Category: Cooking

My Crazy Coffee Brewing Method

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I don’t know about you, but I love a good cup of coffee. The smell makes me want to go make one right now. But how do I like my coffee? Well, it’s not the same every time. Some days I prefer iced coffee or hot tea, and other days I need something stronger to get me going in the morning. To satisfy my craving for variety with a single drink, I’ve developed an interesting brewing method that allows me to have both strong and iced coffee at any time!

for the love of coffe

Step 1:  Choose a good coffee brand. It doesn’t matter if you have the greatest brewing method if your coffee stinks. Go with something you like.

Step 2: Grind it fresh. Nothing makes coffee taste worse than stale, pre-ground beans

Step 3: Measure your coffee and water carefully – too much of either will make the drink bitter, but not enough means weak results. I like to use a slightly rounded tablespoon per cup. Ground for drip or filtered coffee.

Step 4: Bring water to a boil, then brew immediately – once the pot is on the stove and brewing has begun, it’s too late.

Step 5: Pour boiled water steadily over the grounds – this is where you can experiment with how to pour. I like a spiral pattern, starting in the middle and spiraling outward.

Step 6: Let it sit for a minute or two, then begin the slow process of pouring yourself a cup.

Step 7: wait five minutes before serving and drinking your coffee

Step 8: Drink and enjoy your cup of coffee!

 

Why I Love Cooking That Much

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I am not really sure when it started but I am sure about why I love cooking. Ever since I was a child, I was always fascinated by my mother whenever she cooked our meals. I loved how she could transform different ingredients and turned them into sumptuous meals for the family. It did not matter how long it took to cook the meals. She would do everything from scratch. I was mesmerised by all of it. I actually preferred watching her cook instead of going outside to play.

Why do I love cooking?

It was probably there that I started to love cooking. But I know that there are two important reasons why I love cooking this much.

First is for practical reasons. I love my family. Naturally, I want them to be healthy. No matter how crazy it gets at home or how tired I am, I will always make sure that what they eat will be something that my hands made. No ifs or buts – unless I got sick and confined in the hospital. Thankfully, that has not yet happened. I want to make sure that the food my family ate is healthy and good for them.

It is also cheaper if I cook our meals.It is more expensive to order takeout or eat outside. Not only that, I get to choose the ingredients and I can plan around any leftovers that we will have. My kids are used to eating leftovers from dinner. They wouldn’t know if you pack it well enough.

The other reason why I love cooking is I get to reminisce about the hours spent with my mom in the kitchen. I miss her so much and I loved the smell of her cooking. She passed away a couple of year ago and that made me appreciate the times I spend in the kitchen. We had a lot of great conversations while she cooked.

I also love how Harry and the kids look forward to dinner. It is the one time that we are always together as the kids grew up. It is not just the food that we ate. It is the conversation that flows while we eat. When you have good food in front of you, there is no hurry to get up from the table. We usually lounge around the table talking and I love that my kids grew up to that tradition.

If these are not great reasons why I love cooking, then I don’t know what is.

What I cook now

So what do I cook now that I have so much time in my hands? Well, it is usually what my family wants to eat. I let them decide in the morning and I try to do it for them. I even tried cooking Spanish food once – Callos Madrilenos. Harry tasted it in a conference he went to in Spain and wanted me to replicate it. Well, it was quite an interesting dish that requires a long time to cook! But it was well worth it because Harry said my version tasted better than what he had. Rebecca wasn’t so enthusiastic about it when she found out what was in it, though.

Now that I am no longer working, I am able to cook and bake everything from scratch. I even make our own bread! I actually enjoy that a lot. The smell from the kitchen is quite amazing. Maybe I will write more about what I cook in the kitchen. We will see how I can include it in the future posts.

Well, there you have it. That is why I love cooking so much. Can you relate to it?

My Favourite Cooking Blogs

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cooking blog

Lately, I find myself gravitating towards different cooking blogs on the Internet. I love cooking and since I have so much time in my hands right now, I find myself being more adventurous in the kitchen. I have always cooked from scratch but I usually stick to recipes that I am familiar with. There are times when my family would request me to learn something new and usually, it works out well.

This is probably why I am not really afraid of trying out new recipes that I find on the Internet. I love discovering new ways to cook my family’s favorite meals. You won’t believe how many versions there are of how to make lasagna (a family favorite)!

Anyway, my family loves the new dishes I serve and that encourages me to search for new recipes to try out. This will also be a great way for me to add more entry into my Instagram blog.

My all-time favourite cooking blogs

While the cookbooks are still a great source of dishes, I find myself enjoying cooking blogs. There is something more real and authentic with them. I love reading about the people behind the blogs because, well, I can relate to them. Being a blogger myself, I love how open they are and generous in sharing what they know about cooking. I feel like making friends with them as I go through their blogs.

Although I have come across several cooking blogs, these are the three that I have really come to love.

Lavender and Loveage

This is the blog of Karen Booth. She is from South Africa and is very vocal about how her mother and grandmother influenced her cooking style. She loves using local and seasonal produce – just like me! She lives in Yorkshire but she holds cooking workshops in south-west France. That, for me, makes her a really impressive cook!

Deliciously Ella

This is another cooking blog that I am quite fond of. Ella Woodward is emerging as a brilliant cook online. She was diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome and this led to a complete lifestyle makeover for her. What I love about her blog is that she turns unhealthy meals into healthy ones by substituting certain ingredients.

Poires Au Chocolat

This is one of the new cooking blogs that I recently discovered and I must say it impressed me a lot! I have been looking into baking more for my family and this is one of the blogs that I usually get my recipes from. Emma Gardner grew up in Devon and has some impressive baked goodies that I am dying to try out.

Some of the famous cooks I follow

Of course, I also have to share the cooking blogs of my favourite cooks. I am inspired by their method of cooking and I love how they have built an empire around it.

Rachel Ray

I love this woman. She is such an inspiration to me. My favourite is her 30-minute meals and how she always talks about her family whenever she does her cooking demos. There is a lot of warmth whenever she cooks and I really love that about her.

Jamie Oliver

I used to watch his cooking show – the one where he cooks in a seemingly small apartment kitchen – I forgot the name of that show but that was how I got to know Jamie Oliver. I love his method of cooking and the ingredients that he uses.

Wolfgang Puck

Now, this guy cracks me up. He has such a dynamic personality but his dishes are something else! This is probably why he is one of my favorite cooks. I usually find myself copying one of his recipes – which I must say my family really loves.

What about you? Do you have favourite cooking blogs?