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You are here: Home / Waiter, there's something in my... / WTSIM #11 roundup – more topless tarts than a Paris cabaret!

WTSIM #11 roundup – more topless tarts than a Paris cabaret!

by Jeanne Horak on December 5, 2007 34 Comments in Waiter, there's something in my...

WTSIM_logo.gif

Is it me or is it hot in here?  So hot, in fact, that people are whipping off their tops left, right and centre – ooooooeer, Missus!  Yes folks, the formerly demure residents of the foodie blogosphere have all decided to get ’em out and show ’em off.  The saucy tarts!

No really – I do mean tarts!  As in a crust and a filling?  What on earth did  think I meant??

Double entendres aside, the theme for this month’s edition of Waiter, there’s something in my… really was topless tarts and you responded in droves – 53 entries in total!  The only thing I did notice was the distinct absence of men – don’t think we got even 10% male participation.  Don’t you boys like tarts or what? :o)

And now, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome on stage… the topless tarts!

SAVOURY TARTS

Cherrapeno_2 Nic of Cherrapeno in Kent made uses some of my favourite seasonal ingredients to make festive filo tarts.  Not only do the squash, cranberry and nut flavours sound amazing, but just look at the colours!  Little jewelled wonders.

Bounteousbites Evelin of Bounteous Bites in Tallinn presents us with astonishingly healthy-sounding onion tart on an oat flake and carrot crust – and as a bonus whe shares the recipe to make it three ways: one big tart; tartelettes; and muffins!

Beyondsalmonsavoury Helen of Beyond Salmon in Boston, MA went way beyond the call of duty.  As luck would have it, she had scheduled a tart baking class just ahead of the deadline for WTSIM, so she and her pupils made four topless tarts!  The savoury ones were a spinach and mushroom quiche and the tomato onion gruyere tart pictured.

Coffeeandvanilla Margot of Coffee and Vanilla here in London decides to go topless in the Med!  Well, actually she puts together a topless zucchini tart full of the most wonderful Mediterranean flavours – zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes, olives… need I carry on?!  Too delightful.

Onewallkitchen Julie at One-Wall Kitchen in Phoenix, AZ tells a woe-filled tale of an oven that stops working at a crucial moment, but still manages to save the day by using her grill when all else fails.  The result is her pear, red onion and Gorgonzola tarte tatin – a racy little number if ever I saw one 🙂

Minglingoftastes Julie of A Mingling of Tastes in Fort Lauderdale, Florida comes up with a Brussels sprout & chestnut tart – can’t see how you could turn down sprouts when the’re “tarted up” like this!

Greedygourmet Fellow expat-South African blogger Michelle of the Greeedy Gourmet in Southend goes back to our shared roots to make a South African souttert – literally a salt tart, but in fact a creamy leek tart.  Seeing as leeks are at their prime now, this could not be more timely.  And what happy memories of home it brought back for me!

Thefoodtraveller Francesco of The Food Traveller came up with an intriguing mix of cuisines.  He’s Italian and she’s Belgian, and after a bit of tweaking and culinary cross-pollination, the result is the mouth-watering potato and strachitunt tart.  Cheese.  Potatoes.  What can go wrong?!

Playwithfood Deborah of Play With Food in Newport, VA  tells us about her regular Wednesday tapas party – and this tale of tasty titbits segues perfectly into her topless tart (sorry – couldn’t resist that!) It’s a stunner with oven-roasted tomatoes and goats cheese.  Simple, classic and delicious.

Homemades Arfi of HomeMades in Tuakau, New Zealand tells all about the chickens that they are breeding – this is the true meaning of free range if you ask me.  And of course, if you have chickens, you have eggs.  And if life gives you eggs… make courgette and capsicum quiche!

PinkrollingpinCourtney of The Pink Rolling Pin in Raymore, Missouri is a WTSIM newbie and comes up with a most unusual-sounding chicken, gruyere and cranberry quiche with a twist of orange.  Could be just the thing for using up all those festive season leftovers!

Yumchia The lovely Rachel from Yumchia here in London was one of a couple of participants who mentioned that the slightly racy theme of this month’s event spurred them on to start blogging again after a hiatus – glad to hear it!  She adapts a Gordon Ramsay recipe and presents us with open mushroom tarts – looks like the perfect starter to me 🙂

Pipinthecity Marcela of Pip in the City in Buenos Aires shows us pictures of the veritable forest of broccoli florets that she uses in her amazing-sounding broccoli, rosemary and cheese quiche.  And better still, she uses a light brioche-like crust – what a treat!

