Hello/Goodbye: Summer plum cake

It's his birthday today. The day after Body & Soul. It hadn't occurred to me. I'd forgotten all about it. Until today. I had a conversation with a student recently. She waited until the others had left at the end of class and then admitted that she was stressed, anxious, couldn't sleep because she didn't want to go back to Italy, that she wasn't ready and yet felt under pressure to do the "right thing" and keep everyone at home happy. She talked about her life moving in waves and I told her that that was normal. Life does move in waves and once I saw it like that, I became calmer. Before I realized that life could be compared to waves, not just with its ups and downs but with its mystery, magic, heavy slabs that annihilate you and warm waves that lap and push you back to the safety of the beach, I was lost. I was washed out to sea believing that I should have some master plan that I should be following to a T. The fundamentally flexible nature of waves and their elemental force when applied to my life enabled me to be at peace with whatever happened. I'd just do my best to follow the way I wanted to feel while riding through life and heading in the direction that made me happiest. I'd do my best.

Then I went for a walk on the beach today with a great friend. We talked about so many things and one of those topics was inevitably about men or their lack of presence in our lives to a meaningful extent. I mentioned his name and some situations we had gone through together. It felt strange to utter his name. The whole walk, I had forgotten it was his birthday. Just now though, my entire day came together. The conversation with her about men in our lives, the uneasy feeling I had all day and then mistaking a guy walking ahead in the same hoodie, jeans, bag combo he would wear this morning as I walked to work.

It all got me thinking about hellos and goodbyes. When you say hello to a person, greet them and let them into your life, you have no way of knowing what will happen or how long it's going to last. If you'd asked either of us a few years ago, we both would have speculated that "this was it". I know, because we talked about it often, how lucky we were to have met each other. But it didn't last and it was bitter and sorrowful and painful to the last. We said too many goodbyes so when the final one came along, we were well practiced. It didn't make it any less painful.

In my job as an English teacher, I say hello and goodbye to students on a weekly basis. New students come into my life every Monday and inevitably, some student, if not more than one, leaves on a Friday, back to Korea or Brazil, never to be seen again. Every twenty four weeks, we change our level and suddenly, we, the teachers, leave our students. We say goodbye and pass them onto a different teacher and we greet an entirely new class. We may see them at a social or in the corridors but it's a given that it's over. For a long time, it was something I couldn't figure out. Before, I was too concerned with events surrounding him and how to make it all OK again that I didn't engage with my students and I ignored their appreciation for the work I do.

Last Friday, I went with them to Trinity in the sunshine to have a picnic together and say goodbye. I was stunned by their words of thanks and their gifts. I was stunned at just how much they cared about me. Two cards, a bracelet, chocolate and so many hugs. I was bowled over by their generosity. Teaching them, helping them, listening are all actions I had taken for granted, part of what I felt was my duty. I never realized that it's not something that all people do in their jobs. I never once thought that listening to them or taking an interest in their lives or challenging them in class would have an impact comparable to the impact I thought I would have on the man I loved.

I made them cake, sweet summer plum cake, filled with love and bright, vibrant plums. I wanted to take the time to show them I care. I wanted to put the effort in. I wanted to demonstrate that this was not the average goodbye but something heartfelt with all the love I would normally have dedicated to him, especially on his birthday. As students leave, others follow and memories and friendships are made. The me of a few years ago thought I was doomed to repeat one goodbye after another. Goodbye to love, to family, friendships, dreams, opportunities, all wrapped up in him. The truth is, the more I say hello to new friendships, dreams and life in general, the better my life is and the more loved I feel for people who appreciate and accept me for who I am.

So here's a summer plum cake recipe to celebrate the summer, friendship, greeting the sun and making memories. Bake it with love and share it around.

And for you who was my man. Happy birthday. I hope this year is full of joy and almost a year on, I'm glad we said goodbye that day.

