Meet the bakers - Ankita Saxena Sinha

Mummalicious - now even the sound of it is so delicious and droolworthy, don't you think!

Meet Ankita of Mummalicious - vegan, sugar-free, egg-less, alcohol - you name it, it's available here.

Excerpts:

D: Have you started retailing yet? Would you like to do that in future?
A: Not at the moment but Oh yes, I will retail in the next 2-3 years. I should have gotten the necessary skills by then.

D: How's HBG and the showcase helping you?
A: HBG has given me a platform for both sorting out problems by asking other fellow bakers and also an appreciative and cheering audience. Its tough to imagine how I would have progressed without HBG. Thanks again to Bala and Nanditha for this platform.

D: What's your specialty?
A: Cupcakes & decorations are my USP. Trust me when I say that I have started serious baking less than a year ago. (Now that's hard to believe, ain't it?)

D: Where do you source your ingredients from?
A: I generally get it from Bangalore and Delhi, especially the sprinklers, liners etc. The accessories and decorative stuff come from the US or the UK.

D: What do you plan to bring for us on 1st?
A: I am planning to bring cake, a few cupcakes (vegan cupcake, one hot surprise and at least 2 more varieties) cheesecakes & savories (cheese & bacon savories). With a 2-year old daughter most of my baking is accomplished only when she is sleeping, i.e. between 11pm and 6am. So starting from an ambitious plan of several things I am not yet sure how much I will be able to finally make.

When I asked her what exactly got her into baking, this is what Ankitha had to say - My journey onto cake decoration started with an incident I witnessed at 2nd birthday party of a dear friend's son. They had ordered a really beautiful and expensive farm themed fondant cake. While the cake was really beautiful and tasty the fondant covering was rubbery and weird in taste. So all guests were removing this fondant as if it was a wrapper and eating the cake. This started my quest for perfecting edible decorations – which are both delicious and beautiful.

Good luck Ankitha and see you on Saturday!

Dieter's Delight - Stuffed Zucchini

Yeah, it's the same zucchini I'd picked from Gormei Market last weekend and it was wilting away in the fridge. I wanted to make some salad with it, and found a recipe too, but the sudden craving for upma last night pushed this to the background.

And this morning, as I was sipping the coffee, I saw Cheryl's post on HBG about making bread using the pressure cooker. I was looking through the website and then found this cute little zucchini recipe and I knew what I should do for dinner.

So here's how this is made. I made some alterations from the original.

Slice the zucchini into thick pieces (about 4 cm tall, I made them taller, my bad!) and scoop out the innards, leaving some at the bottom to serve as the base. Finely chop some beans and carrots. Add some olive oil in the cooker, add the minced garlic, zuzzhini innards, carrots and beans and cook well. (Alternatively you can cook this in the microwave, which is what I did).

Stuff the mixture in the zucchini.

Meantime, finely chop an onion and tomato. Add some olive oil in the pressure cooker, add the onion, tomato, some basil leaves and half cup of water. Cook for a couple of minutes. If you have a steamer, place that in the cooker, arrange the stuffed zucchini in that. If not, pour the onion tomato mixture along with the water inside a pan, and arrange the zucchini in that. (The idea is for the zucchini to absorb the flavor of the reduction). Add half cup water inside the pressure cooker. (You don't need to do this if you use a steamer). Cook on high pressure for about 5 minutes (without whistle. I did 3, and felt that this needed a little more cooking. That said, I loved the texture of the zucchini at 3 mins, crunchy yet soft. On second thoughts, may be one or two whistles could have done the trick)

Transfer to a plate and have fun! (Psst: I also did crumble some low fat feta cheese over it)

Recipe Source: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/2010/08/stuffed-zucchini-on-tomato-bed.html

Meet the bakers - Heena Awasthi

On today's feature, we meet someone who always likes to do it sweet, Heena Awasthi. (Interestingly, or should I say ironically, her page also features a recipe for garam masala ;-) ) Heena has been trying her hand at baking for about 5 years now. (This is perhaps the shortest blog ever, Heena answering my questions crisp and to the point :-))

Excerpts:


D:  Do you retail yet? What are your future plans?
HA: No, not yet. But if opportunity comes I might like to give it try. As of now my hands are full with orders, baking & cooking classes.

