Skip to main content

Back to School

Ask any book lover what their favorite childhood read was, and chances are they would name one of the Enid Blytons. Who can ignore the charms of Noddy, or the very mischevious Famous Five and Secret Seven. Blyton must have written hundreds of books in her time. I still devour all her childhood sagas, and I know a lot of you do as well. For when Bhags first ran "This Book Makes Me Cook" in May, didn't half the participants pick an Enid Blyton as inspiration to cook from.

It isn't surprising then that "This Book Makes Me Cook" is reading a Blyton this month. The book we picked was "The Naughtiest Girl in the School", one of the several school series she wrote. With vivid descriptions, the book brings to life a quintessential English boaring school called Whyteleafe. Equally close to life is our heroine Elizabeth, the girl with a heart of gold who's pretending to be naughty.

There is plenty in the book to excite a foodie. The lunches and dinners at school, the tea times and the children's visits to sweet shop to spend their weekly allowance. But what fascinates me the most is the tuck boxes these children bring with them at the start of the term. Filled with cakes and jams, delights they then share with their friends. Elizabeth's tuck box always has shortbread in addition to cakes. And this sinfully buttery Scottish treat is what I am recreating for this month's edition of the book club.



To make shortbread, soften 100 gms butter. Mix 130 gms plain flour, 30 gms cornflour and 55 gms caster sugar. Add butter and slowly rub it in. Press with your hands until the dough comes together. Roll or pat into a square and cut into fingers (or any shape you like). Arrange on a baking sheet and make indentations with a fork. Heat oven to 180C and bake for 35 minutes. Let harden for a few minutes on the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

In the meantime, let's sneak a look into other members' tuck boxes and see what they brought to school:

- Aparna also made Scottish Shortbread
- A fancier shortbread from Curry Leaf. Sweatha made Chocolate Nut Shortbread with Stewed Apples
- Rachel made a Chocolate Cake for Elizabeth

And now on to November. Next month, we are reading Alice in Wonderland. If you would like to join us on the trip to wonderland, leave a comment here and I will get back to you with details.
Labels:

Comments

CurryLeaf said…
Wonderful,I too did shortbread.3 shortbread in a row
October 26, 2008 at 5:57 PM
Siri said…
Wow, shortbread again..:) they look yummy Simran.. I may not post for this month as I was busy at work.. and today I slept the whole day. Next for sure will join.

Hugs,
Siri
October 27, 2008 at 2:03 AM
Bharti said…
Oohh...I love Enid Blyton. The shortbread looks sinfully yummy.
October 27, 2008 at 6:56 AM
Suganya said…
Awesome short bread recipe. Looks so good.

Wish u a happy Diwali!!!
October 27, 2008 at 8:51 AM
Rachel said…
Another shortbread..they look good....
October 27, 2008 at 12:31 PM
lubnakarim06 said…
Short bread looks gr8. Wow this looks awesome event. Alice in wonderland wow. I love to know the details regarding the participation.
October 28, 2008 at 7:16 PM
Aparna Balasubramanian said…
Looks good, Simran. Can see shortbread was a popular choice this month.
November 1, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Sunshinemom said…
I missed this post! I like an easy recipe like this one - makes a good evening snack for the children when they get back from school! I just posted my 'Alice in Wonderland' post and was wondering where to link it up - with this post?
November 15, 2008 at 11:45 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kadhi Chawal

I just can't think of what to write today. That's what my absolute favorite meal does to me, I just want to stop talking and dig right in. So I won't ramble and go straight on the recipe for kadhi. First, make the pakoras that would go in the kadhi. Slice an onion lengthwise. Make a batter with 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan), salt, red chilli powder and water. Dip onions in this batter and deep fry until crisp. Keep aside. Now blend 1 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup besan into a paste. Add 3-4 cups water to make a very thin blend. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add a tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain (carom seeds) and methre (fenugreek seeds). Let splutter for a few seconds. Now add a large onion, cut lengthwise into thin slices and cook until browned lightly. Pour in the yogurt/besan mix and add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least half an hour. You have to stir this occasio...
17 comments
Read more

Bibimbap

This is the reason I love taking part in Taste & Create . There is so much new to learn and try when you meet new partners. This month, I am visiting Kitschow in Vancouver for a course in Asian cooking. She also tries a lot of other cuisines, but wok is her favorite way to cook. I first thought I'd find very little vegetarian choice at her place. But as luck would have it, she has recently done a lot of vegetarian cooking and eating for lent and I had a virtual rainbow to pick from. Everything looked so delicious it was tough to pick one. I picked the one with the cutest name : Bibimbap . Bibimbap is a Korean rice, usually topped with beef and vegetables but Kitschow made a vegan version for Lent. The recipe has three parts. First you cook the rice. Then, when it's almost done but is still moist, you arrange vegetables on top so it looks colorful and pretty. For the vegan version, Kitschow just put raw veggies there and let them cook in the steam. But I liked the i...
13 comments
Read more

Dukkah

Talk about myths busted. I went to Dubai planning to buy zat'ar, the fragrant herb and spice mix. And Dukkah, the interesting blend of nuts and spices. Not sumac, because I still have a pack left in my fridge. So zat'ar was easy - every Carrefour supermarket had that one. But no one had dukkah and I was like, how can they not have dukkah? It's a middle eastern thing, right! But well, they don't sell dukkah in Dubai, so I came back and armed with recipes from 10-odd blogs (all roughly the same), I set to make my own. The key to making dukkah is : line up all your ingredients, toast each of them separately in a heavy non-stick pan till they are fragrant and lightly roasted, then put everything in a blender and grind coarsely. This is your dukkah. Now dip your bread in olive oil, then dip it in dukkah and indulge. A final word of warning: this can be highly addictive. And finally, my list of ingredients: 1/4 cup almonds 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 1/2 tbsp sesame...
14 comments
Read more