Bananarama

Let's talk about serendipity. Let's talk about those days when it looks like nothing good will happen but you end up learning a life lesson. Today's lesson: the universe will look after you.

In moments of panic I try and tell myself that everything will be fine. Amazing even. Well today that resolve to be optimistic was challenged. I was meeting a friend for brunch (my most favourite meal of the day) and wore a really cute button down dress. I drive a Vespa scooter and everyone who knows me knows that I don't do motorcycle gear. It's not lady like. Cool breezes and icy rain doesn't deter me from wearing a dress like a lady. This particular dress was a gift from my aunt who pre-loved it in the 80s. Sitting on the scooter I was only showing some above the knee action. That's G rated. No big deal.

If I'm going to be so dang insistent on being a lady I ought to learn how to ride my Vespa side saddle because after brunch, on the way to the shop to buy ingredients, my bottom button popped off. Eek. I was now showing some mid thigh and an undetermined amount of underwear if looking at me from the right angle. I was PG 13. I thought to myself, "I'm just going to walk into that Tesco like nothing is wrong, with my head held high with confidence. Nobody will notice. And if they do, it's their fault for looking." That was until the next bottom button popped off. Gosh darn stitching from the 1980s... I was now exposed from crotch level down. Now THAT's not lady like. I was no longer willing to walk into Tesco looking confident. I was rated R and ashamed. There was no way I could scoot home without contracting at least a really bad cold.

I ran into the charity shop next door and was immediately greeted by an adorable Cynthia Rowley dress in my size, brand new with tags still on for €10. It's as if the universe's plan all along was for me to find this cute dress. Either that or as the innocent looking Golden Girl lookalike shop woman said, "You might have met your future husband that way!"

That's a lesson in taking the lemons life gives you and making lemonade. I'm going to show you how I took a banana the farmer's market sold me, and made the most delicious ice cream of life.

This is a little something i like to call "Naturally healthy banana ice cream with no cream, so it's not really ice cream. It just tastes like it"

There is no recipe. Just 1 step

I was gifted this amazing Magimix from Jeannie. We met because her pregnancy cravings were often brownies. That girl is a legend.
I peeled a banana, tore it in to rough chunks and put it in the freezer this morning.

This is a self-explanatory before and after picture of my banana

This afternoon I put it in the Magimix with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a Tablespoon of raw coconut oil. I let the food processor run for about 1 minute and ended up with my new favourite snack.

Step 1 - Process 1 frozen banana, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a Tablespoon of raw coconut oil because you're healthy and you're trendy

Your mixture will look bitty like this at first. Don't panic. Just keep calm and keep the processor running

Eventually your mixture will come together like this. Blissful.

Give it a go! It's low fat, it's mostly fruit, it's delicious, it's full of potassium and electrolytes, it's 1 of your 5 a day, it's refreshing and it's scientifically amazing.

Serendipity

Peace out,

Caryna

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Cupcake kebabs, strawberry vodka and mix tapes from 1999

When you're a 70 year old housewife trapped in a 30 year old's body you don't travel like most people. You don't camp like most people. You don't drink like most people. You do it classier. 

That's me. Classy. You won't find me drinking Dutch Gold. No way Jose. I'll go for the cheapest vodka I can find but with a little inspiration from people with a lot more free time to think up these things, I undertook to make the prettiest vodka there ever was (in this case I was inspired by www.shutterbean.com). Strawberry Vodka. Here's how it goes: 

Step 1: Remove the stems of 2 punnets of strawberries and plonk them in a glass jar.

Step 2: Bathe those strawberries in a bottle of vodka.

Keep the jar in a shady spot and gently agitate the mixture twice a day for 3 days

After 3 days you will have pretty pink vodka that tastes like strawberries. And less pretty strawberries that have been sapped of their life force and colour, and taste like a shot of vodka. Add a dash of Coke and, in the words of one manly man who took a sip, "Well THAT is delightful. It tastes like an ice pop!"

