Happy Birthday to KitchenTalk!

Happy Birthday to Kitchen Talk.  Two years old today! 

Who would have thought two years ago that I would have written so much about food, cook books, cooking equipment, attended events, cooked with my food heroes and much more.

When I published my first post I never thought anyone would be reading it, I was just writing because I felt I had something to say and wanted to record it and not forget.

But lo and behold, people read my meandering thoughts, my opinions on food that I have cooked, eaten out, shared with family and friends.

I have attended some fantastic PR events, met and cooked with some great chefs - some of them my heroes. I have had the pleasure to cook with Reza Mahammad, Eric Lanlard, Lisa Faulkner, Alex Mackay, Vanessa Kimbell, Paul Merrett and The Fabulous Baker Brothers to name but a few.

A Day spent making a video with Lisa Faulkner

Cooking with Chef Paul Merrett and Total Greek Yoghurt

 

The Fabulous Baker Brothers

Cake making with Eric Lanlard at Total Greek Yoghurt's 30th Birthday Party

I have learned to make sushi with Yuki Gomi and Mexican with Omar Abilhoy.

My first sushi making lesson with Yuki Gomi

I have met Heston Blumenthal, Claudia Fulvio, James Martin, Dan Leppard, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry and loads of others!

Talking Christmas with Heston Blumenthal at Waitrose Christmas event.

I have been invited to some wine events, tasted wines I wouldn't have ever know about before, blended my own Campo Viejo Rioja and even met Olly Smith and Oz Clarke a few months ago.

Wine Blending with Campo Viejo

I met Olly Smith at a Canadian Wine Event at Canada House

I have eaten in some great restaurants, some that always wanted to try and some that I would never have thought I would attend. I have made some great friends in the past two years as well. And I have had the time of my life!!

My husband has become known as Mr R and has made several appearances on my blog and given the family something to giggle about when they see him referred to.

Hard Life of Mr R!

So what about the future you may ask?

I hope to keep up the momentum of meeting and cooking with my food heroes.  I would like to do some travelling and write about the food of my travels. I would like to make more videos of my cooking and would even like to make some television appearances. There I said that out loud!

I would like to run more competitions and have some guest bloggers appear. If you fancy guesting on my blog please let me know.

As for my blog, I plan to work on taking better photos, put into practice some of the tips I learned at Food Blogger Connect a couple of weekends ago. My feature called 'Today's coffee break is brought to you by ...' will be re-named 'Kitchen Talk'.

I plan to keep having fun and learning and having great experiences.

Please re-post, re-tweet or Facebook share this as a birthday present and leave a comment on the blog, I thank you in advance.

 I love getting loads of lovely comments so please keep on commenting. Thanks for reading this and all my other posts.

Cake Masterclass with Eric Lanlard - thanks Total Greek Yoghurt

Would I like to attend a cake Masterclass with French Master Patissier Eric Lanlard? Of couse I would!! As part of their 30th birthday celebrations Total Greek Yoghurt asked Eric to show us how to make a delicious and stunning cake.

My daughter-in-law Miss Donna has just started a baking blog and she was so excited to be asked along as well. This was Miss Donna's first blogging event and judging from her enjoyment it won't be her last!

What I never expected was to be settled at a work station with all the ingredients set out to make a cake just like the one Eric demonstrated to us.

There were two cakes already made, whipped cream, Total Greek Yoghurt (well it was their 'do'), an ouzo sugar syrup, a wonderful selection of fresh fruit and beautifully thin white chocolate cigarillos.

 

Eric proceeded to show us how to turn these ingredients, as well as sharing some very useful hints and tips, into a stunning summer fruit masterpiece!

Eric sliced the cake into thin layers, brushed a sponge with the ouzo syrup, pipped a mixture of whipped cream and Total Greek Yoghurt onto the sponge, layer of raspberries, a bit more cream and start again. You can make three or four layers and then stick the white chocolate cigarillos around the outside. Top with the fresh fruit and place some shards or gold leaf caramel in the top.

Tie a satin ribbon around it and as they say in France 'E Viola'!!

So off we went to our stations and followed what Eric had showed us and we created our own masterpiece! Here is mine and we were given a box to take it home! Cake heaven here I come!!!

Oh and of course it tasted as good as it looked - ummmm divine!

Thank you so much Total Greek Yoghurt for giving us the fantastic Masterclass with Eric Lanlard!

And by the way Happy 30th Birthday Total Greek Yoghurt!!