D: How is HBG and the showcase helping you, as a home baker?
HA: I must start by thanking Bala for creating such a beautiful platform, where bakers and loads of amateur bakers share their work and queries. There is so much to learn on HBG. This showcase will surely provide us a larger audience and more visibilty.

D: What's your speciality?
HA: I specialize in egg-less bakes, mousse cakes, Fresh fruit Gateau, Chocolate based Tarts & Cakes and fondant toppers.

D: What's your theme for this showcase?
HA: I plan to bring some Ferrero Rocher Cake, assorted pack of tartlets. The rest is a surprise.

D: Where do you source your ingredients from?
HA: I source them from wholesalers in Delhi and Bangalore

Heena wishes to have her own garden kitchen some day, with all the fancy gadgets! (Let me know when you get that done, would so love to see that, knowing I can never have one of my own). She also wants to undergo professional training to add new dimensions to her skills. (Do we see a future Cordon Bleu student here?)


Good luck Heena and May all your dreams come true. See you at the showcase!

Dieter's Delight - Broccoli all the way!

Tonight's dinner - courtesy Gormei Market - Yeah I'd picked up the broccoli when I was there for the Easy cooking workshop by Sara Koshy :) It was an exhausting day at work and with the wretched traffic, I made it home really late.

So tonight's dinner is an amazingly easy to make soup and salad, with minimal ingredients.

The soup recipe is by Gordon Ramsay (Sunil - I made the soup finally and you may now call me D Gordon Iyer :-) )

Add bite sized pieces of broccoli in salted boiling water, and let cook until tender. (Pierce a knife through it and you'll know). Transfer the broccoli to a blender. Add the stock (about half the quantity) and blend well. Taste, and season as required. And yay, we are done. Drizzle a little olive oil and while you eat the soup, here's how you make the salad.

I'd read this recipe a few years ago and have been making it quite often. Perhaps my most favorite broccoli salad. Boil broccoli as above, except, let it be a tad crunchy. Finely chop garlic and ginger. Saute in high heat for under 2 minutes, until the aroma is released. Add the broccoli & a little salt, and stir fry for a minute or two until the garlic and ginger blend well with the broccoli. For the dressing, in about 3 tsp of sesame oil, add about 8 drops of soy sauce, mix well and drizzle over the salad. Toss well and serve.

Meet the bakers - Charmaine Saldanha

A freelance corporate communications specialist for large MNCs, mother of 2 teenagers, craft specialist, a baker (for about 30 years now), meet the charming Charmaine Saldanha

Excerpts

D: Where do you showcase your goodies?
CS: I put everything up on my FB page - charmaine.saldanha.  I do this business from home, with a friend of mine, Louella Sequeira.
 
D: I saw those little ivory buds you'd made. How did you ship them to Australia?
CS: The rose buds were for a bride in Australia.  Her mother was making the cake and had made ivory roses and orange lillies and they needed ivory rose buds as fillers.  The bride and her mother were on a brief visit to Bangalore as this is where they lived till 12 years ago.  They carried the rose buds back with them.

D: What do you specialize in?  
CS: My specialty is my Rich Plum Cake.  This is made with my grandmother's recipe - so this is a third generation recipe!  The fruit is all cut by hand and the cakes are baked at home - 4 at a time.  This year I plan to make 500 cakes.  Friends who live in the US and UK get their friends to carry back cakes for them, so every year about 10 cakes go overseas.  In addition I get regular orders from people in Mumbai and Delhi and Blue Dart carries the cakes.


We have a wide array of baked goods as well as other stuff.  I make wine too and in fact am currently trying to promote wine and sandwich spread hampers that people can gift - rather than the usual bouquet of flowers or bar of chocolate -  especially when they are invited out for a meal. I have an array of 5 low-cal sandwich spreads in addition to other spreads and plan to launch flavoured butters soon.


D: How is HBG and the showcase helping you as a home baker?  
CS: HBG is giving me a wider audience for my goodies.  It is also turning out to be a wonderful, generous forum on which bakers are sharing tips and knowhow.  I hope it stays that way.

D: Where do you source your ingredients from?  
CS: My USP for most of my goods is good, wholesome, homemade food, reasonably priced and so I dont use too many exotic ingredients.  I source my ingredients and packaging from wholesalers.  I make things in small quantities to preserve the quality.