Foodloversjourney Anh of A Food Lover’s Journey in Melbourne comes up with one of the most inspired dishes in this months’ round-up.  Inspired by a Charlie Trotter recipe for beef tartlets but fearing that the buttery crust might be too heavy, Anh comes up with the great idea of a bulgur crust.  Her chili beef and potato tartlets in a bulgur crust not only sound fantastic – just take a look at how tempting they look!

Veganvisitor Dayna of Vegan Visitor in Toronto was rather taken aback when I suggested bloggers go topless this month – and given what I know about Canadian winter temperatures, I’m not surprised!  But she soon loses her inhibitions and presents us with a droolworthy easy caramelised onion and fennel tart.  This one’s going on my “to do” list 🙂

Freshadriaticfish Sanja of Fresh Adriatic Fish in Croatia was another one who got really creative with her tart crust.  Instead of conventional pastry, she uses he previously posted recipe for lentil patties and uses this as a crust – inspired.  What does she fill it with? Ragu Bolognese of course, to create her fantastic little Bolognese tarts.  Clever!

Italianintheus Marta of An Italian in the US left me a forlorn comment to alert me to the fact that her topless tarts had been overlooked – a thousand apologies!!  Very glad I discovered them though – look how lovely they are.  The first is an asparagus and goats cheese tart decorated with red bell pepper strips; and the second is a green bean, gorgonzola and cheddar cheese tart.  And look at their irresistible rustic good looks!

Co-founder of this event Andrew puts in his first appearance in the tart-fest with a savoury little number, impressively published on the Guardian Word of Mouth food blog.  His leek and ricotta tart sounds marvellous – and we even get a wine recommendation to go with it!

Passionatecook And rounding out or complement of savoury tarts Johanna of The Passionate Cook drags herself off her sickbed and away from her study books just long enough to pop into the kitchen and whip up a fantastic leek, gruyere and hazelnut quiche.  What a trooper!

SWEET TARTS

Thymeforfood June from Thyme for Food in Miami tells a sad tale of woe that could easily have happened in my kitchen.  She dropped the dough (and quickly applied the 2-second rule!!), didn’t have a tart pan, forgot to butter the pan and apologises for how bad her tart looks.  Which I can’t see because I think the Alsatian apple tart looks amazing.  But just when she thought he luck had changed… I omitted her from the roundup!  D’oh!  Sorry June, all fixed now 🙂

Ivegotseoul And just when I thought I’d fixed it all, I had another forlorn e-mail from somebody whose entry had been missed in all the IT misery last weekend.  Lisa from I’ve Got Seoul (unsurprisingly, in Seoul!) shows off her multi-tasking activities in making a dessert for a dinner party that doubles as her WTSIM entry.  Her Aunt Greta’s apple tart looks packed with fruit – and delicious!

Sweetsins Eva of Sweet Sins in Sydney tells us a charming story of anniversary celebrations, after which she and her other half almost had no room left for dessert… but then, how can you resist coffee chocolate ganache tarts?  I’ll give you a clue:  they didn’t!

Spittoonextra In his second entry for this month’s event, Andrew of SpittoonExtra in Oxfordshire decided to go traditional Brit and made Kentish pudding pie tarts.  I’d never heard of them but the filling is  apparently a creamy rice concoction, so it’s kind of like the best bits of a tart and a rice pudding.  Nice!

Beyondsalmonsweet Helen of Beyond Salmon in Boston, MA went way beyond the call of duty.  As luck would have it, she had scheduled a tart baking class just ahead of the deadline for WTSIM, so she and her pupils made four topless tarts!  The sweet ones were an apple galette and the pear tarte tatin pictured.

Kitchendelights Margaret of Kitchen Delights in the West-Midlands went both topless AND saucy and came up with a pear and almond tart with chocolate sauce.  Talk about a perfect pair pear… 😉

Feedmeimhingry I-Ling of Feed Me! I’m Hungry! (formerly of Melbourne but now newly-arrived in… London!  Yay!) throws a proper strop, bemoaning her lack of familiar kitchen utensils and beloved kitchen.  But she still manages to get ’em out for the lads (and ladies!) as she parades her shamelessly topless pear tart Bourdalou

Sugarlaw Katy of Sugarlaws in Manhattan, NY surprises herself with how easy shortcrust pastry can be to make and then astonishes herself with how professional (and delicious!) her classic chocolate tart looks.

