Friday, 30 September 2016

from pin to pin

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Confession : This month I did not work on any project specifically for the pinterest challenge.

Yes, I did make a start with my personal challenge of 2D tatting design, but this post will not talk about that.

Instead, I will fall back upon a few things I have been doing ever since I saw them on pinterest. Please excuse the quality of pics – they were taken back in 2013 (when I was still new to photography) & I don’t even have the unmarked stock pics. I urge you to check out the original posts for the great pics and instructions. Mine don’t do any justice to them, although it has become part of my life.

Healthier Butter

It all started with Jillee’s post on how to make your own herb butter.
For daily application, herb butter wouldn’t be accepted in my home, so I skipped the herbs and mixed only butter and olive oil – almost equal amounts.
Mix normal Butter with desired amount of Olive Oil 
(I used approximately equal amounts - 50gm butter + ~50ml olive oil). 
Mix with fork if quantity is less, as in this case, or pulse in blender as Jillee did.  
Olive oil has blended with the butter. Refrigerate and use as normal

I use a stainless steel container with tight lid. This small container easily fits into the bread box sitting cozily beside the bread.
And due to the oil, the refrigerated butter quickly 'thaws' to room temperature when taken out & kept on the kitchen counter. No longer need to Remember to take the butter out earlier !

Besides toast and sandwiches, I sometimes use it for grilling, too – oil gives it the fat, and butter the colour.
Works great in baking too - I use this for cookies, muffins & cake....

Eggless Cake using healthier butter

This was my first attempt at baking an Eggless cake & it wasn't As spongy as my usual cakes (with eggs) although the taste was great. It had a slightly denser feel, which I remedied the next time. I used Sharmi's Chocolate chip cupcake recipe (sans the chocolate chips)  
This pic was taken a few days After the cake was baked – more than half had already been consumed and the remaining pieces relocated into a smaller container. When I remembered, I just took the container out of the fridge and immediately took a pic. Hence the dry, crumbly look.

I have since used the healthy butter in muffins and cupcakes as well. They all bake fine.

Tear Drop Eggless Shortbread Cookies
I chose a slightly healthier version
1. A mix of APF & whole wheat flour (3:1)
2. A mix of butter & olive oil (the healthy butter above)
3. Only about 75-80 g of the butter & oil mixture.
Frosting would've improved the look, but added calories, hence not applied ;-)

As the visual show, baking is not my forté . My cakes and muffins come out great in taste, but cookies & biscuits have a love-hate relationship with me.

That’s it for this month.
I did overcome a personal challenge by finally being comfortable with designing 2D tatting patterns. Simple and small for now, but I felt the barrier lift. This month will always remain very special to me – my shuttles are actively tatting up little medallions and motifs, yay!

To see some really special stuff, though, let’s all hop over to our talented group (you are welcome to join in any time; simply pick a monthly pin from pinterest !) :

happy pinning :-)

4 comments:

  1. Everything looks yummy, sometimes w e have revisit things we did sometime ago. I was sorry I had not done more with my challenge, so thank you for your lovely comment
    Margaret

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  2. My mother had a family recipe called make butter go further. I think it was more about budgeting than health, though a sign of the times!

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  3. aw your post today has made me want cake! no need for any apology here, you have made thing from pinterest and that's what its all about so well done and thank you for sharing the great recipes.

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  4. Please forgive me for just now checking on and posting my Pinterest Pinchick Pick I love this wonderful olive oil idea I use them separately and now I don;t have to and this is very excellent idea and tip as always you got great tips and will use this one along with many of your other ones :)

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