QUARANTINE DIARIES, COMFORT FOOD & ALL THE SMALL THINGS THAT KEEP US GOING
A short interview with Artemis, from Athens. She baked some delicious banana-chocolate cupcakes.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOU AND WHERE DID THE QUARANTINE FIND YOU?
Common, you do know me. Anyhow, I am Artemis and I am well. I write on the blog WonderfoodLand and I’m a full time food stylist for Akis Petretzikis. The quarantine got me on a Friday evening whilst I was enjoying my last meze and nibbles at my favourite place in Athens, with my equally favourite people.
What did it change for you ?
Eversince, quarantine and I are in a tumultuous relationship. At times, we are fiercely in love, then we can’t stand each other but we persevere in the hope that our relationship will end in a civilized manner. It is a demanding relationship, I need to distance myself from friends, parents, nieces and nephews and my favourite person. This takes a heavy toll on us and makes our relationship unsufferable.
How do you cope?
Well there are times that I simply don’t cope. Thankfully, the positives balance the scale as I let myself relax and come to terms with the mood of the day and fleeting moment: from boredom to sadness and nervousness about what comes next, to pure joy as I can smell the blossomed orange trees from my window.
Do I cope, I wonder?
How many loo-rolls can you count in your cupboards?
My usual dozen. I live dangerously.
Comfort food: banana-chocolate cupcakes
Not sure if this counts as comfort food. I came across this recipe on an insta story from fellow foodblogger @emmaforeatingaround and I just went for it. It’s a banana chocolate cake. There was an overripe banana that was seriously turning on the black side. I felt pity for the poor fruit, it looked too sad. Since I only had one, I used cupcake cases instead of a cake tin and did half the dose. But the full dose is below:
Banana Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 150 gr olive oil
- 100 gr sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 ripe bananas mushed
- ½ tsp cinnamon or 1 ts vanilla essence I went for cinnamon
- 250 gr self raising flour
- 200 gr chocolate finely chopped (I used milk chocolate).
Instructions
- Preheat the oven on 190C (resistance oven) or 180C (fan oven)
- Beat the the olive oil with sugar, using a mixer or you can use a whisk like I did (too bored to drag out the mixer)
- Add in the eggs one-by-one whilst whisking for another couple of minutes.
- Fold in the mashed bananas and sprinkle the cinnamon into the mixture.
- Sieve the flour and gently mix it in the cake mixture.
- Continue with the chocolate, always folding in gently with a spatula.
- Transfer the mixture on a lined baking tin or muffin tin.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
Notes
Where will you go eat once this madness is over?
Everywhere. E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E! (did I stress that enough?)
Share a wish, just so we can finish on a happy note.
If you don’t mind, I will share a song.
from Athens with love,
Artemis T.
PS: If you wish to be part of my quarantine cuisine diaries and share your experience on Eat Yourself Greek (EYG), please drop me a line here.
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