We brewed a Citra SMaSH IPA!As fun as it was brewing beer using a kit, D and I decided we wanted to try all-grain brewing, i.e. making beer by starting with malted barley itself. I think there is something magical about going from grain to bottle. However, based on what I read online most homebrewers start by mastering malt extract brewing before moving to all-grain, so this could be a terribly, premature move. Read about our first ever homebrewed beer here: https://www.alifeoffaff.com/post/we-d

So we decided it was time to take it back to basics with another SMaSH IPA. SMaSH stands for single malt, single hops, so it is as simple as an IPA can get. For this beer we went with Maris Otter for the malt and Mosaic for the hops. The last time we made SMaSH IPAs were Brew #2 Citra SMaSH IPA and Brew #3 Simcoe SMaSH IPA. It feels so long ago since we last brewed a SMaSH now especially as we are getting close to double digits in our brew numbers. This time we decided to go with Mosaic given w

Me and D have decided to start brewing beer at home!! I am excited and looking forward to the journey that is ahead of us. I love beer and have wanted to give brewing a go for a while.My love affair with beer has been long, resilient and revolutionary. All starting in Sixth Form with what I now consider terrible beer but at the time was honestly amazing. Ice cold Carling and the not so bad Kronenbourg. Back then me and beer had one goal - drink as much tasty beer as you can before you fall over

Another Saturday, another brew day. Given our continued novice status, another simple SMaSH IPA was on the cards. But this time we decided to try swapping out the Citra hops for Simcoe. Simcoe is a commonly used hop that is said to have citrus flavour with grapefruit and pine notes.

This caramelised onion, goat's cheese and courgette quiche is simple, tasty and a whole load of fun to make. I absolutely hated quiche as a child. I think it was the combination of coming from a Nigerian family and never eating it at home and only experiencing the worst type of quiche at school for lunches. School quiche was so bad! But as I got older I fell in love with it when I experienced the cheesy goodness that is a truly well made quiche. My preference has always been a vegetarian quiche

Another Saturday, another brew day. Given our continued novice status, another simple SMaSH IPA was on the cards. But this time we decided to try swapping out the Citra hops for Simcoe. Simcoe is a commonly used hop that is said to have citrus flavour with grapefruit and pine notes.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” – Voltaire As critical thinkers, it’s our job to question everything, instead of just blindly believing what we’re told, but what kinds of questions should we be asking though? What are the “right” questions to ask? In this article I’ve compiled a list of 200+ […]

Last year I fell in love with baking again. Not sure what triggered it! Maybe it was moving in with D and having more personal space to roam around in the kitchen without the constant fuss from a parent or sibling. Maybe it was gaining a bit more free time after finishing my PhD. Whatever it was I become hooked again. Lockdown has provided me with even more time to bake which is one positive of this crisis (if there are any). Really the only limit has been how fast D and I can consume all the go

Raspberry Chia Jam - Homemade sugar-free raspberry chia jam that's ready in 5 minutes! Great addition to porridge, cake and jam cookies.

This might be one of my favourite bakes for a while. This nectarine galette recipe was inspired by a trip to Tesco where I saw ripen at home nectarines on offer for 45p. An absolute bargain! Instantly I knew I wanted to bake something tasty with them. I had seen lots of galette recipes online and had wanted to make one for a while so after seeing the nectarines I knew what was happening next. This was one of those rare few occasions for me where an ingredient inspires a bake rather than starting

It was time to step up our game for brew #4. But deciding what to brew next was the real challenge. During lockdown we have been brewing every 2 weeks so although this is our 3rd all-grain brew (4th brew overall), we had yet to try any of our completed all-grain beers. Brewing requires so much patience! After searching homebrewtalk.com and other brewing forums we decided to alter our current IPA recipe by adding more hops. Everyone said Amarillo was worth a try with its grapefruit flavours, whil

These sweet, buttery and tasty cardamom buns are to die for. They take a bit of time but are completely worth the effort.The first time I ever tried a cardamom bun was during my PhD where a Swedish postdoctoral Scientist in our department baked some and brought them in. I was so impressed by them and they were so damn tasty. I never really knew that cardamom could be added to something sweet, I had always associated the spice with savoury curries. Since that first try, I have been hooked. I’m no

Hey y'all! Today brings us round to another trip through the Llama Nails Movies and Books challenge. Today's prompt is Historical, and so I wanted to attempt to pay tribute to one of Elizabeth Taylor

New week! New cake! This week I wanted something fruity that was relatively cheap to make and did not require me to buy tons of ingredients. I got the incentive to bake later in the day, so only picked up my ingredients at 8 pm and started baking at 9 pm so this quick fruity slice was perfect. I altered a recipe from Taste IngredientsFor the cake150 g Unsalted butter, softened220 g Caster sugar1 tsp Vanilla extract2 Eggs (Large), lightly beaten250 g Self Raising Flour160 ml Buttermilk 300 g Froz

Me and D have decided to start brewing beer at home!! I am excited and looking forward to the journey that is ahead of us. I love beer and have wanted to give brewing a go for a while.My love affair with beer has been long, resilient and revolutionary. All starting in Sixth Form with what I now consider terrible beer but at the time was honestly amazing. Ice cold Carling and the not so bad Kronenbourg. Back then me and beer had one goal - drink as much tasty beer as you can before you fall over