Ingredients:
1 cup soft butter (not margarine)
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
15 small black plums (washed, stoned, halved and quartered)
1/2 cup flaked almonds

Method:
Preheat oven to 190 C. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar to a light mix. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one, then the vanilla. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into the bowl, gradually and stir through until the mixture is thick.
Line a large 2 inch baking tray or two small trays with grease proof paper. Spread out the mixture into the tray(s). Place the plums skin side down onto the mixture, in or orderly or completely haphazard and then sprinkle the almonds on top. Place in the middle tray and bake for 25-35 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing and serving. Enjoy!  

To Ezgi, my legend of a student, thank you for making my year with this thoughtful portrait X

Autumn time is apple time: Apple & Blackberry Crumble

The clocks went back over the weekend. It was a sleepy bank holiday of book reading, staying warm by the fire, stealing wooly socks from Dad's sock drawer, drinking copious amounts of tea, watching TV while the dogs sat at my feet, basking in the heat of the stove and reading the Saturday newspaper front and back over the entire three days.

I wasn't at my most energetic. The previous few weeks have been a whirlwind of drama and exhaustion that I am slowly moving out of. In the middle of of it all, I went on a jam and jelly making spree, all based around that wonderful, often times overlooked, apple.

In Druid times, apple were magic, a symbol of female empowerment, craft and healing. Apples are associated with that simple, cheap fruit you throw in your bag for lunch and find four days later. Over the last few years my perception of this glowing, crisp autumn fruit has completely changed. I started eating apples from the market in September and October when the Irish varieties were in season. I experimented with avoiding gala and granny smiths and started looking for heritage varieties. One type were miniature and perfectly rounded with a bright rouge that leaked into the bright white interior of the fruit. Another was a perfect pink with a mellowing yellow inside and a bitter sweet bite. Simply looking at different apples, their colours, textures, shape and taste, has completely transformed my appreciation for something seasonal. It has made me crave this time of year and appreciate the bounty of this seemingly simple fruit.

While I was making all that jam and jelly, (recipes to follow in the next few days), I cooped myself up in the kitchen for a few hours. Needing some air and having two hyperactive springer spaniel dogs look up at me with anticipation, the three of us headed to a walk down by a lake near my house. It wasn't long before I came across an entire hedgerow of fresh, ripe blackberries. When we got back, it was clear crumble had to be made.

As a kid, myself and my little sister used to make apple and blackberry crumble. I remember it would stick to the dish because of the mountains of sugar we put into it. It was dessert after all! This time, I wanted to do things differently. I wanted to let the flavors of the bitter cooking apple foraged from some old trees nearby and the freshly picked berries work their magic. This crumble changed the way I think about desserts now. There was no need for sugar. It was a childhood excuse for sweetness. This is the adult version, the version that lets the ingredients do the talking.

Enjoy!

This recipe serves 4 but can easily be turned into more by simply adding more apples and berries. The other ingredients, including the crumble topping quantities can stay the same if it's all going into the same dish.

Ingredients:
6 cooking apples (1 large cooking apple per person plus 2 more for extra helpings)
2 cups blackberries (raspberries and blueberries or frozen berry mix works just as good)
2 Tbs maple syrup
2 Tbs honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence

2 cups oats
1 cup flour (I used rice flour and it made it nice and light. Plain flour or spelt would work great too)
1/4 cup hazelnuts (chopped roughly)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup coconut oil 

Method:
Preheat oven to 180° C. Peel, core and slice apples thinly and layer in a deep oven dish. Everyone has a different sized dish but your dish should be half filled when all your apples are in it. Wash your blackberries and place over apples. Drizzle maple syrup, honey and vanilla essence and sprinkle cinnamon over the apples and berries.

In a separate bowl, add oats to combined and sieved flour, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and stir well. Mix in the coconut oil the mix, rubbing the oil into the flour mix until you get a crumbly texture. Stir through chopped hazelnuts. Pour the mixture out onto the apples and berries, covering all the fruit evenly. Pack it down to form a tight, sealed crust.

