The Sugar Bar

First, a big thank you to Forever Better, Míele’s PR Company, for inviting me to this event and another thank you to Cherry (she and Lauren liases with the invitees) who is the sweetest person ever. I’m glad I could make it down to the BBC Good Food Show this time round as I had deadlines to meet last year and missed out on all the great foodie shows and tastings. After Saturday, I’m tempted to book my tickets for the next Good Food Show in the Birmingham NEC come summer as that promises to be an even more taste-blowing event.

An experience never to be forgotten and one I’ll always remember by from the puddings we tasted, one of which I was unable to get a photograph of because my camera decided to give up on me shortly before we sampled it. [*I do apologise for that. If I'd been more prepared for low battery, I would have more pictures on of the other things I sampled and stalls visited] But I’ll get to the food we nommed on for lunch later.

There was much going on with the Masterchef Theatre, the Cookery Experience, the Invention Test and all the time, celeb chefs like James Martin, Michel Roux Jr, Theo Randall, etc. were bouncing back and forth between these shows. On the main stall floor, the famous Harumi Kurihara was giving live demonstrations; sushi academy masterclasses, kitchen knife skills by Marianne Lumb (who we bumped into in the ladies!!), sugar roses classes by Phil Usher, cupcakes classes by Squire’s Kitchen and even duck carving were amongst the activities or classes you could take part in. So much to see, so much to sample, so much to enjoy – it’s no wonder the BBC Good Food Show was spread over 3 days 13-15th November. As much as I enjoyed the whole day-out at the Olympia Grand Hall soaking up this splendid experience, I was sorry that there was too much to do within a single day and unfortunately missed quite a few exciting classes like the cupcake and sugar roses demos.

Nonetheless, I was thrilled to have seen the Masterchef hosts John Torode and Gregg Wallace. They are hilarious! So were the Plenty ladies Brenda and Audrey who were right mental! And the previous winners from Masterchef – Steve Groves (whom I adore to pieces) and Mat Follas were there at the Invention Test as judges. A surprise last contestant was James Martin, who appeared a few minutes late much to everyone’s delight. A giant roar from the audience, a squeal from both Anne of Anne’s Kitchen and Sunita of Sunita’s World, (and I’m so glad I finally got to meet these 2 gorgeous foodbloggers! A little starstruck but they were so sweet and easy-going) and an unashamed catcall from yours truly. What? That man’s so loveable and dishy, if a tad bit chubby.

Andi Peters interviewing Steve Groves & Mat Follas

Invention Test was a joy to watch and many of the contestants whipped up – in a stressful 30minutes – some very tasty looking dishes from prawn curry, to vietnamese-inspired pancake to a hearty penna pasta dish using the key ingredients given to them: prawns, pork, pears, etc. Anne, Sunita and I had cowardly turned down the invitation. Being stared at whilst cooking, cooking under a blinding spotlight, cooking against the clock and knowing that this is a competition would’ve gotten to me. Something bad would’ve happened – like setting my hair on fire, scalding everyone around me, chopping a finger off. It wouldn’t be pretty and the whole event might end with a heart attack and me being rushed to the hospital in a half-charred state. I don’t do well under pressure when it comes to the kitchen and small working spaces. But at the end of the show, Sunita was having regrets of not having accepted the challenge and blimey, do I adore her more for it! What a gutsy foodie! I shall need to learn to be more courageous like her.

Plenty ladies Brenda & Audrey having a laugh

As much as I had a great time with the Masterchef Invention Test, what totally made my day was wondering about all the stalls, especially the Great Taste Awards section. So let’s have a look at some of the stalls we visited. There were too many stalls to see, both on the ground level and the floor up. We certainly didn’t get to look at everything but what we did see, we liked very much!

Crabbies 4% alcohol Ginger Beer – this is great. Very crisp and refreshing. Perfect with a slice of lemon. You can find this in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and even your local Wetherspoon’s most likely! These were going for 3 bottles for a fiver and The Angel in Islington will offer you it for nearly £3 a bottle. I’d definitely be getting this for summertime barbies and I’m tempted to get a bottle of this for ginger beer battered fish and chips. Savvy?

