tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13127883232561293442024-03-13T11:55:35.263+00:00Please Do Not Feed The Animals!Trying to pass on my love of food and cooking to my kids.Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-74346749541334496742013-10-28T14:53:00.001+00:002013-10-28T14:53:20.914+00:00Random Local Ingredient - Smoked Haddock With Lentils.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I think, of all the wonderful produce from near my home in Aberdeenshire, haddock is one of my favourites. It is a wonderful meaty fish and makes the perfect fish supper. Smoked haddock is also the main ingredient of my favourite soup - Cullen Skink. I like my Cullen Skink to be nothing more than onions, potatoes, smoked haddock and cream.</div>
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It was easy, then, to choose haddock when Dom asked us to choose a local ingredient for this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/10/random-recipes-33-random-local.html">Random Recipe</a>. I then turned to my new Nigel Slater book - Eat and looked for haddock recipes. Sure enough, here was this recipe just sitting waiting for me. A very nourishing and filling meal for the family with plenty of goodness from the lentils but also the comforting creaminess of my beloved Cullen Skink. This recipes showcases the beautiful, chunky, flakes of smoked haddock brilliantly.</div>
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Now I have done the basic recipe from the book, I will be playing about with this and making up my own variations. Easy, healthy mid-week meal.</div>
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I will hopefully be back soon to talk about some more of the meals I have made from Eat recently. </div>
Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-83681346867381945092013-09-28T14:14:00.001+01:002013-09-28T14:18:34.113+01:00Round Up Of Summer 2013.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It is almost time to look out my gloves and the heating has already been put on so really time for me to admit Summer is over.</div>
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I have mentioned here before that I think Autumn is my favourite time of year. I have already started making chutneys and making more comfort food but I thought I would take a look back over the Summer before I move fully into Autumn. </div>
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Adam is 6 now and very capable in the kitchen. My parents give them Innocent Smoothies to drink when they are round at their house and, in early summer, Adam saw an idea on the back of one of their cartons for making a caterpillar out of salad ingredients. We got the supplies and he made tea for us. Looking forward to more meals made for us by the kids. </div>
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Cute, eh?</div>
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We've had brilliant weather this summer. The first week of the holidays, my Dad looked after them the days I was working and took them paddling at the park.</div>
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At the end of that week we had a very special treat and had two nights at the Legoland Hotel. This was partly for Rufus' 5th birthday but also just because Steve and I have always wanted to go and we felt the boys were at the right age for it.</div>
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We had just an amazing time. It will always be a very special memory. </div>
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We then had my <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/marie-curie-blooming-great-tea-party.html">Marie Curie Tea Party</a>. </div>
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And we headed off to Aviemore for a week. We have a timeshare there so do this every year. In fact, my Mum and Dad owned the timeshare before us so I have been going for about 25 years.</div>
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One thing that started to get to me on my holiday was how awful food on children's menus is. I guess if we are going out for a meal, it is not very often so I don't mind too much if they just have chicken nuggets and chips. However, we cooked very little on holiday so I really started to notice how bad the food is when my kids were getting it every day. Every single place we went to, no matter how different the adult food, had the same awful choice on the menu for kids - basically fried, frozen stuff - chicken nuggets or pizza. And most places don't even offer vegetables. I asked for vegetables every time and everywhere were happy to provide it, but why on earth is it not on the menu?</div>
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So, one place I was impressed with for their children's food is <a href="http://mountaincafe-aviemore.co.uk/">The Mountain Cafe</a>. We go there now and again when up in Aviemore. The adult food is good and there is a huge selection of cakes. Unfortunately, though, the service when we went this year was terribly slow. Really ridiculously slow and that is after taking into account how busy they were (you always have to queue dow the stairs for a table at lunchtimes during school holidays). We only went once this year because of that which is a real shame as they do make a much appreciated effort with their children's menus. It's a shame I hadn't thought to take a photo. They do some of the boring stuff - chicken strips, pizza, etc but it does come automatically with loads of salad. They also offer things like falafel with hummous and lots of vegetables. The thing my kids like the best, though, is their Kiddies Special. They get a sandwich (on malted bread), chunks of different fruits, a yogurt and a small cake. They also have a lovely selection of fruit smoothies. We'll go back at Easter and hope the service is a bit quicker (you know that way when you see perfectly pleasant teenagers waiting the tables who haven't quite mastered multitasking heading back to the kitchen without thinking to take some of the dirty dishes back with them?).</div>
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I didn't take any photos this year but here is one from last Summer with Adam and his giant slab of chocolate cake!<br />
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And, yes, I'm a Mummy who gets on her high horse about her kids getting enough fibre, fruit and veg but also lets them have lots of cakes, biscuits and sweets!! Oh well.<br />
