Category Archives: Carol’s Cookery column on Smorgasbord

CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…11th April-17th April 2021…#Recipes, Whimsy, Music and Lifestyle Changes

Recipes, Whimsy, Music and Lifestyle Changes…

Welcome to this week’s edition of my weekly roundup of posts…Especially for you just in case you missed a few posts during this last week…we are now into April…Time is marching on…thus far we had some humdingers of storms and the wind certainly hammered one of my curry trees luckily it didn’t break the branches just stretched but like a piece of elastic 2 days later the tree is nearly back to its original glory …isn’t nature wonderful?

Just in case you missed any or love to catch up like I do… snuggle deep be kind to yourselves …I think we all need to do that… get comfy in your favourite corner with your favourite drink tea/coffee or hot chocolate although depending on where in the world you live it could be a glass of wine or two…Cheers!

Meatless Monday’s…

Took a break this week…I haven’t cooked much…eaten much of what I shouldn’t…spent time with my plants and my thoughts and for the first time in all the time I have been blogging just couldn’t be bothered to write..no energy…no thoughts worthy of putting on paper…just a combination of a bad few months or the start of the year however you wish to put it…many lives lost and anniversaries of lives lost…just a culmination which frankly stopped me in my tracks…

Tuesday…Songkran…Thai New Year…

A post from my archives with a little update here and there…a picture of my beloved grandson getting into the spirit of Thai New Year which this year didn’t happen due to Covid restrictions…

Songkran…Thai New Year …13th April 2021…

Wednesday…Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen…

Today saw me over at Smorgasbord Magazine for this month’s Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen where Pretzel Bread, Tomato Ketchup, Onions and Japanese Wood Production were some of the items on the menu…

To see what else was on the menu please pop over to Smorgasbord Magazine…

Smorgasbord Food Column – Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen -April 2021 – #Pretzel Bread, #Onions, #TomatoKetchup, #Japanese Wood Production.

The Environmental A-Z…The letter D.

My new series…still an A-Z but with a difference …it’s not food-related!

In the meantime, the idea for this series came about because yes as my regular followers and commenters know I am passionate about the health of the world I am living in… however often when I am researching and reading articles I come across terms and have to look them up which spawned the idea for this…two-fold… it increases my knowledge and I hope yours…

The Environmental A-Z…the letter D

Thursday...another post from my archives but updated…

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CarolCooks2…Week 9…in my Kitchen…made from scratch…Homemade Sausages and Sausage Spice mixes…

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine…Health Column…Rheumatoid Arthritis…

A debilitating disease that causes anguish to many…either sufferers or carers…

There is no quick fix but sometimes a change in diet and habits can give relief so please head over and give Sally’s post a read…#recommened read

Smorgasbord Health Column – Family Health A-Z – Arthritis (Rheumatoid) by Sally Cronin

Fruity Friday’s…The Cotton Candy Berry.

A beautiful spreading tree with deliciously sweet fruit…

Fruity Friday…#fruits…The Cotton Candy Berry…

Saturday Snippets…

I will be back next week with Saturday Snippets I just didn’t feel it was appropriate for the last 2 weeks…Yesterday was the Royal Ceremonial Funeral of His Royal Highness, Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh…

I know it was streamed around the world but just in case you missed it or want to recap…it was a beautiful funeral and music which celebrated the Prince’s life and work…

I also know that it was protocol(Covid) that The Queen sat alone but my tears flowed and my heart broke for her…

Rest in peace your Royal Highness, Prince Phillip…The Duke of Edinburgh 1921 – 2021…

Well, that’s it for today…Thank you so much for dropping by…see you next week …Love Carol xx

CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…14th March-20th March 2021…#Recipes, Whimsy, Music and Lifestyle Changes

Recipes, Whimsy, Music and Lifestyle Changes…

Welcome to this week’s edition of my weekly roundup of posts…Especially for you just in case you missed a few posts during this last week…we are now well into March…yesterday was the first day of spring if you are in the Northern Hemisphere… lambs, snowdrops, daffodils all signs that spring is here please keep those images coming and the snow I have seen some pictures so those who are experiencing minus temps snuggle up and stay safe and warm…and for those who are experiencing high winds and lashing rain batten down the hatches and stay safe and warm…

Let’s go and see what goodies I had for you last week… snuggle up in your favourite corner with your favourite drink tea/coffee or hot chocolate although depending on where in the world you live it could be a glass of wine…Cheers!

Meatless Monday’s…#Brocolli Stems…

The best part I love them lightly steamed and as long as you trim of the woody outer then you will find the soft tender part of the stem inside…

Why Meatless Mondays?…a meatless any day you choose is fine it just makes more and more sense to cut down the meat we consume…

I have since discovered that you can also make Brocolli Rice has anyone tried that???

