THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE 21ST CENTURY HOUSEWIFE©

The Spirit of Summer Fair

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:59:45 +0100

It has been anything but summery here in England recently, with more rain than we have had in literally years. Frankly, some of us here are wondering whether the sun is considering a permanent vacation, it shows up so rarely. Still, we can dream of warm summer days, and the The Spirit of Summer Fair in London is a great place to do just that.

Cook for the Queen Finalists Announced

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:33:48 +0100

The first round of judging has taken place in ‘Cook for the Queen’, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall’s competition inviting schools to create a special menu for The Queen in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee. Sixteen schools have been selected from over two hundred entries to go through to the next round where their menus will be judged by Mark Flanagan, Royal Chef at Buckingham Palace. The top four winning schools will be invited to Buckingham Palace in June to see their recipes prepared by the Royal Chef and will help serve them at a special reception attended by The Queen and The Duchess of Cornwall.

‘Cook for The Queen’ is the idea of The Duchess of Cornwall and is her special tribute to The Queen for the Diamond Jubilee. As part of British Food Fortnight, the national celebration of food that The Duchess supports, schools across the country have been invited to create a special menu for The Queen that celebrates the food produced in their part of the country.

Two hundred and eight schools entered from across the UK and the competition has inspired a huge variety of activities, many running throughout the spring term. There have been class visits to local producers, hotels and farms to learn more about food produced near the school; endless cooking and tasting sessions; ‘Masterchef’ style competitions between pupils to select the menu to be submitted as the school’s entry with taste panels made up of parents and teachers; and Diamond Jubilee tea parties attended by grannies, parents, members of the local community, producers, Lord Lieutenants and MPs, many of whom have been invited to taste the children’s menus. Lots of schools are planning to serve their menus at their school’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June. Local producers have supported the competition in force, many donating ingredients to schools to assist their entries.

The Art of the Interior

Wed, 16 May 2012 17:14:53 +0100

Decorating your home is a very personal thing, and no matter what the fashion may be, it’s important that you surround yourself with the things you love and colours that make you happy. It can be hard to know where to start, but Deborah Heath of Design by Deborah says that “inspiration can come from anywhere, it could come from nature, a treasured object or a wonderful scrap of fabric”. In the case of The Art of the Interior at The Lemongrove Gallery, Deborah used wonderful paintings, prints and sculptures as starting points for great design inspiration.

When I first visited The Lemongrove to see this installation, the design above was my absolute favourite. Deborah has accentuated the flashes of red in the painting with the wonderful red chair at the centre of this scene.

Another idea using similar colours is shown below. The curtains are the same as in the photograph at the top, but they are reversible, and here you can see their gorgeous blue velvet side. You can also see how floral arrangements can enhance decor here and in the photograph above with the beautiful arrangement by Green Parlour.

The Hearth and Soul Hop with The 21st Century Housewife 15 May

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:07:32 +0100

Welcome to the Hearth and Soul Hop, the blog hop where you can share and find inspiration for food from the hearth to feed your soul. Thank you to everyone who shared posts last week. My highlights from last week’s hop include:

Chocolate Chip and Pecan Meringues

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:39:15 +0100

My mother in law used to make these a lot, and they were always family favourites. This is another recipe from the blue spiral bound notebook my sister in law gave me many years ago.

You can use any brand of chocolate chips for this recipe, but the better the chocolate chip, the better the cookie. For me the best brand is Hotel Chocolat. I used to be a complete devotee of another famous brand, but one taste and I was a convert. Both Hotel Chocolat’s milk and white chocolate chips (which they call ‘chocolate drops’) have an amazing flavour and mouth feel. Also instead of starting with ‘sugar and partially hydrogenated...’ their ingredients list starts with ‘cocoa solids’ or ‘chocolate’ and doesn’t feature the word ‘hydrogenated’ anywhere. I’m not being paid to say this, I’m just a huge fan!

But back to the cookies. Meringue is a tricky customer, and how it turns out depends on your oven. What you want with these is a crisp lightly golden outer shell which gives way to a soft, slightly chewy centre. The best way to do this is to cook the meringues at a very low heat.

As most of you know, I love to play around with recipes, and while I was testing this recipe for the blog I also developed a very tasty variation by using white chocolate and macadamia nuts. You can see them in the photograph at the very top on the right. The recipe for both versions follows.

Chocolate Chip and Pecan Meringues
or White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Meringues
Makes 12 (easily doubled)

2 egg whites, at room temperature
½ cup white sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips OR 1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup pecan halves (do not chop) OR ½ cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 200ºF (100ºC). Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper or other baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks are beginning to form. Gradually add the sugar, a bit at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in the vanilla.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, and using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the chocolate chips and the nuts.