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Recently Steve and I also went to the launch of <a href="http://www.rock-oyster.com/">Rock And Oyster</a> - new seafood restaurant in Aberdeen. Aberdeen is a place where we bring in masses of amazing seafood but we actually do not have many decent seafood restaurants so another opening is definitely a good thing!<br />
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We haven't yet been to eat at Rock and Oyster with our own money so I'm just telling you about the food we got free at the launch so just a heads up!<br />
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The restaurant is on Union Terrace in Aberdeen and we met up with Chris from <a href="http://www.minceandskirlie.com/wp/">Mince and Skirlie</a> and Claire from <a href="http://foodiequine.blogspot.co.uk/">FoodieQuine</a> at the launch. See cheesy photo of the three of us.<br />
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Head chef, Ryan Fowler, brought out a steady stream of food - oysters, whitebait, fishcakes, fish pie, mussels... It all tasted good and I was actually pleasantly surprised by the prices - all very reasonable - it's quite informal so you can come in and just have a small plate of oysters for £8.50 or a starter - around the £5 mark and mains £10 - £18 ish.<br />
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And now, we're in Autumn! Autumn is the best time for eating so I am going to pig out as usual. I have already been stuffing my face with Steve's amazing doughnuts - need to buy some bigger clothes.<br />
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-6350465443341544962013-09-28T13:30:00.000+01:002013-09-28T13:30:28.323+01:00Random Recipes 32 - Puddings, Cakes And Baking.<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm coming in at the end of the month again but I have a good reason this time. I was invited to a neighbour's MacMillan Coffee Morning today so I left baking this month's entry til now so I could bring some along with me.</div>
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I had randomly chosen the bake at the start of the month and it was Lemon Bars from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. They were very quick and easy to make (although need refrigerated overnight so need to make them the day before).</div>
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I quite enjoyed them but they weren't just tangy enough for me even though I had put in more zest than the recipe called for. I think if I make them again I will probably try a lime version.</div>
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They are really a shortbread base blind baked in the oven then the topping is put on - eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and baked again. Easy and simple. </div>
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I also made a pumpkin and chocolate loaf - mentioned this <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/cake-slice-bakers-challenge-1-october.html">here.</a></div>
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My neighbour had done a lovely spread - cupcakes, pancakes, meringues, millionaires shortbread. She had done a raffle and a 'guess the birthday of the teddy' too. She had made about £300 by the time I left halfway through so she has done amazingly well.</div>
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Go to <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Belleau Kitchen</a> to find out more about <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/p/random-recipes.html">Dom's Random Recipes</a>. </div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-34504788626195381092013-08-21T21:10:00.002+01:002013-08-21T21:10:39.291+01:00Two Summer Dishes.<div style="text-align: center;">
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Eeek. I have 10 seconds to choose ONE cookbook. Just one? </div>
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I thought this would be easy. I thought I would just choose the book I always say is my favourite - Appetite by Nigel Slater. However, I actually can make all the things I like best from that book without having to refer to it anymore. When I have to refer to recipes for some of the dishes I make often, I realise there is one or two each in a whole load of different books. So, how do I choose just one book? </div>
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Dom from <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Belleau Kitchen</a> challenged us to make a <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/08/random-recipes-31-grab-and-run.html">Random Recipe</a> from the book we would grab if we had to flee from the house. In the end, I chose one that I refer to frequently at the moment. It gives me inspiration for the season and lots of ideas I can dip in and out of. I chose Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater. Well, it had to be one of his books. Even if I didn't make the recipes from it, just reading his thoughts on food will inspire.</div>
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I decided not to choose entirely randomly but to choose the recipe on the page for the date I would be making it. That means it was still a mystery recipe to me but would be perfect for the season.</div>
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I made the meal on the 7th of August and the recipe on that date is for Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Spread.<br />
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This was a nice, easy throw-together recipe. We had it for our tea but it would make a lovely lunch or a nice nibble with drinks. Smoked salmon, cucumber, capers, cornichons and dill mixed with a lemony soured cream and then piled onto crispbreads. Funnily enough, we happened to have a couple of packets of crispbreads from Ikea in the kitchen and these worked very well.<br />
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Now, I knew I had to get Steve involved in this one. His favourite book is Moro and he does most of his cooking from it so I reckoned I would get a new Moro dish if I involved him. It took his less than a milisecond to say the book he would grab would be Moro. My husband is very predictable.<br />
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He opened it randomly and did indeed get a recipe he hasn't yet tried - Broad Bean and Dill Pilav.<br />
