We're back!

It's been a while I know! Finally the kids are back at school. I've been using the last few days to get my thoughts together and get into the swing of things trying to become a more organized person in general so I can execute 'the plan' better.

We had plenty of visitors in the last three weeks. First, my brother came from England for a week, and then our friends from Madagascar/Athens came for a long week-end too. There was lots of cooking, eating, baking, walking, visiting other friends and playing SCRABBLE with the kids! It's their new favourite game. My brother also brought a couple of nice books for Fin, the sort which take a bit longer to read. He is really enjoying reading stories where you have to wait until the next chapter to find out what happens next...

So, what have I been baking? I owe you something with chocolate, so here we are...


What's so special about these, you might ask? Well, for a start they contain this...


and then there's this


Inside there is this:


Yes, they are filled cakes. Chocolate ganache. Finally to really make them to die for...


I dipped some of them in the leftover ganache. And WOW. More about that in a minute.

I adapted the recipe by Deb at Smitten Kitchen. If you do a quick google search of Guinness and Bailey's you will find plenty of versions of this flavour.

The idea of dipping them came from Kari at Retro Bakery One look at their menu page will have you reaching for the nearest sweet thing you can get your hands on.

I've been meaning to try this recipe for a while and since the recipe makes 24 cupcakes I wanted to make them when I could give several of them away! I have to say that even though the cakes were amazing I promptly made some notes on what I'd do differently when I make them again. I don't think I'd put them on my menu exactly as they are, but the same elements in some different combination maybe.

January is going to be a busy month. I'll be attending HO.RE.CA (an expo for the hotel, restaurant and cafe business) in Athens at the end of the month. Hopefully we'll be applying for some funding within the month and we are also working on the website. Things are definitely going to be getting more business-oriented around here! I'll still post about how great it is living in the country though! I can't help that (like planting my lettuce seedlings into the garden this morning and going down to the beach this evening with the kids to collect driftwood for the fire).

Finally thanks to Gasteroplix and Xanthi for nominating me for a sunshine award! That's so kind of you both. I really appreciate it. It's difficult for me to choose who I'd nominate for one, especially since many of the lovely ladies I read have already received them, so I'll just name some of the blogs I love to read...

So apart from the above mentioned Asproula's recipes and Gasteroplix here are some food related blogs I enjoy reading.

Asterolila, Betty, Ivy, Maria, Cheryl, Eleftheria, Kiki, Niki, Recipes of the heart, Lila

Actually, I check out many more blogs, not all food related, too many to mention here. These are just a small selection that are capable of making my mouth water at any given time! So, for that have a cake...


I'll leave you with the thought of those for now. Soon I'll post some other pics of things I baked on my 'blog holiday'.

Liz

My little salad

Here is the little salad that I made with the lettuce I grew (found) in the back garden!


It was especially tender so I just gently tore it, added a small sliced cucumber, a few small cubes of feta and a sprinkling of salt.

For oil, I added some absolutely amazing Olive oil that some friends gave me from their trees in Lygourio (Λυγουριό). It tastes outstanding. It has an almost creamy taste.

I'm told that Lygourio is one of a few places with special registration for their oil. I'll have to investigate this matter further but maybe some of you readers can shed some more light on it?

Anyway my verdict of the whole salad was phenomenal. Even though my little lettuce was so small that there was only a few small forks full for each of us.

My first home grown vegetable!

And all by accident!

Back in Athens I had tried to grow some different varieties of lettuce. They started out not too badly but then they got infected by tiny tiny little flies and all died.

This afternoon while I was out the back of our house I noticed this in one of the pots that I had piled up until I have time to deal with them.


How cool is that? The sun and the plenty of rain we have been having worked all by them selves and germinated and nurtured some old seeds which obviously didn't sprout up in Athens.

This raises the question: what would happen if I plant (scatter without any care)some seeds all over the soil at the back. My gardening skills seem to improve the more I ignore things!

Salad anyone?

Oh and in case any of you ask, I have no idea which of all the seed varieties I planted these are.
Athens, garden, growing vegetables, lettuce, Nafplio