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/03/15/meatless-mondays-broccoli-stems-soup-anyone/

National Artichoke Day…

Among all the absolutely trivial days and there are some of them…a day like National Artichoke Day pops up and it serves as a reminder that Artichokes are indeed a lovely vegetable, low in fat, high in fibre with a nutty taste…beautiful to eat…it seems that many of you are in agreeance with that…Thank you for the hints and tips xx

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/03/16/national-artichoke-day/

Smorgasbord Food Column – Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen – #Crumpets, #Baking Soda, #Minced Garlic and Egg Boxes uses. — Smorgasbord Blog Magazine…

Today I can be found over @Smorgasbord Blog Magazine in my Green Kitchen…Please come and join me…x

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/03/17/smorgasbord-food-column-carol-taylors-green-kitchen-crumpets-baking-soda-minced-garlic-and-egg-boxes-uses-smorgasbord-blog-magazine/

Time for my new series…

The Environmental A-Z… letter B.

Welcome to my new series…still an A-Z but with a difference …it’s not food-related!

In the meantime, the idea for this series came about because yes as my regular followers and commenters know I am passionate about the health of the world I am living in… however often when I am researching and reading articles I come across terms and have to look them up which spawned the idea for this…two-fold… it increases my knowledge and I hope yours…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/03/17/the-environmental-a-z-the-letter-b/

Time to pop over to Sally’s for “Turn Back the Clock” this week it’s our brain …I want mine to stay the same and not degenerate into mush so I’m up for anything which helps as I am sure you are too…See you there x

 

 

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2021/03/18/smorgasbord-health-column-turning-back-the-clock-2021-part-ten-anti-aging-keeping-the-brain-young-by-sally-cronin/

Now it’s time for week 5 in my kitchen where I am going to share with you my tried and weekly tested Indian Spice Mixes…

Roasted spices Indian cooking

spices for Indian Curry

I do not profess to be an expert in Indian cookery but I try to use authentic ingredients and as I live only 2 hrs and something flight time away I can source authentic ingredients…I make my own bread not all of it I plan to try making paratha soon …I make my own chutneys and we love them…The spices I make as I buy quite large packs of spice and I get a faster turnover plus no fillers and chemicals which makes me happy…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/03/18/carolcooks2week-5in-my-kitchenmade-from-scratchindian-spice-mixes/

Fruity Friday’s…Thai Purple Melon…

I have now received my melon plant and it has been potted and we shall see how quickly it grows…it is smaller than I had hoped but it will grow …My very pretty looking Rainbow treasure chilli seeds are in the post and today I ordered 2 mini banana trees they only grow to about one and a half metres high which is good…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/03/19/fruity-fridays-thai-purple-melon-peppin-pepinotree/

Saturday Snippets…

The heavens have just opened…a humdinger of a tropical storm…The thunder is loud no lightening yet…at least it will cool it down as its another hot one today…Blimey, that one made me jump…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/03/20/saturday-snippets-20th-march-2021/

Well, that’s it for today…Thank you so much for dropping by…I hope you have enjoyed the read…if you have please head over and leave a comment it makes my day to hear from you …Love Carol xx

CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…17th January-23rd January 2021…Recipes, Whimsy, Music and Lifestyle Changes…

Welcome to this week’s edition of my weekly roundup of posts…Especially for you just in case you missed a few posts during this last week…It is a lovely sunny and still morning here…a tad warmer just by a whisper and I am contemplating my day while I sip my delicious and healthy Coconut Water…

Meatless Mondays …are going well and proving quite popular… I am enjoying my meatless meals and I wish to thank everyone who has sent me tips and recipes to try you are all awesome… I will also credit back to you once I have made them and my taste testers have given their verdict…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/01/18/meatless-monday-week-2/

I am gradually getting back into my healthy eating after the excesses of the festive season coupled with quarantine and as it looks like it is not going to ease at the moment I have decided that rather than have a lot to lose… I’ll start now …it’s far easier to shift a few kilos than a lot…

One thing that has amazed me is the number of new names for eating plans…so many tarians…Please!

  • Pescatarians – people who do not eat meat, but eat fish.
  • Lacto-ovo-vegetarians – eat no meat, including seafood, but do eat dairy products and eggs.
  • Lacto-vegetarians – eat dairy products but avoid eggs.
  • Ovo-vegetarians – eat eggs but not dairy products

Why can’t we just say we eat a healthy varied diet? No fads and no avoiding of various food groups(unless) of course we have a diagnosed medical condition as to why we can’t eat a specific food item…Just sensible eating with some moderation applied to certain foods …I mean who wants to live on chocolate alone???…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/01/19/eat-smart-eat-healthy-dinner/

 

Wednesday I was back over at Smorgasbord Magazine for my new column…Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen where I talk about how we can take tiny steps to make our kitchens a little greener coupled with a recipe…This week it was my favourite Sandwich Loaf Recipe which I am tweaking to make it healthier by adding stoneground Wholewheat Flour so far I added 200gms of wholewheat flour with no other changes to the recipe apart from the fact the taste has improved…Thank you to Sally for inviting me back and to everyone who has supported my new column you all rock xx

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2021/01/20/smorgasbord-food-column-carol-taylors-green-kitchen-homemade-bread-plastic-alternatives-grated-cheese/

Wednesday is also the day for my Culinary Alphabet with A twist and this week it was foods and culinary terms ENDING in the letter S…

The letter S…this letter is different in so much that you can add an S too so many words…Which meant I could choose words which had a plural or not…I have mixed and matched…all good fun!