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It was served with a spiced yoghurt. We had it as main meal like that and then had the leftovers the next day as part of a cold salad selection and it was great both ways. Moro recommends serving it with lamb kibbeh. They have a recipe for this later in the book and they describe it as "an oval outer casing of ground lamb and bulgar with a stuffing of spiced lamb and pinenuts inside". Sounds good to me - something new for Steve to try? There are actually still loads of things in the book Steve hasn't tried yet. Hope next month's random recipe theme will encourage him to do more.<br />
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-60750036034266477112013-07-26T21:10:00.000+01:002013-07-26T21:10:12.283+01:00Marie Curie Blooming Great Tea Party.<div style="text-align: center;">
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Well we had our Blooming Great Tea Party. We had a really lovely day. A good few friends, family and neighbours popped in for a cuppa and some home baking and, as it was a beautiful day, we sat in the garden and had a good natter.</div>
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And as an extra bonus, we managed to raise just over £300 for Marie Curie Cancer Care so I am delighted.</div>
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I kept the baking simple and tried to have something that would appeal to everyone. I also tried to make a mixture of things that could be made in the days leading up to the event so I wasn't trying to do everything last minute.</div>
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Here is my baking schedule just in case it helps anyone else who is new to baking and wants to do a tea party.</div>
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I started with the cookie doughs. I made two types of cookie (well, Steve made one of them). We did a rye and raisin one from Dan Lepard and a peanut butter and chocolate chunk one from ... We made the doughs then scooped out balls of about 30gs each of the mixture, rolled into balls, froze flat then transferred into bags to keep in the freezer. These could then be just taken out, popped onto baking sheets and baked for 12 minutes to give fresh cookies on the day.</div>
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About 3 days before the tea party, I then made shortbread and kept this in an airtight container until needed.</div>
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2 days before I made batches of cupcakes from Cupcake Magic (for recipe - see <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/blooming-great-tea-party-and-best.html">this post</a>), my three carrot cake layers (Dan Lepard - recipe <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/02/baking.dessert">here</a>) and a batch of Mars Bar Squares.<br />
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On the day before, I iced and decorated my cupcakes. I must mention here the gorgeous daffodils I bought for the top of my cakes for the Marie Curie theme. I got them from <a href="http://www.carolsyummybakes.com/">carolsyummybakes</a> which I found on eBay and I have to say that she couldn't have been more helpful and I was seriously impressed with the quality of the decorations.</div>
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I iced the carrot cake with lemon cream cheese frosting and kept in the fridge.<br />
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I made two batches of brownies (one with and one without walnuts) and two lemon drizzle cakes.<br />
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On the day itself, I made a Victoria sponge and laid everything out for a 10am start.<br />
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I had plenty of baking - too much in fact - and everything seemed to go down well.<br />
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This was my <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/McLarenTeaParty">JustGiving page</a> and if I add all the donations given to me on the day, it comes to just over £300. Very happy to donate to such a brilliant charity.<br />
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Thank you so much to all my family and friends who contributed.<br />
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I had a wonderful day and would recommend having your own Blooming Great Tea Party either this year or next year. See the <a href="http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/en-gb/fundraising-volunteering/blooming-great-tea-party/">website</a> for details.<br />
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-4789069412985884652013-07-25T21:05:00.000+01:002013-07-25T21:05:39.448+01:00Random Recipes 30.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is my 30th Random Recipe. I haven't missed a single one (although I have been a bit tardy on occasion) from the very start of Dom's successful challenge.</div>
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For the occasion, Dom asked us to count along our recipe books, choose the 30th one and cook whatever was on page 30.</div>
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My 30th book is Roast Figs Sugar Snow by Diana Henry - a beautiful and inspiring book given to me by my dear friend. A lot of the recipes are warming, comforting dishes for wintertime but luckily page 30 gave me a salad so it was fine for the glorious temperatures we were getting here at the start of the month.</div>
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The recipe was for Salad Of Pear, Hazelnuts And Cashel Blue Cheese. I varied it slightly by using gorgonzola instead of the Cashel Blue and pecans instead of hazelnuts only because that is what we had in the house. The salad is a lovely, filling one. It uses roasted red onions as well as a mixture of salad leaves and the meltingly sweet pears to go with the nuts and cheek-sooking cheese.</div>
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Sometimes my older boy will turn up his nose at "smelly" cheese but my relentless foisting of it upon him is obviously paying off as everyone in the house finished off their salads with clean plates. My kind of Summer meal.</div>