Charmaine says that her mother is an adventurous baker who relies more on smell and taste than following a recipe, while she tends to follow a recipe a little more, though instinct plays a large role.  

She just finished making a string lampshade, to replace a Warli lamp shade that she'd made a couple of years ago.  Her previous craft project was to make a patchwork bedspread using material left over from the cotton kurtas she'd made for herself over the years. She stitches some of her own clothes as well. (Do you take orders on these craft projects? I might be interested :-) )

Her daughter, Nina, seems to have a talent for needlework and has now developed quite an interest in baking.  Her son, Nikhil, too is very happy to experiment in the kitchen.

So the trio spends quite some happy moments in the kitchen.

Look forward to seeing you at the showcase! Cheers!

Masterclass with Sarah Koshy

As CFG continues to innovate and provide more workshops, especially after the super success of The Great Biriyani Workout Cookout, the easy cooking with Sara Koshy was more than welcome. This workshop, in association with one of my favorite stores in Chennai, Gormei Market, turned out to be exactly as I thought it would be.

If you are a big fan of Masterchef Australia, and have drooled over Masterclass and the unlimited pantry,  then, Sarah's class is a must. Limited participants, unlimited pantry and a class chef who is patient to enough answer the queries, live cooking, tasting sessions and interactions with other participants - it was absolutely worthy of a Saturday afternoon.

A three-course easy-to-cook menu was on the cards - cream of mushroom soup, fresh vegetable salad and pasta.

Sarah explained the process of making the soup and we all gathered around to take a peek into the saucepan. The soup was done in about 25 minutes, it was poured into small cups for us to taste. The milk that was used for the soup is organic cow's milk, and has a shelf life of 2-3 days (if frozen). This is procured from Erode, as Sriram explained, and is completely pure and non-pasteurized. After the milk is extracted from the cow, it is directly packed and shipped. This has to be boiled before consumption. Bhoomi milk is priced at Rs 28, for a 500 ml pack.

Next on course was the pasta. The vegetables were cut and ready for use. Pasta was poured into boiling water, and a learning here was to not add oil when the pasta is cooking. Sarah says the sauce wouldn't stick on to the pasta if oil is added. And the 8-10 min al-dente time starts not when the pasta is dumped into the pot, but when the water is in a rolling-boil mode.

Simultaneously the salad was getting ready; Fresh cut vegetables & lettuce leaves drying between layers of tissues were inviting. As Sarah said, do not chop the lettuce with a knife, because it tends to cut all the cells and turn it black. Gently tear it off with your hands. Salad dressing was made with apple cider vinegar, mustard and some olive oil.

As usual, the dishes were set in bowls so the shutter-bugs could satisfy their photo-craving and before the tummy started growling, the plates were passed around.

A great session, some good learning & tasting and not to mention the shopping post the class - all part of a bigger plan I say :-)

This is one class that you should not miss. Keep watching the space at CFG for announcements.

Update: Here's the video of the event (copyright - CFG, shot by Mohamed Ali)

Dieter's Delight - Mushroom Mint Salad

It has been a crazy day; How else would you term a day when the carpenter is on full swing, cutting, sawing and drilling, and you can barely enter the house without being showered with sawdust! So yes, I was getting some shelves fixed and that's a 2 day job! Sigh

It was past 8 pm by the time these guys left, and I was hungry. There was a sly temptation to order out - a million thoughts running through my mind - Dominoes is right next door! Or should I call Mast Kalandar (they are 2 km away), or should I call Yo Potato or may be a peta wrap!

And then, I could hear the mind's mocking laugh! To shut it up and not feel guilty, decided to rustle up something quick!

The mushrooms should be used by today, so I chopped them up, set them on the pan, on low heat, along with some lemon juice and salt. Cook covered for about 10 minutes. Let cool and drain the water.

Meantime, finely chop a handful of mint and some coriander. Roughly chop some cucumber. Deseed tomato and roughly chop that too. Toss everything together; add some yoghurt, and we are done :-)

And this is the new entrant in my kitchen - magnetic knife holder :-). (Thanks to S, it sure matches the color of the decor)

Dieter's Delight - Dal Kichdi

Yes I am on a diet, notwithstanding the fact that I dined at Crimson Chakra tonight. I had soup and dessert (the elaneer souffle, of course; too bad I couldn't resist this one) and I didn't miss my workout. (And I stepped into Gormei Market to say hello to Sriram and he goes - 'I thought you were on a diet?')

