I'm back...

Ok, it's been long. Too long. Almost a year to be exact. But I am back and I hope to be back for good. I have excuses as to why wasn't posting, but they are too long and... well... not really good excuses. So, I am back and I'll start with a nice and refreshing cold soup.

I only discovered cold soups a few weeks ago and I can't get enough of them. They are so versatile, light and tasty. They don't require you spending time chopping, sauteeing, simmering. And they usually come together only in a few minutes. What can I say? I love them!!

This recipe is an adaptation from a recipe-ad I found in yesterday's Metro newspaper. I knew right away that it's something I'd enjoy. I changed some ingredients and voila I had a wonderful cold soup.




Cold Yogurt Soup with Cucumber and Avocado

Dinner for One... or If You Are Lazy

I am by myself this weekend. And it means a lot of TV watching (yes, I can indulge in my guilty please and watch "Rich Bride, Poor Bride"), lying on the couch, not wearing any makeup and not doing my hair. But a girl needs to eat! First, I considered to order some take-out, then I thought of going on a popcorn diet, but later I realized that I haven't cooked anything for a while and I had an urge to be in the kitchen. I actually found a few recipes that I really wanted to try. And then it happened!!! My laziness hit me. No, I didn't want to put on makeup, I didn't want to wear jeans, I didn't want to go outside. I was completely, utterly lazy! So I had to do with what I had in the fridge, and it wasn't a lot.

There was no question of what to make first - Bread. Yes, I mentioned it before, I bake bread on the weekends. I really wanted some plain white bread, maybe toast bread, but I was almost out of the white flour, and I had 5 (!) kilos of multigrain flour, so I chose a Mulitgrain Loaf.

Then I found some avocados, which needed to be eaten almost immediately. So I decided to make guacamole (yes, I really like guacamole!). I had tomatoes, bell peppers, mixed greens, and... That's pretty much it. I was thinking of making a plain salad but I had a revelation - Gazpacho! I've never made a Gazpacho soup in my life and I actually tried it only about three times. But I had all the ingredients for it... or so I thought. I started looking through some books and it turned out that I needed cucumbers and tomatoes juice as well. I got a little bit disappointed and then I decided to improvise. And while I was leafing through my cookbooks in search of a recipe I saw something else. Something that caught my eye. Something that I was scared to try at first. Avocado and Grapefruit salad! I still had grapefruits from a week ago (apparently they keep in the fridge very well) and I had avocados (as mentioned earlier), so why not I thought.

And my dinner for one was born

Avocado and Grapefruit Salad


My Gazpacho


Multigrain Harvest Loaf

A Perfect Dinner

I really wanted to make a soup, but after walking from the subway to my apartment for 10 minutes in 30+ heat, the idea of standing near a hot oven seemed unbearable. So, what would I want for dinner? Something light, something cold, something that wouldn't require simmering, sauteing or frying, but something substantial enough to fill my empty and hungry stomach. I turned to one of my favourite books - Barefoot Contessa at Home.And yes, here was the answer: Guacamole Salad.


At the supermarket I couldn't resist buying some gorgeous strawberries as I remembered that I have some oranges and bananas lying in the fridge (when did I buy them?). I got home and it was hot and I needed something refreshing and quick. The recipe for this Orange-Banana smoothie sounded wonderful. Quickly I washed those weird oranges I found in the fridge and cut them. Well, I know why I didn't remember buying them and I know why they looked strange. My oranges, the main ingredient for the smoothie, turned out to be grapefruits (oh yeah, I remember how I thought that they'd make a perfect breakfast... when was that?). Not to worry! My version of a grapefruit-banana-strawberry smoothie turned out amazing.

And while I enjoyed this cocktail, I quickly mixed a guacamole salad. Very simple, very light, very refreshing. I also got to try out my new handy-dandy avocado slicer!!



A perfect dinner for a very hot night.

Guacamole Salad

Grapefruit Banana Smoothie

My addiction

I have to confess, I have an addiction. It took me a while to come to terms with it and now I am here, and I can admit it. I have an addiction! I am addicted to cookbooks. They pull me away from the real world with the endless array of recipes, they lure me with a page after page of amazing, mouthwatering pictures, they speak to me in a powerful language of grams and cups. Yes, there's no denying it. I am addicted! I don't know how many cookbooks I own. Not too many by my standards and way too many by my boyfriend's. The good news is that I actually use them, the bad news is that I only use a few of them. Still, I comfort myself with the thoughts that in time I'll put each one of them to a good use.


And for now I open a few of them over and over again. The Big Book of Bread is at the top of my list with 365 recipes of breads. So if I bake one new recipe each week I still have seven years of new recipes; and let's face it, most likely it'll take me a few years longer to go through all of them. Then there's a series of Barefoot Contessa books. My relationship with Ina started out a little bit rocky, I couldn't stand her television show, she annoyed me so much. But still I couldn't switch the channel. And then I fell in love with her recipes, so full of life, excitement about food, flavour, texture. So full of cream and butter and sugar! Her Barefoot at Home is my most used book.

Last weekend I had to stay home and do a lot of dreadful house chores. So in between, I cooked and I baked and I ate. And finally being home and doing loads of laundry didn't seem so terrible.

California BLT
Malted Grain Bread