Lucullian delights - an Italian experience

Food prop experiment part 2: Two for the work of one - Tea Scented Madeleines and Tea Scented Muffins With Pear Jam Filling

2012-02-06T10:02:00.000+01:00

It's time for The Prop again, this time in the background and even with its true purpose as a sugar bowl, this time I decided to go for a double colour scheme as I am posting one recipe with two different outcomes. And yes, I know these are not orthodox Madeleines but I wanted to use that pan a bit more often so I called them so because of the form. Which puts me onto the question What makes

Food prop experiment part 1 - Peppery Peperonata With Leeks and Olives

2012-02-02T09:43:00.000+01:00

When I and one of the creatives from the ad agency I work with went prop shopping for Easter props in Milan about two weeks ago I ran across this little strange alien of a prop and I just couldn't resist buying it. As a prop, not for my home and how and why I would think it is a good prop is still a mystery to me. That little sphere with a tiny nose and wide mouth obviously stirred my

Bread Baking Buddies - The Round-Up!

2012-01-31T19:51:00.001+01:00

I have got nine Bread Baking Buddies to present to you today, nine fantastic bakers who baked the Cuban bread I had chosen as January's Bread Baking Babe challenge. I can't say that it is much of a challenge really, it is so easy and fast to make but let's say that the challenge lie in the technique, this bread is put un-risen(?) in a cold oven where it both rise and bake! Which means that

When the icy winds are blowing - Apple Cake With Ricotta, Walnuts and Madeira

2012-01-30T09:51:00.000+01:00

The Siberian wind is sweeping my garden, all the leaves I have left where they landed are being swept into nooks and corners and makes it easier for me when I have to start preparing the garden for the Spring Ball that hopefully will be announced soon. As it stands now, all we hear about is snow and threats of snow. And if that comes true, it means that we are cut off from the world here up

Links On Sunday

2012-01-29T09:10:00.000+01:00

Today it's all about photography! This is like a guessing game, how many do you recognize? Me three. Or maybe four. I love these photos, romantic abandon. I like abandoned things and houses, there is always something beautiful to find. Isn't this how we all would like to be now and then, there but not there. I spent 7 years of my childhood in the extreme north of Sweden (in Kiruna) and

Super lean but still full of flavour - Potato and Leek Gratin With Dill and White Wine

2012-01-26T16:47:00.000+01:00

One of the few things I miss of Sweden is dill, one of the freshest herb that I know and I don't mean fresh as in new but fresh flavour wise. The taste of dill is something I closely associate with Swedish summer, days and nights filled with light and small new potatoes. I realize that I have a bit of a fixation on new potatoes, growing up with a mother who always grew her own potatoes so

Colour and comfort - Orange Bread Pudding With Honey and Sesame Seeds

2012-01-23T14:37:00.003+01:00

Picking oranges from the tree to then eat them straight away is a pleasure that have only befallen me a few times in my life but every winter I can at least pick and choose from oranges to buy and in this period, I really enjoy this as much as I can. So much so that in a month or so I will long for apples and pears. But now I am completely indulging myself with citrus fruits of different

Links on Sunday and a few flowers too

2012-01-22T16:48:00.001+01:00

Yet another installment in my Links on Sunday series, today I have done a completely free selection of links that I find interesting or beautiful, no theme at all. This is the kind of creativity I like, take the time to read how each and everyone works. You already know I love street art, anything to make ugly beautiful or to draw attention to serious topics. I have downloaded every single

Winter comfort on a plate - Pasta With Chickpeas, Onions and Oregano

2012-01-19T11:20:00.000+01:00

I’m back in Milan again and living yet another time in a world out of phase: it is freezing cold and frost is the leitmotif of the world surrounding me yet I’m here right in the middle of Spring, lots of flowers and pastel colours because I am working on a small ‘book’ on Easter food, it is nice because it is a commercial job but done in editorial style without any special products to

A revolutionary bread - Cuban Bread

2012-01-16T09:04:00.000+01:00

You wouldn't think so, would you but I am still a Bread Baking Babe. A Bad Babe but still a member of that honorary group of women who bakes together once a month and in between help each other both with baking and moral support. This month I happen to be the host of our monthly challenge so I had to get my act together and bake the bread on time. I also chose the bread to bake which was a

Links on Sunday - All about Kia

2012-01-15T10:35:00.001+01:00

Today is the fourth anniversary of my mother Kia's death so the links will all be to things I associate with her. One of Kia's favourite composers was Sibelius and me and my brother decided to play this piece, Valse Triste, at the funeral because it is really her. She made me love Cezanne. And how many times haven't I heard her sing this. She worked for one year in France when she was young

Make it easy for yourself - Couscous With Peas, Pesto and Eggs

2012-01-12T09:01:00.001+01:00

I’m in Milan right now for a job on breakfast food but for once I have been a good food blogger and actually have prepared something to share with you beforehand. I don’t know what has happened with me but I really enjoy blogging again after more than a year of very low blogging mojo. Maybe I have realized how connected I am with blogging after all these years, it seems easy to stop but when