It also meant that I could leave many for Pete and he didn’t disappoint I think S is the easiest to date…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/01/20/the-culinary-alphabet-with-a-little-twistfood-terms-ending-in-the-letter-s-asparagus/

Thursday: Healthy Eating …Snacking is it good for you?

Snacking can be an important part of your diet if you stick to a few simple rules…It is healthy to snack if you have a long time between the next meal…sticking it out generally doesn’t work..you will either head for the biscuit tin or the fridge and have just one…?

It can also help stop you overeating at meal times because you are just soooo hungry…

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/01/21/healthy-eating-snacking-is-it-good-for-you/

Smorgasbord Health Column – Turning Back the Clock 2021 -Anti-Aging and the correct pH balance by Sally Cronin…

I think most of us would like to turn the clock back just a few years here Sally tells you how you can stop the march of time showing on your face and body by watching what you eat…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2021/01/21/smorgasbord-health-column-turning-back-the-clock-2021-anti-aging-and-the-correct-ph-balance-by-sally-cronin/

Coconut Water is one of natures natural cleaners drunk regularly it can improve our health…it can help rid the body of accumulated irritants, waste products and toxins.

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/01/22/natural-cleansers-green-coconuts-water/

Saturday Snippets:

Dumplings and Joan and the Jetts with I love Rock n Roll…it woke the neighbours up…lol…Rabbie Burns, Haggis, neeps and Tatties…all this week’s whimsey …Enjoy!

https://carolcooks2.com/2021/01/23/saturday-snippets-23rd-january-2020/

Well, that’s it for today…I hope you have enjoyed the read…if you have please head over and leave a comment it makes my day to hear from you …Love Carol xx

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Food Column – Carol Taylor – A – Z of Food ‘R’ for Rice, Ras el Hanout, Rhubarb, Ricotta Cheese and Rice Noodles

The letter R…Rice and noodles(rice) staples here and in many other parts of the world…also lots of other interesting titbits all beginning with R…Thank you, Sally, for running this series…I hope you all enjoy…Please leave your comments we love to hear from you Hugs xx

Walnuts…one of my favourite nuts and as Sally tells us very good for our health…

Smorgasbord Health Column – Food Therapy – Walnuts – Not just any nut… by Sally Cronin

As a follow on from the recent series on the Weekly Grocery Shopping List of foods that contain the nutrients the body needs I am going to repeat my series from 2017 on the health benefits of some of our most common foods.

Food therapy is a broad term for the benefits to the body of a healthy, varied and nutritional diet of fresh foods.

Most of us walk through the fresh produce departments of our supermarkets without really paying much attention to the individual fruits and vegetables. This is a great pity because the vast majority of these foods have been cultivated for thousands of years, not only for their nutritional value but also for their medicinal properties. If you eat a healthy diet you are effectively practising preventative medicine. A robust immune system, not only attacks external opportunistic pathogens but also works to prevent rogue cells in the body from developing into serious disease.

NOTE – If you are on any prescribed medication do not take yourself off it without consultation with your doctor. If you follow a healthy eating programme and lose weight and are exercising you may not need the same dose and with your doctor’s agreement, you may be able to reduce or come off the medication altogether.

Walnuts are all they are cracked up to be!

Please click the link below to have a read about all the health benefits that little nut can provide there are also some lovely recipes using Walnuts of course…Enjoy!

via Smorgasbord Health Column – Food Therapy – Walnuts – Not just any nut… by Sally Cronin

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Food Column – Carol Taylor – A – Z of Food – ‘E’ for Egg Plant, Escargot, Elephant Ears and many more Eezee recipes and foods

The letter E in my journey through the A-Z of the Culinary Alphabet which Sally is kindly promoting for me…Thank you, Sally Hugs x…Enjoy everyone x

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the series from Carol Taylor, the wonderful A – Z of Food and I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of wonderful ingredients across the food groups, spices and herbs over the year.

Welcome to my culinary tour of the alphabet it seems from the comments that you are enjoying it and for that, I thank you all…The letter E…I love this series as I have found much I didn’t or didn’t know I knew it has been no different while researching the letter E…

Escargot... The French love their snails and cooked in garlic and white wine I can understand why …

It is a very popular mollusc there are some 200 snail farms in France although some are still gathered from the wild.

Elephants Ears... They grew in Phuket by the Rai in the field near our house and the river that runs…

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