Culinarytests Camila of Culinary Tests in Sao Bernardo (Brazil) was determined to take part in a food blogging event this month – and she chose WTSIM!  Yay!  She apologises for the looks of her strawberry tarts, but vouches for their taste.  And how can you go wrong with white chocolate and strawberry ganache in a crust made from chocolate wafers, nuts and cinnamon?

Tartreform Amy at Tart Reform (don’tcha love that title?) in Washington DC really goes for the all-out pimp my snack approach and recreates what she calls a giant Reeses cup: a chocolate peanut butter tart.  As a confirmed addict of Hershey’s peanut butter kisses, this sounds like my undoing :o)  Toplessly choc-tastic.

Blogfromourkitchen Elizabeth at Blog from Our Kitchen, situated at “approx 43°N, 79°W. ie: still north of the 49th parallel” loses track of time but luckily, because of my tardiness, whe still manages to sneak in before the event ends.  She gets very, very excited at the thought of a great big butter tart – and by the sound of it, she has reason to!  Sounds to me like the US version of the English treacle tart, and what’s not to like about that?!

Makinglifesweeter Linda at Making Life Sweeter in The Hague makes one of my favourite tarts – a lemon tart.  But… she rings the changes by using clementines in her lemon curd!  Sounds absolutely marvellous – do check it out.

Venieljekitchen Somebody else who went for an alternative lemon tart was my lovely friend Inge from Vanielje Kitchen, just up the road in Wiltshire.  She regales us with a rollercoaster ride of a story of Cape cobra snakes and a family tea at Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel, before sharing with us her grapefruit meringue tartelettes. Wonderful!

Foodgloriousfood Antonia of Food, Glorious Food! right here in London decides to come over all Christmassy.  If you’ve ever craved mince pies but found them to be too stodgy, with the wrong pastry-to-fruit ratio, Antonia’s mincemeat and apple tart could be just the ticket.

Spoonful_of_sugar Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar in Bristol is yet another participant who made a variation of a lemon tart, but her’s is a tart with a difference.  Well, two differences in fact – the addition of beautiful rhubarb, and the use of an experimental low-fat shortcrust pastry.  Although she’s not 100% happy with the pastry yet, it looks pretty darn good to me.

Imhungry Something completely different next from Jenny from I’m Hungry in Little Rock, AR.  She starts off wanting to make a fruit tart but ends up making a wonderful sounding honey-walnut tart – and there’s crystallised ginger in there too!  Mmmm.

Foodfreak FoodFreak of FoodFreak in Germany decides to cheer herself up in winter by defrosting some of the redcurrants she froze in the summer.  Her individual redcurrant tatelettes are little jewelled circles of deliciousness and bright enough to cheer the dullest day – take a look!

Tastebuddies Syrie of Taste Buddies in Canada came up trumps with the most decadent topless tart I have ever seen (no offence to Dita von Teese!).  Her dark chocolate mousse and raspberry tart not only has a crust made of crushed biscotti, but also contains rich dark chocolate mousse and absolutely picture-perfect raspberries.  Breathaking!

Milkandcookies Although initially somewhat taken aback by my solicitation of topless tart recipes, Jen Jen of Milk and Cookies in Sydney loses her inhibitions and joins in enthusiastically in the end 🙂  Her contribution of glazed lemon tarts with caramelized oranges is one of the prettiest this month.  Those tarts look like lemony little creme brulees – delightful!

Fruittart Melody of FruitTart in Illinois could not resist joining in the topless mayhem – and with a blog name like that, how could one refuse?!  She shares the calories love recipe for her spectacular-looking pear and blueberry tart.  Edible art if ever I saw it!

Naminami My friend Pille from Nami-Nami in Tallinn, Estonia continues her small obsession (!) with sea buckthorn and gives us a topless sea buckthorn and toffee apple tart.  Check out how pretty the uncooked tart is – and then try to imagine how delicious the finished product is!

AnnesfoodThe lovely from Anne from Anne’s Food wasn’t even thinking of WTSIM when she posted her fantastic mocha walnut torte… but as soon as I discovered it I knew it would be ideal for this month’s theme.  And how can you deny something so pretty its spot in the limelight?!

Fragole Jelly from Fragole e Cioccolato in Milan, Italy wows us with a caramel banana tart – and even for somebody who doesn’t like bananas, this looks strangely enticing.  Which gives you an idea of how good it must be!