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To take part in <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/07/random-recipes-30-big-three-oh.html">Random Recipes</a>, see Dom's Blog - <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Belleau Kitchen</a>. You will receive a very warm welcome.</div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-37059642581885425562013-06-23T17:23:00.000+01:002013-06-23T17:23:09.669+01:00Blooming Great Tea Party and The Best Cupcake Recipe.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I just wanted to raise some awareness of Marie Curie Cancer Care's Blooming Great Tea Party campaign.</div>
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They are hoping to have thousands of people (4909 have signed up at the time of me writing this post) up and down the country to host tea parties to raise funds for such an amazing charity. I am hoping that some of my readers may see this and decide to host their own one.</div>
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It's such a lovely idea. I am hosting my own party at home on Sunday 21st of July. The official time for the tea parties is June and July but some people still host parties into August so there is plenty of time for you to plan one. You can do one at home, in your workplace, in the local hall, anywhere. You can have you and another person at the party or you can invite thousands. Whatever you feel you can do will be perfect. You can sign up to do one on the <a href="http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/en-gb/fundraising-volunteering/blooming-great-tea-party/">website</a> and the charity will send you loads of useful things to help with planning your party.</div>
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The idea is to raise some money for this wonderful cause. Marie Curie Cancer Care uses the donations for cancer research and development, for hospice beds and for funding Marie Curie nurses who are a hugely valuable support to patients with terminal illnesses and their families. As a GP, I see the good they do every single day. I can't overstate what a huge difference they make.</div>
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If you feel you can't host your own party, please consider making a donation to Marie Curie Cancer Care. You can do so through Just Giving or you can donate to <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/McLarenTeaParty">my page set up for my own tea party</a>.</div>
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I am busy planning what I am going to bake for the day. I am thinking I will do a Victoria sponge, some cookies, brownies, lemon drizzle cake and lots and lots of cupcakes. </div>
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I have mentioned before that my basic cupcake recipe comes from Cupcake Magic by Kate Shirazi.</div>
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This book so inspired me when I picked it up about 5 years ago and I thought, "I could make some of those". That started me baking more regularly and trying new things. My husband always says he wishes he had stopped me buying Cupcake Magic as it has led to me getting slightly obsessed and having a house full of sprinkles and cupcake cases and cakestands! However, secretly, I'm sure he's glad that I got my new hobby and started feeding him lots of lovely cakes.</div>
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One of the things that attracted me to Cupcake Magic in particular was Kate Shirazi's support for the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (a donation from each book sold went to them) and stories of her own rescue hens and photos of them enjoying her cupcakes. Have a look at <a href="http://www.cakeadoodledo.co.uk/index.php">Cakeadoodledo</a> to see her cakes for sale, her other books and her blog. </div>
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Anyway, I know her basic cupcake recipe off by heart and can whip up a batch with my eyes closed. They are so easy and yet very tasty. This is the perfect recipe for those new to baking. Kate has very kindly allowed me to reproduce the recipe on my blog and so I am going to share it with you here. I think that might be worth a donation to <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/McLarenTeaParty">Marie Curie Cancer Care</a> - no? </div>
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<u>Recipe - Your Basic No-Mucking-Around Cupcake from Cupcake Magic by Kate Shirazi.</u></div>
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Makes 12.</div>
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<i>Ingredients - </i></div>
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110g / 4oz / 1 cup self-raising flour, sifted</div>
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110g / 4oz / 1/2 cup caster sugar, sifted</div>
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110g / 4oz / 1/2 cup margarine, softened</div>
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1 tsp baking powder</div>
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1 tsp pure vanilla extract</div>
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Glace icing and sprinkles to decorate.</div>
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<i>Method - </i></div>
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Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases. Put all the ingredients (except the icing and sprinkles, of course) in a mixer (food processor, stand mixer, or just a big bowl with an electric whisk). Mix really well until the mixture is light and fluffy.</div>
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Plonk heaped teaspoons of the mixture into the prepared cases, and bake in the oven for about 20 mins until golden, and firm and springy when you give them a light prod on top. Let them cool before icing and decorating.</div>
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And, look, I don't have any decent photos of any of my batches of these cupcakes which is, quite frankly, a bit weird. In fact, I just dropped off a batch of these to my Grandma today for her 80th birthday and wish I had taken a photo - they were very pretty. However, here is a photo of Adam when he was about 3 making a beautiful batch!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-csZXZvlCtoE/UccgvR2fWVI/AAAAAAAAB_0/kpAv_qbzc34/s1600/41166_10150258350235383_3841364_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-csZXZvlCtoE/UccgvR2fWVI/AAAAAAAAB_0/kpAv_qbzc34/s1600/41166_10150258350235383_3841364_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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I will take photos from my Blooming Great Tea Party and will post here. Please let me know if anyone else is doing a tea party - I'd love to hear about it.</div>
