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

Espresso walnut cookies

With all of the searching for a house and everything, I haven't had much opportunity to bake this past week or two. Last week Marie came by, our insurance lady, and I thought I would whip up some cookies to have with our tea/coffee.

I usually make a few alterations to the recipe. The recipe says to put teaspoons of the mixture, well apart on a greased baking sheet. I add a little more flour at the end to make the mixture firm enough for me to roll into small balls and shape them slightly. I like to make them slightly oval shaped and score them with a knife so that they slightly resemble coffee beans. The other thing I sometimes do is to dip them in chocolate or half dip them, which I did with some of these but unfortunately they didn't last long enough for a picture!

About the greased baking sheet: I don't usually do this because as you notice there is a lot of butter in the cookies anyway and I have never had them stick to the baking sheet. But do whatever you feel.

Oven temperatures vary, of course. My cookies usually take a good couple of minutes LESS than the amount it states in the recipe. You know your ovens. It is better to err on the side of caution than to overcook them.

Recipe for Espresso Walnut Cookies

100g butter, softened
50g sugar
50g walnuts, finely chopped
100g flour
2 tsp espresso coffee powder

Cream the butter and sugar until light in color and creamy looking
Add walnuts. Stir in flour and coffee powder.
Put 18-20 teaspoons of mixture, well apart on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 190°C for 15 minutes.
Leave to cool for 1'-2' before transferring to a cooling rack.

Do you like my cooling rack by the way? It is from Lakeland and is very versatile. It has three separate racks but you can stack them which is great when you don't have much space. It also folds down to store away.

If you want to, instead of adding the espresso powder you can add chopped dried fruit. Today I added cranberries to some of mine. Or you could change the walnuts for chocolate chips and the cranberries for glace cherries.

Marie enjoyed them and promptly asked for the recipe.

Liz

Disclaimer: I decline responsibility for any large credit card bills which may be accrued after clicking on the Lakeland link.