Stickygooey Susan from the wonderfully-named Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy in Sarasota, FL tells the hilarious (and familiar tale) of “pantry ADD”.  You know where you buy that wonderfully exotic ingredient on a whim, make great plkans for it, put it in your pantry and… forget all about it?  That’s the one.  But she shakes off her ADD and comes up with a big fat Greek pear tart which she describes as tasting like baklava stuffed with pears.  Yum!

Freshfromtheoven Mandy from Fresh from the Oven in St Louis tells the story of her absolutely glorious Thanksgiving dinner (check out the pics of the World’s Most Perfect Roast Turkey!) which ended with an edible work of art:  her Normandy apple tart.  Too beautiful to eat!

Forayintofood Jenny of Foray into Food in ?? is another one who gave in to the lure of a nutty pie.  But this is a pecan pie with a difference:  there is a layer of chocolate spread on the crust below the nutty filling!  Can you imagine anything more deliciously decadent?  Me neither 🙂

Mrswkitchen Amanda from Mrs W’s Kitchen in central New York is another one overcome by seasonal thoughts. She puts together a brilliant combination of flavours in her pear cranberry galette with blue cheese, hazelnuts and agave nectar – inspired!

Wycked Tina from Sweet Designs in Elkhart, Indiana somehow found time in her blog event baking schedule (she also took part in Cupcake Hero and the Daring Bakers!) to make a banana Fostesr tart.  That’s Fosters as in Foster’s rum.  I think that enough rum culd even make an old banana-hater like me change her mind!

Foodiefroggy Anne of A Foodie Froggie in Paris (unsurprisingly in Paris!) tells us all about the lemon curd tartelette at her favourite restaurant – but alas, the chef won’t part company eith the recipe!  Undeterred, Anne reverse-engineers the dish by adding speculoos powder to the crust, making creamy orange tartelettes with speculoos-based dough.  Wow!

Maybahay Desie of Maybahay in Sydney encounters one of those problems all food bloggers have had at some point: a dish that looks like a dream but falls apart on serving!  She saves the day as it ends up as a white chocolate and tropical fruit dessert, but it did start out as a beautiful tropical white chocolate mousse tart, so it certainly fulfils my tarty criteria 🙂

Tartelette_2 The lovely Helen of Tartelette in South Carolina writes about Thanksgiving and trying to come up with a dessert a little more interesting that the standard pumpkin pie.  Her mind is swiftly made up, though, when an extra and unordered box of cranberries is delivered to her kitchen.  If life gives you surplus cranberries… make these gorgeous caramel cranberry nut tarts!

Strawberrychiffon Gaye from Laws of the Kitchen in Australia ponders the raunchy nature of this month’s theme for a while… and then does a 180 degree turn and produces a strawberry chiffon tart so demure that it blushes at the mere mention of toplessness.  I mean, look how pink it’s gone! :o)

Gloriousfoodandwine Andreea of Glorious Food and Wine in Brussels laments the fact that in the last few months of the year everyone is so busy tring to fit in the things they have not got round to the rest of the year, that simple pleasures like cooking for pleasure fall by the wayside.  She treats us to her wonderful plum tart just to show that delicious food does not have to take all night to make.

Meganscookin Some pretty decadent stuff up next as we visit Megan from Megan’s Cookin’ in Redding, CA.  It’s got chocolate.  It’s got bourbon.  It’s got molasses.  What more can a girl want?  Oh yes – astonishingly, her bourbon pecan tart with chocolate drizzle comes from a Cooking Light magazine!

Iwasbornawoman Another WTSIM newbie is Betsy of I Was Born a Woman in Italy.  Her tarte au vin (wine tart) starts with a cocoa-almond pate brisee with a touch of cinnamon, topped with a filling that basically sounds like a red wine custard.  Now that’s what I call a tart!

Melecotte The lovely Chris of Melecotte (who has had quite a site redesign!) tells us that she found a husband.  His name is Williams.  As in Williams Sonoma. The reason for this torrid affair lies in the cashew almond walnut caramel tart that she makes for us this month – and who am I to argue with her excellent taste in men (or tarts)?!

Canela And now for something completely different…  Gretchen of Canela y Comino in Lima, Peru regales us with what she learned in Home Economics class (“don’t iron pot holders. They wind up really flat and the heat sort of singes the synthetic fibers inside”).  She then confesses to having a love-hate relationship with flan but makes one for scientific WTSIM purposes – and actually likes it!

Cooksister And last but not least, my, myself and I – your charming host the Cooksister decided to go back to the roots of South African cuisine and try my hand at spicing up the old classic of milk tart with a touch of cardamom.  A spicy tart indeed.