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In the meantime, here is a link to <a href="http://foodiequine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/blooming-great-tea-party.html">Foodie Quine's Tea Party</a> from last year.</div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-23425022957289233452013-06-17T17:12:00.002+01:002013-06-17T17:12:40.269+01:00Food From Your Garden.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I aspire to be a proper gardener. That means having a beautiful garden but it also obviously means growing an abundance of beautiful things to eat. My Granda and Grandma's garden when I was growing up was overflowing with amazing flowers and all sorts of goodies to eat. The peas were always my favourite but I loved everything I ate from that garden.</div>
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Several years ago (and I think somewhere around 10-15 years ago), I found a copy of a Reader's Digest book, Food From Your Garden, in a second hand bookshop near Forres and bought it for myself while dreaming of one day having a thriving garden. I love the book and look at it often. </div>
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My attempts at producing anything edible are pretty modest. I do grow a few herbs and tend to be self sufficient in salad leaves for a few months of the Summer. I also have a good supply of rhubarb after getting plants last year from <a href="http://littlemacaroon.blogspot.co.uk/">Little Macaroon</a> and I grow the odd other thing from time to time. I tried my beloved peas last year but failed by not putting netting over them from the beginning and finding the seedling got demolished by the birds (I managed about 4 pods in the end - <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/2-years-of-blogging.html">last year's post</a>). This year I have the netting all ready to go on from the start but none of my fresh seeds have germinated. Not one. I guess that's what I get for buying cheap seeds from B&Q. Lesson learned.</div>
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We have acquired two tomato plants and three courgette plants (thanks Little Macaroon) so far this year and I will be doing my salad leaves again (so good to have a constant supply for the sandwiches). Seems a bit pathetic but I had intended to concentrate on the peas.</div>
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However, this post is about a recipe for cream of spinach soup and I have to admit to having bought the spinach in the sad supermarket plastic bags. Sorry.</div>
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Dom from <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Belleau Kitchen</a> asked us to do a healthy dish for this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/06/prune-and-almond-brownies-random.html">Random Recipes</a> (check out his gorgeous-looking prune and almond brownies). I got together the books I felt I would be guaranteed to pick something healthy from and they amounted to this little selection - </div>
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Food From Your Garden, Reader's Digest</div>
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Veg Patch by Mark Diacono</div>
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Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook</div>
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Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite</div>
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I used random.org which chose Food From Your Garden and I used it again to get a page number which led me to the spinach section. Excellent - I think I could do with topping up my iron levels. </div>
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The recipe is very straightforward, quick and easy (yes, I did choose the easiest recipe on the page and I make no apologies for that).</div>
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Basically, saute some diced onion and carrot in some butter, add plenty of spinach. Add some stock and parsley (aha - this DID come from my garden), a bouquet garni, some nutmeg and seasoning and simmer for half an hour then blitz. Add the cream and heat through.</div>
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It recommended serving with croutons which are sprinkled with nutmeg - genius. </div>
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What a wonderful soup. I think the simplest and least fussy recipes are the best and I love how this is so healthy but tastes indulgent. Maybe not quite as indulgent as Dom's brownies but I will be trying those very soon. In fact, I reckon they would go with this recipe for a soup-and-pudding day.</div>
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I'm wondering about growing spinach next year. It would do as one of my salad leaves for sandwiches and any leaves that I didn't get round to eating while young and tender would go to make this excellent soup. In fact, I may decide to grow some this year instead of my peas.</div>
Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-74815850728404218812013-05-20T11:36:00.000+01:002013-05-20T11:36:00.952+01:00The Pink Cake.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For May's Cake Slice Bakers, we were to make The Pink Cake which is the pretty cake adorning the front of the book we are baking from this year - Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson.<br />
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The cake itself is a gorgeous chocolate cake layered with the raspberry buttercream. It is only the raspberries making the beautiful pink colour. We served the cake at our friends' house as dessert with cream and raspberries and it went down very well.<br />
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I am wondering about trying it with blueberries to make a purply kind of buttercream.<br />
