Royal Cookies (GF) to celebrate Baby Boy Cambridge

It seems the whole world has been watching with baited breath for the arrival of the Royal Baby, and I was certainly no different. A day spent refreshing my twitter feed, cross-checking with CNN and BBC every ten two or so minutes, and generally having butterflies all day long! 

London is seeing quite the summer, which is wonderful and all, but I'm not sure if you remember me saying that I am heatphobic and don't function well over 26C. Today I made an exception though! If the Duchess can birth a baby in this heat, surely I can bake some cookies to celebrate this historical event! I would have loved to be down at Buckingham Palace waiting for the announcement to be placed on the easel, but Baby M is a hot little poppet and I worry she would just expire with the heat and crowds, and so I couldn't do it to her. 

We might pop down to the Tower of London tomorrow for the gun salute if we can, but I'm certainly not able to camp out on the Mall like we did two years ago for the Royal Wedding!! (the rest of my photos from the day are over on my old blog, Special Meals Meg along with our international BBC debut!!). That was one of the most incredible London experiences ever, and is going to be pretty hard to top!!

And so since I couldn't go out and take part this time, I battled the restlessness in the kitchen. Like most of the nerve-wracking times in my life, I am at my most calm when I am in the kitchen. 

These cookies are gluten free and royally delicious!

And then eat whilst reading every little detail about this new little Royal Baby Boy!!! So long as the name goes well with Princess Madeleine (aka Baby M, but she won't be known as that in 20 years time when Baby Cambridge is courting her of course) then we'll sign off on it!!!

I was quite sure Kate would have a little Princess today, but did make one crown of each colour just to be on the safe side!!!

What a great day for the Duke and Duchess, and indeed for all of us to celebrate with them!!

Happy Birthing day Baby Boy Cambridge!!!!!

Photo Phriday #15

Simple Chicken Sliders

For any Aussie readers out there, Sliders are just mini-hamburgers. I just thought I would clear that up early on! I forget that not everyone is multi-lingual like myself and that whilst I am fluent in both Australian AND American, sometimes I need to explain one to the other. 

Hi. My name is Meg, and I am heatphobic.

I am temperature sensitive. I function best between 20-26 degrees (68-79F). When it is over 26C, I just shut down. I don't want to cook. I don't care what I eat. All I want to do is lay on the beach with a cool breeze blowing while I am spritz'd with Evian mist...and since that doesn't happen, I am grumpy. 

Getting right to the point of this post, and away from the ramblings of a hot and bothered madwoman, I don't like to be standing over a hot oven for long when its already hot out, and so I cook quite simply in the summer time. 

I wanted to share these sliders because they are so easy, fairly healthy and so yummy! 

I based the chicken patties on the recipe that I used for kiddies meatballs because I love the addition of the apple, and keeping it simple is sometimes better than a pattie that has 27 ingredients. 

Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts, minced in your food processor, or purchase already minced. 

1 apple, grated

1/2 onion chopped finely

Fresh herbs - I like to use flat leaf parsley or coriander

Breadcrumbs - I use gluten free bread that has been food processored (not a word meg, not a word)

1/2 t Chilli Jam or sweet chilli sauce, gives it a little kick

Dash of worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. 

2. When well combined, have a smell and see if it smells good to you. It feels funny writing this as a step, but I never ever make patties without smelling the bowl before I start cooking. I will know by the smell whether I need more herbs, or chilli, or salt. 

3. Roll the mixture into small balls, about 2 tablespoons of mixture in each. Squash slightly to resemble a hamburger pattie. 

4. Cook in a small amount of olive oil until browned on both sides. This usually takes about 10 minutes because they are only small. 

5. Serve however you desire. I made mine on a simple salad with three different sauces to feel like I wasn't left out from the sliders fun. 

I put Mr M's in two different mini-rolls, with tomato, avocado, rocket (arugula), cheese and 3 separate sauces. 

The three sauces were (in order of preference): chilli mayonnaise, a zingy tomato sauce (ketchup) or pesto mayonnaise. 

Simple and delicious and it doesn't get your kitchen hot! Victory!

Organic Chemistry. Daylesford Organic (review)

Oh how I hated Organic Chemistry at university. I loathed it. I loathed nomenclature and conjugated double bonds. There are a few kinds of chemistry that I do like however, cooking and baking!! And when I found myself in Notting Hill on the weekend with an hour or two to spare, we found ourselves making a beeline for Daylesford Organic. Now combining cooking with organic food, that's an organic chemistry I can partake in!

