Civil ceremony

A few weeks back Marc and I went to fill in forms to demonstrate our 'intention to marry'. This is an old tradition in England. In the past your names would be put on a noticeboard in the Church so that everyone could see who was getting married and could object if they so wished during a certain timeframe. Today names are supposedly posted somewhere in Camden Town Hall, a bustling and anonymous administrative building. Clearly, no-one objected because I was able to pick up our certificates and deposit them in the register office where we will have our civil ceremony!

We will have our civil ceremony in Old Marylebone Town Hall, where my parents got married. And Paul McCartney married his wife Linda there! Cool trivia.

Meanwhile I've been sent ceremony wording options and honestly? Most of them make me want to puke. I'm sorry but I just don't like mushy vows. I like to say what is necessary in law/according to a particular religion and nothing else. So I shall edit it all down to a bare minimum. The registrar will think I am very grumpy indeed.

So there's one thing ticked off the list. Oh, and did I tell you? I have a FA-BU-LOUS dress for the civil ceremony! Can't wait to walk down those stairs with Marc!

Hosting (salmon and cranberry orange cake recipes)

I have people round for dinner all the time... I love socialising that way. It's so personal, so comfortable and much more intimate and special than hanging out in a bar or restaurant after restaurant. Even that gets boring. I normally make nice but not overly complicated food... my Moroccan dish, perhaps some salmon, roast chicken.

But until this Christmas, I'd never really hosted a celebration meal before. On the 25th I invited Marc's parents round. His mother is a fabulous cook and always hosts us so beautifully so I wanted to give her a night off. Whilst I love cooking I have to say was hard work! I have to improve on the hostess front.

Do you have any hostess tips to share? If so please do: I'd love to hear them.

The most difficult thing for me was the timing: having so many dishes to prepare using just one oven, and keeping everything warm. I made salmon stuffed with vegetables and garlic butter, roast chicken and roast potatoes, roast vegetables, fennel in red peppers and broccoli with breadcrumbs.






I definitely think that I'm better at dessert!

I made Katie's Cranberry and Orange cake, and I have to say that she is a genius because she made that recipe up herself and it is completely and utterly sublime. Everyone loved it. And it's a lovely centrepiece cake, so definitely one to tab in your books. I also made peanut butter biscuits and gingerbread biscuits. Yummy!




Here's the recipe for the cake. NB: I omitted the orange liqueur (couldn't find any) and added half a cup of orange juice in addition to what the recipe calls for and it made for a lovely moist cake.

Cranberry Orange Cake

Ingredients:
3 c. flour, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. oil
1 2/3 c. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp orange zest
1 Tbsp orange liquor
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 c. fresh cranberries

for icing:
2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3-6 tsp fresh orange juice

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare basic bundt pan.
-In bowl of stand mixer, add sugar, butter and oil and beat until light and fluffy in texture as well as color, about 5 minutes.
-Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine 2 1/2 c flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
-Whisk to combine well and set aside.
-To sugar mixture, add orange zest.
-One at a time, add egg and beat to combine well.
-Add liquor and vanilla, beating to combine well.
-Add orange juice and buttermilk, mixing to combine well.
-Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl.
-With mixer on lowest speed, add flour mixture and mix until almost combined.
-Stop mixer and remove bowl.
-In bowl flour was in, add remaining 1/2 c. flour and cranberries.
-Toss to coat and add to batter.
-Using large spatula, fold cranberries and extra flour into batter just until combined.
-Pour batter into bundt pan.
-Tap on counter to remove air bubbles, smooth top of batter away from center of pan.
-Place into preheated oven on rack in center of oven and bake until toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean, about 1 hour.
-Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 20 minutes.
-Turn cake out onto wire rack and cool completely.
-Once cake is cool, in medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and orange juice, 1 tsp at a time until medium consistency is achieved.
-Drizzle icing over top of cake, decorate with orange rind and fresh cranberries and serve.

Salmon Recipe

1 whole salmon, boned and skinned
2 carrots
1 courgette
a few stalks of celery
1 parsnip
1 glass of white wine
(add any other vegetables you like)
1/2 (apprx) cup butter to smear
4 tablespoons butter
whole head of garlic
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
food string

1. Place salmon half down in a baking tray covered in aluminium foil, with the cut part facing up. Place strings under the piece of salmon every few inches. These will tie this half to the half that will be placed on top.
2. Crush garlic and blend with butter.
3. Smear onto open half of salmon
4. Using a mixer julienne the vegetables
5. Fry the vegetables in a small amount of butter, salt and pepper to taste, until they are soft but not brown.
6. Place vegetables on open half of salmon, ensuring they do not spill over the sides.
7. Place remaining piece of salmon cut side down on top of the vegetables
8. Tie the strings together so that the two halves of salmon and vegetables are held in place.
9. In a bowl, crush the remaining garlic, add wine, 4 tablespoons of butter, squeezed lemon, salt and pepper and pour over the salmon.
10. Cover in tin foil and bake in the oven at 180 ceklcius for about 30 minutes, but ovens vary so do check.

This was a yummy light addition to normal holiday food. It can look elegant and was enjoyed by all.

Happy New Year!

Last night, like every other NYE, Marc made me his special risotto! It has become quite the tradition and I certainly looked forward to it. It was absolutely delicious! Later on in the evening, Marc and I brought in the new year with some great friends, Harry and Natalie. It was so exciting, because as we watched Big Ben and the countdown, we realised that this is the year that we would be getting married! We were both really excited and hadn't expected to be! The other couples there were engaged as well, so it made for a really cool atmosphere.

