Monday, June 21, 2010

craft monday :: the art of cooking

We had a fabulous weekend celebrating my birthday and spending time with lovely friends. For craft monday today I wanted to share the yummy chocolate mousse Keely and I made together as my birthday cake. I know it is not very crafty, but with such a love of food in this house and the new found love of cooking with my children I feel this is a craft; the art of cooking!


I knew I wanted something different for my birthday cake, something we could all have on our own, and a mousse was the perfect choice. I loved making these with Keely as it was nice to show her what happens to cream when you whip it, and also what happens to egg whites. There was a lot of whizzing going on, but it was worth it as the mousse tasted divine! I think it helps that we used lindt chocolate.


It is nice to cook with your little ones, as sometimes it is too hard to get out the paints and put together a craft session for them. Cooking teaches them to appreciate food, and hopefully for me it will allow Keely to try something new. To be honest, I am not sure if cooking is a craft, but, I am making it a craft as my weekend was too busy to have a craft moment with Keely.


I have actually been looking at how busy my life is and I must say I could manage my time a bit better when it comes to the whole meal planning. We shop almost everyday. It has become part of our daily routine. But over the weekend and since Taj has been unwell this has been very tiring. I think it is time to sit and write a menu plan and a big shopping list. Do you have a menu plan you do for the week and shop in one clean sweep?

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chocolate mousse

melt 200g chocolate and 75g butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth. pour into a bowl and beat in 4 egg yolks, one at a time. set aside. whip 1 cup (250ml) cream to soft peaks. set aside. whisk 4 egg whites to soft peaks. whisk in 2 tablespoons icing sugar until thick and glossy. fold cream into chocolate, then egg whites. refrigerate for 3 hours. serves 6. {I used good quality chocolate, yum}

12 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! Will have to give that recipie a go.
    I also love Keely's top. Is this available in your store?
    I need to get a little foot stool like that too, is this from Ikea?

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  2. Hi Jane, the top is from little pinwheel, and the foot stool is from ikea. I love the stool as keely can help me at the right level and as I have high cupboards in the kitchen I can also use it to reach the very top. got to love ikea!

    enjoy the mousse when you make it!

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  3. Yummo!! I will have to give that Moose a go and thank you for sharing.
    Hope you had a lovely birthday
    Vicki XX

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  4. One word: Yum! Ok,some more words - I LOVE chocolate mousse. And what a great idea to teach-and-make :)That's so great and patient of you. My eldest is always cooking but I'm afraid I'm not a very patient helper to him. Definitely a food shop everyday kinda gal. Very uneconomical though isn't it? I think for me it's that I like to decide what I'm going to eat right before I eat it...

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  5. Ah, this looks so good! I need to go make myself some of that Mousse! Hope you had an incredible Birthday on your very special day!


    xo

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  6. Been a weekly meal planner and shopper since uni days, when managing money - spending as little as possible on food (while still eating well) to have enough left over for beer was very important. Great habit, and satisfying if you're a list-maker. Saves heaps of time and means we never have any wastage, either. Little 3yo also loves making her own lists :)

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  7. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY HAYLEY! It was a fun birthday weekend here too as it was my best friends 30th, and my god-sons 4th birthday. A great weekend XOXO

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  8. Wow! This looks so yummy! I may have to try it...I've never made mousse before. Happy Belated Birthday to you dear Hayley! I wish you a wonderful year filled with love. xoxo, Kristi

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  9. Can't wait to make these!!!
    I do weekly meal plan and shop online accordingly..makes my week sooo much easier as always have ingredients I need for dinner and no time is wasted thinking about what I am going to cook....xx

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  10. Yummo! Poppy would go nuts for that mousse. Think we will be making some this week.

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  11. It sounds like you had a great Birthday Weekend! Happy Belated Birthday to you. Your mousse cups look extra yummy as I am craving some chocolate about now. As for shopping -I try to do 3 days at a time -as it is too hard to get to the store all the time with the kids. I like to cook new things so it does take some planning...your photographs are gorgeous as usual.

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