lexy

Any thoughts on making Reinhart's sourdough in a bread machine? I've made the sourdough numerous times before, and since my housemate bought a bread machine a while ago I've been wondering about trying out some of Reinhart's recipes in them. I've never used a bread machine before, so to be honest I'm not even sure if this would work at all.

cute!

Well, it's faster than walking … 90 minutes actually isn't too bad for the Express. I didn't know Bright Eyes was in Oxford (it's Easter break, so I've been out of town for a few weeks) - was he at the Zodiac?

I've tried a form of this, though only with Vegemite and NZ Marmite. It's ... hmm ... interesting. I think a Canadian upbringing has made me feel that peanut butter only pairs well with sweet things, like jam or honey. Admittedly, I've only done the marmite-pb combo with the unsweetened pb they have here though - I wonder what it would be like with good ol' Kraft? ← I got around to trying this a few days ago, and you know what? It's not bad. 'Interesting' is right - it's like a sort of savoury, salty peanut butter. I might actually eat this again (and will probably have to apologize to my housemate for mocking his toast topping of choice)

Yech, I don't like beer either. I suspect I could probably train my self to like it, but why bother to force myself to like beer? I usually drink wine or spirits instead, or cider in a pinch.

… stem and de-seed hot peppers, and then apply eye makeup. Mmm, tingly

Me too! Woe betide the housemate who moves my porridge spoon from home

I know, my wallet is crying as I read this … as is my stomach

Ah, London prices! Would you say what you got was worth the £35? I've been invited to tea at the Ritz in May, but I hadn't thought to inquire until now what the cost will be. I realise it's a different restaurant, but I don't think I'd trek into London to pay that much for what you got.

Hah, as another vegetarian who dislikes the flavour of eggs I feel your pain.

Nothing to add except more praise for your excellent trip report - am now adding Peru to my (ever-lengthening) list of places to visit. Does your family mind all the photo-taking? I think mine might lose patience with me pretty quickly if I took as many snaps as you must do.

Amen to that - I tried making them once and it was a complete disaster. It might be worthwhile for someone more competent than I am, but I'd be surprised.

Anyone tried marmite with peanut butter? My housemate quite fancies it, but much as I like the two componants *separately*, I haven't quite got up the nerve to sample the combination.

I've tried a recipe using canned chickpeas, which used flour to make them solid enough to fry, which made sticky and chewy felafels. Use dried, soaked, uncooked chickpeas and you get a nice texture that holds together when you fry.

I'm a big fan of this falafel recipe. It's dead easy to make, and you can freeze extra patties for a fast supper.

Because you're hungry and there's not much else available, so you take your chances on the cheese. You live, and suddenly you've found a way to vastly extend the use of milk.

I don't really have anything to add that hasn't been already mentioned, but: Probably my favourite marmalade - perfect, really.

Ahem. I think you're forgetting something... Tim Horton's! ← And St Hubert in Quebec

Here in Oxford there's the usual multi-national suspects, but also a lot of kebab vans (chips, kebab, burgers mostly)

RLB's chocolate cake with a ganache icing, decorated with shavings from the leftover chocolate.

I made some rather, er, rustic-looking nougat based on this recipe, but with whole almonds and pistachios rather than peanut butter. I'm planning on giving these bars as Christmas gifts, but I'm not sure how best to wrap them - they're a bit sticky, and I don't want people to have the be tearing them apart from their wrappers. Any suggestions? (note: I didn't have any rice paper handy, so they haven't got a rice paper covering) I'm leaving them out for a bit to see if the outsides will air-dry a little.

*waves*

Ooh, a student blog - yay! Do you normally eat much at your school's cafeteria/dining hall - and what's the food like there? I'm guessing that you don't go for the stereotypical student diet of pot noodle, pizza, beer, and take-away, so what sorts of things do you normally make when you're busy during term?

I second the request for details about the speculaas - I'm looking for a new recipe this year since I'm not overly enamoured of my mum's recipe (shhhh). Amazing baking job - I'm making something very similar to your hazelnut-apricot cookies (hazelnut shortbread, apricot filling, dipped in chocolate) myself.

That happened to me when I was about 6 or 7. I can still taste it. How did the first peoples ever figure out how to make them taste good? ← Off topic, but I've wondered about that sort of thing. Who bothers going through the time-consuming faff of curing olives on the off chance that you'll end up with something good (and edible)?