Cupcakes...my first attempt!

 Oh well...Sunday morning and some lovely blogs I have recently visited,  made me think about making cupcakes. I have always seen them, loved them..but never tried to make them!

 I was afraid to fail, somehow..And today, I decided to bake some cupcakes and decorate them with the stuff I had at home...

Not much maybe, but it was worth the try!

And..well, it has been a very busy day!I baked bread, prepared the lunch, yogurt sauce, capricciosa salad, and zeppole (a type of italian fritters, eaten during Carnival days) and I will post these soon, along with the recipe!

But now, time to show photos...*gulp!* I sincerely hope you will like them!

 

  

  

  

 

Curry rice with carrots

 

Curry basmati rice with carrots

I had never tried to make curry rice...So I thought it was the right moment to make some!

I didn't follow the original recipe, as I was distrustful towards the almonds and raisins used on my cook book.So I only used the carrots..and who knows, next time I may try it with almonds or raisins!

Anyway, it was nothing hard to do and I admit, the taste of curry it's something I really like,maybe because it's such a new spice to me. The reason why I have never tried to make curry rice, it 's mainly due to Italy's long tradition of several ways to cook rice..there are really endless italian recipes with rice!

But now, let's get to the point: the recipe. I am gonna give you the original version, but remember...I didn't use almonds nor raisins! Here you are:

All you need is...yes, you also need love in kitchen! :-)

• 250 g Basmati rice
• 2 middle sized carrots
• 150 g raisins
• 150 g almonds
• 1 glass of milk
• curry powder
• extra-virgin olive oil
• salt
• black pepper
  

1. Put raisins in a bowl full of warm water and leave them there for about 15 minutes.
2. Peel and cut carrots into thin sticks.
3. Pour 5 spoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a big sized nonstick pan, let it warm and add the carrot sticks. Mix and cook on medium heat for about 6 minutes, slowly adding a spoon of water.
4. Chop the almonds and in a separate pan, toast them for about 2 minutes, keep mixing, in order not to burn them!
5. Now strain the raisins and add them to the carrot sticks. Add also the almonds.
6. Bring to a boil abundant water, add salt and cook rice, al dente.
7. With a spoon, take some water from the pan and  pour it in a cup/glass, to which you'll add a spoon of curry (or two). Mix it, until it looks homogenous.
8. Strain the rice, put it in the pan and add all the curry, mix and gradually pour the milk. Leave it on medium heat until the rice will look bright yellow and all the ingredients (carrots, almonds,raisins) will form a creamy mixture.
9. Serve warm.

I hope you liked, and hope to have explained well!!!

Happy birthday Cleo!!!

Today is Cleo's (Cleopatra) 3rd birthday...My sweet princess is getting old!We've spent so many sweet and wonderful unforgettable moments together...and we still do! Happy birthday Cleo!!!

...2007...

...and today...

A journey to Barumini and the Ottana St. Antonio fire day

Today I want to share with you the wonderful journey I spent yesterday!First of all, I went to Barumini, a nice small location in central Sardinia, not too far away from where I live. I first visited  the Nuraxi (nuraghe) ...Why don't you go and find out more about it here and here ?

Su Nuraxi has been declared "world heritage" by UNESCO

 

 Spectacular...

 

History's everywhere!

 

And here, as you can see, a huge fire in the city central square, to celebrate St.Antonio..

 

They say he went down to Hell to take fire  and brought it to humans

 

 They dance around the fire... take ash from the logs,and dirty people's faces with it!!It's real fun!!!

 

 "They" are Merdules, shepherds, accompanied by Boes(representing animals)..another classical character of this beautiful and mysterious carnival..its origins lie far back in the prehistory!

 

 I had a wonderful journey there in Ottana, and I thought I could share with you!I love this carnival,I think it's one of the most beautiful in the world especially because of its meaning!

Hope you enjoyed...and, last but not the least, some interesting links!

Ottana's carnival  -the website is in italian, but you can enjoy looking at the photos!

Boes e Merdules   -again, in italian, but there's allot to see..It's about these two main characters of the carnival!

Barumini  about the city of Barumini, lots of photos and history!

Hope you liked!

Pasta alla puttanesca

 

 

 

Ingredients for the sauce:

• Anchovies
• capers
• black olives
• chopped tomatoes/tomato sauce
• chopped garlic 
• parsley

How to make it:

In a pan/saucepan, let the garlic fry lightly in the oil. Remove the garlic and add the anchovies; with a wooden spoon, let them melt in the oil- it should look like a sauce. Add capers, olives (chopped) and tomato sauce/chopped tomatoes. Leave it on low heat for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle on some parsley, and once your pasta is ready, sauté it in the pan. Enjoy!

                    

Rösti and porcini mushrooms

 Hope you like,

Annalisa

@Pat:

Rösti is a Swiss dish consisting mainly of potatoes.

Rösti is made with potatoes which are grated and depending on the frying technique, possibly mixed with some butter or fat (and usually salt and pepper), or fried in oil later. The grated potatoes are then shaped into rounds or patties. Often the rösti is simply shaped inside of the frying pan. They are most often shallow fried but can also be baked in the oven. Although the basic Rösti consists of nothing but potato, a number of additional ingredients are sometimes added, such as  bacon, onions and cheese or apples,and herbs. I usually make it using a lot of cheese and bacon, because that is the way my family likes it most. But the simple one, only with pepper, is not bad either. :) Hope I helped you!

And if you want, here you can find the link of the recipe I posted some time ago! 

here you are:  " Rösti recipe "

Melanzane alla parmigiana "white"

 

 

This is an alternative version of the classic "Melanzane alla parmigiana". To make this dish, I only used different types of cheese instead of using tomato sauce. 

The recipe:

I used 1 aubergine,

1 mozzarella cheese

3 cheese slices 

Cheddar or Edamer

Parmesan Cheese

Cut the aubergines into slices and grill them on a cast iron pan. Then, put some parmesan cheese on a baking tin's bottom. Put the aubergines slices and then all the types of cheese into layers. Top with some parmesan. Put the baking tin in the oven, at 200°C, until the aubergines and the cheese will form a brown crust. Enjoy!

 
                                                                   Annalisa

Random Pictures of Things I loved about Scotland

  

 Hmmm....looks like...

  

 Fish & Chips! yummy!

  

 Just a part of the enormous candies dispenser at Dobbies Garden Center..

  

Masterpiece Cakes at Loch Lomond Shopping Center...Aren't these wonderful?

  

 :)

  

 A little bunny in the park of Bridge of Allan

  

 Squirrel!! :) he's shy

 

Swan

Crazy for Scotland part 4

Stirling Castle

 

 

 

The forework gatehouse

 

 

 

 

the palace

 

  The gardens

  The graveyard

 

 

 

 

 

  The great hall

 

 

 

 

 

The kitchen

 

 

 

 

 Robert the Bruce

 Stirling town centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The chapel royal

 

 

 

  Wallace monument

Hope you like,

Annalisa

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