Panettone French Toast Havoc

Ingredients 
• 1 x Paul Hollywood Panettone - sliced thickly
• 6 eggs
• splash of full cream milk (it is Christmas after all!)
• juice and zest of 1 orange

Method
Whisk the eggs, milk, zest and orange juice in a large bowl. Pre-heat the oven to 100-120 degrees. Put a frypan (or two if your cooking for your whole family) on to heat up, with a little oil brushed in the pan. Quickly dip the sliced Panettone into the egg mixture and pop straight into a hot frypan. Cook for approx 1-2 minutes, then flip carefully. Repeat with the remaining Panettone, and keep the cooked French toast in a low oven to keep warm.

Serve with lots of maple syrup and a strong coffee... or a glass of bubbly!

Panettone Havoc

L decided that he wanted to start a new tradition this Christmas and the recipe included Panettone. Normally I'd just pop out and buy one, but we had just watched The Great British Bakeoff Christmas Masterclass and Paul Hollywood had made one, so we carefully read the recipe and got baking!

You can find the recipe here - but just be sure to allow lots of time for resting and follow all of the instructions! We didn't have a panettone tin (which is a really tall cake tin) so we improvised and cooked it in a pudding bowl - i put paper up the sides so it could rise, but we had a little issue with the collapsing panettone. L rescued it by chopping the top off and cooking seperately - crisis averted! 

Here's how we got on...

Clockwise from top left: using dough hooks for the first time; stirring; cutting that first slice; fresh baked Panettone with jam and tea

Find out how our new Christmas breakfast tradition of Panettone French Toast went in my next post.

Sugar-free havoc

I completely fell off the wheat/dairy/sugar-free wagon this weekend... but we DID go to Paris, plus I wasn't sure how to say "wheat free" in French... not sure it would even translate!

I have to admit, while I miss sugar and bread SO much, I do feel better for not eating them. So, I'm back on it this week and I thought I'd share a few of my favourite sweet recipes I've made of late... that have kept me sane!

1. Coconut pancakes

• 1 cup wheat free flour or rye flour
• 1 cup coconut powder
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 cups almond milk
• 1tbsp coconut oil, melted

Whisk everything together in a large bowl. This is always a trial and error recipe, I find they are best to be more like crepes than thick pancakes - they seem to cook better and taste nicer. So get the mixture to the consistency you want, then cook in a frypan brushed with coconut oil. Serve with maple syrup and berries.

2. Chocolate "icecream"

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp dessicated coconut toasted

Blend everything together (except for the coconut) and either eat immediately, or freeze for later. This makes enough for two.

3. Chocolate "biscuits"

• half a cup of coconut powder*
• Handful each of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and oats
• 1 Tbsp cocoa
• 1 Tbsp flaxseed
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1 big spoon of melted coconut oil
• 1 egg

Mix everything together, spoon onto a tray lined with baking paper and cook at 180 degrees for 20 mins. These aren't that sweet - so I think I'll try them again with a little more maple syrup.

So I know this post is not the norm... but there are changes coming. So watch this space... and my instagram... and my twitter...  

* I buy coconut powder from my local Turkish supermarket - corner of Lewisham High Street and Morley Road

Homegrown havoc

I've just picked my first figs! Although, have to admit, I haven't exactly looked after them... they just grew!

So before all the birds and squirrels feasted on them, I thought I'd pick some, find a Silver Spoon recipe and get cooking.

My tomatoes are almost ripe, so stay tuned for more recipes cooked with some fruit and vege I've actually tended to! 

And don't forget to follow me on instagram @hithergreenhavoc

Spiced figs: simmer ginger, cinnamon, corriander seeds, cloves, sugar, water for 10 minutes. Add the figs for 5 minutes then reduce the sauce and pour over the figs.

Upcycling havoc

A few weeks ago my lovely neighbour was having a spring clean. She was getting rid of a little pine side table and asked if I wanted it. I went to say no, cause (no offence lovely neighbour!) it was really nothing to look at. But then the arty part of my brain made me bring it home.

So I took a trip to a hardware store and purchased the brightest sample pot of pink paint  I could find (Little Greene, Leather 191 if you're interested), some black, and a glossy clear top coat. Check out the results below.

After this little project, I've discovered a few local second hand markets and shops, and with plenty of black paint leftover, stay tuned!

The pine table before and working out some decoration

 

 

 

 

My handywork after! The zig zags aren't exactly straight or even... shhh don't tell!

Snowboard havoc

Three years ago, we spent an incredible two months being snowboard bums in Canada (if you're interested, check out our pictures here, here, here, here and here). During that time, we became very attached to our Burton snowboards! Now, back in the big city, I wanted to remember that trip of a lifetime by having our personalised snowboards on display permanently.

So, after a bit of internet research, I finally purchased some specialty snowboard mounts from Hangtime USA. Next, I payed an extortionate amount of import duty (thanks Royal Mail!), and then our snowboards lay around for about a month in the hallway.

Today my handyman put them up - and they look amazing!

Check them out!

Whole lotta snowboard love

Vege patch havoc

I have the opposite of a green thumb, it's brown. Yet I strangely love being out in my garden pottering about.

This weekend after planting some bulbs and then weeding my mint patch I got carried away and moved onto the larger, raised, overgrown sandpit/garden bed. It was previously a covered sandpit (complete with discarded sand toys) but after years of neglect it was covered with weeds, debris and was a big eyesore.

So I cleared it all off, rescued some plastic cows and then took a trip to Homebase for a LOT of compost. I tried not to go too overboard on the plants, and asked my wise younger sister, who has a green thumb, what to grow. She suggested tomatoes, and told me to plant marigolds next to them and also basil. So I got all of that, plus two strawberry plants. I later read you can't plant strawberries and tomatoes together, so they've gone into two pots on the edge of the garden bed.

See my weekends efforts below... and I'll report back in a few weeks... but only if:
a) the fox hasn't eaten everything
and 
b) if the plants are still alive, and I'm eating gorgeous tomato and basil salads with strawberries for dessert!

a vast improvement from a weed covered sandpit!