This is one of my all time favorite one-pot dish. Absolutely easy to make and tastes pretty good. The below recipe is a variation of the Gujarati Kichdi (served usually with kadhi, achar and roasted papad). Kichdi is a comfort casserole, more like our paruppu sadham or pongal, but loaded with the goodness of dal and vegetables.

This recipe serves 1.5 people ;-)

Wash and soak half cup of moong dal, about 2 tsp rice and a few tsp of masoor dal (red lentils).

Chop vegetables of your choice - typically onion, potato, cabbage, beans, carrot & peas. Saute them in a teeny bit of oil, along with some cumin, one bay leaf (optional), some cloves (optional), salt, 1 chopped green chilli, a pinch of red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and some turmeric. I also added the left over sprouts & mushroom mixture from last night's dinner.

Now, add all this to one big pot, add about 2 1/4 cups of water, some salt and pressure cook for about 7 - 8 whistles or more. I keep in the electric cooker for 30 mins. Let it rest for a while. Mix (or should I say mash) well and garnish with finely chopped coriander.

Can be served as is, or with raita or achar / papad / vegetables.

Suggested serving: Add a tsp of ghee over the kichdi and watch it melt away into the gaps and make the dish yummier by leaps and bounds ;-) And that's my lunch box in the picture! 

Dieter's Delight - Lemon Coriander Soup and Stuffed Mushrooms

Day 3 of intensive cooking and dieting and working out and it has been a success. With the taste buds suddenly craving for mushroom, I'd decided to make lemon coriander soup and some stuffed mushrooms for dinner.

I finished prep and cooking in under 45 minutes, and in between some cleaning as well. So, that's how easy this is.

This soup recipe serves 1 (Adapted from Tarla Dalal Healthy Soups and Salads)

Boil about 500 ml of water, along with some chopped carrots, lemon grass (I used the dried variety), roughly chopped onions, some pepper corns, a few mint leaves, a teeny bit of salt, and some ginger. Boil this for about 15- 20 mins, on simmer, until the aroma is released and the broth is flavorful. Strain and set aside.

Chop some mushrooms, cabbage, spring onions (save the green for garnish later), carrots and saute in a teeny weeny bit of oil. To this add salt, and add the broth. Cook on simmer until the the vegetables are tender yet slightly crunchy. Add plenty coriander, the green of the spring onions, and a liberal dosage of lemon (depending on how tangy you like it - remember there's already some lemongrass in there).

Meanwhile, boil some sprouts in a microwave, on high for 5 minutes. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stem. Dry the mushrooms on a clean kitchen towel. Chop the stems & some onions. Saute on high heat for a few seconds; To this add the boiled sprouts, and some salt. Saute until they mix well. Add chopped coriander and mint. Brush the mushrooms with a little olive oil (remember mushrooms let out a lot of water, and they usually are basted), stuff the sprout mix inside the mushrooms. You can either bake them in the oven (if you are the lucky one and own an oven) or put them on a pan, on low heat, until it's cooked through but doesn't fall apart. (Or microwave on high for about 4 minutes, making sure the heat is even across all the pieces - that means you need to keep checking at regular intervals)


I made some mint yoghurt dip to go along with this (but that's not in the picture because I was in a hurry to eat and the picture was shot when the mushrooms were cooking).

Dieter's Delight - Vegetable Stir Fry Clear Soup

The dieter's delight series will continue with tonight's dinner.

After some cardio and weights, and some unscheduled customer calls (which I didn't take too kindly to), I was terribly hungry and quickly put together this soup. (Adapted from Tarla Dalal Healthy Soups and Salads book)

Finely slice capsicum, cabbage (I used the white and purple variety, for the dash of color) and spring onions.
Grind together a bulb of garlic and a green chilli.
Heat a sauce pan, with a little oil. Add the chilli garlic paste and saute on high heat for a few seconds, just until the aroma is released.
Add the vegetables, salt and stir fry. (I learnt to do this without the ladle :-))
Pour about 2 cups of hot water, squeeze a few drops of lemon and let it boil for a few minutes, until the flavor spreads through. Just throw in some chopped coriander and we are done!

The broth is extremely flavorful (and perhaps can be used as stock for other soups), and the vegetables were crispy - just like how a stir fry should be.