And that’s it folks!  Another bumper edition of WTSIM draws to a close.  Next month, Johanna will take over as host and rumour has it that souffles may be involved. You have been warned…!

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  1. June says

    December 5, 2007 at 4:56 pm

    Lovely tarts but you forgot to put mine up! I think I’m going to cry 🙁

    Reply
  2. Katy says

    December 5, 2007 at 5:02 pm

    I actually moved my blog this weekend! I should have emailed you with an updated link. The new address for my chocolate tart is…
    http://www.sugarlaws.com/classic-chocolate-tart/
    They all look amazing!!!!

    Reply
  3. african vanielje says

    December 5, 2007 at 7:38 pm

    Wow, talk about hard work, and on top of NabloschmoMoPoGoSlo (?) Well done. We certainly appreciate the effort. It’s going to take me the rest of the month to work my way through this. I’m particularly impressed with Tina from Sweet Designs. I missed my Daring Bakers challenge and have barely managed to string two words together for the rest of the month

    Reply
  4. FreshAdriaticFish says

    December 5, 2007 at 8:52 pm

    Great round up! Thank you for all your effort! This is a very worthy list.

    Reply
  5. Cakelaw says

    December 5, 2007 at 10:31 pm

    Thanks Jeanne – once again, a very fun WTSIM … event.

    Reply
  6. Susan from Food Blogga says

    December 5, 2007 at 11:19 pm

    What a splendid array of tarts. I must say this round of WTSIM WOW-inducing! Now, I really feel bad I wasn’t able to participate. 🙁 Of course, I’m saving some of the recipes right now to make soon. Very soon. Thanks for all of your hard work, Jeanne, all year on this great event.

    Reply
  7. Coffee & Vanilla says

    December 5, 2007 at 11:44 pm

    Jeanne,
    Thank you sooo much for such a wonderful round-up! 🙂
    So many great topless tarts that I don’t know where to start…
    And your own, milky tart with cardamom sounds delicious, I think I know now what will be on my shopping list this week 🙂

    Reply
  8. Coffee & Vanilla says

    December 5, 2007 at 11:44 pm

    Jeanne,
    Thank you sooo much for such a wonderful round-up! 🙂
    So many great topless tarts that I don’t know where to start…
    And your own, milky tart with cardamom sounds delicious, I think I know now what will be on my shopping list this week 🙂

    Reply
  9. Coffee & Vanilla says

    December 5, 2007 at 11:44 pm

    Jeanne,
    Thank you sooo much for such a wonderful round-up! 🙂
    So many great topless tarts that I don’t know where to start…
    And your own, milky tart with cardamom sounds delicious, I think I know now what will be on my shopping list this week 🙂

    Reply
  10. Boots in the Oven says

    December 6, 2007 at 12:44 am

    Jeanne, what a great roundup – looks like a lot of work! We’re hoping to participate next month, but we’ve been on the road a lot. Regardless, it’s wonderful to keep up with WTSIM through the roundups!

    Reply
  11. Lisa says

    December 6, 2007 at 3:40 am

    They all look lovely, but.. you forgot mine! :'(

    Reply
  12. Eva says

    December 6, 2007 at 5:17 am

    What a wonderful round-up, I really looked forward to that one! After browsing through I’m incredibly hungry, tonight I’ll definitely have some dessert!

    Reply
  13. StickyGooeyCreamyChewy says

    December 6, 2007 at 5:38 am

    Jeanne- What a wonderful job you’ve done with this round-up! I’ve never seen so many mouth-watering dishes on one page before! I’m drooling all over my keyboard! Thanks so much for being a great hostess! 😮

    Reply
  14. Angela says

    December 6, 2007 at 9:31 am

    Wow! What a load of tarts! 😉
    Now… which one should I try first? Thanks for the great round-up, Jeanne. I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading it.

    Reply
  15. Nicisme says

    December 6, 2007 at 9:40 am

    Wow! Not only have I seen some wonderful new tarts I want to make, I have discovered a whole load of new blogs as well!
    Great round-up Jeanne, thanks for being a super hostess.

    Reply
  16. Anne says

    December 6, 2007 at 9:40 am

    What an excellent round-up Jeanne!

