Dangerous kitchen but good food

[venetia_sassy]

Having related my kitchen woes, I should probably mention the successes! Also, Mother's Day.

Mum was getting annoyed with brother who was doing his not-showing-up-when-he-said-he-would trick but he called first thing on Sunday and put Nephew #1 on the phone to wish his grandma a happy Mother's Day and they had quite the little chat. As Mum said to me later, it was hard to stay annoyed after that.

I made afternoon tea for Mum (well, breakfast for me) which was the coffee and orange angel food cake (that led to the second cut) with unsweetened whipped cream with a little vanilla. And tea, of course. I gave Mum a pair of red coral and turquoise earrings with a card saying the rest of present was on the way (make-up) and she was very happy with all of it. I made an indulgent pasta dish for dinner as well - Spaghetti Carbonara with a Twist - and it was very good. I used prosciutto instead of bacon (yum) and in future I would add the garlic breadcrumbs last to keep them crunchy. But we both enjoyed it thoroughly.

I spoke to brother last week about possibly having a belated Mother's Day get-together this weekend (since I assumed he would be thoroughly busy with SiL on the day) and hopefully that will work out.

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To go off into total food territory, the angel food cake was the first one I had ever made - or tasted! - so I wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be like. Seeing them described as light and airy made me think of a lighter, finer sponge cake which wasn't the texture at all. I think I underbaked it by a few minutes as parts of the top did get a bit sticky. And the texture looked like the cake in the picture but it was tougher than I expected. *shrug* Unless I find angel food cake on a menu somewhere, I just have to guess as to the texture.

But as to the flavour - oh, wow. It was perfect. The coffee granules (larger than in the picture) balanced the sweetness and orange flavour beautifully. I'm not even a big coffee fan (the last thing my confused body needs is caffeine so I rarely drink coffee at all) but this was lovely. And the unsweetened whipped cream balanced the strong flavours and the sweetness of the cake.

Yes, we've been enjoying it, how did you guess?

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Tonight, in an effort to avoid further bloodshed I asked Mum to peel the potatoes and the score the chestnuts for my attempt at Jamie Oliver's Bubble and Squeak with Sausages and Balsamic Onion Gravy (I did peel the carrot and chop everything though.) I wasn't making the full recipe with the sausage wheel - there are only two of us! - but I made the bubble and squeak with potatoes, carrot, half an onion and some wombok, seasoned and cooked two pork sausage with the onion as directed, then made the balsamic gravy and OMG.

The bubble and squeak was really nice, with the chestnuts adding a little sweetness and crunch, the sausages were good and the gravy was incredible. I would never have thought of using balsamic vinegar for that (added note: to avoid flour lumps in gravy, a whisk works beautifully even when there are onions!) We had some salad leaves as well and it was all together a very good dinner.

And I did not have to bleed to make it!