Apple + Berry Pie

Lately I've been on a baking kick. Last night I managed to snap a photo of the apple and berry pie I made, before my boyfriend demolished it. I served it with some passionfruit greek yoghurt instead of icecream, so much yummier and much lighter!

Here's a recipe for those of you looking to get your rolling pins out this weekend ♥

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1kg Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered, cut into 1.5cm-thick slices
• 200g frozen berries
• 75g (1/3 cup) raw sugar
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• Dash of vanilla beans
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbs plain flour
• 1 egg white, lightly whisked
• 1 tbs raw sugar, extra
• Double cream, to serve

• Pastry

• 525g (31/2 cups) plain flour
• 215g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 250g chilled butter, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs

Method

1. To make the pastry, place the flour, sugar, butter and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and process until the dough just starts to come together. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.

2. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 28cm-diameter disc. Line a 20cm (base measurement) pie dish with the pastry. Trim excess and reserve. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

3. Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine the apple, berries, sugar, spices and flour in a bowl. Brush the base and side of the pastry case with half the egg white. Spoon the apple mixture into the pastry case.

4. Roll out the remaining pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 24cm-diameter disc. Place over the pie dish. Press the edges to seal. Trim excess pastry. Roll out with the reserved pastry. Use a leaf-shaped pastry cutter or a small sharp knife to cut leaves from pastry. Place on pie to decorate. Brush pie with remaining egg white. Top with extra sugar. Cut 3 slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until pastry is crisp and golden and the apple is tender when a skewer is inserted into the slits. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Cut into wedges. Serve with cream.

Drink Me...

When I was sixteen, I lived in Japan for a few months with an exchange family. While I was there my host mother would ply me with green tea whenever I asked for water. To this day almost ten years later, I drink at least two cups of green tea everyday. I left Japan with very fond memories of my family and a rather hefty caffeine addiction.

I firmly believe that there is no case of the blues that a good cup of tea can't fix. I'm not fussy, I'll drink any tea, whether its sencha, genmaicha or lady grey. My tea obsession has ebbs and flows, a few years ago I loved chamomile, rose green tea, then white tea, now I have an affection for a frothy soy chai latte.

One of the main problems that I have with tea, is finding a nice selection of quality flavours in pre packed bags. Loose leaves, are lovely when you have the time to prepare them, however it would be nice to throw a few bags of my favourite variety into my purse for my travels.

Never having been a girl to settle, I calmly thought about the situation, and have decided to make my own. I will be testing and perfecting my own concoction of chai, rose green tea and a night time brew. Hopefully this will be something I will finish within the next fortnight or so. I would love for any tea makers to suggest your favourite tea recipes? Pop yours in the box below ♥

Are you kidding? I use my oven to store shoes.

Do you remember that episode of Sex and the City where Miranda asks Carrie if she has a rolling pin and Carrie tells her that she uses her kitchen as storage space? Well that was basically my attitude when I first moved out of home almost six years ago.

I didn't know my cheese grater from the vegetable peeler. If I tried to cook, it was usually some strange variety of jaffle. I think my boyfriend even documented my first attempt at cooking, that's how pretty it must have looked.

Over the years I have come to love cooking. Let me reiterate that, I said cooking not baking, Madeline baking is still a disaster. I find it relaxing and rewarding to buy fresh produce and create something yummy that my boyfriend and I will love.

There are a few things that have helped me get to this point, they are:

• Jamie Oliver- his collection of books focus on colour, variety and taste rather than precision and prettiness. Maybe he was thinking of me when he wrote it? My favourite is Jamie's Italy. The pesto page has been used so much that it is now covered in flecks of basil leaves.
• Taste.com.au- This website is absolutely fantastic, it has such a variety of recipes to choose from. The site itself is very user friendly, giving us cooking beginners many search options. You can choose from ingredient, low fat, cooking for two, holidays.....The best part about this site is the fantastic user reviews at the bottom of each page. I like to scour these for helpful hints on how to best execute the recipe.
• Google- Yes this does seem pretty obvious, but over the years I have found so many wonderful recipes just by searching Google. I am ashamed to say that I don't really follow food blogs as such, instead I just find my favourites for specific recipes I've tried and loved.
• Having good quality utensils- I know that as a student, it is almost impossible to purchase the entire line of Le Crueset, however if you do have some cash to spare, perhaps purchase one good cutting knife and a non-stick frying pan and pot. These basically got me through five years of university student povness.
• The fresh produce markets- Regularly going to the produce market has allowed me to revel in yummy fruit and veg and always find the best quality food. I think if you buy the bulk of your weekly groceries from the markets, it will really help you save a lot of money, cut down on wastage and ensure that you are planning healthy and in season meals. This way is basically fool proof for always having something yummy to eat. For lunch today I will be eating a lovely eggplant, squash and tomato soup.

What are your cooking tips for beginners?

Christmas Puddings

In a previous post I mentioned that I planned on making Christmas pudding rum balls as gifts for my family and friends. Here is the finished result....I'm very proud of my boyfriend and I, we slaved away like little elves in our kitchen.

The Ramen Girl

I mentioned in a previous post that I watched the Ramen Girl and had an instant craving to cook ramen for myself. This movie was really touching, normally I adore any movie that is set in Japan/Tokyo. The movie could have been set anywhere and it would have been just as mesmerising, I think watching Brittany Murphy's character become the best person she could was very inspiring and uplifting. If you have the chance to watch this you should, it's not your typical chick flick by any means.

Breakfast Reading

As I mentioned in my last post, I am a person of habit. Each morning I like to start my day with a green tea and either bircher muesli or fruit and yoghurt.

As you can see I have the new Frankie and SHOP magazines. Both are quite good, especially SHOP which doesn't have anything over $200 inside. Granted most things veer to the higher end of that spectrum, I'd say that's pretty impressive.

The Ramen Girl

After watching The Ramen Girl I was inspired to make my own.

It's not the best looking ramen, but it tasted pretty good!

いただきます

Japan is such a wonderful place, I have spent the most part of the last twelve years being obsessed with everything Japanese. I love the food, the language, the people, the architecture and even their crazy toilets. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled there twice. My first time was for an exchange where I stayed with a very traditional Japanese family. We ate rice morning and night, along with tofu, miso and raw fish. The only liquids we were allowed was green tea, except my host dad who drank copious amounts of warm sake when he thought no one was looking!

Because my host mother did not like a lot of sweets in the house, my host sister and I would stop off at the local shopping mart down the street everyday after school. Kieko often splurged on Tim Tams, while I bought strawberry pokky and grape mentos. It was no surprise that by the end of my exchange I had become rather chubby.

Not a Stepford Wife

Let me preface this by saying that I adore cooking, I love finding new recipes to treat my loved ones with. The entire experience is quite enjoyable for me. However this sentiment does not extend to baking. Baking is a whole other story. I once had the urge to bake a batch of cupcakes for my lovely boyfriend. I was really excited and had planned to ice them pretty pink with decorations on top. When the buzzer finally went off, I could have cried, inside my dingy little oven lay one giant cake-like substance. That baking debacle was the last time I attempted to make cupcakes. Maybe I will try again someday, for now I will continue to blame my oven.

Pretty Parcels

I love Christmas mostly because I can buy lovely things for people and engage in one of my favourite pastimes- giftwrapping. I don't know what it is about wrapping, but I adore it, from choosing the colour schemes, the gift tags, what materials to use to decorate the cards. I love the entire experience, since I was a little girl I always made handmade cards for everyone, each year was a different theme and colour.

This year I have decided to make Christmas pudding rumballs for everyone and package them in Kikki K bags and swing tags. I feel a little lazy about not creating my own tags, but since Kikki K came along I have found the gift wrapping experience all a little too breezy.

Tea and Cupcakes

As I type, a much needed rainstorm passed by my house. The sudden drop in temperature made me reach for my cherry blossom green tea and wish I was near a cupcake parlour so I could devour one of these gorgeous concoctions.

Green Apple Cupcake