Miss Obleas

Saturday, 5 December 2020

Christmas Gift Guide 2020

This Christmas give something special, and unique

I have selected a few present ideas that will be quite unique, different and some with a Bolivian touch!

First I want to start with Migrateful

A UK charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers by empowering them to run cookery classes for the general public. They offer online cookery class gift vouchers which allow the recipient to enjoy any cuisine of their choice with one of their amazing 42 chefs.

more info : www.migrateful.org

Christmas gift vouchers: https://www.migrateful.org/gift-voucher/

Next it's something very unique from Bolivia, it's a perfect Christmas gift, it's relatively new to the English market, and I'm sure you'll love it, its of course Singani 63.

Singani is distilled from White Muscat of Alexandria grapes, is produced only in the Bolivian high valleys, and is considered Bolivia's national drink and cultural patrimony.

Singani 63 is a clean and crisp spirit with a touch of aromatic grape and spice.

Shop Singani 63: * https://amzn.to/2JWtv6n

Another great gift idea is always a book !

And this is a book from a Bolivian writer : Mariana Swann.

She has published short stories and newspaper articles. She resides in England and Pachamama is her first novel.

Pachamama: Mother Earth Three generations of a Bolivian Family

Shop: * https://amzn.to/36HIlH0

Next up, its another bottle of drink, and lets face it, this is the time of the year when we tend to gift wines, spirits and liqueurs.

And this liqueur has a bolivian touch !

Agwa de Bolivia is a herbal liqueur made with bolivian coca leaves and 37 other natural herbal and botanicals including: green tea, ginseng, and guarana.

Distilled and produced in Amsterdam.

Shop Agwa: * https://amzn.to/2JTelPg

NB: Some of the links above (marked with *) are likely to be affiliate links, which means if I have inspired you to make a purchase and you choose to buy something through one of this links, I may receive a small commission on the sale, as a way of thanks! It makes no difference to you as a buyer at all but I may receive a small compensation.

Friday, 25 September 2020

Recipe : Apple Cake

For Autumn, when I harvest some apples, its inevitable for me to bake ! , and this time I opted to bake adding something Bolivian, Singani ..

I remember in Bolivia, my mum used to add some singani in a cake batter or at the end when decorating. And this time I added some to the batter, you can replace it with some rum ;)

Ingredients :

1 Cup of plain flour

1 Teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

75 g of unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup of granulated sugar ( more for sprinkling at the end)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 tablespoons of singani or dark rum

2 baking apples peeled, cored and cut into cubes, and you can use another apple, peeled, cored and sliced to decorate at the end

Icing sugar, to decorate at the end optional.

Instructions :

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, and grease and line a 20 cm /8 inch round tin.

combine the flour, baking powder and salt and leave it aside.

With a handheld mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs , one at the time and beating well, then add the vanilla and singani/rum and mix again, do not worry if the mixture looks a bit grainy.

Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. then add the chopped apples and fold them into the batter with a spoon or spatula.

Scrape the batter into a prepared tin and you can decorate with the sliced apple if you want. Then sprinkle some sugar on the top and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for approximately 45 mins.

When its done take the cake out of the tin and let it cool slightly and dust some icing sugar on top if you want. you can serve it with whipped cream or custard, the cake can be served a bit warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy ! xx

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Recipe: Raspberry and Chocolate Brownies

I absolutely love baking this, with fresh raspberries, picked from my allotment , you can see more about that here: https://www.instagram.com/latina.gardener.uk/

Back to the brownies , hope you enjoy them too !!

Makes 12

Ingredients:

200g good plain chocolate, broken into chunks. ( you could also use dark chocolate, I used a 54% cocoa solids dark chocolate for brownies)
125g butter ( at room temperature)
275g Soft light-brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

100g plain flour, sifted
2tbsp cocoa powder
125g raspberries

Butter and line 20cm. square tin with grease-proof paper ( I used a rectangular tin) , allow the paper to come up the edges, this will help you to remove the brownies.

Put half of the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir to help it melt then remove and allow to cool a little. Chop the rest into little chips.

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla then the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour and cocoa followed by the melted chocolate. Stir in the raspberries and the chocolate chips.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C/350 F/ gas mark 4 for 55 minutes until just firm to the touch (the skewer test doesn't work as the centre is still molten).

Leave the brownies in the tin until warm - they will continue to "set"- then run a knife between the paper and tin and carefully lift the paper out. Cut them and enjoy !!

I had these with ice cram.. and it was delicious

Enjoy xx

Thursday, 2 July 2020

Recipe : Naan Bread

Indian cuisine in one of the many different cuisines I tasted and love here in the UK.

And because I love it so much, I learnt how to make some dishes, and this time I'll share with you this recipe of naan bread, that every time I make it, people love it !

Ingredients :

1 Sachet of dried yeast
1 tbs of white sugar
1 tbs of salt
1 tbsp of Greek yogurt
1 cup of warm water
3 cups of plain flour ( extra for dusting )
or 1 1/2 of plain and 1 1/2 of strong flour

4 tbsp of oil or ghee
1 tbsp of melted butter + 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Start by placing the sachet of dry yeast into a bowl, to the yeast add 1 tea spoon of sugar, 1 tea spoon of salt, 1 table spoon of greek yogurt, then add one cup of warm water.