Meet the bakers - Vibha Gupta

Vibha sent me a note with a sad smiley, asking if I had forgotten her and why I hadn't written to her! That's when I realized my bakers were taking this blog super seriously and notwithstanding my writer's block and illness, I wrote to her. :-) (and it was so lovely to read whatever she had written, that my fingers were simply playing on the keyboard. And that her daughter clicked Send even before she could finish the email, is another story :P)

Meet the mother, wife, daughter-in-law, sister, daughter, friend, home manager and an agony aunt - Vibha Gupta of Sugarcraft.


D: What prompted you to start Sugar craft?
VG: I like to celebrate every small and big thing in my life and in the lives of people around me. Be it in making and presenting food (even a simple breakfast or snack), home decor, dressing up my daughter, painting or even expressing my anger (how can someone creatively express anger? Vibha - please let me know, I am sure people at home would be happy ;-)) Sugar crafting came to me when I found that its the perfect way of expressing absolutely anything on a cake. It brings such joy to the eyes and makes the person almost re-live experiences and create memories that can last for a life time. My philosophy in life is "why should any thing be boring when it can be beautiful? "

D: Have you been retailing? If not, future plans?
VG: I have been making cakes on special orders and collaborating with others in the cake business and creating for them sugar craft cake accessories to better their cake expressions.I spend time with the clients understanding what they want and like their cake to be.I definitely dream to have a bakery of my own. I will get there in time.

D: As a home baker, how's HBG and showcase helping you grow?
VG: HBG is the most amazing thing that has come out of Facebook for me after me finding my long lost friends. A page which has it all - bakers who share the same amount of passion and oodles more, the friendliness in sharing recipes and helping one another. It's like an extended family that is there to guide support and even mentor you regardless of how simple or complex the problem is. The concept is beautiful and an extremely successful one. Three Cheers to Bala & Nanditha.

D: 100 butterflies and 100 doves? - what was that for? :) must have been exhausting? How did you manage?
VG: That was for a baker friend of mine, helping her make her yummy creations even more beautiful. She so wisely said you do what you do best and I will do what I do best :-). After all out sourcing has become ubiquitous  ;-)

D: What difficulties do you face while making these intricate designs? I am sure you need tremendous concentration, with what the non stop phone calls, someone at the door and all that?
VG: My workspace is my dining table and kitchen. I have soothing music on almost all the time while crafting. I usually work at night once I have put my daughter and hubby to bed. It's the best time of the day or should I say night? They are fast asleep and I can focus totally. Also no phone calls & thankfully no doorbells too at night. Difficulties is the weather at times but an AC and adjustment in the recipe carries me through.

Her daughter is the first to taste the gum paste for the craft. Vibha gives a little of the gum paste to her daughter for crafting, and more often than not, it ends up directly in the little one's tummy.

That peacock in the picture was freehand design, made for a client's mom's 60th :-)

See you soon at the showcase and all the very best!

Dieter's Delight - Grilled Paneer on a bed of sprouts

I have tried lots of ways to lose weight, but what really helped me are eating right and working out right. Having said that, it's not easy to eat right and work out always. There have been pangs of emotional eating, raiding the fridge at midnight (like Nigella - oh she has such a negative impact on weight loss), eating because you go out in a group and you can't help resist temptation (yeah OMG did that to me) and then the bakers shower their love on you by baking these wonderful cakes and you can't help but indulge. 

And suddenly, I've been seeing too many posts on weight loss and a friend also remarked that I'd gained weight :-( So, it's back to basics - firing it away on the treadmill, combined with lots of reps of Surya Namaskar, a zero-carb high-protein dinner and a bit of weight training to balance out the cardio. And Green tea with mint and a dash of lemon :-)

For a vegetarian like me, protein options are limited. Tofu (I really don't like this much), Soy milk, Sprouts and Paneer are easily available and some of the best choices when it comes to eating tasty and healthy food. 

So here's tonight's dinner

Boil sprouts in a microwave (for about 5 minutes on high). Let it cool.

Add finely chopped onions, green chillies, mint and coriander.

Add some salt to taste.

I have a taken recent liking to green tabasco. So I added a couple of drops of that.

Mix well. Rest for a few minutes.