Rachel’s Organic Yoghurt – I’ve always try to keep a tub of Rachel’s Greek Yoghurt with Honey or the Rhubarb Yoghurt in my fridge as they taste so good, one of the creamiest low fat yoghurts available in shops and are a great way to jazz up a fruit medley pudding. The new toffee & milk chocolate flavours are great. Toffee is a real winner and doesn’t have that sickly weird colour that toffee “flavoured” yoghurts usually do. A hefty creamy white yoghurt, yum yum.

Tropical Sun’s plantain chips – my first time tasting plantain and I really liked them! Good crunch, looked like banana chips but without the sweetness of it. Very more-ish.

Kikkoman and some live cooking demos – available is Kikkoman’s range of sauces, soy sauces, marinades and a counter for demos. Unfortunately, we just missed it and didn’t get to taste any of the teriyaki chicken that were snapped up in a flash.

Laverstock Park Farm and their offerings of buffalo burgers, ice cream, mozzarella cheese and lagers – you can find most of their products in Waitrose and I’ll definitely be popping into my local Waitrose for the mozzarella made from water buffalo milk. The creamiest, softest and most delicate oozy mozzarella that still holds up well. The buffalo milk is supposed to make this mozzarello firmer but not too firm. I like this a lot! And you’ll be pleased to know that their products are free-range as their buffalos have had a great life grazing on open pastures except in the cold winter.

Eudoro’s porchetta, prosciutto and cheeses – quality meats here are food porn at its best. The cheeses are beautiful to look at and Anne had a taste of the gargonzola. I would’ve loved to takeaway a porchetta panini for dinner that night but somehow backed out. Why did I do such a silly thing?! Regrets.

Yum Yum Tree Fudge – beautiful handmade fudge from Suffolk made from British sugar in a wide range of creative flavours like chili chocolate, lime & coconut, cappucino, lavender, mint chocolate, lemon bon bon, raspberry, etc. Check out their website for more at www.yumyumtreefudge.com

Ethiopian Coffee Company – we didn’t get any coffee although I bet we needed it, surely. This stall smelt amazing.

There were too many stalls to visit in just a day and too much eating and gawking!

•••

Our Restaurant Experience lunch in tapas-sized portions. Restaurants at the show were the Blue Elephant, Roast, Café Spice Namaste, Launceston Place, Skylon, Boxwood Cafe, Theo Randall at The InteContinental, Min Jiang (a new comer to the GFS), Urban Caprice and the MasterChef Restaurant featuring dishes from winners Thomasina Miers, Steven Groves, James Nathan and Mat Follas.

Theo Randall at The InterContinental: Cape Sante – Panfried Scallops with Pancetta, Red Chili, Rocket & Lentils

The Masterchef Restaurant: Mat Follas’s Lavender Mousse with Hokey Pokey and Berry Sauce

The Masterchef Restaurant: James Nathan’s Chocolate & Orange Sponge Pudding

My Shopping Haul:

I love fudge. I think Sunita got 2 bags for her family. I got 1 for a lemon-fanatic friend who was visiting that evening and 3 for myself. Who’s greedy?

Yum Yum Tree Fudge: A medley of flavours – lavender, mint chocolate, lemon bon bon

Mr. Vikki’s Tomato & Nigella chutney, Plum-infused Sake, WARRE’s 10 year tawny Port, Fruits of the Forest Balsamic Glaze

WARRE’s port wine was very impressive, especially the 25 year aged vintage but going at £25 a pop, I wasn’t too eager to split with that kind of money despite the port being very rich, dark and smooth. Hey! It’s the recession. We gotta be wise about things like that, eh. I settled for the 10 year aged that was also very lovely but going for only a tenner! Whey. Talk about Diva doing bargain shopping.

At Apulia Blends stall, I was blown away by their selection of extra virgin olive oils, the apple balsamic vinegar and the fruity glazes. I do love a good balsamic vinegar but I’ve never ever bothered with balsamic glaze. A taste and I was sold. Tempt me with ideas of pouring these glazes on ice cream – I’m sold even more. This forest fruit one was going for £6.50 a bottle which in my opinion, is worth every penny. The shocking thing, however, was that I found the same bottle at the Shoreditch Food Hall just round the corner from my pad being sold for a quid cheaper. Who knew?