Mix it all together and dissolve it. If you are using instant yeast you don't have to wait for the yeast to activate :)

Then we add to 2 cups of flour, then using our fingers we stir and mix , once its mixed we add half of cup of flour and then stir and mix again and then add the other half of cup of flour.

Once the dough starts to come together, take out onto the surface / table and sprinkle some flour and knead for about 5 to 10 minutes.

After kneading for about 10 minutes sprinkle some flour on a bowl and place the dough in it, the flour will prevent it from sticking to the bowl.

Cover it with clean film and place it a warm place to rise ( this will take about 45 minute to an hour)

When the dough has risen, add some flour on your working surface and place the dough, then divide it into about five or six pieces, depending on the size you want them and also depending on the size of your frying pan, where its going to be cooked.

then flatten a piece of your dough, you can do it by hand or with a rolling pin, it could be round or oval shape.

Place a little oil on the frying pan, once the oil is hot , turn the heat down and place your dough, and when coking it should puff up by the sides, and bubbles start to form, that's the result that you want.

After around 5 minutes carefully flip it over. It should take about 5 minutes to cook on each side. It still has to be soft and fluffy in the middle, as the bread, once cooked, should be able to fold.

When its golden brown on each side, take it out. And repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Once the bread its cooked, add the chopped parsley to the melted butter, mix and brush it on top of your bread ( this is optional )

And its ready to serve !;)

Thank you for visiting ! and hope you enjoy this recipe ! xx

lindsey.funes.obleas@gmail.com

Sunday, 24 May 2020

Recipe : Granola

Love granola! It is very easy to make, and you can literally add anything you want.

The finished granola will keep in a airtight container for up to 4 weeks 😉

Ingredients

6 tbsp coconut oil
500g rolled oats
100g coconut flakes (I used less as I wanted mine more nutty than coconut flavoured, but its up to you! 😉)
100g dried fruit, cut in smaller pieces if large ( I used dried apricots and cranberries, wich you could either add it to the mixture to bake or add them at the end when the granola is cool and ready to be stored)
100g mixed nuts roughly chopped ( I used almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and brazil nuts)
100g mixed seeds ( I used sunflower and pumpkin seeds)
2-3 tbsp of honey or maple syrup ( you can add more to taste)
1tsp of cinnamon powder
1tsp of vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 170°C / fan150°C / gas3 1/2. In a small saucepan, gently warm the coconut oil until it melts to an even pouring consistency. Remove from the heat and leave it to cool slightly.
Mix all the dried ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the honey or maple syrup and vanilla to the melted coconut oil and stir well.
Pour the coconut oil mixture over the dry ingredients, then work well with your hands, lifting and mixing until all the ingredients are covered in a light sheen. Taste and are more honey or maple syrup if needed.
Line 4 baking sheets with baking paper, then divide the granola among them in a single layer ( or use two baking sheets and work in batches). It's important the granola isn't too crowed when it goes into the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes, giving the granola a gentle stir halfway through. Keep an eye on it from around 10 min mark to prevent burning.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and set aside for the granola to cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container.

And its ready to sprinkle over yogurt or poached fruit...

Enjoy xx

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

Recipe: Seeded Soft Rolls

I saw a recipe for Cream Cheese soft rolls.. and didn't have some ingredients, so I adapted it and made seeded soft rolls.. and the result was good !

So I'll leave you the original recipe and how I adapted it by changing a few ingredients and follow the recipe as normal.

Cream Cheese Soft Rolls

300g Bread Flour ( I used seeded bread flour)
150ml lukewarm milk
5g instant dry yeast
One egg
Pinch of salt
50g cream cheese ( I used 3 tablespoons of natural greek yogurt)

Note that the original recipe doesn't have sugar, I didn't add it beacuse I normally eat the rolls with butter amd jam.. but you could add some sugar if you wish.

Method

Put everything in a stand mixer using the dough hook and mix it on a low speed for 15 mins. ( you can also do kneed by hand)
Take it out and form a round ball, but it into a bowl and proof for 60 mins or until it is double the size.
Divide it into 12 equal balls.
Proof it for a second time for 45-60 minutes.
Sprinkle some flour on top (I added some sunflower seeds only) And bake at 160 degrees Celsius in a fan force oven for 15 mins I don't have a fan oven , so I baked them at 180 degrees, gas mark 4, for longer !
Remove and enjoy warm .

Take care.. enjoy xx

Monday, 17 February 2020

Events: Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Rooms are coming back to London !!

Yayoi Kusama's Infinity rooms are coming to Tate Modern!!

The Gallery has revealed details of a new year-long Yayoi Kusama exhibition to mark the gallery's 20th birthday.

