tattum's kitchen

My Garden

Just thinking that it was about time to show you my garden just as it is today. The pictures where taken just a few minutes ago. Nearly everything you see there has been made by Alvaro.
Besos

By the way, http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org/mo/en.html click here, we need signatures TODAY, tomorrow will be too late. Thanks!

Bad News

Today is a black day in Tattum's Kitchen.

My grandfather died this afternoon after a month in the hospital, feeling scared and lost, he was 93...
Today, Alvaro and I also lost our 3rd baby...

So long... farewell...

Here he was last Christmas having delicious "petit fours" that The Flying Apple sent to me.

My Whereabouts

Hi Everyone!

I'm really sorry (again) for not posting anything in all these months...Here is what I've been doing...

In early January, just after Christmas Holidays,  I got a new job, ironically in the same company that fired me, in a different division, in a much more interesting department, with new and great colleagues. In that moment I was planning to open my own business, my muffins and cakes business, I had everything prepared, but just two days before Christmas, I received an unexpected call from my future boss.

You can imagine that my Xmas went pretty well.

These four months, have been exciting.

In my personal life, no changes, well yes, as you might have seen, I've made no cooking...Not because, I got bored, but because I didn't have much time...Another reason is that, I started a diet...yes, I must admit...and it has had good results, 7kilos by now...

I've always been a little obsesed with my weight, but after Xmas I got tired of not being able to wear my jeans without breathing deeply... so I made my mind, and started with the drinking 3l of water daily, the diet, and started with the gym. And yes, it works. It's not easy, and these 4 months have been a little like hell (specialy for my husband) but, once you see the results, it's worth it. Maybe you won't understand why, but for me, everything that had to do with food, made me really anxious, and here is why my blog stopped working...

Another reason, is that I've been without my computer for a couple of months , (I still am) and writing from work doesn't make my too confortable...

So, I hope you will excuse me for this long pause.

Besos a todos

Tattum

WBD #14 Max and the Cookies

Sweetnicks is hosting Weekend Dog Blogging #14. Max has been asking me to participate again in this 4 paws special.  So here we are. This time it was necessary  to take a photo of our   friend eating human food. I must say that this is a little impossible with Max. I swear that what you see in the photo is Max eating a big cookie...But he gave me no time to take the photo....so I'm sorry if this is not what you all expected,... I think that I should have done best during my teaching...

I cut the cookie in 3 pieces. 3 pieces, 3 photos, do you see something similar to a cookie? I don't... I was with my camera prepared, but he didn't give me a chance, he ate it all and once it touched his mouth I just couldn't go back...  I must have a few words with him...

I don't want you to think that he is always like that so here you have a photo of Max flying... The flying dog remember?

To Paz and Fran

I have left a few of you a little apart, I'm sorry.
I'll be back soon.
Meanwhile have a look to the lovely paintings, like this one, from The Green Girl.

Japi Birzdey!

my mum with my aunt in 1969.

While I watch Jamie Oliver's program, and while I dream a little to be half as good as he is, I write this little post to share with you. Because today is my Birthday!!
So I'm going to post a couple of photos of some cakes I've made lately, to share them with you, so that  we can have a nice birthday party, with you guys, that I love so much.
I also wanted to send a big, huge kiss to my mum, 32 years ago her life changed a bit because I arrived. I love you mum!

this one is the chocolate & zucchini's melt in your mouth chocolate cake , just as good as it sounds.

         

this one is my favourite, and this photo is from the first carrot cake I ever made in my life (just afew weeks ago). It was good, not fabulous, because I used olive oil...tooo strong for a cake. so I've learned the lesson, yesterday, I made carrot muffins, and they were perfect. the recipe comes from my now best mate,  Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook.

So have a piece, with a cup of tea or coffee, and celebrate! Today will be a happy day!!

Besos a todos!

Kitchen Meme

When Alvaro and I moved to Madrid, we lived in a couple of rented apartments of 45 m2. In the beginning I didn't have a good time really. Apart of not having a job and of not having any friends or family near, the kitchen was more like a kitchenette and the house was full of ugly things of the owner (that he didn't even want, but that he didn't want to throw away)...I didn't like too much the place where we  lived... but not everything was bad of course, I was living in Madrid, and it's a big city after all, so you have many things that you don't have in the small, beach and touristic village I was coming from (Marbella).
Well, finally after 2 years, we decided to buy our first house....Ja! like as if that was going to be easy...
A year later, and after a desperate search of a home, we started looking outside Madrid. (Madrid was a "little" expensive) So after a few months, we went to see a house in a near village, El Molar. We had luck!
We found a new house that was being built in the moment, and for which we had to wait another year to move. No problem!

