Well, firstly I apologise for the late update on last nights dinner. I’ve been thinking lately that my quick ipad photos are really quite dreadful, so I decided to take slightly better pics with my camera yesterday. The problem being, is that takes more time as I have to upload the pics etc (rather than the instant snap & upload from the iPad). The resulting photos are only slightly better, my camera is a bit crap and broken after taking so many photos in Europe 🙂

During the afternoon, I decided to make the most of not-feeling-like-death-warmed-up-just-for-a-change, and thought I would do a spot of baking. I’ve been seeing this (or similar ) recipe for Mini Muffin Donuts floating around the interwebs over the last few weeks, and thought I’d give them a go.

Ready for baking

Oven fresh!

They are soooooooo quick and simple to make! They don’t contain egg which was a surprise, but they worked really well. Once they’ve cooled, they get coated in butter, then rolled in sugar and cinnamon. Yum!

I recommend you try them. This is the recipe I used from this blog –
http://www.crunchycreamysweet.com/2013/03/06/cinnamon-sugar-mini-donut-muffins/

Whilst I was on a “make things from people’s blogs” high, I decided that I would make udon soup with pork belly as seen on this blog –

Stewed pork belly with udon

(Incidentally, I just stumbled across this blog the other day, but I have been thoroughly enjoying it – what with all the delicious recipes and photos of Japan amongst other stuff)

ANYWAY….I was off to a bad start when I couldn’t find the pork belly I wanted even after visiting two different supermarkets. I had to make do with ribs, similar, but not exactly what I wanted. I cooked the pork in the afternoon because it takes a little while.

When it came to make the rest of it, I realised I was out of dashi stock. Damn. “No worries”, I thought, “I’ll just make some from scratch from the 5 year old piece of konbu (no longer available in Australia) and some bonito flakes.” So I went ahead and made some. But it tasted weird. Too weird. I think possibly the konbu was a bit too old. Possibly the bonito was too. So I had to chuck it and make do with chicken stock instead.

The end result? A little disappointing. It look nice enough, but the flavour just wasn’t there. Next time, I must remember to check the pantry for ingredients first.
I made the eggs good though!