Instagram – cute bowls, short videos of everything neatly organised and pre-weighed in nice dishes. It’s all very aesthetically pleasing. Ladies and gents, my kitchen does not look like that. I definitely do not cook like that. Welcome to the least aesthetic post I’ll probably ever make. In this post, I’m showing you what it’s really like to cook with me – photos of all the mess, pictures of how I balance things to try and get photos and so on. Behind the scenes food blogger edition – cook and clean with me. I might regret this.
I got this idea a while ago when I was creating my marzipan cups recipe for Recipe A Day May. As each layer had to be made separately, I had mixing bowls and pans everywhere. My laptop was in the room so I could type up the ingredients as I went along and by the end, I had marzipan cups in the tray, balanced on my laptop, everywhere. And I thought this could be funny.
It took me a while to pick a recipe to do this for, but I knew I wanted to save it for something that had the potential to be messy. I opted for something that I’d never made before under the assumption that I’d make the most mess/ be less organised that way. My recipe of choice was originally going to be one of my Wimbledon strawberries and cream recipes, but that won’t be up for nearly two weeks and I thought that might be annoying if you see it in another post first. Instead, I settled for the one I posted on Tuesday, which is the first of my summer Strictly Seasonal Recipes, berry crepes.
Now, I’ve obviously made lots of pancakes before…so I know what I’m doing, but I never make crepes. And I always seem to make a mess when I make pancakes anyway…
BTS Food Blogger Edition: Cook and Clean With Me
Let’s Prep
This is my kitchen to begin with.
Now I had a bit of an incident with my food processor and some cauliflower rice the night before which resulted in a major clean up situation, so the kitchen is pretty much good to go already. I’m starting by giving the hob and surfaces a quick wipe down, then I’ll start with my ingredients.
To clean my surfaces today, I’m using this multi-surface cleaner* from Norfolk Natural Living. It’s a natural, vegan friendly formula safe for most surfaces and is chemical & bleach free, so it can be used safely on high chairs/ other areas around children.
I have mine in the lavender scent, which smells fresh without being too overpowering. It’s also available in sea salt, which I think would smell incredible in a kitchen. They also sell a variety of other cleaning products for specific surfaces, as well as things like hand soap, which you can check out here.
Ingredients
I’m using GF oat flour as my base, I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t buy it – I use the milling blade on my nutribullet to make some when I need it. This is probably where I start to make a mess. This is the amount I’m using. It hardly feels worth it.
I’ve just remembered that the small saucepan I need to make my berry sauce is in the dishwasher and I need to clean it before I move on…
Pan is clean, berries are in the pan, spilled some berries on the hob along the way. Time to mix together the remaining ingredients. The recipe post probably says something about mixing everything together in a bowl at this point. My reality is mixing everything in the blender cup I used for the flour.
Cooking
I only made enough mix for two crepes and on the basis the first one is never the greatest, all of my hopes are on the second. Anyone else find the first pancake is a bit of a flop? Look at that beautiful, artistic pancake placement there.
Also, yes that is a metal spoon in a very hot pan. Yes, I’m likely going to burn myself a little bit. And, again, yes, I do that all the time and never learn. My hands are becoming more resilient though…
I realised about half way through making the first one that I probably made an error with my mix. I made my regular pancake base mic but with more milk to make them thinner. That mix contains baking powder, which helps them ‘fluff’. I’m not looking for fluffy pancakes today.
Turns out I was right; this is going to be a two day prep recipe and this is my finished product for day one.
Attempt Two
I’m making this the next day, and I’ve decided to strip the recipe back to basics to make this. We’re going with oats, milk and a flax egg. Yesterday’s sauce worked well, so I’m making that the same way.
And this is the end product…
Are you a neat cook or are you like me (a complete mess)? Check out the full recipe for the crepes here.
Until next time,
Sophie
*This post contains gifted product from Norfolk Natural Living.
Really enjoyed this post, so relatable! I’m the messiest cook ever, I don’t seem to be able to make a recipe without using every single pot, pan, bowl and utensil in the kitchen, haha.
Nicola
http://nicshealthylife.co.uk
Oh my god! The crepes look amazing!
https://sarahrizaga.blogspot.com/
Your kitchen is so cute! I make such a mess when I cook x
This post really made me giggle. I’ve seen a behind the scenes of your recipes before, where you take your photos in your bath because of the white background and the light (FAB TIP!) but I had no idea you liked to live so dangerously: metal spoons, plates of food balanced on the back of chairs. Oh, wow! I love the sound of the surface cleaner, lavender is my favourite clearning fragrance 🙂 x
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
Your kitchen looks super cute! This was a fun insight into your cooking process and your end product looks really good 🙂
The crêpes look super good! Reminds me I have not had crêpes in so long! Never used gluten free oat flour though… maybe i should try!
Im not even the cooking typebut ill eat whatever is made for me lol. When i do cook ( which is rare) im a total mess. Your dishes look soooo good btw
Those pancakes look so yummy!
Mariya | https://www.brunetteondemand.com/
That looks yummy though!
So yummy 🙂
Those pancakes are so insta worthy
Vanessa x
I’m a total mess in the kitchen, especially when it comes to baked goods! There will be bowls and trays EVERYWHERE. I hate the clean up. lol. This was a great post Sophie and I hope you do some more behind the scenes ones in the future.
I don’t often cook but when I do- my goodness I make such a mess!
Your dishes always turn out amazing!
Love Lozza xo
http://girlygabble.com
Those pancakes look delicious! I am not an Instagram-worthy baker/cooker either, my kitchen is a mess when I’m in the middle of working on something lol Glad to hear I’m not the only one that is less than neat hahaha
This is such an interesting way to style a post! I love how you’ve written it, it’s so funny. Also the food looks amazing, so much better than my second attempt would look x
Kayleigh Zara http://www.kayleighzaraa.com
The crepes look yummy! I like how the cleaner is made with natural products, will check it out.
Thanks for sharing your BTS.
Loren | plaidandsugar.blogspot.com
If this was me cooking the kitchen would be a mess and they definitely wouldn’t look that good.
Abigail-xo
I feel like i use every pot, pan, dish, utensils in the house when I’m cooking or baking lol
I hate that cooking is so messy with is what I try to do simple things.
I love cooking and baking but I always end up with such a mess!
This is such a good idea! Was so interesting to read. Absolutely love the look of those pancakes x
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
Love that this cleaner is eco friendly ❤
These pancakes look sooooo good btw!!
xx
Selina | Selina’s Inspiration
One of the most important things about cooking is cleaning! You need to have a clean area before and after. I like that the cleaner is natural. Oooh, I love how your crepes look! It is super cute and looks TASTY!!! Thanks for sharing your resource :)!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
These look so good. I’m a kinda in the middle cooker. I’ll tidy as I go but then by the end I’ll leave everything until after!
I definitely am someone who makes a mess when cooking. I have sometimes cooked something and cleaned up as I went along and that was a lot easier to tidy up afterwards, but it’s not something I do a lot.. I definitely make such a mess! I love the look of those crepes, has made me very hungry haha.
Chloe xx
http://www.chloechats.com
I absolutely love this concept and it’s such a fun, unique post idea – but there’s no way I could make the level of mess I create look this photogenic! My husband’s always rushing about behind me trying to clear up the carnage haha. Those crepes look incredible by the way – need to try them stat! Thanks for showing us the behind the scenes, that surface cleaner sounds absolutely dreamy!
Beth x Adventure & Anxiety
Loved redaing this as it’s a bit different for me! x
The end product looks so tasty 🙂