Really delicious apple balsamic vinegar at nearly £12/bottle

I’m a loyal customer of Japan Centre as they have the best and biggest range of Japanese groceries I could possibly ever need away from home. Part of the Oishi JAPAN exhibition by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries participants, I was happy to find them plugging a good couple of bottles of sake amongst other kuramotos (sake makers). Tasted some very nice junmai daiginjo, a citrus flavoured sake, some sochu and this wonderful plum-infused sake I couldn’t resist. I love my sake warm and drinking it traditionally from those cute wooden square boxes is always a treat but this plum-infused baby was very lovely drunk cold.

And what about the chutney? There were many stalls selling chutney and it was hard to choose what to taste and where to taste but Mr Vikki’s caught out eye with their huge array of bottle reds (and I mean chutney, not wine). Arranged from the mildest to the hottest, we were glad we started at the bottom of the range in heat – Tomato & Nigella. I do love spicy chutneys but I’m not great at taking the heat as I dislike the tongue-numbing sensation after which always worries me that I’m losing my tastebuds! The guys at Mr Vikki’s were very friendly and my favourites were the Tomato & Nigella and Chili Jam. And to top it all, they were part of the Great Taste Awards section. Winners they are.

I had a great time with Sunita and Anne! The BBC Good Food Show totally made my weekend although I was so knackered after like never before. Took me all of Sunday to spring back to my normal self. I’ve also started writing down a few recipes I’ll be testing with the new ingredients I’ve got so do come visit again for more exciting posts! I have some sweets and main dishes up my sleeve in the coming weeks to come.

Hope everyone had a fab weekend. Have a good week ahead and only 11 days to London Food Blogger Connect!

Always looking and envying and never doing it myself, I thought it was about time I got involved in the famous Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24. And I did!

Because ‘24, 24, 24’ is a global food event covering 24 meals on 24 blogs in 24 hours, tasting Italian-accented modern cuisine in the heart of the busy, cosmopolitan and stylish London city’s Mayfair seemed like the perfect idea. Dinner is a special event and amongst my girlfriends and I, it is a wonderful ritual comprising getting excited, getting dressed up, and savouring the eating moments and banter. It is a time where our greatest memories occur and the worries of the week melt away. And I couldn’t think of anywhere better to take my bestie for her birthday dinner than Murano.

Murano comes under the Gordon Ramsay Holdings umbrella but is run by executive chef Angela Hartnett. Having worked frequently with celebrity chef and my bestie’s crush-of-her-life Gordon Ramsay, Hartnett is one of Britain’s best-loved female chefs. My bestie Anna is all about good food and she’s a great cook, whipping up amazing Sunday roasts or delicious lasagnes without really thinking about it. A great female chef, a bestie who’s great with food – it was just all falling together and I thought it would be a lovely treat for my bestie’s 22nd birthday. And what an experience it was – for the both of us. 

Murano recently won a Michelin star in 2009 and offers a menu of Hartnett’s trademark Italian cuisine with a modern twist. Sounds amazing doesn’t it? And it was! We went for the a la carte 3 course menu and never looked back. It was gorgeous but I’ll let the pictures do the talking for the food.

The restaurant’s pretty small but very stylishly decorated. There’s even a little window where you can look into the kitchen and see the chefs at work. You can also request for a kitchen tour but make sure you do it quick as the head chef leaves (which means the kitchen shuts for visitors) at 10.30pm. Upon entering, the waiting staff attend to you very quickly and are so welcoming and friendly. They take your coats off and tuck them away somewhere you can’t see and if you’re early for your reservation, are prompt to serve you any drink you desire, customized or no. And everything is done stylishly, with great precision and utmost suaveness. What I really liked about the staff was their willingness to chat to you, crack a joke or have a little laugh. Nothing other than a bit of friendliness to let you completely relax into the comforting candlelit interiors of Murano and forget about the week’s worries. The waiting staff are so very attentive and give great attention to detail. Whether its getting your napkin correctly placed on your lap, waiting for your return from the ladies, or serving the polenta accompaniment to your main or the pouring warm custard over your pudding, it’s all done with such smoothness, quiet confidence and care that one feels in an almost surreal, dream-like state. 

