Hundreds & Thousands

musings on all things edible, from a eternally hungry and food fascinated teenager

  • 24th April
    2012
  • 24
Glittergate

Pandemonium created as UK actress sparks confusion sprinkling glitter on cakes confessing she doesn’t know if it’s edible or not!
Food shops rush to remove the different types of cake glitter from the stores.

Storm in a cupcake or serious issue?

If no-one’s suffered from food poisoning before now and the cakes look good, leave well alone!

  • 4th April
    2012
  • 04

*Schadenfreude

Came back from Berlin recently on a Uni trip and stashed up majorly on some of this. Although the best ones (the Kinder Bon-Bons aren’t in the picture).

Obviously I didn’t buy everything shown above (wouldn’t want to be too egg-stravagant har har) only about 85% to be fair, but when I got back to England I was wondering why the hell I even bothered.

I live within Europe. To satisfy my burning desire for a Kinder egg, I need only to have strolled 5 minutes away to my local corner shop.

No, instead I let the torrents of tempation build slowly within me, until I finally allowed my gluttony to completely overpower my body, soul and bank balance and stocked up majorly.

Then I got home two weeks later and walking through Asda, I saw the Kinder chocolate on offer, like it usually is anyway.

And then?  I bought some more. Happy Easter.

*Schadenfreude: German for guilty pleasure, or taking joy in something you shouldn’t…

(Source: spacepaperplanes)

  • 18th March
    2012
  • 18
Broccoli and Stilton Soup

We actually had this at work (National Trust Cafe) just last week.

Although Nigella’s recipe is a little more decadent it’s still pretty simple, and the result is this really delish, rich creamy soup which is a well-needed culinary comfort blanket when the April climate in London is still about as warm and welcoming as the Arctic circle.

  • 12th March
    2012
  • 12
Elite student living Alert! Red peppers stuffed with sausage, onion and mushroomServed with homemade braised red cabbage and lettuce and coleslaw. THIS WAS A GOOD DAY. one of those meals that leaves you feeling satisfied, healthy and a little smug that you actually made it. Even if you do sit down at the table to the barely-masked sniggerings of your fellow students.Well jealously comes in the form of a pot noodle.  & this meal is so easy to do!Grab a couple of peppers, de-seed them, and chop off the tops. Stuff them with as much chopped veg as you can! (Mushrooms, onions, pulses etc). If you’re filling with meat such as chicken or pork,cook it thoroughly before you put it in the pepper. Don’t forget a splash of olive oil on top and/or mixed herbs and honey. With the cabbage, chop as finely as you can and stick it into a large pot filled to the top with water. Add 300g sugar (best if brown but not essential) and about 200ml of vinegar. Boil for about 90 minutes or until soft. Change the amounts of sugar and vinegar depending on preference. Drain and serve. Because of the high acid content in the cabbage, after it’s cooked it can last for ages. Add to salads and use as an accompaniment for other dishes for weeks. Red cabbage also has serious cancer-fighting properties. Who’s laughing now?!

Elite student living Alert!
Red peppers stuffed with sausage, onion and mushroom
Served with homemade braised red cabbage and lettuce and coleslaw.

THIS WAS A GOOD DAY.

one of those meals that leaves you feeling satisfied, healthy and a little smug that you actually made it. Even if you do sit down at the table to the barely-masked sniggerings of your fellow students.

Well jealously comes in the form of a pot noodle.

 & this meal is so easy to do!
Grab a couple of peppers, de-seed them, and chop off the tops. Stuff them with as much chopped veg as you can! (Mushrooms, onions, pulses etc). If you’re filling with meat such as chicken or pork,cook it thoroughly before you put it in the pepper. Don’t forget a splash of olive oil on top and/or mixed herbs and honey.

With the cabbage, chop as finely as you can and stick it into a large pot filled to the top with water. Add 300g sugar (best if brown but not essential) and about 200ml of vinegar. Boil for about 90 minutes or until soft. Change the amounts of sugar and vinegar depending on preference. Drain and serve.


Because of the high acid content in the cabbage, after it’s cooked it can last for ages. Add to salads and use as an accompaniment for other dishes for weeks.

Red cabbage also has serious cancer-fighting properties.

Who’s laughing now?!

  • 23rd February
    2012
  • 23
  • 19th February
    2012
  • 19
  • 19th February
    2012
  • 19
  • 23rd January
    2012
  • 23
Chicken wrapped in bacon with mozarella cheese, portobello mushrooms & mixed veg(cutlery not included)Colourful! 

Chicken wrapped in bacon with mozarella cheese, portobello mushrooms & mixed veg
(cutlery not included)

Colourful! 

  • 1st January
    2012
  • 01
  • 20th December
    2011
  • 20
Mmhmm :) Made from premium white Stilton shot through with a combination of real edible gold leaf and real gold liqueur, its creators say it is Britain’s ‘blingiest’ cheese, 67 times more pricey than regular Stilton, which comes in at around 90p for 100g. At £60.87 per 100g slice, or £608 a kilo, Clawson Stilton Gold is the world’s most expensive Stilton and the most expensive cheese of any kind made in the UK. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2061838/Britains-bling-cheese-Stilton-flakes-gold-sale-60-wedge.html#ixzz1eDn90gvu

Mmhmm :)

Made from premium white Stilton shot through with a combination of real edible gold leaf and real gold liqueur, its creators say it is Britain’s ‘blingiest’ cheese, 67 times more pricey than regular Stilton, which comes in at around 90p for 100g.