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I'm sorry I haven't been baking along so much this year with the Cake Slice Bakers. I am struggling with time and a lot of the recipes in this book are quite time consuming and more like celebration cakes than the every-day cakes I prefer to make (like those in Cake Keeper Cakes). I'm not sure I will do next month's cake as it is another big, calorific, celebration cake similar to this one. I enjoy being in the group but it is probably unfair of me to take a place and not bake consistently. Cake Slice Bakers - let me know if you are happy for me to tag along for the last few months of this book or if you would prefer for me to bow out.<br />
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-29645040233447174612013-05-14T20:13:00.001+01:002013-05-14T20:13:33.258+01:00Two Breads.<div style="text-align: center;">
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For this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/05/random-recipes-28-bread.html">Random Recipes</a>, we were asked to choose a random bread recipe. Steve was more than happy to join in with this one as he loves making bread and is really the official bread maker in this house. We have two dedicated bread books in the house - Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley and Dough by Richard Bertinet. These were the ones we randomly chose. The other book I had in the mix was Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard - I love his bread recipes too.<br />
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Steve chose Bread Matters and randomly chose page 221 which is Cheese Bread.<br />
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He made three lovely loaves of cheesy bread. He used mature cheddar and half white and half wholemeal bread. This bread was particularly good for dipping into soup but Steve also liked it just spread with butter. Obviously the kids loved it too.<br />
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I got Dough and opened it at page 88 - Ciabatta. <br />
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I must say I was a bit disappointed - how boring. I noticed the variation called for Kalamata olives so I intended to make this. Unfortunately, despite having bought some beautiful olives, I completely forgot to put them into my dough. Ooops. <br />
So there I was slightly bored by my white ciabattas. However, they were incredible! Perfect ciabattas, and full of taste (probably due to the 24 hour ferment).<br />
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They took a few steps over 24 hours but the actual work involved was minimal. The recipe calls for avocado oil but I couldn't find any. I'd love to give it a try again with either the olives or the avocado oil and Steve has asked for me to make them again so I guess I will.<br />
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-67570089251462967962013-04-28T16:56:00.002+01:002013-04-28T16:56:33.339+01:00Cheesy Bakes.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These are cheese, bacon and apple muffins that I made for this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/04/random-recipes-27-get-random-baby.html">Random Recipes</a>. When I first saw the recipe I had to do, I thought I would manage to kill two birds with one stone as our baking club Pinnies and Petticoats was having a cheese themed evening this month. I soon realised, however, that I would have to make my bake for P&P the night before and transport it to work and I really felt these muffins wouldn't be very tasty a day and a half later. The recipe is from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries II and he says in the recipe that you must eat the muffins the same day as they are cooked so that made my mind up for me.</div>
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So, for Pinnies and Petticoats, I decided to do a recipe I have made before - Chilli and almond biscuits from Dan Lepard's Short and Sweet. These are fairly cheesy and with a bit of a kick. I forgot to take any photos of them but have found some old photos on the computer of a previous batch I made - not sure if I have mentioned them on the blog before. They really are very tasty nibbles to have with drinks so I have made them a few times and Steve has made them a couple of times as well. The recipe is on the Guardian <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/03/chilli-almond-biscuits-recipe">here</a>.</div>
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The Fromage Fest was just brilliant. I didn't have any tea beforehand and stuffed myself on cheesy treats. We had a lovely mixture of savoury and sweet things. I'll try and list what I can remember - </div>
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Savoury:</div>
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<li>lamb and stilton pasties (amazing!!!)</li>
<li>pear and goat's cheese tartlets</li>
<li>feta and olive samosas</li>
<li>cheesy monkey bread with homemade mozzarella and apple & chilli jelly</li>
<li>parmesan shortbread</li>
<li>parmesan and chilli stars</li>
<li>cheesy feet </li>
<li>blacksticks blue and poppyseed sables</li>
<li>bacon and cheese twists</li>
<li>goat's cheese puffs with a chutney surprise</li>
<li>stilton puffs</li>
<li>homemade oatcakes and celery seed hearts served with cheese</li>
<li>a cheese and pickle hedgehog</li>
<li>basil and feta cupcakes</li>
<li>cheese and bacon cupcakes</li>
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Sweet:</div>
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<li>basil and mascarpone tart with a walnut base (also amazing!)</li>
<li>summer fruits cheesecake</li>
<li>rhubarb crumble cheesecake</li>
<li>lemon and poppyseed cake with cream cheese frosting</li>
<li>chocolate cheesecake</li>
<li>dark chocolate and mint mini-cheesecakes</li>
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If anyone fancies joining in with Random Recipes each month, go along to <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Dom's blog</a> and have a look - he gives us a new challenge on the first day of each month.</div>
