ELLI LUCA

INGREDIENTS • 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon • 2 medium onions • 2 cloves of garlic • 2 carrots • 2 sticks of celery • olive oil • 2 heaped teaspoons dried oregano • 500g good-quality minced beef, pork, or (even better!) a mixture of the two • 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • a small bunch of fresh basil • 100g Parmesan cheese • 400-500g dried spaghetti or penne   • 1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika • 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce • 1 cup red or white wine METHOD The classic pastas to serve this with are spaghetti, tagliatelle and penne, but this sauce can also be used for many other things, like filling cannelloni or layering up a lasagne. With so many options, it’s well worth bagging up any leftover sauce and freezing it for another day.  Finely slice the bacon Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery – don’t worry about technique, just chop...

We recently visited Japan and I thought I would share some snippets of our time there. Of course we had to try the famous Tokyo Banana 東京ばな奈  L Lunch at SABATINI di Firenze. 大丸東京店 was outstanding we went there twice I ordered the veal (pictured) location: The Daimaru Tokyo twelfth floor, 1-9-1,  Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-6712 Map My first "pumpkin spiced" anything I have ever tried and I thought it was pretty good.

Raspberry & White Chocolate Vanilla Cake Made this cake for my wonderful mother in law's birthday on Sunday.  Will blog recipe soon.  Have  lovely weekend everybody.

Happy Kitchen Hamburger ハッピーキッチン　ハンバーガー Some Japanese DIY Candy You Need to Assemble I picked up this kit on my lunch break for $7.99. Thought it would be a bit of fun.  (Excuse iPhone snaps) Will try and make it over the weekend.  You get two cheeseburgers, a side of fries, ketchup and a drink. You need to supply tape (for construction of fries container) scissors and a tooth pick to assemble.  The Kracie Happy Kitchen Hamburger Kit is a Japanese Do-It-Yourself snack making kit. These bite-sized sliders are a savory delight and lots of fun to make. Served warm out of the microwave, the burgers and fries go beautifully with a dollop of homemade ketchup and a fizzy soda to wash it all down.  I found this video on YouTube and it shows exactly how to make the cheeseburgers, so I have posted a link to the video here on my page for you to watch. I found the below instructions below also ( on this link )   Lucky as there are no English in...

Shot glass desserts: Left to right strawberry mousse, chocolate mousse & lemon jelly Olaf Cake: Angel food Cake filled with  Bonne Maman strawberry preserves. Decorated with blue candied coated chocolate. Take home drink bottles: All blue with exception of birthday girls in pink. Elsa Cake: Angel food Cake filled with  Bonne Maman strawberry preserves Decorated with white candied coated chocolate. Assorted Frozen Character lolly bags: Theses were a big hit! Assorted character cupcakes: Angel food Cake topped with vanilla buttercream and blue crystal sugar. ANGEL FOOD CAKE Angel food Cake filled with  Bonne Maman strawberry preserves : recipe adapted from allrecipes.com INGREDIENTS 1 1/4 cups white flour 1 3/4 cups white sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups egg whites 1 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract DIRECTIONS Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks,...

RASPBERRY CORDIAL Sugar syrup - 2 cups water+2 cups sugar 300g raspberries (fresh or frozen) juice of 2 lemons 2 teaspoons tartaric acid Make the sugar syrup. Add the raspberries and lemon juice then simmer for 5 minutes. Stir well, and mash the raspberries up a little. Add the tartaric acid, then put the mixture through a strainer and allow to cool. Pour into a bottle and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. LEMON CORDIAL 8 lemons Sugar syrup - 1.5 litres water + 1.5 kilos sugar, boiled together until the sugar has dissolved. Grate about 2 tablespoons of rind from the lemons before you cut them. Juice the lemons - if you put them in the microwave for a minute before cutting them, you'll get more juice. Add the grated rind and the juice in a large bowl. Pour the sugar syrup over the juice and mix well. PINK LEMONADE 400g strawberries, hulled, plus extra to garnish 130g (8 tbs) caster sugar 160ml (8 tbs) lemon juice Soda water and ice cubes, to serve Place the str...

Here is a snap of the cakes. (More photos & recipes coming soon.)   Angel food cakes with vanilla butter cream icing and raspberry Bonne Maman jam as a filling.