Crisp and full of flavour - Winter Salad With Artichokes, Parma Ham and Mint

2012-01-09T09:52:00.000+01:00

Monday is such a good day for me, I know a lot of you feel an intense dislike for Mondays but for me it is a day of new beginnings, new promises - think about all the interesting things that might happen the week to come. Maybe something happens, probably nothing happens but still, I love not knowing, to be open for new things. Bad things always happens, life is made of good and bad things

Links on Sunday starts again

2012-01-08T14:36:00.000+01:00

Here we go, after all these lost Sundays, it is now time for a Links on Sunday again! These photos are beautiful and very special. And just look at this, a dream come true for many children. My daughter says it is an old film but I like it anyway! Despite being of a humanistic strain, I think science is fascinating and actually quite warm and cosy. This is what I call creativity. And

A real antioxidant explosion - Matcha Rice Cream With Blueberries and Almonds

2012-01-05T18:28:00.000+01:00

Even though I'm having a frugal month (or at least try to have one), it doesn't mean that I give up on every sweet pleasure here, I just make it a little healthier (in this case, it's the calcium that is good for you) and less sweet and I make the portions smaller. That either means that you are a good girl/boy and just eat one or you are a girl/boy without any character and eat two,

Time to go healthier - Balsamico Infused Brussels Sprouts With Barley and Parmesan Shavings

2012-01-02T14:11:00.001+01:00

Finally life starts again, as nice as it is and can be, every year I feel the same when all these holidays are over and life in its normal guise sets in again. I suspect that I might feel differently if I had been sitting in a half shade on a velvet sanded beach but then I never do unfortunately, I'm here but this is good enough for me really. On the other hand it is January, the month I

A year has come and gone again - tell me about yours!

2011-12-30T16:10:00.000+01:00

I feel a bit reluctant about doing a review of my year 2011 in this life here on Lucullian, I have my doubts about how interested you really are and apart from that, if you read Lucullian regularly you already know what I have been doing, at least as much as I am willing to talk about in a public space like this blog. So I am only putting down a few points about the things I am proud and/or

Just what I need, colour and vitamins - Orange and Apricot Salad With Hazelnuts and Maple Syrup

2011-12-27T12:16:00.000+01:00

So this was Christmas to paraphrase John Lennon and although I have enjoyed it all, it feels good it is all over and I can get going again with my normal life. Well we have that New Year's stuff to do but is far less labour intense so I can take that. We had a nice quiet Christmas with my Italian family, lots of nice food and happy faces and what else can you ask for? But now I crave

For You

2011-12-23T16:04:00.001+01:00

It's time for DHSPC - Sage and prosciutto corn cakes

2011-12-21T17:46:00.000+01:00

After having participated in the first Donna Hay Styling and Photography Challenge my dear photographer friend Simone has come up with, I haven't had the time to do any more but as it is a really interesting kind of challenge I absolutely wanted to do it this time. I like this challenge for various reasons, one is that it is always good to do something different from what you usually do,

Same shape, same taste but smaller - Cinnamon Roll Cookies

2011-12-19T08:28:00.001+01:00

It is truly good to be back here blogging regularly again but it has the terrible side effect that I eat too much and especially now before Christmas when I want to share some nice baking with you. The "Someone is shrinking my trousers during the night" syndrome has popped up again so I just want to prepare you for a more frugal January. I will most probably post a little less as well as I

A few Links of Sunday to click on with seasonal images to look at

2011-12-18T11:37:00.000+01:00

It surprised me how the greenery closed in on you in the summer part, it felt somewhat claustrophobic, how much more space you feel without the leaves and grass and it gave me a, at the moment, much needed positive aspect on late fall/winter. I find this a bit scary, what about you? But I like this idea! And this too though I don't particularly agree with the last line as it is a bit too

Good warm, even better cold - Fennel and Pear Soup

2011-12-15T07:36:00.000+01:00

I am sure this soup already exists and that there are numerous versions of it too but to me it is new. Or at least it feels like that but then my memory isn't what it once was. Anyway, I was standing with a fennel bulb in my hand when I saw a very ripe pear on the table and somehow my mind connected with the two and there was one - the vision of a fennel and pear soup. I'm not a big fan of

December sun - Lussekatter or Swedish Saffron Buns

2011-12-13T09:52:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry I am here again so soon, maybe too soon, but I just have to post this recipe today as it is the right day for it - it is St Lucia after all. I have posted about it ages ago but in this version I have added some whole wheat flour and as I never liked raisins in bread or buns, I have substituted them with dried cranberries but you are obviously free to revert back to the more

Getting into the groove - Christmas Scented Chocolate Cupcakes With Nutella and Sour Cream Frosting

2011-12-12T08:21:00.001+01:00

I keep on doing my best over here, trying to get into that Christmas spirit and I have actually been doing some decorating with my youngest daughter who at nine obviously cares very much about Christmas. To be honest, all female beings in this family care about it (though I am lazy and prone to procrastination but I suppose that comes from being the one responsible of the Christmas department