Lemon- Poppy Seed Muffins

Messy Indie Cooking (Baking) Vol. 3

This is my first baking recipe on this blog, and well I was dying to try it out! I've never made this before and honestly, I made the recipe up, but the result was delicious! I got lucky!

I got intrigued by the combination of things here, lemon and poppy seeds and yoghurt. I never imagined these 3 could work well together!

Here are the Ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of brown sugar

3 tablespoons of baking powder

1 tablespoon of baking soda

lemon zest of a whole lemon

100gr of natural yoghurt

1/3 cup of canola or sunflower oil

1 egg

juice of one lemon

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 tablespoon of poppy seeds

You can first get the zest out of the lemon and then get the juice.

Don't exagerate with the poppy seeds, I was told they can make you very sleepy...

Preheat oven at medium fire, grease the muffin tins or if you have a Teflon don't. Or if you have paper cups then that's even better.

In a bowl, place the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda, and mix well.

Add the Lemon zest and mix a bit more.

Start by pouring the yoghurt in this dry mix and try to do it evenly. It might appear dry but don't panic more liquidy ingredients are coming up!

Pour the oil gently while you're blending all ingredients together. Also, add the egg and blend it a little bit more. Add the nutmeg and half of the poppy seeds.

Now, add the lemon juice, as gentle as possible, I don't want your mix to have a strange reaction between the yoghurt, the lemon and the baking soda. Do it little by little and if you hear a pop here and there it's normal, it's an effervescent mix. Now, it's about time you stopped mixing.

It should look like this. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins or cups equally. I managed to make 9 muffins here.

Sprinkle some poppy seeds on top of each muffin with the remainings of the seeds.

Place in the preheated oven for around 25 minutes.

This is how they should look like.

Yummy!

I decided to place them in paper cups for a nice presentation.

Don't they look delicious?

Bon appetit!

Victory Park (Park Pobedi) St. George & Stella Obelisk Panorama

This is my second Panorama, the first one was of Sadovoye Kol'tso cross with ul. Pokrovka, but we had some issues with all the cables and wires there are for the trolley buses so it was sort of hard to clean it all up on Photoshop. It was messy basically. So this is a nice panorama of Park Pobedi in Moscow, it was taken on the 10th of May a day after the celebrations for Victory day, and there was still a crowd celebrating. There was even a band of teens and pre-teens singing propaganda songs, all very patriotic. Any how, enjoy the view.

Thanks Rupy for showing me how to take a nice panorama and how to use Photoshop...:)

Floral Composition 1, year 2010

A couple of years ago I started taking photographs of floral arrangements. I got inspired by a book I got my mom by Jane Packer called "Colour". Beautiful book, great photography by Georgia Glynn Smith.

I tried to make my own compositions and integrate colors to them with small details.

I used red ranunculus.

Some nice details make an arrangement interesting.

Like a Chinese teapot.

And a couple of glass blown grapes.

I think these are very dramatic flowers.

Deconstructing Origamis

Rupadelik took some descent pictures of the origami project I made earlier. I think these pictures do more justice to the work I put into than the ones I took. As I'm short, I wasn't able to take more of artistic pictures. These are great though! So Thanks Rupi for these, I think they are great and colorful. You managed to capture all the minor details on the project. :)

Folds

Beads

Edges

Colors

Links

Combinations

Wings

Perceptions

Flight

Zucchini Pudding

Messy Indie Cooking Series: Vol. 2

I learned this recipe from my mom and my grandmother, but I have made some adjustments over the years, and it has become a family favorite ever since. It's quite easy to make and very fast too if you already have bread crumbs at home.

I didn't have crumbs so I had to make them by using the cooking shredder...

So the ingredients for this pudding are the following:

3 cups of boiled and blended zucchinis

2 cups of bread crumbs

3 table spoons of Parmesan Cheese

2 eggs

Basil leaves cut into tiny bits

black pepper

dried or fresh cut garlic

Begin by getting a mold. Use a bit of margarine and spread it evenly on all sides of the mold as to create a fine layer. Use a bit of the bread crumbs and sprinkle them evenly onto the mold creating a second layer. This will prevent the pudding from getting stuck on the mold.

In a large bowl, place the blended zucchinis & make sure they have cooled down as you will be using eggs soon.

Start by pouring little by little the crumbs onto the zucchinis, and mix.

It is advisable to do this in steps, don't put all the crumbs at once. Try to use a spatula, they are the best to work with for this light and soft textured cooking.

Add the chopped basil leaves and eggs onto the mix. Beat them evenly as to make a homogenous ensemble.

Finish this process by adding the Parmesan. You can use more if you are a cheese lover--or if you are cheesy like me--, but this is enough as to conserve the taste of the zucchinis. Add salt, pepper and garlic.

Place the content in the mold and put it in a pre-heated oven for around 45 to 50 min under medium heat.

After 45 to 50 min it should look like this. Yum.

Take a plate, place it on top of the mold covering it and turn it. It should come off easily. mmm... Voila.

For presentation, I would suggest you use either fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce, it doesn't matter if it's cold, the pudding will be hot and the sauce will cook itself on it. Some Parmesan sprinkled on top along some basil leaves will give it a very Italianesque touch.

Bon Appetit.

This can be served either Hot or Cold. Some say cold tastes better though.

Photography and editing by Rupadelik Zappa

A Fancy for Pansy

I always thought that every pansy had its own personality.

And a peculiar facial expression.

These I found at a park next to my house. From these tiny flowers, we have got today these hybrids in full colors and in large size. These are so delicate and refined, the only measure about a centimeter, and the hide among the tall grass. They are a wild specie, normally growing near mountains or wild prairies, I was lucky enough to find one in downtown Moscow!

I took a couple of pictures to show the variety of colors and "facial" expressions these cuties have. For instance, this one makes me think of happiness, a full round smile, in bright yellow!

These ones, I thought, maybe they are staring at me. I can see the curious faces, intrigued by me and the camera.

These are rather shy, I can see them hiding right after this picture was taken... Silly things, you don't want to show your beauty...

Here, another shy one, but still interested. I have to say this is my favorite face. I wonder what these pansies think about all day?

These are Mother and child. A loving mother giving all the care and love to her child.

This one is the best color combination I found, I just love how this one got a perfect contrasting combination. I can see this one being a bit Punky and Funky.

This one is playing with costumes, I thought for a moment that this one looks like an delicate phaleanopsis orchid. The shape of the petals and the lilac color of it made me believe it was an orchid! Tricky little thing!

Some crowds of pansy seem like crowds of people, here, I thought of people walking in the street, possibly crossing the road, tossing and turning as they hit each other. These facial reactions are clearly the expressions of how impersonal mundane routines are. We don't stop to think how we look in front of others while for instance we are crossing the road.

Other pansies are full of life, like the on the left. I can sense that this one is a very outgoing one. Probably fascinated by the world that surrounds it.

Last but not least, I found a sleepy one. I thought these poor cuties need to show off their beauty daily and don't get a break, I managed to catch this one while it was taking a break! Go now, sleep a little before you continue to dazzle pedestrians.