Place in the oven for 30-40 minutes until you can put a knife or skewer into the apples and they are soft and the crumble topping is a lovely golden brown. 

Scoop out into bowls and serve with custard, cream or natural yogurt and enjoy!

(Despite my best efforts to get a photograph of the finished product, we all devoured it before I realized I'd forgotten to take that last photo. I guess this just means I'll have to make it again and photograph it again and eat it again. 
That's all fine by me!

Feijoa and ginger crumble

We had a storm. Well, a cyclone. It brought with it a bucket load of rain for the garden, dripping window pains that were intermittently flooded with gusts of wind and extra spatterings of water droplets. The windows fogged up in the end and all I could see was a grey misty expanse, shadowed by the palm tree out front. It got colder. I got soaked walking home one day but was comforted by a warm shower and wooly socks I packed for this summer trip because with New Zealand weather, you never can tell. I got worried that the last of my beautiful sunshine had gone and my last few days in this beautiful country were going to be rain filled. Doubt crept in. I really dislike the word "should" and everything it implies but in this case, I really should have just trusted nature. I had forgotten that yummy feijoas, those crazy bitter sweet fruits of bounty had to ripen and summer wasn't over until the feijoa glut was finished doing its thing.

Lo and behold, the sun came out again. Soothing rays of warmth reached my shoulders and face. My sunnies were back out, my hair dried in the balmy morning air. The surf came back and I was back to barefooted bliss once more. With all this sun filled goodness came the feijoas. To me, they're like a kid's version of figs. Similar in size with a tough, smoky polished skin protecting a strange, soft , perfumed, seed-filled interior. They are usually cut in half, making two scoop fulls of sweet and sour perfumed yumminess.

I remember arriving here nearly four years ago and after the avocado glut where I consumed more avocados than I had in a lifetime, everyone starting talking about feijoas. "What the hell is a feijoa?" I kept asking. Then I tasted one and then another and another. I couldn't stop. Now that I'm back for a visit, I couldn't help get excited about eating them again. Calling over to my mate Anna's house yesterday, she told me she had an awesome suprise for me. One big beautiful bowl of feijoa goodness. It would seem rude not to stay for dinner, eat her amazing food and then cook up a feijoa crumble so here is the recipe in all its awesomeness. There were four of us. We politely took our first portion and then sneakilly stole spoons of the last portion in mid conversation until it was all gone. That's when you know it's a goodie!

Serves 4 hungry people and 6 polite tasters

Ingredients
3 or 4 large cooking apples
10-15 feijoas depending on size
8 pieces of stem crystallised ginger
4 tablespoons of raw brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

6 oz flour (wholemeal or spelt are yummy)
1 handful of oats
3 oz butter, cubed and slightly soft
2 oz raw brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 half teaspoon of ground ginger

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Get an oven proof, preferably clay or glass dish for your crumble. Peel and core apples, then slice into thin chunks and put into dish. Half the feijoas and using a teaspoon, scoop out the flesh, chop finely and mix with apples. Finely chop ginger and stir through, then add sugar, cinnamon and vanilla essence. Spread the mixture so it fills the bottom of the dish.

In a seperate bowl, add flour, nearll all the oats (you want to leave a few to sprinkle on top) and butter and mix with your finger tips until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add sugar, cinnamon and ginger and mix through. (I find this relaxing but you can easily put all the crumble mix into a food processor and blitz). Press mixture down onto apples and feijoa mix and then sprinkle with last of oats. Bake for 30 to 35 minutee until bubbing hot and browned on top. Serve with custard, ice cream or yoghurt.

Enjoy and remember that it doesn't rain, it pours. When life seems to have hit a stagnant point, rest, refresh, take time and wait for the next glut so you can make the most of it. That's what I'm learning and trying my best to practice. Some days it works, others it's tough but feijoas and blogging bring a lot of ease and joy into my day. Hope reading this and making the crumble brings lots of joy into your day too!