The whole meal lasted 2 hours 45 mins which is typical of an Italian meal. Definitely one of the longest meals we’ve ever had but now, less typing and more food ogling. And oh yea, apart from service and good-looking food, have I forgotten to mention that this was impeccable standard of cooking?!

Drinks

Gin & Tonic – made with Tanqueray London Dry Gin and Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water

Italian White from Abruzzo – Pecorino, “Colle dei Venti”, Caldora

Amuse-gueule

Olives – delicious giant olives which were a deep avocado-green, a telling sign that these were very fresh

Fresh bread, pane carasau, shaved ham & salami with extra virgin olive oil so good we’d never tasted anything quite as dreamy as that

Arancini – fried rice balls subtly flavoured with white truffle and coated with breadcrumbs

Starters

Scottish sea scallops, apple and cucumber salsa, pata negra, caper berry purée – beautiful scallops that were just of a melt-in-your-mouth consistency in the middle with hints of the sea

Hand-rolled cavatelli with braised rabbit leg, confit tomatoes, niçoise olives – first time tasting rabbit and I adored it. Wasn’t as gamey as I expected it to taste. So soft and tender!

Mains

Roasted turbot, Cromer crab ravioli, apple purée, smoked eel and horseradish velouté (Supplement £5) – simply cooked to perfection with all the flavours working brilliantly together. The velouté came in a small potion-like jar frothed and bubbly.

Red leg partridge, truffle polenta, braised leg roasted ceps, curly kale – a beautifully presented dish that tasted so much more than it looked. Totally opened a new dimension of taste for me and the polenta was simply gorgeous with the succulent partridge

Desserts

Selection of sorbets: Chocolate Banana, Blueberry & Crème Fraîche, Mango, Basil, Earl Grey, Guava, Chocolate Orange, Pomegrenate & Cranberry – we finished with the basil as it was a lot stronger than the other flavours and a great way to cleanse the palate; Anna’s fav? Chocolate Banana & Basil. My fav? Earl Grey & Basil. Yummy.

Pear and chocolate millefeuille, warm custard, rosemary sorbet – Wonderful custard done right and the pastry was perfectly cooked. The sorbet was delicious and it was dessert perfection really. I loved how Anna ate this so daintily too, especially when I just dug into mine and was licking and sucking the spoon to get every bit of chocolate.

Pistachio soufflé, warm chocolate sauce and macaroon – warm chocolate sauce or hot chocolate as the waitress called it really made the soufflé. I felt like a child all happy about pudding but this was one of the best parts of the meal. I love pistachio and the flavour of this was just awesome paired with chocolate. Macarons were a great bonus too!

Lemon Tart – complementary of the kitchen. This tart was like tarte au citron but it was brûlée-d at the top. And the lemon filling was less firm and resembled lemon curd more. It was so delicious and a real effort to polish off judging from how full we were by the end of the meal.

Petit fours: Selection of chocolates, candies and truffles. 

So delicious. So beautiful. And we were stuffed, satisfied and over the moon with giant bellies to boot.

And as promised, here are our VERY EMBARRASSING videos of ourselves. Sorry if we weren’t exactly eloquent. We were so tired and sleepy post-dinner it was hard to be more intelligible than we were then.

Anna’s Review ‘Come Dine with Me’ Style

Kid Diva’s Final Words

We have had the most amazing meal and night of our lives I do believe and I can only thank Foodbuzz and Visa Signature for making this possible. So pleased we had this opportunity to visit Murano, a restaurant producing high standards of food and service. And not just that, the whole experience was simply divine. We would be happy to return any time (when the bellies are less full and the pockets are more full) for the lunch, dinner service or Chef’s special tasting menu.

Murano
20 Queen Street
London
W1J 5PP
T: 020 7592 1222
F: 020 7592 1213
murano@gordonramsay.com

I don’t quite get the names of these cupcakes (I’m thinking they’re called self-frosting cause the Nutella cooks on the top and becomes some kind of frosting) but they’re well popular and seeing how many foodies rave about these Donna Hay cupcakes, my interest was piqued. My sister Abs was eager to try them too since one of her mates had made them a while ago and from her blog, the cupcakes were 100% food porn and gloriously Nutella-y. Who could turn those down? And how could I say no to Abs who was having major Nutella/sugar/cupcakes craving issues?