1) Show us your kitchen ( a picture) and tell us what is it about this place that reflects your own personality :
The kitchen was the first thing we had to decide about...distribution, colors, how, where,  why, what...are the normal questions you have to ask yourself if you wanna do it right.
One thing that Alvaro and I have in common is that we love to make our things, or at least, assemble our things ...and that's when Ikea came in to my life, tachng!
So my kitchen, my lovely and wonderful kitchen, has this look from above! And it does reflect a little of my personality. You see, I like to have everything in order, but I'm a little messy too, so I'm always between them, in a certain balance.

Like Angelika, I like to have the places I love near, and I also have a few pictures of my beloved New York. Pictures, that I took the first time I went there, and that I specially like above all.
The first one is from those buildings with loft from the SOHO...and the second one is from the Winter Garden, still with the Cats poster. The show had already ended, six months back, and I felt lucky for being able to take the photo. (though I know that I may not have much sense for many of you... but I'm a romantic...)

 

2) Open a cupboard (the one you feel to open), take a picture and tell us what we see.

This is my huge cupboard, where everything is; it has 6 shelves
n1 baking paper, silver paper,...etc
n2 all kinds of tea, and coffee
n3 dry consomme cubes, saffron, baking powder, salt, and japanese seaweeds
n4 various seafish cans, and vegetable cans
n5 all kinds of rice, basmati, arborio, long grain, short...and all kinds of sauces, (japanese mainly, like, 
      soy sauce, teriyaki, oyster sauce, sesame oil, Mirin, rice vinegar...)
n6 Corn Flakes, crispies, Flour, fusilli, Acetto Balsamico, Wine Vinegar...

3) Present us your favorite kitchen-based household appliance. and also...
5) My little steel friend: present us to your favorite cooking/baking recipient.

Like I told Paz, I can't live without my kettle .  I think it was the first thing I bought when I left my parents house, when I was about 17 and I moved with my boyfriend from the time (that's another story). It has been....mmmm....15 years (Oh! MY!!) and it's still  with me (never better said...jijiji) my best steel friend! As I said before, in my comment  in Paz's , in Spain, it's not very common to have one of these, they don't know what to use it for...

4) Take out one ingredient.....

Pasta! And I was thinking  in looking for something  more original, but the truth is that pasta is the first ingredient in my kitchen, the Nº1.

I would also like to participate in Paz's;

"10 important tools needed in the kitchen"
1º my kettle
2º a well sharped knife, or many...
3º my tea pot
4º a pasta strainer
5º pressure cooker
6º scale
7º a wok
8º toaster
9º  2 or 3 wooden spoons
10º a huge salad bowl

And here just about to end, I want to thank Angelika, the true flying apple, for tagging me in this meme. I had a great time having a look to her beautiful kitchen, and smelling around, like Max or Gino would have done. ;)
Oh yes, and I'm going to auto-invite myself to a must-be lovely kitchen at StephenCooks.
You should see his Pumpkin Ravioli,mmmmm....

Happy Halloween!!

*( trick or treat, see what happens if your mouse gets near Jack-o-lantern)

Not so good after all...

It's a little hard for me to say, but today, after a long saturday, and a short night, my baby decided not to grow for the moment. I will save you from not "so nice" scenes...but finally in the hospital they told me something that I knew already, that I had lost the baby...

Don't be sorry for me, I'll be ok. It's a shame because of the illusion, but I know that sooner or later I'll have my baby. He's just waiting for the best moment to come...

A kiss for everyone that reads this blog, thanks for being there. XXXXX

Tattum

Changes up on changes we are more or less the same...

After a few weeks of silently waiting for the news to confirm, I'm definetly going to be a Mum!!

This time everything is going alright, I have a future cousin, grandson, son, and who nows how many things more, growing inside of me. I'm only of 6 weeks, and well maybe some of you think that it's too soon, but I'm happy and this couldn't be something to just step aside for later...

I will have to make some difficult changes about food in my life, stop eating so much pasta (that I love), less meat, no fat, no sugar, no coke, no beer, no wine, no chips, no chocolate...mmmm, it's going to be really hard, on the other side I will have to eat a lot more of vegetables, and I would really apreciate if all of you could help me a little, posting once in a while, good looking vegetables dishes, for a future mum in trouble, ;)

I'm excited and frightened at the same time,...I supose everything will find it's place as the time goes by, but I just can't wait for all the changes to come!!

I'm going to have a baby...a baby...a baby...a baby...oh my....!!