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

When there is no story...

A lot of times I have little stories behind my recipes. What happened, why I made it, how I made it, etc. But there are times when I just make something. There are no words to acompany a recipe, no story to tell. Sometimes it's just food at its glory. Sometimes it doesn't need any words...

So when this happens, I'll just post the recipes at SweetLady Sweets Recipes with no post here. So, please check that blog periodically as well, if you are interested in new things I made.



Baguettes - Épi de Blé

Tea Party

*** I'll try to put all the recipes from the previous posts up in the next few weeks, but for now I only have pictures ***

My best friend came back from England last week and she'll be here for the whole summer before going back to study. Sunday I had a chance to entertain her at home. It was so good to finally talk to her in person and see her and just relax together with her. This occasion called for a celebration.

So Saturday I baked and I baked (and made ice cream).

Amaretti Cookies

Almond Cherry Cakes

Chocolate Wafers (they were supposed to be a part of a Ice Cream Sandwich, but I only managed to make a couple and they were ugly)

Vanilla Ice Cream

Smoked salmon sandwiches with herb butter on homemade brioche bread

Cucumber sandwiches with goats cheese spread on homemade brioche bread

Fois Gras mousse with dried apricotes soaked in brandy

Herbed Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Brioche Loaves
Amaretti Cookies

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