So I had my bags all packed (busting, as per uje) the couch cushions in the car for sleeping on in the tent, the car entertainment sorted (we would be playing random cassette tapes, not knowing what embarrassing mixes would come up because when was the last time you listened to those cassettes? Or labeled them properly?) and I was already panicking about the prospect of possibly maybe feeling hungry during the drive to festival in Mayo (as per uje). I went for 2 categories of car snacks that could be eaten one handed: Healthy (carrot sticks, strawberries, apples, bla bla) and Cupcake Kebabs.

Did she just say cupcake kebabs?

Yes. Yes I did. Cupcake Kebabs. You can't peel cupcake cases while driving and you can't be constantly checking your face for frosting. The solution is to stack a variety of mini cupcakes on a skewer.

Start with mini cupcakes. I had vanilla, lemon, carrot cake and chocolate. When they're cool, remove the paper cases

Frost your mini cupcakes. This was a handy way to use up bits of frosting I already had made up for other orders. I believe I have previously mentioned how I find my life of cake quite wonderful. This is a prime example of why. I have random bits of frosting prepared in my home. All. The. Time. I used fluffy vanilla cream cheese frosting on the vanilla cupcakes with some sugar strands for crunch, lemon on the lemon (which happened to be purple) with alphabet sprinkles because...I don't know, fluffy vanilla cream cheese frosting with butterscotch chips on the carrot cake and chocolate frosting or crunchy peanut butter frosting on the chocolate cupcakes

Skewer the cupcakes in whimsical combination and voila. You are a domestic goddess in the car, which is probably the opposite of domestic. The lemon tartlets in the background were intended as another one handed road trip snack, but got sold instead. It's probably better for my pants that way.

Happiness on a stick

Until we meet again,

Caryna

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Disrupting Alzheimer's - Ingredients for the brain

Now that's a mess! Notice the carpet of brownie crumbs...

Tuesday was the end of a massive work week. All of that hard work culminated in an extensive cleanup of cupcake cottage. I'm talking a major dish washing, floor mopping, laundry doing and car cleaning effort. I was even wearing a sweat band. On my head. It was necessary. So there I was, listening to the Joy the Baker podcast, scrubbing tiles in my industrial black rubber gloves, thinking about the week gone by and how lucky I am that this is my life.

On Monday I was in Kiltegan, County Wicklow at a respite center called Sli an Chroi. This was where the latest residential programme of the Disrupting Alzheimer's project was taking place. 

Disrupting Alzheimer's is a project developed by Christy Fleming; a loving and talented man whose brother Paddy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008. Paddy is only 57 years old. Paddy was a strong believer in holistic therapies and Christy and his family have been challenging Paddy's Alzeimer's by a holistic approach. Everyone was invited to participate in activities like Falun Gong and Circle Dancing, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique - this is a very interesting tapping technique that stimulates meridian points), singing and dancing and meditation. To be honest, the energy about the place was just electric. And the more responsive Paddy was to the activities, the more motivated everybody became to give that much more. 

Paddy, Christy and Lorraine on their morning walk

I was hired to cater for the group. The food was to be nutritious vegetarian with an emphasis on brain healthy ingredients such as nuts, seeds, whole grains, coconut and raw produce. There is a very interesting study being undertaken by Dr. Mary T. Newport, whose husband suffers from Alzheimer's. She has been tracking his progress on a high keytone diet, rich in raw coconut oil and the results seem to show promise. The menu was developed by the previous chef and adjusted by me in order to put less of an emphasis on specialist Greek recipes (of which the previous chef is an expert). 

Here are some facts about the week. I made up most of what I cooked. I had the courage to do this thanks to my new iPhone which allowed me to quickly access helpful websites like www.howtobakeapotato.com when the need arose.I also took photos and texted them to my father at regular intervals for approval. I love to cook to music and I got through a lot of Beatles material that week. Whenever Paddy passed by the kitchen he stopped in to join my in singing along for a little while. I was channeling Irish mammy and Jewish mommy, who are very similar, and found joy in building my day around preparing 3 square meals for the troops. And washing dishes with a view overlooking a field of cows. That's about the only good thing I can ever say about washing dishes. Washing dishes is otherwise the bane of my very existence.