At £60.87 per 100g slice, or £608 a kilo, Clawson Stilton Gold is the world’s most expensive Stilton and the most expensive cheese of any kind made in the UK.

(Source: stylecoven)

  • 19th December
    2011
  • 19

5 Reasons to indulge over Christmas

1) It’s a festive HOLIDAY. The word holiday suggests a break from the norm, a period of sustained rest. If you have been starving yourself over the course of the year, give your body a break and stop counting calories.

2) There’s too much delicious food around to actively deny from your body. It would be unnatural and probably cause you psychological damage in the long term. Best play it safe and indulge to mantain mental wellbeing.

3) The festive season stands for so much more than dieting. Wouldn’t you rather spend your time with family/friends in rapture, as opposed to miserably watching every bite that goes into your mouth?

4) Unless you celebrate Christmas in Oz, you will be wrapped up in layers all Winter. Layers = crafty guise. Wrap up warm, and no one will notice you’re carrying a few extra pounds.

5) “Tis the season to be jolly” and as everyone knows, delicious festive sweet treats  release endorphins - chemicals that make us feel GOOD, and will keep us Ho Ho Ho-ing as much as good ol’ St Nick all Christmas.


  • 19th December
    2011
  • 19

Egg Nog

I just found out what this is, although I had a basic idea…

“is a sweetened dairy-based beveragetraditionally made with milk and/orcream, sugar, beaten eggs (which gives it a frothy texture), and liqor. Brandy,rum, or whisky are sometimes added; and the finished serving would be garnished with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon or rnutmeg”

I’ve never tried it because it’s not popular in the UK at all. Sounds a bit sickly to me, but tis the season to over-indulge I suppose. Is anyone a big fan?

  • 17th December
    2011
  • 17
This was to satisfy the carnivores (students) at my first year university Christmas meal: pork, left, and chicken from the aisles of that fine establishment which is of course, Tesco. 3.5KG of pork for under six quid - season’s greetings indeed. (I was head chef. Self appointed, but head chef none the less). Turkey is obviously too expensive at this time of year, and as students we are of course on a budget. This was an organised a group meal for the 15 of us who share a kitchen at Warwick University. For the reasonable price of £5 a head one could enjoy many a culinary delight… -frozen starters from Iceland (our search for quality knows no bounds) -a Christmas meal cooked mostly by me, which included braised red cabbage, homemade Yorkshires, roasties and home-made stuffing -A selection of luxury desserts also from Iceland, including jam roly-poly, apple crumble and what was supposed to banoffee pie, but hey it’s Iceland and for £2 each who’s questioning the authenicity of a toffee-eque substance? Coming soon: A step by step account of how to create the perfect, hassle free, home-made, delicious Christmas dinner

This was to satisfy the carnivores (students) at my first year university Christmas meal: pork, left, and chicken from the aisles of that fine establishment which is of course, Tesco. 3.5KG of pork for under six quid - season’s greetings indeed.

(I was head chef. Self appointed, but head chef none the less).

Turkey is obviously too expensive at this time of year, and as students we are of course on a budget. This was an organised a group meal for the 15 of us who share a kitchen at Warwick University. For the reasonable price of £5 a head one could enjoy many a culinary delight…

-frozen starters from Iceland (our search for quality knows no bounds)

-a Christmas meal cooked mostly by me, which included braised red cabbage, homemade Yorkshires, roasties and home-made stuffing

-A selection of luxury desserts also from Iceland, including jam roly-poly, apple crumble and what was supposed to banoffee pie, but hey it’s Iceland and for £2 each who’s questioning the authenicity of a toffee-eque substance?

Coming soon: A step by step account of how to create the perfect, hassle free, home-made, delicious Christmas dinner

  • 16th December
    2011
  • 16

Crap chocolate left in the tin at Christmas.

Those big, round, ubiquitous tins of chocolate which just appear during the Christmas period.

On desks at work, on shop counters, in dining rooms and on coffee tables.

‘Tis the season to spread the calories. In abundance.

And usually I have no complaints -it’s free chocolate- but there’s nothing worse than being lulled into a false state of excitement before realising with a growing sense of trepidation that your favourite treat is absent.

Not only absent, but replaced by some quite frankly, unacceptable alternatives.

I’m talking about the dark chocolate orange creme in place of the dreamy caramel surprise. There’s just no comparison.

Why do they even put the crap chocolates in the tins?!

“Variety” tins, “selection” boxes. Both of which imply that the consumer is being treated to a plethora of exciting chocolatey flavours. That the sheer multitude of flavours on offer will prove tantalising to the point of ecstasy, because they do say that variety is the spice of life.

However, I am of the opinion that chocolate manufacturers have analysed the family unit at Christmas.
They rely on the fact that there is a “hoover” present in each family.

And they are usually right. The classic nuclear family image has been re-created!

A “hoover” is that ever-present, constantly hungry relative (usually a Dad, uncle or plump auntie) who doesn’t care in what flavour or format they receive their festive sweet treats.

They eat them individually, together, or often with the wrappers still on.

The “hoover” is the real reason these variety boxes exist.

Well as long as it gets rid of those nasty, nutty nougats, I am not complaining.