Mint choc chip

We're back in Nafplio! We had a really great time! I didn't realise how much I needed that break but I really did! Even though the weather forecast was not looking good when we left and it was really really cold when we arrived in the evening, it picked up and was sunny nearly every day!

Just before we left, the orange groves were starting to bud and the difference two weeks makes is amazing. They are in full bloom! As we were driving home along the last stretch of road towards Nafplio yesterday in the late afternoon we were suddenly engulfed in the delicious scent! We have a grove opposite our house and it's like living in a perfume bottle.


The garden has also gone wild! I'll have to try and tidy it up a little and let you see. I have managed to get a few little things going and it's time to get sowing some more things!

So, now we're back and I really should be unpacking, so the natural thing for me to do was to whip up a new flavour for you to try. One of my favourite flavour combinations is mint and chocolate. It's a popular flavour in the UK but not so often found here in Greece.


This is a Mint Chocolate Chip cupcake. Chocolate chip cake topped with mint infused white chocolate ganache on top and a minty chocolate to crown it off. This one is definitely not sugar-free. It's not fat free either. Or gluten free. It's for pure indulgence. A treat. A one-off. If you can resist the rest.


In other news...I may or may not have done some shopping in the UK and I may or may not have found one or two cute little things to give-away. But we will get to that in another post since I haven't unpacked yet :)

Liz

Leftovers

It's already March. I thought I'd better show you a few of the other things I baked and cooked in December and January before they go out of date!

First up, here are some cupcakes. Lots of them.







I also made this orange marmalade. We were given quite a supply of organic oranges and since the recipe I used calls for boiling the whole orange, I thought that organic oranges were the way to go.



Now, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, when I was given lemons this time. I decided I should try my hand at some limoncello. I've got that brewing. It takes time though, so I'll keep you updated on that if it turns out well. I think it will go extremely well in some buttercream.

We've been doing more running around this week and looking at possible locations for the shop. It has been very enlightening.

I wish there was more interesting things to say but that's all for now.

Liz

Changing seasons, changing flavours!

Can you believe Alex took this picture exactly one month ago when we went to the beach?


Winter is most definitely here! The last few days have been rather dismal. Over the past weekend we fired up the central heating for the first time. There were a few technical problems with that and one or two other things in the house but I won't go into all that! I prefer to think that everything is repaired.



The last couple of weeks have seen a change in the scenery in and around Nafplio. The view of the orange grove outside the front of our house is one thing that has changed dramatically.


A couple of weeks ago the oranges were small and very green. Now they have grown a lot and are starting to change from green to pale yellow and some even have their orange color already. It is amazing what a couple weeks of rain and a little sunshine can do!!!


It's exciting for my son. He can't wait for the oranges to ripen so he can have fresh juice! He has been asking nearly every day since we got here "when will the oranges be ready?" I am not sure if he realizes that he won't actually be able to help himself from the oranges across the street.


This week my Father in Law brought a huge bag of walnuts and another of quince from his trees in his village, Klepa, which is in the region of Northern Nafpaktos. Quince is not something I have cooked with before, so I started googling to see what delicious recipes I could find.


We settled on trying some quince jam first. I was quite pleased with the way it turned out. We discovered that the color of the jam depends on the type of quince you have, some quinces make very deep pink jam and others make a more pale pink jam. Ours were the variety that make a paler coloured jam.


It was very nice on a slice of fresh crusty bread, but I also think it would be delicious on a freshly baked scone and, if I wanted to be very naughty, with a pile of whipped cream on top. If I get a chance to try it any time soon I will tell you if my conclusions were correct!





The change in the weather has made me put my mind to all the wonderful different flavours of cupcakes we will be able to make in the different seasons. In the café I want to try my best to have some flavors influenced by the seasons. This time of year it would be nice to have autumn-and-winter taste cupcakes. Something with pumpkin and winter fruits, like apple and pears or delicious spices, that remind you of sitting around the fire in winter, such as cinnamon and cloves, maybe cardamom. Quince? I am trying to think of a way to incorporate quince jam into or onto a cake! That could be interesting!

Liz

Our latest

It's been a while since I wrote a proper entry with our news. It's been a busy time. We still haven't completely settled in. Still got some curtains to put up. Not a picture on the walls yet! How pathetic are we?

Of course there has been plenty going on. My parents came for a visit and we spent a few days going to the beach and generally doing not much really. It's hard to get going again after the summer. We needed the rest (and still do) but it has left me feeling like we haven't really got everything done that we needed to.

We have one or two teething problems with the house, too. It's a new house so it is to be expected that some little problems would surface when things were used for the first time. We had a dripping pipe under the kitchen sink which caused a mini kitchen flood. It seems like the weather suddenly changed with September coming in. We have had some amazing storms. The kids have been thrilled watching the lightening and listening to the thunder from their loft bedroom. The other night was one of the loudest and most violent storms I have seen in Greece for a long time. The basement flooded! Alex happened to go downstairs for something and spotted the muddy water pouring in. I had a small carpet down there which was floating! We had some nice books which we hadn't unpacked yet. Lovely Architecture and Design coffee table type books. Fortunately the card boxes held up quite well and we managed to rescue most but not all of them. Just as well Alex went down for whatever it was. If we hadn't noticed until the next morning we would have lost lots more. All my picture frames with paintings and prints were still in boxes as well. Phew!

The vacuum broke. The washing wouldn't dry because of all the rain!

Anyway, all these things are getting worked on and it still doesn't put us off living here!

The kids are back at school. That took a bit of looking around and searching. The first week is always hard. Getting back into a routine of getting up early and getting breakfast and out the door by a certain time. Next week will be easier.

As far as the shop is concerned, we have been busy with that, too. Scouting the area for locations, while doing our research about costs and permits and grants etc. It takes a lot of time and will-power. Not so easy when you are already tired! We've also been reading guide books on starting a successful business.

No matter how tired I feel or how many little hiccups may have happened so far, I am still so pleased that we made the decision to move to Nafplio. I am so glad I don't have to face the apartment block across the street in Palaio Faliro when I look out of the window or the traffic in Athens while dropping my daughter off at nursery. Out of my window I see an orange grove and on the way to nursery I look left and see the different shades of mountains as the sun comes over them. They look like they have been cut out of enormous pieces of card and placed to make the set for some beautiful show at the theater. Out of the right side of the car I see the Palamidi. In the evening we get beautiful views of the sun's rays beaming out from the clouds and then heading off behind the mountains.

Update September 21, 2009: The basement flooded again on Saturday night! As I write we have got workmen outside trying to make sure it doesn't happen again!

Liz

PS My mother brought me this lovely new book. I have tried one or two things in it. I am sure you can gain a kilo or two just by reading it.