Sunday, September 25, 2011

Moved House,and Moving House again...

Well, we moved house anyway! Found a lovely house with 2 acres of gardens and ponies (ponies!) that are used to "mow" the grass, and a little stream and everything! We moved in and we were all super excited about living here, even to the point of discussing getting a mortgage and BUYING this place!
Six weeks later the landlord informs us that he's no longer happy that we have pets and that he wants us to move out...uh, okay...

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

One last cupcake recipe before I leave them for the world of dieting (BOO! HISS!) - my chocolate orange cupcakes. I only have a bad, blurry iPhone photo of these bad boys as they were eaten very, very quickly. Even the Big Guy had a few and he's not a cake eater usually. Again, the icing can make more than you actually use depending on how thick you lay it on. I currently have a small half jar of it in the fridge that I'm trying not to eat with a spoon...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A New Start, and Some Delicious Seeded Bread

I thought I'd share a brand new recipe with you guys today. Fresh out of my head, not even finished baking it yet! It's a variation on the white bread that I've been making of late. I LOVE bread, I really do. There's so many things you can use it for. I like my breads simple and unfussy. The Big Guy likes this bread too but he adores seeded bread so I figured I'd go for the best of both worlds and make my favourite bread seeded this time and see how it went.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Three Fruit Scones



I love fruit scones. I especially love ones that are bursting with fruit! It's such a shame that most scones these days are limited to a handful of raisins, there's so much more that could be added! I've used the dried fruits I happened to have in the kitchen for these, but try any combination you like, once you keep the quantities the same you'll be laughing!

My Best White Bread



Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread coming out of the oven, or slicing it to the exact thickness you require, not what (insert big bread company name here) thinks you should have. Like everything else made at home there's no unpronounceable ingredients, no chemicals added to make it last for weeks on a shelf, no plastic bag. Just you, a warm kitchen, and a little bit of love.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Crumbly Raspberry Oat Slices

Moments before I om, nom, nom...


Sort of a do-it-yourself cereal bar, without all the stabilisers and hydrogenated this and that. Any soft fruit can be used here, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, whatever is your favourite. You could also add some chopped nuts if that's what takes your fancy. If you're using fresh fruits pop them into the freezer before you start, I like to break the frozen raspberries apart with my fingers so I have a fruit crumble, it gives me a much more even layer.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

So when we moved here 6 months ago we loved this house so much and we had pretty great plans for how we were going to use the rooms and sort things out and re-decorate a bit. Fast forward to the present and I'm still unemployed (read: broke!) and once we'd unpacked we pretty much gave up on decorating, at all.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Work in progress...

Wasn't too impressed with yesterday's muffins...though that didn't stop me eating them...but am re-working the recipe this morning. Will arrange a taste testing and should that go well I'll share the new recipe with you all.

Also have to pick up the ingredients for the other breakfast muffin idea I had and work out how I'm going to make them. Am so super excited about this recipe...watch this space...

In other news in the kitchen...

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Maple Bacon Breakfast Muffins


For the last month or so I've been dying to make these muffins but every time I tried to I'd find I was out of maple syrup, or had no muffin cases, or something else would go awry. Finally today I made them, and they were so worth the wait. They've also given me an idea for another type of breakfast muffin...oh well, there goes the weekend!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Green Duck Salad


I normally prefer meat well-done but having tried this cooked medium I have to say I really wouldn't cook it any other way now. Give it a try yourself, the meat is meltingly tender.

Things Our Cats Have Taught Me #2

Snoozing in a sunbeam is so much more fun when it's inside on warm carpet rather than outside on a cold patio. It is also a perfectly acceptable way to spend an afternoon.

Things Our Cats Have Taught Me #1

Just because you're big doesn't mean you're in charge.

It's finally Spring!

Oh joy to my heart, the days are getting longer, and the sun has remembered where I live.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Cream of Chicken Soup

One of the best uses for the left over bits of your chicken carcass. The uneaten meat goes into the soup, and the bones make the stock for next weeks soup, genius!

Turkish Lamb Stew

It sounds a bit odd doesn't it? PRUNES and RAISINS in STEW?? With ALMONDS? It's amazing, I suggest you make it and try it today!

Pineapple upside-down cake

I had never had pineapple upside-down cake until I made this one. You need to be fairly sure that you'll eat something when you're making about 2kgs of it but I figured it had sugar, butter, booze...what's not to like! As it turns out it is delicious, and one I'll certainly be making again. I had no rum when making this so I used whiskey and it was still yum. The Big Guy describes it as being "like an Irishman having a Caribbean orgy in my mouth". It really is that good!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Orange Milk Chocolate Truffles

Oh my goodness these are so insanely good. Prepare yourself and make double quantities, you'll probably eat half of them as you make them!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Projects and procrastination

Hello everyone!

I have been a bad, bad blogger and not posted here in almost two months - for shame! I do have lots of lovely news for you though so please forgive me...

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Roast bread

Now, this is something that is a Christmas morning tradition in my family (and the Big Guy thinks is the most disgusting thing he's ever heard) but I learned the other day that it's possible to do with any roast meat. I will be much fatter by the end of this year so...

Butter-roasted saffron chicken

This is from Annie Bell's 'The Country Cook' which has loads more delicious recipes in it. You can find it by clicking the link on the left - it's definitely worth investing in!

I doubled the quantities as I needed to feed 5 hungry adults and the supermarket had no big chickens, but I'm giving you Ms. Bell's original recipe. Gorgeous moist chicken meat, just lovely!

Boozy Leeks

Great vegetable accompaniment to most dinners, my first time making leeks as a side dish in their own right and they went down a storm with everyone!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Quick-roast chicken for two

So I was flicking through a food magazine today and I saw a recipe that sounded lovely for dinner tonight, but then I read the ingredients and the list became "he doesn't eat that, he doesn't eat that, or that. Hmm, it's not really very winter seasony either. Hmm."
So I popped to the supermarket for the chicken breasts (though mine are part-boned, skin on thankyouverymuch!) and mooched around the kitchen until I'd thrown this together. I've called it a quick-roast as it's done in about an hour (less if you use skinless, boneless chicken breasts) compared to an entire roast chicken! The quantities are so easily bumped up to feed more than two, having made this once I'll now be making it again, and again, and it'll be on some of our dinner party menus for sure!