One of the installations, Infinity Mirrored Room — Filled with the Brilliance of Life, is among the vastest pieces in the 90-year-old artist’s repertoire, and returns to Tate Modern after it was created for a retrospective there in 2012.
The other — called Chandelier of Grief — is said to “create the illusion of a boundless universe of rotating crystal chandeliers”.

I would highly recommend visiting, I enjoyed the exhibition in London at Victoria Miro gallery in 2018 ( as you can see in the pictures), and this is now a great opportunity to enjoy her work, as its very popular, so be ready to queue.. wait... and take pictures quickly !

Tickets will go on sale on the 2nd of March.

more information : https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/yayoi-kusama-infinity-rooms

Tate Modern

Bankside London SE1 9TG

Dates:
11 May 2020 - 9 May 2021

All pictures taken by Miss Obleas at Victoria Miro Gallery 2018 London

Tuesday, 14 January 2020

#Free: Winter Lights Festival is Back !!

Yes!! Winter Lights Festival is returning to Canary Wharf this January 2020 for the sixth year!!

Canary Wharf will be transformed by over 25 spectacular installations, by some of the most innovative artists across the globe working in light art today.

Some favourites will return alongside some new pieces never before seen in the UK and some newly commissioned artworks.

I totally love this event, I went last year, and it's awesome !!

The photos featured here, I took them last year ! and I cannot wait to see the installations this year.

Winter Lights

Thursday 16th of January - Saturday 25th January.

4pm -10 pm

Underground: Canary Wharf .

FREE

More Information :Canary Wharf Winter Lights

Tuesday, 13 August 2019

#Marketing: la popularidad de Latinoamérica en Londres ¿tendencia comercial, estratégica, olvidando la escencia tradicional?

La popularidad de Latinoamérica en Londres, sin duda a ido creciendo en estos últimos años.

No estamos hablando solo de restaurantes, eventos y festivales que se llevan a cabo cada año en Londres.. sino ahora a la popularidad también de empresas independientes que lanzan sus productos al mercado inglés.

Algo que sin duda, años atrás no hubiéramos visto.

Y entre la popularidad que está teniendo lo "latino" en cuestión comercial.. a veces, en algunas ocaciones.. se pierde lo tradicional..por lo comercial.. vas a un evento donde quizás la música se baila de una manera que quizás no muestra la esencia de ese país. Sin embargo es comercial porque a la gente "le gusta". Y de paso el evento está organizado por alguien que no es latino.

Pasa que quizás hemos estado tomando el tequila de golpe..(equivocadamente) y en realidad en México no lo toman así ..y esa no es la manera de deleitar la bebida. Sin embargo es la estrategia comercial para dicho producto.

El algunas ocaciones se cambia la pasión por un producto por la tendencia comercial. Un ejemplo.. conocí a una muchacha que empezó su negocio de carteras colombianas.. en dicha ocasión mencionaba la historia etc. Pero cuando le preguntaron que muestre la cartera.. ella no la usaba.

Se pierde inmediatamente la creencia de dicho producto, el cual tiene potencial, pero no se demuestra con pasión e interés de mostrarlo a todo el mundo.

Si tu enfocas tu tiempo en algún producto que es personal..o que demuestra tus habilidades.. es imprescindible que quieras mostrarlo a todos y te sientas orgulloso del mismo.

Y que mejor punto de venta que tú mismo.

Veo todos estos ejemplos, para poder aprender de ellos.. y en cuestión de marketing pienso que tiene que haber un balance de todo. Sí es importante pensar en futuras tendencias, estrategias de venta.. y al mismo tiempo manteniendo una escencia de lo tradicional.

Y espero seguir ese modo de trabajo..en futuros proyectos.

Puedes contactarme enviando un email:

lindsey.funes.obleas@gmail.com

#NationalAllotmentsWeek .. can you grow latin american edibles in the UK?

It is National Allotment Week .. and I had to dedicate a post here on my blog about it !!

As you may know, ( and if you didn't , you'll know now) I have an allotment in Hertfordshire , just outside London. And had it for about 5 years or so.

I can not start expressing how it has helped me, and how much it has taught me, and continues to teach me. Its all said in the media how it helps you with your mental health and wellbeing, and I could not agree more !

Being from Bolivia /Latin American .. there are a few edibles that you cant find here in the UK, and in my family we enjoy a spicy sauce called llajua , made with chillies, tomatoes, quirquina and huacatay, the last two are herbs which gives the sauce that special flavour.

Can you grow Latin American edibles in the UK ?

It may be difficult but not impossible, in the allotment we had quite successfully grow Bolivian garlic, and in the greenhouse , probably the most precious herbs for us quirquina and huacatay.

Every year its different, the weather its important , the soil, the timing in sowing, and every year it varies, but you learn and you apply the knowledge into the following year.

I would love to find out if there are any other keen Latin American gardeners in the UK, so we can share some tips!! so do email me ;)

Overall I can say that in celebration of national allotments week, is that I'm so thankful to be able to have that space, and also to share with others the enthusiasm of gardening, and growing your own produce.
The benefits are endless, even for kids, it brings families together, it helps you having a healthy diet, and good for your wellbeing .

Its hard work , but very rewarding and satisfying,