL50ST to get your 50% discount

x x x