Rajie's Appletree: March 2010

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Comfort choc

A quiet moment to myself in the morning, sitting in the sun, sipping
on soya and chocolate, feeling the heat on my skin, I thanked god that
Spring is almost here.

A moment of beauty.

Sunday, 14 March 2010

"The worst it got was near the end. A lot of people died right at the end, and I didn't know if I could make it another day. A farmer, a Russian, God bless him, he saw my condition, and he went into his house and came out with a piece of meat for me."

"He saved your life."

"I didn't eat it."

"You didn't eat it?"

"It was pork. I wouldn't eat pork."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"What, because it wasn't kosher?"

"Of course."

"But not even to save your life?"

"If nothing matters, there's nothing to save."

[extract from Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer]

Please take a moment to read the full extract from this new book on the Guardian website link.

If you are a vegetarian, its a must read! if you are not...fear not, it's not an aggressive hard sell to encourage readers to give up meat, but it is a very engaging, warm, personal account of one man's food choices.

The extract has won me over, can't wait to read the book.

With thanks to Gianfranco for the recommendation.

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

Milanese Coffee

Milanese Coffee, originally uploaded by Me & my Appletree.

Another pretty shot, of my weakness! I have bought a new Bialletti 'Mukka' thingy, a brand I am told is THE BEST ...

Take a look here -

I have not yet seen this brand in the UK...maybe I have missed it, but I hear it is on its way. Making coffee in one of these is so fun...I have converted my whole family into coffee lovers because of this! The exciting new addition to the set is also a hob milk frother.... EXCITING!!!

When you use on of these to make coffee, there really is no reason to buy a fancy schmancy electrical machine that requires special shaped coffee capsules...WAAAY to much 'faff'... with this you buy exactly the type of freshly ground coffee you like, use it on the hob so you don't have to plug it in to anything, and its easy to clean...actually even easier to clean than I first thought...

Whilst being in Milano, I have learnt the proper way to take care of this. Apparently you must NEVER clean it with soap (!?!?!) ... I have been scrubbing it religiously!! The thing to do is just rinse it with water and allow the coffee residue to build up, making for better coffee. The tradition goes that mothers pass on the family 'Mukka' to their daughters when the marry....aaaaahhh! It's the Italian equivalent of a good Wok for the Chinese...and I guess a good 'thava' for making rotis for punjabis?!? (I'm guessing....although ours don't get 'passed down' as such...Come to think of it, is there anything culinary that we Punjabis pass down?! Answers on a postcard please...) I LOVE my kitchen gagdets! Can't wait to get home and make coffee for guests!

Whose coming round first?!?

I'm back in London this weekend.

BRING CAKE!

More from Milan at my Flickr site. Keep visiting for new shots!

xxx