My workspace

The menu:

Monday Dinner

Tagliatelle with mushrooms and Bechamel

Bruschette with tomato and rocket

Green salad

Tuesday Lunch

Baked potatoes with lemon, olive oil and toasted hazelnuts

Green veggie burgers with quinoa

Green veggie burgers with quinoa

Greek salad

Tuesday Dinner

Bean & Roast veg pie with basil mash

Bean & Roast veg pie with basil mash, tzatziki and black eye bean salad

Tzatziki sauce

Black eye bean salad with ginger dressing

Wednesday Lunch

Spaghetti al pesto

Caprese Salad

Caprese salad

Garlic bread

Super healthy apple, berry and hazelnut crumble with sesame seeds

Wednesday Dinner 

Roast vegetables

cabbage, celery and carrot salad

hummus and pita chips

High fibre breakfast muffins, baked sans muffin tins

Thursday Lunch

Spanish chickpea casserole
Basmati Rice

The gorgeous scenery at Sli An Chroi

Thursday Dinner

Italian Fresh vegetable fritata
Lentil soup
Apple and carrot salad

Friday Lunch 

Squash and coconut soup
Vegetable and potato salad

Read more about this wonderful project at http://www.activelink.ie/node/6576

Tootles,

Caryna

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South East Asian culinary adventures

I was recently away in Vietnam with 2 lifelong friends. Recent lifelong friends. I've known Ann for 8 years and Jessica for 2, and we are friends for life. I suspect we get along so well because we share similar outlook on life and travel and friendship and food. We all love food equally and makeup a sort of culinary supertrio. We are all adventurous eaters and can all pack away more than your average fat man. It's not unusual for waitstaff to be confused when we order at restaurants.

After 2 weeks of gallivanting around Vietnam, here are my top 10 delicious Vietnamese culinary delights that you must absolutely eat if you are going to Vietnam.

1. Jackfruit chips

I don't know how I lived a happy life before discovering jackfruit chips. I have only ever eaten jackfruit in its deep fried form. I believe it's jackfruit with its best foot forward.

2. Pho

Soup for breakfast. Great idea. Soup for lunch. Great idea. Soup for dinner. Great idea. It's cheap, it's delicious and it's hot. Which is a good thing in a hot country because while you are eating it your insides are warmed while your exterior feels cooler in contrast. Try it. It's a real phenomenon.

Here is some beef pho, or Pho Bo. For breakfast. Why not?

Pho is a clear broth with vermacelli noodles, some veg and beef or chicken. I did eat a crab pho in Ho Chi Minh City that was nothing less than life changing.

The most amazing crab pho of life

3. Wontons

Need I say more? Ok one more thing. Deep fried wontons.

These are traditional won tons made in Hoi An, the culinary capital of Vietnam

4. Street Sandwhich / Bánh mì

Vietnamese street sandiwch apparently includes a type of pate on a fluffy white roll. It's that French influence brought down to street level. I watched my sandwich being made and still had no idea what I was eating. All I know is it was delicious.

5. Ginger and Lemongrass tea

Man oh man, us girls drank so much of this delicious stuff all accross the country. Served hot or cold, fresh ginger and lemongrass are pummeled and infused into a tea. A clarified local honey syrup is served on the side. This a) allows for they honey to dissolve easily into either cold or hot drinks and b) you can adjust the sweetness to your own taste.

6. Fresh Fruit

I am a cankle sufferer while travelling. Lucky for me pineapples have anti-inflamatory properties and really helped my difficult relationship with my fikle ankles. They have a fancy way of preparing the tiny pineapples that involves diagonal cuts to remove those stalky dimples while retaining as much fruit as possible. The pineapple is then quartered and can be eating by holding the leafy crown. The best place to buy fresh exotic fruit including pineapples, mangoes, watermelon, etc. is on the street where the vendor will prepare if for you.

Fancy pineapple cutting

7. Non profit restaurants

We ate at a number of really good restaurants that were training environments for street kids. Baguette & Chocolat is Sapa and KOTO (Know One Teach One) in Hanoi were so good we went to them twice. Actually Baguette & Chocolat became our local for our 3 days trekking in Sapa. Doing street kids a service only encouraged us to maintain our schedule of eating a meal every 3 hours. For research purposes of course.

