Fresh New look

So a lot of you noticed the change in the header of this blog. Isn't it lovely? Yeah, I think so too. Thank you all of you who commented on how nice it is. Well, the thanks actually goes to a close friend, Usha, who took the time out, and patiently kept altering the header until the picky twosome - that is me and hubs finally said "Yes, now that is what we want!"
Our conversations went something like this "This is too bright", "this one is dull", "font not nice", "make it a little bright", "the background should be hazy", "make it a little casual", "no not like that"....
Hmm..she sure was very patient! And awesome with Photoshop!

Here are some of the earlier headers we used before finally settling with the current one.








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Raspberry Almond tea bread

Berries are abundantly available this time of the year, and I love to pack some in my weekly grocery shopping. The only downside is that they go bad so quickly, it breaks my heart having to throw away a couple of them. I had picked up different berries in the hope to make a terrine. But I ended up using them in different breads/cakes/pancakes etc. Here is the tea bread - it is actually more like a cake - just not as delicate. This is a wonderful raspberry studded quick bread with some almonds thrown in. We enjoyed it with some whipped cream, although it is good as is.

While using these delicate berries in cake batter, I much prefer to use frozen berries that are not thawed. With fresh ones, I invariably end up crushing a few no matter how gentle I am. And when you cut into a slice - it presents a gooey hot pink blob in the cake. Or with blueberries - the purple colour it lends is usually enough to ward off any unsuspecting guinea pigs!

In this recipe, I used fresh ones raspberries. And managed to find a couple of slices that were quite presentable.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen, unthawed)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F, and grease a loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar

3. Add in the liquids - the egg, milk and whip them togethe

4. In a seperate bowl, tip in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and mix it up

5. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and gently mix until combined

6. Add in the rasperries and almonds and gently mix them into the batter

7. Pour it into the loaf pan and bake for about 60 to 70 minutes

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Is there such a thing as too many strawberries?

Wow! I am loving it! I am loving all the berries around me! Is there such a thing as too many strawberries? I have heard that sentence before - but for chocolate. I read somewhere that when recruiting workers in a chocolate factory, people are encouraged to eat as much chocolate as they can!! Wouldn't that be like heavenly! The idea is that after eating so much chocolate, they would be put off the idea of eating it when they are working with it.

After reading it, I was like, can that ever happen?

Anyways - let us combine two of these bounties - strawberries with chocolate. These days it is one of my favourite after lunch snack. Fresh seasonal strawberries that are not too tart dipped in either whipped cream or chocolate is easily not only one of best looking but also easy to present dishes. Try these, before they disappear!

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