BENTO POP TOP 10!

My best Bento creations so far... Obviously that's a joke! I've never made one yet, but I do love the wierd little kawaii-kraft! One day I will have enough time to make my own masterpiece, but for now... these are my top pick pics.

JOEL PENKMAN!

Yesterday I stumbled upon these paintings after following a thousand blog / website trails. Painted with hand-mixed Egg Tempura paints, they are so clean and fresh and supercute, without being cutesy-wutesy! I LOVE them, and followed info only to find out that the artist, Joel Penkman (a woman, read Jo-elle) resides in Liverpool and is practically my neighbour!!! I have written cheesy fanmail, and had a lovely response. Watch this space for a possible Penkman/BUG POP photoshoot! :-D And go see more at her website. YOUR MOUTH WILL WATER!

WHAT'S COOKIN'?!

Today I made Gnocchi! It was a cheats recipe. Like this:

* 50g (2 oz) instant mashed potato
* 225ml (8 fl oz) boiling water
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 200g (7 oz) plain flour


1. Place potato flakes in a medium bowl. Pour in boiling water; stir until blended. Let cool.
2. Stir in egg, salt and pepper. Blend in enough flour to make a fairly stiff dough. Turn dough out on a well floured work surface. Knead lightly.
3. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a long thin roll, the thickness of a breadstick. With a knife dipped in flour, cut into bite-size pieces.
4. Place a few gnocchi in boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked.

RED-BEAN BUNNY BUNS!

So yesterday at the show, I talked snacks with Becky J and Even, and he reccomended some very intriguing chinese deserts. Today I went to the chinese supermarket and sought out the bunny rabbit buns he described. They were only £1.65 and there's ten in a packet! Steamed some up tonight for the house-boys! They're like soft white bread-dough with a big slap of rich subtly-sweet red bean paste in the center. Gorgeous! Try some!

BIG BRUNCH!

Designed for my "staaaaarving" boyfriend, but of course I ate one too! ;-)

MINI SUSHI UPDATE!

Now the Lilliputians have broken into the sushi house!!!

Rings £8.00 on sale at www.bugpop.co.uk soon!

RISOTTO FARE DI MIO!

I know my Italian is terrible! But my Italian cooking's not quite as bad! Just had a well good risotto with bargain basement veg. Checkit! x

JUST A SOUP-SONG!

Today The Hive is filled with smell of lovely winter lentil soup with homemade croutons!

HOME MADE TAPAS FOR ONE!

Stopped to make this little feast! Ate it at the computer... Self-Accounting sucks! :-/

PLAIT THAT!

Dinner! X

TIME FOR AUNTMN FOOD!!!

MMMMMMMM! This was better than it may look. Winter Stew And Dumplings! Brit-Stodge at its finest! ;-)

BRAMBLING ROMAN STYLE

I did so much Blackberry picking when I was a kid. Free stuff, doomed to dry out and fall off it's tree-perch, unless you, the hero picks and eats it! And weren't they ALWAYS growing in abundance in some walled off wasteland, or bit of somewhere that you couldn't quite get to?! We went picking in a big wasteground by the American School today, and in Roma they get to pick wild figs too!!! Really! We got a ton, and they were the best fresh figs I have ever tasted! YUM!

FOUL MADAMS!

YUM!!!!!!!!! Made Foul Mudammas for lunch today, with all the trimmings, for my lovely Rebecca and Jewelly! <3

BREKKIE!

MEXICAN WAVES!

So lastnight it hit me, that I wanted to make a big big Mexican dinner for my lovely friends. I made it tonight, for 8 last-minute mouths! It was gooooooooood! x