Daylesford Organic in Notting Hill is the farmshop and cafe for the Daylesford Organic Farm in Gloucestshire. Here they receive fresh and organic produce, meat, cheese and bread every day from their own farm. You can browse the seasonal fruit and veggies. the amazing cookshop stocked with beautiful kitchenware, or have a bite to eat in their cafe/restaurant. 

We decided to escape the heat for a little on Saturday and sat in front of the air-conditioning unit in the cafe upstairs. I had just finished catering a baby shower for a friend and was beyond hot and exhausted, and in need of a crisp bubble!! 

Mr M had a far more civilised beverage and went for the Juice de Jour (no, they don't say that, they're not as aliteration obsessed as moi), which was apple and rhubarb. 

I loved the look of pretty much everything on the menu, but was of course still limited somewhat thanks to my various intolerance's. We couldn't decide which one thing we each wanted, so we shared (ie one of my favourite traits of Mr M is that we always order two meals, and he'll let me try both and then will have a small taste of the one I most liked, and will selflessly take the other meal (and, he does all of this so smoothly, a true gentleman)). 

Upon arrival of our two plates, it became apparent which one I wanted, in that I didn't even take a photograph of the Grilled Beef Burger (no bun). 

But I did photograph the Aberdeen Angus Corned Beef Hash with Fried Hen's Egg. 

We weren't really sure what we were going to get with that order, but were thoroughly impressed. It was slow cooked and shredded Aberdeen Beef, which is combined with potato and seasonings and cooked like a big hash brown. Umm, yes please! 

The egg was runny and perfect, making the beef all buttery and gooey. 

The chemistry of these two flavours was perfectly complimented by a homemade brown sauce, which had the sweetness to balance the saltiness of the beef. It was so good! The first thing we both said was that I needed to learn how to cook that!!!

We contemplated having some desserts at Daylesford too, because I have had their ice-creams before and they are so good (and we all know that I love my ice-cream) but, with all the baking and icing that morning, I was all sweeted-out. 

And right on cue, Baby M woke up as our lunch was brought out, not that we could blame her, the smells her incredible. So she had some hand cut potato wedges, and was a happy camper! 

I'll be posting about the baby shower later in the week, but for now I'm currently busy completing a long list of meg-made orders that I've been receiving, thanks to a fabulous write up my friend Lauren wrote over on her blog, Aspiring Kennedy. It was the most nervous I had been in a long time. I felt like it was the first time I was actually putting meg-made "out there" and I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I worried that I was going to feel like the kid being picked last on the netball team, and worried that nobody would like what I was making. I'm so grateful to have the unwavering support of Mr M (to assure me that'd I'd be his first pick every time) and my friends (who've placed orders for headbands and do sweet posts about me) who've all had to listen to me natter on non-stop about my dreams for meg-made one day! 

Oh and I'm so grateful for this little poppet, for as many times as she takes my headbands off, she also placates me for photos sometimes too!!

Photo Phriday #14

We Amore the Parlour

How is it that my new absolute favourite thing to do in London, was unknown to me just one week ago! And, that on that fateful day that I was told about it, not one, but TWO different friends told me about it on the same exact day! It was meant to be. It was fate. It was time for me to go to The Parlour. 

Let me tell you, it is the coolest place in London!! Well, to someone who loves ice cream (check), loves Fortnum & Mason (check....so much so that I have proclaimed it to be my most favourite store of all), and for someone who loves celebrating milestones in a little bit of luxury (check). 

We decided this warm weather was worth celebrating, and wanted to give Baby M her first taste of ice-cream (that's a milestone, no?), and so having heard only good things about The Parlour, knew it was the place to do it. Plus, F&M were having a sale and we wanted to stock up on some of the finer things in life, at a slightly lower price!! 

Baby M was somewhat excited to try her first taste of ice-cream and was the centre of attention the entire time, as we went at noon on Sunday, (before most people consider to be an appropriate hour to have ice-cream), so we had the full attention of all the staff!

I told our waiter that it was going to be her first taste of ice-cream, and he was so sweet, and brought Baby M her very only little flight of flavours! It was the cutest thing ever!!

It was so so sweet.

But nothing on ours!!! Check out the size of our bowls! I had maple pecan, salted caramel, and vanilla bean. Mr M had strawberry shortcake, pistaccio and praline nocciola. Each of which were absolutely divine! 

The entire experience was just so lovely and out of this world sweet! We loved the ambience of the pastel setting, the ice-cream itself was incredible, and everyone was so attentive and sweet towards us all. It was just perfect. We couldn't have been happier.

If you're ever in London and are looking for a little sanctuary from the hustle and bustle, or perhaps just want to feel a little spoilt for an hour, do yourself a favour and go to Fortnum & Mason and head upstairs, to The Parlour on the 1st floor.