The cupcakes were definitely pretty to look at being all swirly and cute. Definitely had the taste factor going on but it was pretty obvious these cupcakes were buttery to the max. A lot of fat to flour makes these cupcakes uber rich but I loved that they didn’t have that eggy smell and taste of my all-time favourite Magnolia cupcake recipe. I really love Magnolia recipes but sometimes the egg scent is a little overpowering. These Nutella cupcakes were scrumptious. However, left in an airtight container overnight, the cupcakes got very greasy and the cupcake liners were completely soaked through. Not exactly a pretty sight and totally did nothing to quell the guilt of eating a cupcake! Would certainly recommend eating them all warm when they’re baked fresh and fairly non-grease-oozey. Might’ve been the awful summer heat that ruined these cupcakes a little for me, although the rest of the family didn’t really seem to mind. So, might’ve just been me! 

Nevertheless, these cupcakes were still a joy to have around. Simple to make, rather rustic looking; they were perfect for pudding to close a meal or a teatime snack.

Self-frosting Nutella Cupcakes
(Recipe from Baking Bites)
Ingredients

 140g butter, softened
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
Nutella

Preheat oven to 160d Celsius.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 2 mins. Add the eggs one at a time and beat til fully incorporated. Add vanilla and mix in.

Mix in the flour mixture until no flour remains. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full then add about 2 tsp Nutella on top and swirl with a toothpick. Alternatively, fill the cupcake liners 1/2 full with cupcake batter, drop in a tsp of Nutella, fill with a little more batter til 2/3 full and swirl the tops with a dollop of Nutella!

Bake for 20mins. Thereafter, let cool completely on a wire rack.
Recipe yields a dozen cupcakes.

•••

I had a nice surprise yesterday from zurin of Cherry on a Cake. It was very sweet of her to pass on a blog award – Iheartyourblog – and considering I’ve been awfully crabby lately, this did much to turn my day around! Although it seems quite self-indulgent to bang on about myself just cause I’ve received an award, this one actually demands that you answer a few questions, add one to the list and then pass it on. Fun. So getting to it…

What is your current obsession?
Imagawayaki (今川焼き). You don’t find these awesome anko-filled cakes in England so I’m making sure that I eat as many as these as I can whilst on my summer hols.

What are you wearing today?
It’s blob-style lounging day so I’m in a scruffy red American Eagle tee and a ripped up pair of denim shorts. Not exciting. Did I mention I haven’t brushed my hair either?

What’s for dinner?
Cranberry & rosemary crusted lamb rack with roast potatoes, vegetables and beans.

What’s the last thing you bought?
Heckloads of Korean face masks, a bag of wine gums, Diet Coke, a loaf of bread and some muesli bars. Wow. Now that that’s written out, is that all I need to exist?

What are you listening to right now?
Attempting to splice the lush sounds of Belleruche and Erykah Badu with punk rock sounds of Anna Tsuchiya.

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Zurin is the lovely owner of Cherry on a Cake. Her blog is awesome and makes me think of homely comforts and coffees by a warm hearth. She visits my sorry excuse of a blog now and again with encouraging comments so that makes me love her all the more! Check out her triple chocolate layer cheesecake. It’s an art piece and will make you teary just by looking at it!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world where would it be?
That’s a hard one since I want to travel all over the world at some point and never settle down. I get the travel itch if I stay at some place for too long. But if I could, I’d like a place to come home to somewhere in the French countryside with lots of Victorian furniture or in Kyoto away from city bustle.

What are your must-haves for summer?
Bikinis, bikinis, bikinis. Denim shorts, Abercrombie tops or some shirts, Raybans, flip flops, ice cream and ice lollies and not to forget…crates of cold beer!

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Hamilton Island please. I’d love to have a quick barbie on the beach whilst soaking up the sun and sea. Also would like to meet Ben Southall, tell him what a lucky prick he is and attempt to steal his job from right under his feet.

Which language do you want to learn?
Would like to continue to Intermediate French…it’s just so cool. Or if we’re starting from scratch, then German.

Who do you want to meet right now?
Tom Jones. After his Glastonbury performance, I’m convinced he’s the legend of all legends.

