Year: 2020

“Constant Gardener” – A way to find Balance

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First thing is first, I am going to start with the disclaimer: this is not a post about gardening. I like being outdoors, I feel in my own element but gardening is taking skills which unfortunately I don’t have at the moment! Because, in all honesty, I am investing my time in other projects, So now that this is out of the way you are probably wondering why I chose this title for the blog post. Well, first time when I said to someone that I am like a “Constant Gardener” it was in an interview. It felt like a good way to describe myself on the job. I work as a software engineer and live systems are like gardens, they grow in time, they need constant attention and fixing. If you are not careful the weeds of bad and unmaintainable code are taking over. With all the rush of the world and the abundance of information everywhere I feel like being a constant gardener, always trimming and choosing, always prioritising, has become more and …

Homemade Basil Pesto

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If you like pesto why not try to do your own at home, since it takes around 15 min and it goes great with pizza, pasta and salads. Here is a classic recipe with basil, pine nuts, Parmesan and garlic. This recipe will yield 4 portions of pesto. Ingredients 2 bunches / 2 cups of basil leaves 1/2 dl pine nuts 1 1/2 dl olive oil 1 grated garlic clove 1 dl grated parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper Directions Put all the ingredients together in a blender and mix them! That’s it! I have seen recipes where you mix all the ingredients with the exception of oil first but I mixed everything at once and it went all. The pesto has a great consistency. Tips I got this tip from a family friend so I thought I would share it here. In order to keep pesto for longer you can freeze it, and you can use ice cubes containers so that you can easily defrost small quantities when you need it. I …

Lingonberry Jam

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There are a few types of lingonberry jam: light jam, dark jam, jelly – made only of juices and raw jam. This recipe is for the light jam which takes only 15 minutes to cook. Ingredients 2 kg lingonberries (aprox. 3 litres) 3-4 dl water 1/2 kg sugar Directions Clean and wash the berries. Put them into a pot with water. Heat them up slowly and let them simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and then add the sugar. Stir slowly from time to time until the sugar blends into the jam. Skim the foam and pour the pot content into pre-warmed jars. Enjoy!

Pickled Cucumbers and Green Tomatoes

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For preserving a 1 litre jar of cucumbers or green tomatoes you need about 1/2 litre of salt water, so I am going to write the ingredients that you need for that. The quantity of cucumbers or tomatoes really depends on the size. You don’t actually need that much and is very simple to do. It takes about 3 weeks for the pickles to be done, but if you put them somewhere in the sun it takes even less, about 2 weeks. Ingredients cucumbers/green tomatoes (to fit in a 1 litre jar) 1/2 litre water 30g salt 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar 1 bayleaf 1 garlic clove 1 teaspoon dry thyme 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon sugar a few slices of horseradish root Directions Boil the water with the salt and the bayleaf and let it cool down. In the meantime, put the cucumbers or the tomatoes in the jar and add all the other ingredients. One important thing to do here, if you pickle tomatoes, pierce them a few …

The gift that keeps on giving

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In the last few years I have been trying to remember all the things that are important to me. Is easy to forget them in the rush of everyday’s life. One of the things that are important to me is to do the best I can to keep a good balance between eating healthy and enjoying food. I keep my grandmother’s words with me every day: “Eat everything but within measure”. Not sure if this expression translates very well from Romanian but what it conveys is basically to keep variety and balance in your diet. Besides balance, I value simplicity. I will always prefer a dish that is simple but mixes quality ingredients that go well together and preserve their natural taste as much as possible. But finding those simple but tasty ingredients is not always easy. Many times the food that the local supermarkets offer is rushed, mass produced and it keeps less time that you would ever think! I know that will have to do most of the times because is minutes away …

It’s time for some colour!

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I am not very good at painting or drawing but that’s not the point! The point is to find things which you love doing and the only way to find them is to try a lot of them! I was at the beach one day, in Santorini, years ago, and I as I was walking with my bare feet on the pebbles I thought – I love the feel of the pebbles and the colours of the sea and it all feels so calming. I wish I could take all this with me, so that is part of my home! At that time, I didn’t even know that there is such a thing as painting pebbles. But the thought of filling them with colour came instantly into my mind, a sense of novelty for me, no doubt. I did a quick search and found out that a lot of people do it so I tried it out! I found tips and techniques for colouring them and now I have my own snapshot of the sea …

Sunny Surrey Hills

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This is the first week back in London after a winter holiday in Sweden. London is intense wherever you come from! Crowds all around you, noise, loads of people walking straight into you with their phones in their hands. Is a true joy sometimes! I really needed a quick escape at the end of the week, to get myself back into a state of relaxation so when my friend invited me I jumped into the Kingston bus and headed to Dorking! Surrey Hills to the rescue! It is indeed as they say, a place of fantastic beauty! And wait until you get to the top of Box Hill and behold that view, breathing the crispy, just below zero air, of a sunny day in January! You will put whatever mental weight has been pushing down on your shoulders to one side and you’ll spend a few minutes trying to get the whole landscape in, with all the colours and nuances. Is sometimes easy to forget, caught in our routine as we are, that these overwhelmingly …