From the Kitchen; Easy-peasy Pumpkin Hand-pies

Ok just a quickie before the holidays! It's for the busy-bees or the undomestic-divas. A cheat to make a scrumptious holiday dessert.

 What you need;
- Store bought pie crust
- Can of pumpkin puree
- Pumpkin spice
- Cream of coconut
- Cool Whip
- Brown sugar

1. Roll out your pie crust and with a cookie cutter cut circles 
2. Prep your pumpkin puree with the pie spice and brown sugar (taste and add till satisfied).
3. Drop a spoon-full of pumpkin filling (depending on the width of your circle)
4. cover with another circle and close with a fork. Cut an X on the top

Don't forget to pre-heat the oven.

Pop them in for +/- 15 mins or until golden

In the mean time, mix the coconut cream, but just the white solid bit not the oil. To separate this let is stand for a bit. Add pumpkin spice to your liking. When mixed well spoon it through cool whip. Warning! This stuff is deadly delicious!! 

Et Voila! Add a dollop of your coconut spiced, whipped-cream and devour!

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Italian tour 2.0 - THE FOOD

After touring the north of Italy, we tracked south towards Florence, Chianti wine region and Rome. the food, the food, the food! Along with the food, came the wine. 

After climbing over 400 steps of stairs (the bell tower above), we went for lunch at the well reviewed by many;  'Ino. They serve fresh panini with fresh, local products and of course wine or beer. 

While in Florence we came across this wineshop that sold by the glass. Along with your wine, free toast with ham, bell pepper and onion spread. It is a family business, mother and son serving and selling. They bottle and cork their own bottles as well. If in florence stop by this Enoteca Alla Sosta dei Papi.

Then we continued our journey through Chianti, Stopped for a wine tasting at Castillo Verrazzano. We where advised to pass by the goat cheese farm at the end of the road, down the hill. However when we got there the farmer told us they did not have any cheese, since their goats have given birth recently. The fun thing was he told us we could go play with the baby goats!

We stopped in Greve in Chianti and visited the famous butcher shop; Antica Macelleria Falorni, a carnivores heaven I suppose. It had any meat, sausage, salumi, chops, imaginable! Attached a little cafe/wine shop where you could do tastings, worth a trip!

In the mean time, I have been experimenting with my own Italian cuisine. Visiting local markets and supermarkets, (trying to) order my groceries in Italian. Fresh, local, Italian produce, YUM! 

After driving through wine country and enjoying many beautiful views, we arrived in Rome. Admiring many of the amazing sights, we stopped for lunch at Obika. A Mozzarella bar, with an amazing menu. we went for the simple, yet tasty stuff. Cherry tomatoes, basil Stracciatella and burratta. A creamy, whipped form of mozzarella; Ah-MA-ZING!  

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Weekends Guilty Pleasure

I can't help but to love a good grilled cheese sandwich or "toastie" as the Dutch call it. This one was so yum and so wrong! Don't prep it if your trying to impress someone that just spent a night, The onions and garlic won't have them around much longer. If you already hooked that someone and you share your love for food, then go for it! I could eat this everyday! Happy Work week!

 What you need;

- Rustic bread

- Cheese ( I used Old Amsterdam) and parmesan for the outside

- Salami 

- Onions

- Mustard (I used Stonewall Kitchen roasted garlic mustard)

1. Rub the OUTSIDE of the bread with olive oil ( I used herb infused VOO).
2. Then spread some garlic mustard on the inside.
3. Sauté the onions before hand, then assemble your sandwich.
4. For it not to fall apart I used baking string and wrapped them like a present. 
5. Pan fry them with the lid on until the cheese gets melty, then take the lid off and let them crisp up a bit. 

Note; You can drop some cheese in the pan and let is burn on the outside for extra yumminess! 

Et Voila! A grilled Cheese with onion and salami to comfort you in the weekend, best way served is in bed!

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Le Petit Déjourner

Yay! Blood Orange season has begun!! These oranges have a beautiful color and an amazing *zing* factor when freshly squeezed!

Some coconut yogurt with home-made spiced muesli, find the recipe "here". Some fresh home-made ricotta (find recipe "here"), sweetened with honey served on a toasted nutty bread and another toast with old Amsterdam Dutch cheese topped with home grown alfalfa sprouts (takes about a week to 10 days to sprout). 

Et Voila! Le Petit Déjourner! Bon Appetit! 

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Breakfast at Fayme's in the Kitchen; Home-made Muesli

I love Muesli in the morning, filled with nuts and chocolate. However, if you make your own muesli, you know exactly how much you would like to have in there and you know how much sugar (or honey in this case) is added.

Instead of using regular chocolate chips, I used cocoa nibs, they are raw roasted cocoa beans, they are a bit more bitter, and crunchier and have an intense dark chocolate flavor, with regular chocolate making extra cocoa butter, sugar and milk is added, which honestly isn't too bad to swap in for an easy much more flavorful cocoa nib.

Happy Weekend!

What you need;
- Rolled oats
- Nuts (I used macadamia nuts)
- Dried Fruit (I used chopped sour cherries)
- Honey (I used thyme honey)
- Cocoa nibs (optional)
- Cinnamon & Cardamom 

1. spread the oats on a baking sheet or oven dish together with the oats, the spices and the honey, stir them all together so they are coated evenly with the honey.
2. Pop it in the oven for +/- 10-12 minutes, take out, hustle, so they get toasty evenly, then pop 'em back in for another 10-12 minutes.
3. Take it out when it looks toasty, let them chill for 10 minutes, then break up the clumps, stir in the cocoa nibs and dried fruits, store in a airtight container.

Et Voila!! Your own home-made muesli, Enjoy!

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Almond Pear Cake

 Perfect recipe for a rainy weekend, with a hot pot of tea, snuggled up on the couch! 

Have a great weekend!

What you need;

- 100 gram honey

- 72.5 gram coconut oil (melted)

- 2 eggs

- 200 gram almond flour

- 1/4 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp salt

- Small seasonal pears

1. Mix all dry ingredients together, then mix in the honey, eggs and oil.

2. Pour into baking pan, press in halved pears

3. Pop in the pre-heated oven on 180*C for +/- 18-22 minutes

 Dust with some powdered sugar, Et Voila! Ready to dig in!

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