    Reply
  17. Pille says

    December 6, 2007 at 9:49 am

    Gosh, what a wonderful range of topless tarts!!! Lovely round-up, Jeanne. And I just wish I could send you some sea-buckthorn berries 🙂

    Reply
  18. Julie O'Hara says

    December 6, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    Fabulous round-up, Jeanne! I love making tarts, so this month’s WTSIM was especially a pleasure! It’s great to see so much savor, as well as sweet.
    Julie

    Reply
  19. Evelin says

    December 6, 2007 at 3:25 pm

    An excellent round-up! I’m especially impressed by all the savoury tarts here:)

    Reply
  20. Mrs.W says

    December 6, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    Thanks for another great event… what an awesome array of tarts! I can’t wait to try some of these recipes.

    Reply
  21. Chris says

    December 7, 2007 at 2:58 am

    Wow! I think this might be one of my favorite round ups! So many fabulous tarts…there must be a zillion smiling faces and even more satisfied tummies. Thanks for all your hard work!

    Reply
  22. ejm says

    December 7, 2007 at 8:00 am

    What a great round up, Jeanne – as usual. I love the sound of the sweet tarts but I’m particularly intrigued by all those savoury tarts!
    -Elizabeth
    P.S. No non nononon oooo!! Butter tarts are strictly Canadian. I gather they are unheard of in the USA. Although… they are somewhat similar to USA’s pecan pie (if the pecan pie were made without any pecans). And judging from the one recipe on the internet for Treacle tart that I looked at, they are nothing like treacle tarts.

    Reply
  23. myfrenchkitchen says

    December 9, 2007 at 7:53 am

    You did such a beautioful job in presenting all these lovely tarts Jeanne…and all while you were running aroind a bit headless! So easy to read with eyecatching little comments on each.
    Hats off to you!
    Ronell
    Hats off to you!

    Reply
  24. sognatrice says

    December 9, 2007 at 11:50 am

    Speaking as someone who has never made *any* kind of tart, I believe I’ve found a goldmine of a place to start here (via Jenn’s The Leftover Queen) 😉

    Reply
  25. Syrie says

    December 9, 2007 at 7:56 pm

    Hi Jeanne, Thanks for the great challenge and for bringing these wonderful tarts together!

    Reply
  26. Marta says

    December 10, 2007 at 3:42 am

    This is wonderful! Lots of inspiring tarts! It’s hard to go wrong choosing one to try!
    I cannot see my entry, though.. did you receive it?

    Reply
  27. Francesco says

    December 10, 2007 at 6:21 am

    I am one of the males ….. nice collection of tart recipes!

    Reply
  28. Tartelette says

    December 11, 2007 at 5:38 am

    Great round up! As always I leave with a fullstomach and a recipe box filled with new ones! Thank you!!

    Reply
  29. Julie says

    December 11, 2007 at 3:25 pm

    What a beautiful and inspiring roundup! I’m in tart heaven. Thank you for hosting this event–I had a blast participating … with no help from my oven! ;D

    Reply
  30. Deborah Dowd says

    December 12, 2007 at 3:11 am

    Thanks for hosting and doing the roundup despite your heavy load! I had no idea there were so many delicious topless tarts in the blogosphere!

    Reply
  31. Marta says

    December 16, 2007 at 11:13 pm

    Thanks a lot for adding the tarts. Every time I look at this roundup I’m amazed at the variety of great entries!

    Reply
  32. Marta says

    December 24, 2007 at 11:39 pm

    I made the wine tart after I read through this roundup. It’s really good! Thanks Jeanne for organizing this, and Betsy for her wonderful recipe!

    Reply
  33. Spittoon Extra says

    January 5, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    The Food Traveller’s Potato Tart

    Yes Jeanne, its a savoury! Bet that surprised you! For the perplexed the lovely Cooksister set me the theme of Tarts for this months Waiter Try Out . The event alternates host between myself, Jeanne and Johanna The Passionate Cook…

    Reply
  34. Astrid says

    January 7, 2009 at 12:35 pm

    Oh dang!! I missed out on this one and I would have loved this! Aye maybe better luck next time!?

    Reply
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  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes
  • Cauliflower steak Welsh rarebit

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🌷🌷🌷 It’s tulip season in London! Every 🌷🌷🌷 It’s tulip season in London!

Everywhere you look, these long-legged floral supermodels are adding a splash of colour to parks and gardens and I just can’t get enough of them! It’s easy to see how they inspired a collective buying frenzy in 17th Century Holland, called “tulip fever”, but today there are less dramatic ways to enjoy them. Here are a couple of suggestions of where to see them at their best:

🌷 The ultimate tulipalooza is the annual opening of Keukenhof gardens outside Amsterdam where 7 million (!) bulbs burst into life each Spring. This year the gardens are open 24 March-15 May (click on the link in my bio for FAQs and my top tips for visitors)

🌷In London, Kew Gardens always has spectacular displays of tulips; but you can also see excellent and free tulips in most of the Royal Parks such as Regents Park. 