Christmas time and mini Apfel Strudels

It's the day after Christmas day and I'm still wearing my Christmas jumper, trying to get the most out of this holiday, while typing this blog today. Generally at Christmas, I'm the one who lights the candles, tidies the house, puts up the decorations and generally gives the house it's Christmas look. My parents are the ones who do the cooking and take great pride in it. My Mam's traditional German red cabbage with vinegar, sultanas and spices is incredible and the honey glazed ham and oven roasted turkey with stuffing is the best I've ever tasted. As a family, we always cook too much food, especially since my oldest sister, Anna, lives in Spain with her girls. Somehow, the fridge manages to get cleared in a few days and we all have very full Christmas tummies.

As a family, we're not really one for visitors so the number of desserts and cookies we have ready for guests is pretty minimal. Anything cooked or baked over Christmas is for our own consumption. The only real dessert that we make without fail every year is our Christmas pudding, a Brady womens-only tradition. It is always to die for, especially when heated with a large dollop of Bailey's whipped cream on the side. There's no way I could give that recipe away so I had to put on my thinking cap.

The last few months has seen my Mam have more energy and a renewed interest in all food German related so I thought I would have a go at making my own version of Apple Strudel but bite size. The kind of size you think you could manage as you sit through Home Alone a few days after Christmas to finish off a ham and turkey and cranberry chutney sandwich.

I'm proud to say, the recipe worked out unbelievably well and it was so bloody easy. I even got over my fear of filo pastry!

Filo pastry has a bad reputation. It's difficult to make, flimsy, prone to tearing, needs the right balance of melted butter when you brush it, difficult to handle.

Forget about all of that. These things could happen but when you panic and worry less about the problems, things have a way of working out.

This strudel recipe uses typical Christmas shop ingredients. I cheated with chilled ready made filo pastry-do yourself a favour and leave making it for another time.

Recipe:
Filling
6 sweet red eating apples
100 grams of dark brown sugar (or honey/agave/another sweetener but this sugar works best)
2 tsp of real vanilla essence
2 tbsp of brandy
100 grams of sultanas
80 grams of walnuts/pecans/hazelnuts
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
50 grams of butter/coconut oil

Pastry
1 pack of chilled filo pastry
50 grams of butter

Topping
1 handful of flaked almonds

Extras
1 Muffin tray
Coconut oil/other oil for greasing the tray
Grease proof paper

Method:
1. Slice the apples into quarters and core them
2. Slice the quarters thinly into strips
3. Melt the butter/coconut oil (or a mix) in a heavy based frying pan and fry the apples until they are softened
4. While they are stewing, chop the nuts into small, rough pieces and mix the sultanas in with the brandy in a separate bowl.
5. Once the apples are cooked and are releasing their own sweetness, take off the heat and put in a large bowl.
6. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and vanilla essence and mix well.
7. Clean the pan and lightly toast the nuts until browned and add to apple mix along with the sultanas.

Now the filling is ready. This can be done the night before if you don't want to make these straight away and freezes well.

8. Grease the muffin tray.
9. Melt the butter to use to stick the filo together
9. Layer two sheets of filo slightly overlapping and brush with butter to stick together. Drape it gently over the muffin tray and using a scrunched up tissue, squash little pockets into the muffin tray holes, ready for the filling.

For the filling
1. Put grease proof paper on your worktable and place one sheet of filo down on it.
2. Brush lightly with butter and put another layer of filo.
3. Repeat this until there you've run out of filo. ( the more layers the better)
4. Gently spoon the filling onto the pastry evenly
5. Roll the pastry into a sausage and cut into 12 rounds
6. Sit the rounds into each of the muffin tray holes
7. Sprinkle with icing sugar and flaked almonds
8. Put in oven for 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees until golden brown and crispy

Whipped cream, crème fresh or yoghurt with this just out of the oven is the bomb!

Enjoy!



All images and text copyright Grace Brady busylittlefoodie 2013