Recipes

Carrot and Orange Soup

Posted on by gochugaru girl

Gochugaru Girl is not much of a gardener. This is because there is not much of a garden where she lives, close to the centre of London. About the only thing which can be accommodated in the tiny patio is a large tub of herbs. Even then she has to worry about voracious insects that attack the tender leaves with impunity.

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If God had put me in the Garden of Eden with the task of working it and keeping it, I wonder if I would have risen to the challenge. I suspect I would have said to Adam that, actually, God had asked him to manage the horticultural side of things. Remember, I am merely his helper*.

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Banana, Walnut and Cardamom Cake

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Gochugaru Girl loves baking cakes, but the nature of city life means that there is often not enough time to fuss about with complicated recipes. Neither does she want to give in to instant but inferior-tasting cake mixes.

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One of my favourite cakes is banana cake, owing to its accommodating nature. It is possible to make a plain banana cake, or to add one or several complementing ingredients into the batter before baking. An additional advantage is that all the overripe bananas hanging around the fruit bowl, attracting interest only from fruit flies, can be put to good use.
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Honey Citron Mini Bundts

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Gochugaru Girl is always on the lookout for marmalade, as this is Mr Gochugaru’s favourite thing to spread on toast. It is almost certain that he rates how civilized a country is simply by its ability to produce jam made with oranges.

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The World Cup starts today I am wondering which team to support. Since I am not a football fan, I might as well choose on the basis of a jam tasting. At the moment we have three types of marmalade on the go – from Korea, France and England, although one is technically a tea.

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Red Velvet Birthday Cake

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Gochugaru Girl is not easily frightened by cakes. An exception is the Red Velvet Cupcake, which she and Mr Gochugaru first came across whilst shopping for plates in Notting Hill. The shop assistant, taking a quick break, bit into the reddest cake we have ever seen.

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This kind of cake poses many questions.

How does a cake get to be so red?

Does it taste of cake?

If I eat it, will my tongue be stained?

Worse, would my wee look red?

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Maltesers and Minstrels Chocolate Cake

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Gochugaru Girl has to switch to Über-woman mode in June, as there are three family birthdays to celebrate, as well as Father’s Day on the third Sunday of the month. Then the extended family arrive from the Far East for their annual summer vacation.

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When I find myself short of time but in desperate need to impress, I turn to the recipes that never fail.

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Green Tea Madeleines

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Gochugaru Girl loves green tea in all its forms – as a refreshing hot drink brewed with the leaves and served without milk; as green tea latte made using ground green tea powder; as a dessert ingredient lending a slight bitter foil to the sweetness of cakes, biscuits and ice cream. Lately, she has even discovered its use in cosmetic products. Green tea, it seems, is good for us externally as well as internally.

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There is a danger when trying to type with one hand whilst holding a cup of tea in the other. I have just made a typo and ‘iLad’ appeared instead of ‘iPad’.

Many of us have first-hand experience of the versatility, portability and utility of an iPad but what of this hypothetical iLad? What would we do with him?

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