Meantime, slice the paneer into long strips. Brush with some olive oil. I added some chilli flakes, mint, coriander and salt. (I used my MR sandwich maker, dumped these strips in there and let them grill, turning them over at regular intervals)

That's it and we are done. Happy dieting. (Warning: Do not watch Nigella's show when you eat this. I loved the coconut ice-cream she made today and was looking at my bowl of salad and shaking my head in disbelief)

Meet the Bakers - Sini

A mother to two lovely daughters, wife to a caring & supportive husband, a child of God, a chauffeur, a nurse, a musician and a baker for you - Ladies and Gentlemen - Meet Sini of Homemade Delite.

Excerpts:

D: You started Homemade delite in 2008. How long have you been baking for? What was the catalyst that prompted you to start this as a business?
Sini: As the proverb says the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, my first baking experiment was on my would-be husband and the proverb turned to be true.  But I grew up in a family where my father, mother and sisters bake. I wouldn't be the baker I am if it wasn't for my baking substitution queen, Mrs.Waldock, the constant encouragement from the Frazier family, Swati and my supportive family. None of the cakes leave home without my family critiquing.


D: What is your specialty?
Sini: Right now ,Theme cakes

D: Where do you source your ingredients from?
Sini: For a simple cake everything locally and for decorating abroad.

D: What do you think is the most difficult cake you've ever baked?
Sini: The first try on anything new is generally difficult and it would not be an understatement that my first order was the most difficult attempt - it was an 8 kg chocolate cake and while decorating I had a panic attack and it was my husband who did the frosting for the cake and I just sat there and watched him.

D: How do you think HBG and the showcase helps you as a home baker?
Sini: HBG has become a platform for me to learn and share the trade and it does help when everyone talks the same language. This showcase I'm hoping will help the home bakers like me to give a good exposure and build up network.

D: What do you plan to bring to the showcase?
Sini: Homemade delite's goodies that'll delight everyone's taste buds! :-)

Can't wait to try your angry birds cake, Sini. I do hope you are bringing that to the showcase. Thank you so much for offering to bake something when I was down. I am so touched. :-) 

See you at the showcase and good luck! Cheers!

Nungambakkam Round up - Veekes and Thomas + Sandys

When Sathish Kumar RS started a thread to check out OMG at Sandys, little did we realize it'd turn out to be such a wonderful evening. We decided to do an early sampling at Veekes and Thomas, Haddows Lane. Veekes and Thomas is chain of restaurants specializing in European cuisine. The Chennai Franchise is run by a 4th year Comp Sci Engineering student from Anna University - Vidhya Abirami Iyer. Her dad has been a big source of encouragement for her to venture into something like this. Her brother and SIL help manage this place.

The ambience is good; eco-friendly too!

Veekes and Thomas is absolute value for money. The broccoli cheese nuggets were delightful, crispy on the outside and soft and tender inside. I could see the green of the broccoli inside. The spaghetti summer salad was a little high on vinegar and a tad sour for my liking. The unordered bruschetta landed on the table; we almost sent it back, but then decided to give it a go. The tomatoes were well chopped. Other than that, this is not the best that I've had.

Finally, the much awaited dish arrived - the ratatouille. Everyone had different images in their heads, especially after watching the movie by the same name. I'd already eaten this dish in many other places and had a very specific image in my head. This was a let down. Too tomato-ey and the flavors weren't too right. It was almost as if we ate vegetables dipped in tomato sauce. It's usually served with herbed rice, but here the rice was plain. There were no other accompaniments to this.

The 4 dishes put together cost us INR 500. While this place IS value for money, the taste needs to go a few notches higher.

After all this, we went to Sandy's. Now, this needs no introduction. So let's get straight to what we ate. OK, we all ate spoonfuls of heaven. Totally orgasmic, I suppose that's why Sandy named it OMG? ;-) Priced at 1100, this is 2.2 kg of dessert lovers' delight.

6 (600ml) scoops of ice-cream - vanilla and chocolate, 300 ml of sauce - Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Caramel, 200 ml whipped cream, 3 cookies, 2 brownies and 1 tiny cake constitutes this bliss.

A dramatic entrance with fireworks is exactly how this one made its way to our table, with the entire Sandy's looking on curiously! 

An inside view of Sandy's kitchen. The Lavazza, combi oven, and the sous-chef in action!

Overall, a satisfied and calorific evening and gearing up for an hour's running tomorrow morning to burn off all these! :-)