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If anyone in the Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire area fancies coming along to Pinnies and Petticoats, we are a very friendly, non-competitive baking group and wee meet once a month on a Wednesday evening at Tiger Tiger. You can get full details on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PinniesAndPetticoats?fref=ts">facebook page</a>. Next month we are doing a Eurovision theme. Everyone picks a Eurovision country and makes a bake from there. I will be doing a Slovenian bake and will post here when I do. </div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-44312191392224661202013-04-14T22:37:00.001+01:002013-04-14T22:37:25.017+01:00Surprise Ingredient Swap 3 - Florentines.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This was the lovely selection of things I received from Ruth from <a href="http://makey-cakey.blogspot.co.uk/">Makey-Cakey</a> for her Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap. For some reason as soon as I saw the hazelnuts and the cocoa nibs I decided I wanted to make florentines. I felt that was failing a little though as it meant I didn't use the cute kitty biscuit press she included in the parcel and I also didn't manage any kind of nod towards the seasonal Spring theme. However, I totally succeeded in making lovely florentines which will make a nutritious snack for the boys if there are any left by tomorrow (I am finding them a little bit too perfect with my cups of tea tonight). </div>
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By the way, does anyone notice that Ruth has rather cleverly sent me a card with a dog on that looks very like my gorgeous Bob?</div>
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So back to the florentines - I roughly chopped the 115g of hazelnuts leaving some big chunks.</div>
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I weighed out 40g of the cocoa nibs and 100g of chopped dried apricots. I melted 30g of unsalted butter in a pan and added 95g caster sugar. I combined the butter and sugar and let cook gently for about 5 mins then I added 20g plain flour. I took off the heat and whisked in 150ml of double cream. I then added the nuts, nibs and apricots and mixed well. I then put heaped tablespoons of the mixture onto baking sheets lined with baking paper. I left plenty of space for them to spread.</div>
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I put them in the oven at 180 C fan for 10 mins. </div>
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I let them cool on the trays then flipped them over with a palette knife and spread melted dark chocolate on the undersides. </div>
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Yum. </div>
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Florentines are so easy to make. I don't know why I haven't been making them all the time! </div>
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Thanks Ruth for the brilliant parcel. I still have lots of cocoa nibs to use and my biscuit cutter. I might try <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2012/11/cocoa-nibs-and-rose-tea-cupcakes.html">Dom's classy cupcakes</a> from a previous ingredient swap when I sent him some coca nibs. He gives a good explanation of what they are in this post too. </div>
Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-4373221142388011972013-03-28T21:12:00.000+00:002013-03-28T21:12:16.337+00:00I Love A One-Dish Recipe.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is Mango chicken, bean and rice bake and is a recipe I had cut out of a recent Good Food.</div>
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It is exactly the kind of recipe I am likely to pounce on from a magazine because it is all made in one dish, takes just a few minutes of preparation then bakes in the oven for a while giving me time to set the table, listen to Boy 1 do his reading, get them to wash their hands, etc.. </div>
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I randomly chose this recipe from my cuttings file for this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/03/random-recipes-26-cuttings-memories-and.html">Random Recipes</a>.</div>
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I did change it a little bit but not a huge amount so I'll just give you a rough idea of the recipe - one of these ones that is easy to play around with and bung things in in quantities that suit.</div>
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I blitzed in the processor some onion, garlic, chilli, coriander stalks, lime zest, lime juice, allspice and oil. I then poured the paste over about 8 chicken thighs, covered and popped in the fridge for the day. I had intended to do it the night before, but forgot. It did make me feel very virtuous doing it before taking the kids to school in the morning, though, as usually I do nothing but grunt and drink tea in the mornings.</div>
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After school, I put 500g wholegrain rice into the bottom of an oven dish with a can of kidney beans. I took the chicken out of the marinade and set aside then mixed the remaining marinade with 900mls of chicken stock and poured over the rice and beans. I then placed the chicken thighs and a packet of frozen mango chunks on top of the rice and beans, covered the dish with foil and bunged in a moderate oven for 30 minutes. I removed the foil, spooned some mango chutney over each chicken thigh, turned the oven up to high and returned the dish uncovered for another 40 minutes. </div>
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It was rather nice. I will certainly use the basic idea behind the dish and make my own variations. Especially good for using up whatever you have in the house. </div>
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I must say I get a lot of great recipes from Good Food. They do a lot of budget or quick and easy meals and, as you get the magazine a month in advance, great for seasonal ideas too.</div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-9169451259232821902013-02-26T20:34:00.000+00:002013-02-26T20:34:08.379+00:00Fideos En Cazuela.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, this is pasta with peas, chicken and pork chops. In fact, it has sausages in it as well and basically used the amount of meat we might buy in a typical week all in one meal!!!</div>
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For this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/02/random-recipes-25-choice-is-yours.html">Random Recipes</a>, Dom gave us something of a free-reign. I decided to randomly choose a recipe from the beautiful book - The Food Of Spain by Claudia Roden. I got the book for Christmas from my lovely husband but hadn't actually managed to make anything from it yet.</div>