A photo of a photo at KOTO, Hanoi

8. Vietnamese coffee

Milk is extremely expensive and scarce in Vietnam. So this iced coffee is seved with condensed milk. It's soooooo gooood. Pioneer Woman has a great recipe for Vetnamese coffee on her blog:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/comment-page-5/


9. Watermelon juice

Some restarants actually juiced the watermelon, leaving a clear pink drink. Others just shtuck the watermelon in a blender and I was given a glass of thick, bitty watermelon liquid. Extremely refreshing and healthy.

10. Coconut water

Coconut water is extremely high in potassium and electrolytes, making it perfect for keeping hydrated in a hot place. This also helps prevent the cankles. I usually buy the stuff in a carton in Dublin. I loved that in Vietnam I could just stick a straw in a coconut.

 

Since I've been back I have had ginger and lemongrass tea every day. I'm to blame for a friend's new addiction to jackfruit chips. I've had watermelon juice twice and dreamed of won tons every night. 

Enjoy,

Caryna Camerino

 
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Naturally Good

I had a brilliant post all done and written but then it gone and disappeared. Gosh darn modern technology and it's shortcomings. It was about cakes, about health, about good taste and love. But now it's gone so here's something similar but different.

I've been neglectful. I haven't written due to a myriad of life events coordinating themselves to all happen within a very compressed space in time. I finished my "thesis" and went traveling for a couple of weeks then made and sold hundreds of brownies for the Body & Soul festival. I say "thesis" because it was 10,000 words on muffins. Yup. If you can write 10,000 words on muffins you get a degree in Bakery and Pastry Arts Management. I for one am offended. But you can't let these things get you down. There's a life lesson here. I used my 10,000 words on muffins to develop a range of healthy treats that I'm pretty frikin proud of. I called it the Naturally Good range. They contain only natural ingredients, they are good for your mouth, good for your muscles, good for your health and therefore good for your skin, hair and arse.

I've Weight Watchers Pro Pointed them here but they are by no means endorsed by WW. WWWWD (what would Weight Watchers do)? I would imagine they'd recommend you snack on these, that's what.

A great thing about these i they are huge. I can make them in more normal snack size which would lower the points value further.

Feast your eyes on these

Caryna's Cakes Low Fat Muffins
A low fat, high protein spelt muffin containg ½ daily portion of fruit

Ingredients: White spelt flour, raspberries, banana, apple, orange juice, fat-free yogourt, Xylitol, egg white, almonds, whole spelt flour, water, baking powder, honey, salt

Weight Watcher Pro Points per 105g serving: 5

Caryna's Cakes Flapjacks
A hearty and heart-healthy flapjack that is wheat free and contains no processed sugar.

Ingredients: Peanut, oats, dates, raisins, peanut butter, honey, egg, almond, Brazil nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cinnamon


Weight Watcher Pro Points per 60g serving: 8

Caryna's Cakes High Protein Muffin

A chunky chocolate chip spelt muffin that is high in protein and ideal for athletes. It contains no added sugar, whey protein and only healthy monounsaturated fat.

Ingredients: Apple, soya milk, egg, white spelt flour, soy flour, Xylitol, 70% chocolate chips, whey protein, olive oil, oats, almonds, ground flaxseed, vanilla, agave nectar, baking powder, salt.


Weight Watchers Pro Points per 105g serving: 8

Enjoy,

Caryna Camerino

 
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Cakes and a music festival. Vantastic.

Firstly, I want to say hello and merci to my 11 Followers. Writing makes me happy but I'm even happier to know that my writing isn't disappearing into the Internetal (word invention) ether. And now that these words have been immortalised in the blogdom you 11 can proudly claim that you were among the first to follow Lovin' from the Oven, back when I was just Jenny from the block, when future Caryna's Cakes is skyrocketed into super stardom and declining requests to make Prince Harry's wedding cake because, although I would have been honoured, I am fully booked until 2016. That's rubbish of course. I dream of being in a real life curtsy situation. If you believe in something strongly enough it will come to you... so I will continue to believe that I will one day be a bakery superstar and get the opportunity to prove my curtsy skills. Dream big.

Now on to what I originally intended to write about - Vantastival! It happened last weekend but I have only now caught up on my sleep and am coherent enough to write about it. But only just barely, as proved by the previous paragraph.