🌷The Hampton Court Palace tulip festival is on until 2 May and the Hever  Castle’s Tulip Celebrations until 24 April - both within easy reach of London.

🌷The Morges Fete de la Tulipe in Switzerland takes place every year against the spectacular backdrop of Lake Geneva - it is on until 8 May this year.

I spotted these spectacular red frilly parrot tulips beside St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday 🌹 Where is the best display of tulips that you have ever seen?
MASALCHI BY ATUL KOCHHAR - pan-Indian street food MASALCHI BY ATUL KOCHHAR - pan-Indian street food restaurant in Wembley

Remember to save this post so you can find it later! 🔖

[Invited] If you thought Brick Lane and chicken tikka masala or madras were all there is to know about the food of the Indian subcontinent, think again! In the shadow of the Wembley arch,  @chefatulkochhar has opened his first casual dining restaurant,  showcasing the rustic, spicy, diverse street foods of India. 

Highlights when I visited included:
1. Carrot halwa
2. Papdi chaat
3. Chicken 65
4. Tandoori broccoli
5. Smoky aubergine chokha
6. A snap of all our mains - you can read all about these and more in the full review on my blog - click the link in my bio or go to:
 https://www.cooksister.com/2022/04/masalchi-atul-kochhar-indian-wembley.html

What is your favourite dish from the Indian subcontinent? Let me know in the comments 🌶🌶🌶
🍒🌸 It’s cherry blossom season! 🍒🌸 T 🍒🌸 It’s cherry blossom season! 🍒🌸

There is no season in London that I love more than cherry blossom season! From March through to April, trees in various parks and gardens in London put on an amazing display of delicate pink and white blossoms - and everything in the city seems a little more magical. This particular tree near St Pauls must be among London’s most photographed, and it’s not hard to see why 💕

Did you know that...

🌸cherry blossoms are Japan’s national flower and are known as Sakura 

🌸In 1910, Japan sent the USA some cherry trees as a goodwill gesture… and the Dept of Agriculture inspectors nearly caused an international incident by burning them as they were carrying insects and diseases! But in 1915 Japan sent more cherry trees that survived the inspectors, and these marked the start of cherry trees in the USA.

🌸 Peak blossom season is usually only two to three weeks in March/April but is hard to predict as the weather and the subspecies of tree influence the timing.

🌸The cherry blossom capital of the  world is Macon, Georgia with 300,000 - 350,000 Yoshino cherry blossom trees.

🌸 There are over 200 different varieties of cherry blossom and some are purely ornamental (meaning they produce no cherries)

Where is your favourite place to see cherry blossoms in London or around the world? Let me know in the comments and happy blossom hunting! 🌸🍒🌸

#pinkpinkpink
Dyed Gwyl Dewi Hapus - that's Happy St David's Day Dyed Gwyl Dewi Hapus - that's Happy St David's Day to those of you who don't speak Welsh! 

1 March is the Welsh national day  and what better way to celebrate than surrounded by daffodils -  the Welsh national flower!

Did you know that:
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The English name "Wales" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning "foreigner" - but the country's Welsh name "Cymru" means "friends" in Welsh.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The  Welsh language Cymraeg is the oldest language in Britain, at about 4,000 years old!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 There are more castles per square mile in Wales than any other European country.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Mount Everest is named after George Everest, the Welsh surveyor who first mapped the peak on western maps.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The beautiful Menai bridge (spanning the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and mainland Wales) was the first suspension bridge in the world.

Have you ever visited Wales? What did you like most about it?
*NEW RECIPE* Barbecued salmon with blood oranges, *NEW RECIPE* Barbecued salmon with blood oranges, capers and dill. Pretty in pink 💕

[AD] Blood oranges are a small obsession of mine - from blood orange posset to blood orange and halloumi salad to blood orange & Cointreau upside down cake, I am always looking for new ways to make the most of their short season. Barbecuing them with salmon, capers and dill is a perfect match in terms of flavour as well as colour (or you can oven bake the salmon if it's not barbecue weather where you are!)