Now, as ever, comes resolution time. I go for dress fittings in Tel Aviv in February and I have 5 weeks to tone up a little before I see my dress again. So I want to look better for that. I know that I should have started sooner but, if I am conscientious, I think I can make a small difference in that time. The crunch is on!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with love and laughter, health and fun!

DIY invitations: pocketfolds

I've been working on these for a few months and it's finally time to write up instructions!

You can perfectly well buy pocketfolds, but not only will you save money if you make them yourselves but you will also get exactly what you want. In my case, you cannot buy pocketfolds that suit what I need. My invitation will be in English on one side and in Hebrew on the other, so I need three sides to the invitation, one for each language and one for the flap.

These are time consuming but they're not as bad as I thought they would be. I tended to do mine slowly whilst watching television or something, so that I didn't notice completing them.

A note of caution: do not use a paper cutter to cut all your pocketfolds. Not only will it take a lifetime but the cuts aren't clean. You really must get this done in a print shop. They have huge machines that will cut through all your invites in one swoop. This is a very inexpensive service to boot!

What you need:

1. Bone folder
2. Good quality scissors
3. Pencil
4. Good eraser
5. Paper cutter/guilotine with scoring blade
6. Ruler
7. Double sided tape



My measurements, in case they help you:

length: 34.8cm
height: 17.7cm

first cut: 13cm
second cut: 12.9 cm
final cut: 8.9 cm from second cut.

1. Measure and mark the point halfway down the right hand side of your piece of paper.


2. Measure 1 1/2 cms in from that point and make a point. Then join this point to the outer edges to make a triangle. Cut this triangle out. This will be your inside pocket, in which to place maps, RSVP cards or anything else you wish. My pocket is shallow but you can change the dimensions to suit you.

3. Measure your folds and mark with a pencil where to score the line. Use your paper cutter's scoring blades to score your folds (not forgetting to erase the pencil markings when you're done):


4. Fold your pocketfolds along your scored lines using the bone folder.




5. Stick double sided tape down underneath the flap to secure it to the invitation and create the pocket. The tape should be the length of the flap.

This is what the pocketfold will look like with the double sided tape.


6.Remove the backing on the double sided tape and fold down the flap to secure it to the invitation using your bone folder.


7. Go over the edges of the flap with the bone folder to ensure the double sided tape has adhered well.

That's it! It wasn't so bad, was it? Honestly, I think this is so worth doing... I've even enjoyed the process. If you have any questions please let me know and I'd be pleased to answer!

Rage Against the Machine

Am I proud or what? If you were to ask Marc what I moan about the most, he'd definitely say crap tv. Or any tv, for that matter. I'm just not a fan. I hate the noise and passivity. I hate the dross that we get given. I despise the lack of aspirational tv. The X Factor? I hate it with a passion. The mediocre teenagers on The X Factor (our version of American Idol). I'm so so SO bored of wet men singing wet songs with no imagination. I'm sick of the processed music that dominates the charts, the tacky tistasteful clothes, the misguided kids who are being used, the chav factor. The X Factor winning song has dominated the UK charts for four years now. Every year is more boring than the last.

So when I heard that there was a grassroots protest, that people with no budget whatsoever were trying to dislodge Simon's latest star Joe Mc Elderry from the charts it was, quite literally, music to my ears.

They asked people to download 'Killing in the Name' and Rage Against the Machine agreed that all proceeds should go to charity.

Best of all? That 70s song was Christmas no. 1!!! A people's revolt! I am proud of my countrymen! Seriously though, I hope this paves the way for some passion and interesting music rather than the manufactured pop we have had to endure for so very long. I think it's so unbelievably cool that these individuals made such a statement. They should run for Prime Minister.

Ring bowl

Just one of those little details that I care about and that I am sure no-one else will notice. This one's for us though and for our future home.

I fell for these subtle and rustic little bowls... I know I didn't need one, but I wanted one so badly that eventually I just caved in! I ordered a custom design and explained just what I wanted. I'm so pleased with the outcome! It's perfect!

On a different note, I have so much to tell all of you but I can't do it just yet. No massive news but a few thoughts and experiences... it's frustrating that this blog can be found online... the lack of anonymity can be prohibitive of what I can share. Do you ever experience the same thing?

Anyhoo, here's the bowl from Paloma's Nest on Etsy! I can't wait to use it, to have great photos of it and to place it somewhere meaningful one day...

The best gingerbread cookies

Meredith and I did some baking last week and we made the best gingerbread cookies that I have ever tasted! I wanted to share the recipe with you because it's so easy and too good to pass up. It's by TastedbyTwo, adapted from Real Living. Enjoy!

NB: We replaced molasses with golden syrup because molasses isn't available in England.

Gingerbread cookies

Ingredients:

Gingerbread
125g butter
½ cup (100g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2½ cups (375g) plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons all spice (or mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves)
½ cup (125 ml) golden syrup

Icing
1 egg white
1½ cups pure icing sugar, sifted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat until combined.

2. Sift dry ingredients and stir into butter mixture with the golden syrup. Mix to a light dough and knead gently on a lightly floured surface until smooth.

3. Roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper until approximately 3 mm thick. Cut gingerbread men from the dough with your chosen cookie cutter and place on baking paper on biscuit trays and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Re-roll dough as many times as necessary. Cool on trays.

4. For the icing, whisk together the icing sugar and gradually the egg white until smooth. Spoon into a piping bag or freezer bag with the corner snipped. Decorate biscuits as desired.