Saturday

I was in Birmingham for another conference for work the last few days (I can really get use to this ‘jet-set’ lifestyle). It’s my second time in Birmingham and I didn’t really know my way around but luckily I have two dear friends, Adam and Claire who live there and took me around. Adam and I studied together and he also used to work for the university. Claire is his fiancée who also used to study at the university in Sunderland. I haven’t seen them for over a year and it was nice to catch up. Thank you guys so much!

Mark and Anna came over today for some GLEE (yes, I know that I watched it too many times now, but it’s an awesome show) and food. I enjoy having them around because I just know that I’d have fun and absolute decent time. For some snack whilst watching the show, I made BBQ chicken wings with cream cheese and chives dipping sauce. Yum.

For dinner, I’ve been wanting to make tender-as-you-like rabbit stew with the best dumplings ever for some time now but I couldn’t find rabbit anywhere, so I use chicken thighs instead as allowed by Jamie. The stew didn’t take long to make and it was very comforting; the chicken was so tender, falling off the bone. Yum... I still want to make the stew with rabbit next time though. The stew is a perfect meal by itself, but I wanted some veg on the side, so I also made buttered peas with bacon.

After some food, wine and lots of laughs and lots of GLEE (such a great show and we cannot wait until April when the show starts again), then it’s time for cakes. This morning I made vanilla cream cheese pound cake, a recipe by an American Chef David Waltuck (the recipe can be found below). I love this particular pound cake recipe not just because it’s super easy but also very moist and I love the texture of the cake.



Anna brought a yummy chocolate cake and we all had a slice. Thanks Anna! Both of you are welcome any time.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Preheat the oven to 325F / 160C. In a free standing mixer or hand mixer, cream 375 grams butter with 250 grams cream cheese. Gradually add 700 grams of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Next, add 6 eggs, mixing well after each addition, followed by two teaspoons of very good vanilla extract. The last ingredient is 375 grams of plain all purpose/plain flour. When everything is well combined, put it in a buttered heavy pan and bake the oven for about an hour. Let it rest in the pan for about 20 minutes before you take it out. Enjoy just by itself or with a light dusting of icing sugar and berries.