What is your favourite colour?
All greens: matcha green, forest green, etc. except flourescent lime-ish green. 
And royal blue.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
You’d think I’d say all those precious dresses I’ve got kept in dress-protectors or my dirty beige cardigan from All Saints. But nah, it’s a rich emerald green velvet blazer with gold satin lining from GUESS. Definitely bling and hardly fitting of my usual style but it’s gorgeous and never fails to make me feel like a celebrity.

What is your dream job?
Personal shopper by day, owner of one of the fanciest bars in town by night, best-friend of a pastry chef or cake artisan for life for free cakes and pastries. Heh heh.

What is your favourite magazine?
Really depends on my mood since I read different magazines when the moment strikes. I like Vogue and Dazed&Confused, as always; but Noise for creative, eccentric photography; Glamour to appease my cosmetics cravings and The Economist for when I’m feeling curious.

If you had a 100 dollars now what would you spend it on?
An awesome birthday gift for my Mum’s 51st.

What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Denim shorts, heels and bare legs. Unless you’re trying to pull hill-billy fashion (no offense), then by all means, knock yourself out.

Who are your style icons?
Audrey Hepburn, Lindsay Lohan and Angelina Jolie.

Describe your personal style.
I used to be nuts about following trends until I discovered what worked for me and what didn’t. I like mixing classic ones with the odd punk/rock piece. I just can’t do sophisticated chic without my inner rocker.

What are your favourite movies?
300, Fearless, Sakuran, Spirited Away, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead.

Give us 3 styling tips that always work for you.
I think it varies from person to person but a) I’m always without my Burt’s Bees lipbalm, nothing like cracked, windburned lips to impress. b) Always go with 1 or 2 out of these 3 if you choose to accessorize: earrings, necklace, bracelets – overkill is highly undesirable in my humble opinion. c) Style over comfort when it comes to shoes. No pain, no gain. You can always have the best foot massage and pedicure afterwards.

Coffee or tea?
Am a tea person through and through but I like the odd black coffee now and again (and on days when I simply cannot keep my eyes open).

What do you do when you are feeling low or depressed?
I need time for myself so I go out for fresh air, with Guns n’ Roses playing on my iPod, stroll about and then crash at a café and mope over a good long black coffee.

What is the meaning of your name?
Davina means beloved; my Chinese name Xin Yi means joyous, tender romance.

Which other blogs do you love visiting?
Some art blogs, and fellow foodies like Manggy’s No Special Effects (very drool-worthy), Marc’s No Recipes (very informative with awesome recipes) and Tartelette, amongst other equally amazing blogs.

Favourite desserts/sweet?
Desserts? No favourite. I heart everything. But maybe I love tiramisu, macarons, opera cake and and my gramma’s taro paste a little more than the others.

Favourite season?
No need to ask – AUTUMN.

Which is your dream destination?
Top favourites so far are Paris and Tokyo. But would love to visit Egypt, South Africa and some deserted island away from civilization at some point. Total relaxation…aaaah.

Which is your favourite international cuisine?
Japanese.

Your favourite kitchen tool?
The wooden spoon. Unpretentious and versatile.

Which kitchen tool or equipment have you wanted for a long time?
An ice cream maker.

Which restaurant would you like to dine in?
Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck for starters.

Zurin’s question: What’s your favourite place in the house?
The patio by the koi pond. It’s well relaxing to sit out there, feet up, with a cold drink, watching the leaves fall from the trees in the wind, listening to the sound of water from the pond. Like a little bit of Zen in my own home.

Now to my question:

What’s the worst or most skin-crawling thing you’ve ever tasted?

Done. The rules of the award are pretty simple. Answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you do not like with a question of your own invention and add one of your own at the end. I haven’t replaced any as none of them bothered me. Tag 8 or 10 other people. And of course, link back to the lovely person who gave you the award, not forgetting to leave a comment to those you have given the award to.

I heart many amazing foodblogs out there and there are so many foodbloggers who I aspire to be like in terms of their knowledge of ingredients, culinary skill and photography expertise. Here, I’d like to pass on to 4 newly discovered blogs (sorry I’m not exactly following the rules now am I?) which I absolutely adore. And can I just say their owners are super talented foodies I totally look up to?? I heart their blogs!

Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella
Carolyn of FoodGal
Noobcook
Cakebrain of Cake on the Brain