Vantastival is a musical festival that welcomes families, tents and camper vans. Here are some of my favourite things that happened at Vantastival 2011:

1. Kevin. Kevin is my best college friend. Well, he was. Until he posted some extremely unflattering photos of me at Vantastival on Facebook and claimed he does not believe in deleting pictures. The friendship was good while it lasted.

I rented this van with GoCar. Brilliant company

Kevin is the type of guy you can count on for anything ranging from scraping mold off your bathroom ceiling to cycling up a big hill to your house because you are in desperate need of a hug. There is nobody else I would agree to camp in a Ford Transit van with. And that's a challenge because Kevin is 6'4


2. My Nook. It's a small 3m x 3m marquee, but for 3 days it's home.



3. The Brownie Busters. It was a huge success last year. What do you do when children wooed by the sight of chocolate ask you over and over again to please let them have a brownie for free? You put them on commission. If they get enough adults to buy brownies they will get their free brownie. It's not extortion, it's education. 
 


4. Cakes on the go. If the people won't come to the cakes, bring the cakes to the people. It means laughing at "nice buns" like you've heard it for the first time. Every time. Like, 45 times. But you get to talking to some genuinely fun people too. It's mostly that kind of people.

5. Brownies in their belly. I feel a swell of pride when I see a band on stage and say to Kevin, "They have brownies in their bellies!" Isn't that fame by osmosis?

 

Caryna's Cakes and The Gandhis

6. Nap time.Contrary to popular belief Caryna's Cakes does not run on sugar and butter. It runs on disco naps. Sunshine naps are even better.

Looking forward to next year.

Signing off,

Caryna Camerino

 
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Cocktails and Brownies are a winning combination

Margie has enriched my life. She has been my best friends for 22 years. I feel simultaneously proud and old while typing that. She introduced me to so much deliciousness over those years. While all the cool teenagers were smoking cigarettes in back alleys and our parents were out like normal social people we were at one of our houses gleefully giggling over Cote-St-Luc BBQ 1/4 chicken dinners. The tradition was this: we wore overalls to avoid waistband restrictions. We tore off bits of bun at a time and sandwiched bits of chicken and fries in between then dunked the whole thing in gravy. Then laughed at our enormous food bellies. Then did shots. Not of liquor like normal teenagers, no. The shots were of water. The drinking game was to keep going shot-for-shot of water until one person tapped out because they couldn't hold their pee any longer. What I'm saying is, while normal teenagers went out dancing in clubs, we were doing pee dances in our kitchen. I'm a geek. It didn't spring out of nowhere. It's been a long time developing.

When Margie showed me Ireland she introduced me to some marvelous things. That Disney Aladdin song is playing in my mind as I type this. Baby Guinness shots was one of them (I don't think Disney had cocktails in mind). When I read about this month's chocolate-themed cookalong I was inspired to make a new and improved brownie. What could be better than an alcoholic cocktail brownie containing Bailey's and Tia Maria and looks like a Guinness? Nothing, that's what. No word yet on the winner...
Here is my contribution:

Baby Guinness Brownies by Caryna's Cakes

Recipe

Ingredients for the brownies:
125g butter, melted
125g granulated sugar
125 demerera sugar
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
75g (1 egg plus 1 yolk) lightly beaten egg
90g cream flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients for Tia Maria ganache:
250g double cream
300g 70% dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
35g Tia Maria

Ingredients for Baileys ganache:
250g double cream
300g white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
35g Baileys

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 9x12" baking tray with silicone paper.

- Mix the sugars, cocoa powder, vanilla and egg. Slowly add the melted butter until well mixed.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the mixture and fold until blended.
- Pour into prepared tray and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely.

For the Tia Maria ganache

- Boil 250g cream.
- Pour over the dark chocolate. Let sit for a minute then stir until smooth.
- Add the Tia Maria. Cool slightly until thickened. Spread over the brownie and allow to cool completely.

For the Bailey's ganache

- Boil 250g cream.
- Pour over the white chocolate. Let sit for a minute then stir until smooth.
- Add the Baileys. Cool slightly until thickened. Spread over the brownie and allow to cool completely.

Cut into 15 large, 20 medium or 48 bite sized squares with a sharp knife. D-licious!

Caryna Camerino

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