But don't forget to allocate time to browsing the Lower Ground and Ground floors too, they are foodie heaven too!

Update: Chai Frappe - - - Chai & Baileys Sorbet

It was only yesterday that I posted about making a Chai Frappe. I am here to tell you that you can just add a step to that frappe and turn it into an awesome sorbet!!!

Which is exactly what I did because I made a double batch of it yesterday!!

So, to recap, we have our blended spices, ice, almond milk, dates, vanilla and salt and it looks like this...

And so then, add some Baileys, or other alcohol of your choosing (which helps keep the freezing level lower) and then freeze overnight or a few hours until fairly solid. 

Chop up and put into a food processor and blend until creamy. It's amazing how this actually turns it from an icy slop into creamy dreamy heaven! Eat straight away, or if you've been a little over-ambitious and done all this in the morning, you'll need to refreeze until dessert time (or until at least after noon when its a little more socially acceptable to enjoy Baileys). 

I will admit, mine was a little icy still, but it didn't harm the flavour one bit. I think its because of all the refreezing that went on. You could definitely make this as a sorbet from the start, in which case I wouldn't add the ice to start with, you'd just make the sugar syrup and use almond milk, as per sorbet instructions here. 

The Baileys and Chai complement each other like peas and carrots (I have had Forrest Gump on my mind lately because now that we have a baby who walks, she no longer crawls much, and so I say each day "If I was goin' somewhere, I was walk'ngggg"). I make a killer tiramisu that is based on these flavours and think I really need to do more with them! 

So, if you like Chai, and you like Chai Frappe's, you're going to love Chai & Baileys Sorbet too!!

AND, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere and reading about frappe's and sorbets is making your already cold toes curl, how about adding a dash of baileys to your amazing authentic local chai......mmmm....

Confetti-filled Balloons

One of my favourite decorations I made at Baby M's First Birthday, were the confetti-filled balloons. Mr M and I were so excited to put them up and see how they would look, and I was so pleased with them. I think they made the room look so festive and beautiful, and it was exactly how I had dreamed the room to look. They were so much more exciting than regular balloons, so much so that I've decided my Etsy store needed some confetti-filled balloons to share!

It seems a few other people liked them too, as I keep getting asked where I got them from. The answer is that they were meg-made! I had a quick search on Etsy to see whether you could buy them, and alas, you could not. So, I thought I would help the confetti-filled-balloons-starved-party-people!!

If you liked the balloons I had for Baby M's party, click through to my Etsy store and choose some colours that will work for your next celebration. 

I will make them pretty much in whatever combination you like, so don't feel constrained by the options currently listed. 

And now I have an excuse to have confetti-filled balloons on my ceiling again, happy days!!!

Chai Frappe

Summer is here! Like, actual warm weather, sunny days, and warm nights that even justify the fan being on! It may be a few months behind our hopes and dreams, but it is here. And it may go in about a week, but for now, it is here and we are making the most of it.

And what says summer more than an iced frappuccino! I sneak into the Starbucks down the road from us every now and then (read: once on Friday cause it was hot enough for it) and have a caramel frappe (no coffee) and it is just delightful. It is quite a treat though, as I know, I know, how bad it must be for me! 

So, I thought, if I have a food processor, if I have ice, why can't I just make one at home. That way I know exactly what is in it, and how bad it is for me!!! 

Or not bad, as it turns out! 

I saw the recipe for this in Crazy, Sexy, Kitchen, and my general rule of thumb for life is that if a vegan eats it, it's good for you! I love my chai lattes in winter, and miss them terribly since leaving Australia! There's the odd antipodean who makes a good chai in London, but generally they are the syrup chai if you're even able to find one. So finding a way to enjoy chai's in summer is perfection!!

I've made this frappe twice in the past 2 days, once with the dates and once without (and with a sneaky scoop of icecream.....yada yada it was delicious and I'd just been slogging the heavy baby and heavy pram up all the hills in London, and so I figured I earned it). 

Chai Latte Frappe

Ingredients

3 cups almond milk

1/2 T ginger (I used ground but fresh it recommended)

1/2 T cinnamon

1/2 t cardamon

1 t vanilla extract

2 dates pitted (and soaked to soften)

sea salt to taste

ice

Method

1. In a high speed blender (or food processor if that's all you have like moi), blend all ingredients until smooth. 

And that is all. 

It is nutty and sweet thanks to the almond milk, vanilla and dates, but the cardamom gives it an extra zing. The salt helps to enhance each flavour, so don't forget to add the salt. 

Refreshing and light, and just what is yearned for on a warm and sunny afternoon. With no guilt!