When the colder months of the years come around I find myself craving root vegetables and large squashes. Basically I start craving flavours that scream warmth and comfort. For me this butternut squash & goat‘s cheese tart ticks all those boxes. The tart is honestly the easiest, tastiest and faff free recipe. Serve with a lovely salad for a lush supper. Skip to the end for the recipe. This recipe is so simple, only has 9 ingredients, and that even includes the seasoning!Butternut SquashChop your

We brewed a Citra SMaSH IPA!As fun as it was brewing beer using a kit, D and I decided we wanted to try all-grain brewing, i.e. making beer by starting with malted barley itself. I think there is something magical about going from grain to bottle. However, based on what I read online most homebrewers start by mastering malt extract brewing before moving to all-grain, so this could be a terribly, premature move. Read about our first ever homebrewed beer here: https://www.alifeoffaff.com/post/we-d

This might be one of my favourite bakes for a while. This nectarine galette recipe was inspired by a trip to Tesco where I saw ripen at home nectarines on offer for 45p. An absolute bargain! Instantly I knew I wanted to bake something tasty with them. I had seen lots of galette recipes online and had wanted to make one for a while so after seeing the nectarines I knew what was happening next. This was one of those rare few occasions for me where an ingredient inspires a bake rather than starting

We wanted to give the Citrillo (Citra and Amarillo) IPA another go, so we decided it was time for a re-brew. Last time we brewed this beer we felt it had potential, as the fruity tart grapefruit flavours were coming through but all the flavours just needed a bit of a push. Also we have learnt so much more about brewing since the last time we brewed this beer so we knew if we re-brewed it with a few tweaks we would end up with a much better beer.The idea was to keep the recipe pretty much the sam

Galaxy crafts are so much fun! Check out all the fun and choose a galaxy craft to make today. These kids galaxy ideas are cool DIY galaxy projects and

Sourdough Baking Up until the middle ages, sourdough starter was an essential part of breadmaking. If you wanted your dough to rise, this culture of flour, water and wild yeasts is what did the lif…

So, 23rd December, and I've started the gravy for the big day. This may seem extreme, but it's to save me the hassle of it on Christmas Day and to make sure I serve up the best gravy of the year. I'm making Jamie Oliver's Get Ahead Gravy. As far as I'm concerned, Jamie Oliver (my fondue disaster not withstanding) should be knighted in the New Year's Honours and then made Prime Minister, or perhaps King. Or both. Here are the ingredients: Starting • 2 celery sticks, trimmed and roughly chopped • 2 carrots, roughly sliced • 2 onions, peeled and quartered • 5 fresh bay leaves • 5 fresh sage leaves • 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary • 2 star anise • 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford • 8 chicken wings • olive oil • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • Finishing: 4 tablespoons plain flour • optional: 60ml sherry or port • 2 heaped dessertspoons cranberry sauce, for finishing. How I did my best impression of the great J.O So first, I put all the staring ingredients (see above) in a roasting pan, added some fabulous olive oil that we brought back from Tuscany this year, then some salt and pepper. I put it in the oven for an hour at 200c. Put all the starting ingredients into a big roasting pan When I got it out, it was all golden. I got a non-scratch masher as Jamie instructs, and mashed it all up hard. When they come out of the oven, mash them up I scraped the bottom to make sure it was all mixed in. Then I added two tablespoons of flour bit by bit and made sure it was all stirred in well. Scrape the bottom of the pan Then I added two litres of hot water and boiled for ten minutes, then simmered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 litres of water, then boil for 10 mins and simmer for 25mins After than I added a glug of port. This is optional. Add port if desired. I desire very much. Then sieve. I first sieved in a colander as my sieve is quite small. This got rid of most of the mashed up ingredients. Then I strained it again in my sieve into a freezer box, let it cool and popped it in the freezer until Sunday. Strain it, put it in a freezer box and freeze until the big day. On Sunday I will get it out first thing, defrost it and put it in a pan. When the turkey is done, Jamie says to add 2 large dessertspoons of cranberry sauce (which is good as there's always too much) and the skimmed juices from the turkey. Decant into a gravy boat, and there you have it, Jamie Oliver's Get Ahead Gravy. It's a lot more faff than Bisto gravy granules, but it's Christmas! And click here for the link again to the full set of instructions from the Jamie Oliver website Images on this post are All Rights Reserved c. Tania Tirraoro. Use Contact form to request reuse.

I have been brewing for a while now and every brew you end up throwing away a substantial amount of grains. At first I tried putting them in the food waste bin for compost but there were too many grains, so the bulk of grain waste just ended up in the main bin. But this was really not sitting right with me. Throwing all that grain away just felt like a waste, especially on the back of lockdown when so many things had been scarce. So I googled 'What can I do with used spent brewing grains?' The

Sourdough Baking Up until the middle ages, sourdough starter was an essential part of breadmaking. If you wanted your dough to rise, this culture of flour, water and wild yeasts is what did the lif…