A Christmas Pudding Challenge
on Nov 17, 2009 in Chocolate Waffles Dried Fruit Christmas If you read any of the UK food blogs, you might have seen a few posts popping up featuring Matthew Walker Christmas Puddings, who kindly sent out their puddings in the hope that we would come up with some new ways to serve it.I've never bought a Chri...

Snowflake Cutters Giveaway!
on Nov 13, 2009Pop them on cupcakes, large cakes & cookies etcRecently I made a chocolate Christmas fruit cake, decorated with some cute fondant snowflakes. They were made from snowflake cutters and I've got one pack (containing 3 different sized cutters) to gi...

My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme
on Nov 10, 2009 in Books A while back, Duckworth Publishers, an independent publisher, kindly sent me a review copy of 'My Life in France', by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme. With Christmas coming, it's just the sort of reading book that would be ideal for a foodie. I had...

Parkin for Bonfire Night!
on Nov 5, 2009 in Cake Ginger Happy Bonfire Night!Hope everyone in the UK enjoyes the fireworks tonight or at the weekend, and stay safe if you are having your own fireworks party!Parkin is a soft cake that is traditionally made using oats and treacle and is eaten on Bonfire Nigh...

Roasted Plum Tomatoes with Garlic, Basil and Chillies
on Oct 30, 2009 in Herbs Chillies Tomatoes I'm getting a bit fed up with our tomatoes taking over the kitchen, but the end is in sight!The freezer is my friend during the winter months and slow roasting the tomatoes before freezing them is one way of making sure they don't go to waste. It's l...

French Bread for World Bread Day
on Oct 16, 2009 in Bread It's here - another World Bread Day!To celebrate I've made some French bread, using French bread flour. My trusty bread machine was used for the kneading process, but you can get stuck in and knead by hand - very therapeutic! I use one of those speci...

Chilli Bomb Tomato Chutney
on Oct 10, 2009 in Chillies Tomatoes Garden Things are changing for me at home. My dessert partner in crime has headed off for his first year at University, leaving me at a loss of what to do with my chocolate! A good friend told me that just when you get used to them being away, they come hom...

Chocolate Fruit Cake - for Christmas!
on Sep 30, 2009 in Cake Chocolate Fruit Christmas As we head into October, it's time to start thinking about.... I can't bear to say the word.... yep, Christmas!I'm one of those who truly does leave everything to the last minute, shopping, baking and menus. But this year, I was contacted by Morris...

Goodbye to Summer with Mini Pavlovas
on Sep 16, 2009 in Fruit Dessert One of the easiest ways to enjoy the last of the summer berries is to plonk them onto a pavlova. The meringue in this recipe is for softer, chewy, melting meringues, rather than the crisp dry ones that you would use for something like frozen meringue...

Mirabelle Jam for A Taste of Yellow
on Sep 12, 2009 in Fruit Taste of Yellow event Jam Chillies Garden Serve with scones and clotted creamI'm pleased to be participating in A Taste of Yellow, an event where food bloggers from around the world are invited to contribute a yellow dish, or drink, to raise awareness of cancer issues worldwide. The event is...