When @grahambeckuk asked me to suggest some recipes to match their wonderful Graham Beck Brut Rosé NV sparkling wine from South Africa, this was a pairing made in heaven, and wonderfully colour co-ordinated with their silver-pink bubbly. Get the full recipe and find out more about Graham Beck's sparkling wines, made using the same methods as Champagne, on my blog - link in my bio above. 

What do you like to do with blood oranges? I'd love to hear in the comments!
💘"Love yourself first and everything falls into 💘"Love yourself first and everything falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world." - Lucille Ball

Whether you are celebrating with a partner, with friends, or by yourself today, I hope most of all that you love yourself, love your body, love your strengths, love your weaknesses, and love who you are (or are becoming). Because... you're worth it!

Are you doing anything celebratory today? Let me know in the comments 💘💘💘

(The beautiful street art is London Hearts by @akajimmyc)
📸: @girl_travelsworld
Would you believe me if I told you this is NOT a p Would you believe me if I told you this is NOT a picture of a Moorish palace, a castle or a cathedral? And that you can get to it from central London in under an hour?

This is Crossness Pumping Station @crossnesset , a Grade I listed heritage site and one of London's last remaining magnificent Victorian sewage (!) pumping stations in Abbey Wood near Rainham. 

Did you know that...

💩 You can visit the building on monthly open days - the next one is Sun 20 Feb. Book at www.crossness.org.uk

💩  It was only in 1856, after 3 major cholera outbreaks in 30 years and the Big Stink when the stench of London's sewage finally reached Parliament, that construction of an intercepting sewer system for the city was approved.  The system (parts of which are still in use today) was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer of London's Board of Metropolitan Works at the time.

💩  At Crossness, all London's sewage from south of the river was was raised by 9-12 metres to large reservoirs so that gravity would cause it to flow further east and into the Thames estuary. (Yes, until the 1880s, raw sewage was simply pumped into the Thames!)

💩 The incoming liquid was raised by the four enormous steam driven pumps, built to Joseph Bazalgette's design. The pumps were named Victoria, Prince Consort, Albert Edward, and Alexandra. They are thought to be the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world, with 52-ton flywheels and 47-ton beams. 

💩 The pumping station was decommissioned and abandoned in the 1950s but declared a listed building in 1970.  Although all 4 beam engines remain in place, they were so damaged that today (thanks to the efforts of the Crossness Engines Trust) only Prince Consort has been restored to working condition and can be seen in action on open days.

💩 The exuberant and colourful wrought ironwork inside is the amazing work of architect Charles Henry Driver. My favourite detail is the fact that the pillars in the central atrium are topped with stylised figs and senna pods... two of nature's greatest natural laxatives 🤣
*NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta ch *NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts

Ever noticed how you are affected by colours? 🌈

Maybe some colours make you agitated and some make you relaxed. Or maybe you find yourself inexplicably attracted to a particular colour (oh, hi teal and aqua!💙). On the basis that all colours have a wavelength, and that those outside the visible spectrum can affect us, it makes sense that the colours we see can affect our mood or even our physiology. Did you know for instance that exposure to red light can increase your blood pressure and heart rate? Are there any colours that you find yourself particularly attracted to or affected by?

The pretty colours of these roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts will be the first things that attract you to this dish - but it is the delicious combination of flavours and textures that will keep you coming back for more!

The recipe (and more about how colour affects us mentally and physically) is now live on my blog - click the live link in my profile and remember to like and bookmark this post to see more Cooksister in your Instagram feed ❤️
Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something.

Perspective is the one thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has given us plenty of. It has certainly made us re-evaluate what is truly important, and also what we did and didn't enjoy about our lives  before the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. It made me appreciate how much happiness my house, my job, my friends, my own company and my running bring to my life (and how fortunate I am to have all these things). But it also brought home how much I enjoy and miss travel, the theatre, and the luxury of reataurant visits at the drop of a hat. I don't think words can describe my joy at sipping the first coffee purchased from a coffee shop in summer 2020 as lockdown eased. It's the little things...

One of the things I have enjoyed and will not miss as the world creeps back to normality is the absence of crowds in what is usually a crowded city. On the occasions that I have been in central London since the start of the pandemic, streets have been blissfully empty and it has felt as if I were discovering my city anew. This glorious perspective (hah!) of St Paul's Cathedral normally requires a long wait while a queue of tourists and "influencers" ahead of you pose for photos - but on this glorious day last Spring it was almost deserted. I will miss that...

Is there anything you will miss as Covid-19 restrictions start to be lifted?
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli
Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts

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