The Chocolatiest Cookies

I loved these cookies so much that I had to write a haiku about them.

Dark, bitter and rich
The taste sweetly lingers on
And another one

Sorry, I'm not a poet, but I like haikus, haikus are fun and simple. 

Burmese Spiced Cabbage

I need to learn to look at myself in the mirror before leaving the house.  I left this evening with yellow patches all over my mouth and cheek (don't ask me how I eat).  I often go out with chocolate dough or tomato sauce on myself and as bad as that is, today I looked like I had jaundice or some other liver-related disease.

Anyway.  This thing's got a lot of turmeric. Love turmeric, but like beetroot, it annoyingly marks its presence on everything.  It's a nice color though as it's like everything's been painted by rays of sunshine.  You get the counter tops yellow, you get your plastic containers yellow, you get your hands yellow, if you can't eat like an adult, you get your face yellow too like me. 

Kanada-Ya (London)

It was a bit painful to be craving for ramen while I was in Edinburgh and all that people could recommend was Wagamama. Thankfully, London delivers on most food wishes and cravings, and as I was walking about in Soho, I discovered Kanada-Ya, a little gem on St Giles High Street that specializes in tonkotsu ramen. 

Humble Peanut Butter Cookies

I went to the gym for another class a few days ago.  See, whereas previous sessions just bred anger, that night the instructor almost made me cry.

Now, imagine the following said in high volume and a Caribbean accent:
"Is that the best you can do?"
"I don't think you're trying hard enough.  Stretch those legs." 
"You can do better.  What will you do when you turn 50?"

I SWEAR THAT'S THE BEST I CAN DO.  I'M INCREDIBLY STIFF.  I'M SORRY.  I'M ONLY HERE SO I CAN EAT MORE COOKIES AND I HAVE THOSE COOKIES IN MY GYM BAG NOW.

Yea, that's what I have in my gym bag: deodorant, water, headphones, towel and cookies.

Crunchy Tahini Thins

I'm still getting to know my oven.  It's an interesting relationship, the one you have with your oven.  It's pretty much one way and communication is quite difficult from their part.  Unlike maybe some people, I don't really have a personal relationship with it.  I see it as simply a service provider with horrible customer service.  My current oven looks quite impressive, it's a big bad metal industrial Italian brand that looks amazing.  Like an Italian stallion.  But that's just on the outside and with ovens you cannot be shallow.

 It does seem to heat pretty evenly..I just can't really..I don't really know about the temperature.  It's fine for these simple cookies but if I want to do something more technical..

Spiced Lamb with Aubergines & Plums

Befriending the butcher/fishmonger: check.  Befriending the greengrocer: check.  Befriending the dry cleaner's people: check.  This is me settling into my new neighborhood.

My neighborhood is perfect.  I live literally one minute away from an excellent butchers/fishmongers and perhaps 10 minutes away to the best greengrocers in London.  Furthermore, I'm surrounded by supermarkets, there's a farmer's market right outside my house every week, there's a gym 5 minutes away, there's a park, there's a hardware store, pound store, health store, beauty store...

Roasted Baby Carrots

I went to the gym again... This time for a Legs Bum and Tums class.  Oh it's as horrific as it sounds. 

Russian twists - a KPG torture method or a sweet pastry?  More like the former I discovered in the class.  It was 45 minutes of pain and self-hatred.  It was a class of 10 people with an instructor who I wanted to hit repeatedly with a blunt object.  You know, the gym isn't good for me, it just breeds too much anger and hatred.

"10...9...you're doing really well, feel those abs....8... almost there... 7...keep going, keep going, keep those knees nice and high now...6..."  COUNT B*TCH JUST KEEP COUNTING.

Chocolate Ginger Biscotti

#Awkwardmoments When I went to the gym and halfway through I found chocolate cookie dough all over my arms.

 The only reason I was at the gym was because they gave me this free day pass, psssh the gym just makes me hate myself. 10 minutes in on the treadmill and I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.  After a painful 45 minutes the lady working there tried to convince me to join the gym -- £50 a month on a 12 month contract.  B*tch please, my phone contract isn't even that committed.

Spiced Carrot & Mung Bean Salad

You know, I like the idea of moving around and traveling and living in different places, but f*cking hell I hate the act of moving.  I hate packing and throwing things away and putting my things in storage and delivering them and then unpacking and then buying everything I threw away.  I've been doing that for the past four years, moving houses every 4 years. Urgh and the one thing I always have to do when I move into a new place is restock my pantry.  This is  both fun and heartbreaking as it's just a lot of money.  I just go and buy everything at once -- all my spices and my condiments and pulses and it's...so much money. I know it's saving in the long run but in the short run it makes me very sad at the till.  But anyway, with a well stocked pantry I can make wonderful spiced dishes like this!

 

Baked Okra with Tomatoes & Ginger

Look, an Ottolenghi recipe that has less than 10 ingredients!  I had to do something like this as I still don't have access to my spices.... ok, time for a quick rant.

I'm so annoyed because I haven't had access to a well-equipped kitchen in over a month.  I was in Edinburgh in August living in a house with a guy who eats frozen pizzas and McDonalds. And I moved to London on Thursday, also living with people who don't really cook... But I was all excited as on Friday my boxes were due to arrive.  See, I've been wanting to bake.  The Great British Bake Off is on and I just want to whisk, weigh, stir and knead alongside Mary and Paul, and on Friday it was all going to happen.  I was going to make just a cardamom pound cake and maybe a bread of some sort. 

Summer Chili

Okay I don't know if this constitutes as a chili.  I was going to call it Summer Beans but it's not as exciting and it implies salad.  Didn't want to call it a stew because...it was so quick and..it's not saucy enough to be a stew.  I wanted to call it Bejeweled Beans but I think "bejeweled" entails nuts and dried fruits.  Look at the colors though, doesn't the word "bejeweled" spring to mind?  Look at the beautiful warm colors, all the different shades of red and orange, it's like happiness in a bowl.  Anyway, after much contemplation, I decided to name this Summer Chili.  It's got beans and peppers and chili-like spices.  And it's served with rice. 

I love rice and beans as it's so cheap and healthy -- this costs less than £2 per head! It's also filled with proteins and vegetables that will keep you full and energized and at the same time this should also be at least 3 of your 5-a-days, right, NHS?