DaniElle

Basic Cake Mix (Anni Brewer)

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:28:25 GMT

Ingredients

175g self-raising flour
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
125g caster sugar
1 dessert spoon syrrup (light cake)/ black treacle (dark cake)/ molasses(dark, healthier)
150ml sunflower oil
150ml milk
2 large eggs

For chocolate cake: add 2 heaped table spoons of cocoa powder and cherries go well with

Toppings

Finely chopped rubarb and sprinkle of sugar on tray/ plate, use the juice in the mix
Finely chopped beetroot stalks
Finely chopped berries or fruit (anything of your choice)
Coconut shreds
Be inventive!

Method

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well. Pour into a large baking tin (grease if glass, baking paper if metal) then add topping. Cook at a mild temperature 150-170 °C (gas mark 3).

Lamb Curry with Sultanas and Almonds

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:08:26 GMT

Ingredients
1 dessert apple peeled, cored and chopped
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 table spoons butter
2 table spoons olive oil
1 table spoons curry powder
2 table spoons flour
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup apple cider
½ cup sultanas
3 cups cooked lamb
½ cup flaked toasted almonds
salt and pepper

Method
Melt the butter and oil in a large frying pan and apple, onion and garlic and cook until tender. Add flour and curry power then chicken stock and cider and whisk as the sauce thinkers. Stir in the sultanas and the lamb and heat through thoroughly. Check seasoning and adjust to your taste. Stir in chutney and almonds and serve over your favourite cooked rice.

Save these animals please!

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:51:19 GMT

Please this will only take 30 seconds of your time..

This is a call for signatures to a petition to help stop the LIVE skinning of cats & dogs. Yes that's right, LIVE... Imagine someone going up to your dog or cat and skinning it live. This is happening today in 2008 in China and it is DISGUSTING.

1) Head to http://animalsaviors.org
2) Watch the video to see it for yourself (see warning)
3) Sign the petition

WARNING: The video on that site is EXTREMELY graphic and definitely not for the faint hearted. If you are not the type who appreciates blood & gore, I recommend that you stick to the words on the site.

Red Nose Face Cakes - Red Nose Day 09

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:28:41 GMT

Melt 40g unsalted butter over a low heat. Add 200g marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir in 100g Rice Krispies cereal until well coated. Spoon in mounds onto greaseproof paper, and use a little honey to stick on glacé cherry noses and raisin eyes.

Recipe for Pizza

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:38:45 GMT

Pizza

A simple, homemade pizza - all made from scratch.
Please chose good ingredients (e.g. don't use cheap cheese) and you will have a pizza that is so much better than anything you can buy frozen.
One of these 11 inch pizzas comes in at under 2 pounds ... (that's the funny currency we use over here ...)

Ingredients for the base (for 3 11 inch pizzas)

500g flour (plain flour, we are using yeast here!)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
250 ml lukewarm water
2 teaspoons dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Ingredients for the piazzaiola (the tomato stuff to cover the base)

one onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 clove of garlic
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
a couple of leafs of fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon of salt
a pinch of freshly ground pepper

Toppings (per pizza) (use any cheese and topping you like, this is just an example)

one mozarella cheese (also nice: reggiano parmesan and medium cheddar)
2 slices of parma ham
2 slices of salami

Oven, pre-heating, temperature, ...

The type of oven you will be using has a huge influence on the outcome of your pizza. The best oven you can use is the old electrical type oven where you can set the heat to only come from underneath - that is ideal for pizza. Gas and fan assisted electrical ovens aren't very good - you might end up with a soggy pizza with burned cheese on top.
Oven temperature should be around 240 degrees Centrigrade (that's full blast on most ovens).
I have a lovely Smeg cooker with two ovens - one fan assisted and the other one a "traditional" electric oven which I can set to only heat the underside of the oven which works great for pizza.
Alternatively, you can use something like a Cobb Barbecue which also works well as all the heat comes from underneath.

Preparation

The Base

	Step 1 Put the flour into a bowl
	Step 2 Mix the yeast with the sugar and 50ml of the lukewarm water and stir, let sit for 10 minutes until it develops a nice foam on top
	Step 3 Add the olive oil and salt to the flour
	Step 4 This is what the yeast will look like after 10 minutes. Now add the yeast to the flour, oil and salt and add the rest of the lukewarm water (200 ml). Mix with your hands and knead until you have a smooth dough
	Step 5 which should look like this! If you have any left-over dough, you can easily freeze it - I always make a bit more and keep the rest in the freezer for a quick supper.
	Step 6 Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel and let it sit for an hour.
	Step 7 In the meantime, prepare a simple pizzaiola - chop the onion and the garlic, fry in the olive oil, add the tomatoes and the spices. Let simmer for half an hour to reduce the moisture, take a blender to it and then let it cool down.
	Step 8 This is what the dough will look like after it has risen. Now is the time to preheat your oven to 240 degrees C. (pretty much full blast)
	Step 9 Take 1/3 of the dough
	Step 10 and spread it out into the pizza pan with your fingers. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes so it can rise again. If you want a very thin and crisp base, roll out the dough with a rolling pin instead of spreading it with your fingers.
	Step 11 Chop the mozarella.
	Step 12 Chop up your toppings - I'm using ham and salami here.
	Step 13 Spread the piazzaiola - best done by putting it into the middle and then moving the pan quickly back and forth.
	Step 14 Put on your toppings ... Don't overdo it on the topping side - stick with 2 or 3 toppings and don't put on too much. An overloaded pizza isn't any good.
	Step 15 and then put on the cheese. Put into the pre-heated oven for approx. 20 minutes. If you find that your cheese starts to burn before the pizza base is done, put the pizza into the oven without the cheese for 5 minutes and then add the cheese
	Step 16 20 minutes later - and look at that
	Pizza made on a Cobb Barbecue Here is quite a different pizza - no pizzaiola, and lots of different vegetables with a cheddar cheese topping. Just to prove the point, we will bake this one on a Cobb barbecue ...
	this is the result after 15 minutes under the closed lid - an incredibly crispy pizza - made on a barbecue! No idea if this will work on any other kind of barbecue but a Cobb - let me know if you succeed on another one.

Recipe for Pizza (with detailed photos)

Writer's Block: Seven

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:24:44 GMT

Which of the seven deadly sins—sloth, greed, lust, gluttony, anger, envy, and pride—are you most likely to commit?

View 501 Answers

I think most people if they are honest they would commit them all on a daily basis. Well in their mind anyway.

Summer Soup

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:54:28 GMT

Ingredients

New potatoes*
carrots*
fresh peas*
cauliflower*
spinach leaves*

* Use these for Summer Soup to equal 1 litre or e.g. Carrot Soup, just 1 litre of carrots

Milk 1/2 - 3/4 litre
Salt
Parsley

Method

Steam the vegetables (in little amount of water) until almost soft.
Add milk to achieve soup kind of consistency.
Heat up and thicken with some flour(optional corn flour or wheat flour 1 tablespoon).
Add knob of butter and salt.
Just before serving sprinkle some parsley to finish.

Just Counting ...

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:04:34 GMT

Check out my Guestbook!

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Mon, 21 May 2007 22:44:30 GMT

My Recent Tracks Played on Last.fm

daniellemorris@livejournal.com — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:46:22 GMT