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I may not have chosen this recipe if I hadn't picked it for Random Recipes. I don't generally do pasta and meat unless it spag bol. I'm just not entirely tempted by it. We did manage to make it last two nights but, even then, it really was a big dent out of our food budget with the sheer amount of meat in it. You can use rabbit instead of the chicken and I would certainly do this next time I found rabbit available in the butcher - I think the rabbit flavour would complement it perfectly.</div>
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You basically cook half a ton of meat then add it to the pasta and peas with a sauce of onions, peppers, tomatoes and garlic and chicken stock. At the end you stir through a picada - paste made with hazelnuts, garlic, parsley and saffron. Certainly there was LOADS of flavour in this meal to go with the huge amounts of meat and the kids loved it because it was pasta. I did like it but I think I am going to have to adapt a bit to suit my tastes and budget a little better. I loved the flavours in it but I wonder if I might prefer it made with rice or another carbohydrate rather than the pasta. I will certainly use the picada for something else - it was very tasty.</div>
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Hmmm, I wonder if I might need to stop posting pics of my kids now they are at school? This might be the last pic of my wee ones on here. I might need to be more like <a href="http://littlemacaroon.blogspot.co.uk/">Little Macaroon</a> who shows The Boss in pictures but keeps her partially hidden. Probably sensible. </div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-75338008311175618942013-02-20T22:30:00.001+00:002013-02-20T22:30:23.284+00:00Pinnies And Petticoats Valentine's Showstopper.<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Double chocolate shortbread hearts.</td></tr>
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The Valentine's Showstopper Pinnies and Petticoats was our least attended baking club since the <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/pinnies-and-petticoats.html">first one</a> back in September but we can easily blame blizzards. I passed three accidents on the way into town and was lucky to get there at all. It took me about two hours to get from work but I was actually very lucky as I had thought I might get home first and so had taken the road towards home rather than the most direct route to town which I heard on my radio had two fairly big accidents on it and was virtually closed for hours. Victoria from STV Online had chosen to cover the evening for a piece - <a href="http://local.stv.tv/aberdeen/news/going-out/214095-aberdeen-baking-club-pinnies-and-petticoats-host-valentines-themed-night/">see here</a> - but the poor thing only managed to get there once we had given up waiting for her and so had cut into, and started devouring, everything.<br />
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I made the stripy heart double chocolate shortbreads (top pic) by adapting a recipe from The Great British Bake Off, How To Bake book. They were a last minute attempt after I tried the <a href="http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2012/01/marbled-red-velvet-cheesecake-brownies/">marbled-red-velvet-cream-cheese-brownies</a> (look at the amazing photo of these!) from <a href="http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/">The Novice Chef Blog</a> but found my heart cutter wasn't deep enough.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e6T-M2rsPYU/USVEGkqTcVI/AAAAAAAAB1U/ushEdkc3pI0/s1600/P1110951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e6T-M2rsPYU/USVEGkqTcVI/AAAAAAAAB1U/ushEdkc3pI0/s320/P1110951.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My marbled brownies before I ruined them by trying to cut out hearts.</td></tr>
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Photos of some of our other lovely bakes -<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDv7oQT7Tvs/USVE8UJQ6pI/AAAAAAAAB1g/kWHsvT-zK1s/s1600/P1110959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDv7oQT7Tvs/USVE8UJQ6pI/AAAAAAAAB1g/kWHsvT-zK1s/s320/P1110959.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favourite of the evening - Karen's gougeres.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-12KubcgQGNM/USVFYZZKq1I/AAAAAAAAB1o/OpI_9mVUgSk/s1600/P1110961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-12KubcgQGNM/USVFYZZKq1I/AAAAAAAAB1o/OpI_9mVUgSk/s320/P1110961.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colene's showstopping banana and chocolate cake box filled with salted caramel macarons.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pteoxPqn7dM/USVGlXyzUII/AAAAAAAAB2A/xpGoqBaMUxU/s1600/P1110970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pteoxPqn7dM/USVGlXyzUII/AAAAAAAAB2A/xpGoqBaMUxU/s320/P1110970.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My perfect dessert - Tom's and Martin's Nutty Delight Cheesecake with a decent amount of amaretto.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KAcnGaIhxCw/USVHhAZTv3I/AAAAAAAAB2U/_jj4sugTzrs/s1600/P1110965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KAcnGaIhxCw/USVHhAZTv3I/AAAAAAAAB2U/_jj4sugTzrs/s320/P1110965.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://foodiequine.blogspot.co.uk/">Foodie Quine</a>'s Cherry Tomato Hearts and Cheese Oatcakes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-85IjLhyGUKI/USVIGhVWHqI/AAAAAAAAB2c/KaGcLT1AAmc/s1600/P1110963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-85IjLhyGUKI/USVIGhVWHqI/AAAAAAAAB2c/KaGcLT1AAmc/s320/P1110963.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rolo?</td></tr>
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If anyone would like to join our friendly, informal baking club, please see our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/PinniesAndPetticoats?fref=ts">facebook page</a> or come along to our next event. You can bake anything you like for our Comic Relief Bake on Wednesday the 13th of March at 7pm at Tiger Tiger on Shiprow, Aberdeen. Bring a bake, £5 for Comic Relief, and a Tupperware box to take home some samples of the baking. Friends are also welcome to help us finish all the yummy bakes!<br />
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-46517815167061393992013-01-25T22:11:00.002+00:002013-01-25T22:11:54.962+00:00Auld Scotland Wants Nae Skinking Ware.<div style="text-align: center;">
Canty Burn's Nicht a'body.</div>
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No, Ahm no gonnae show ye somethin' fancy tae dae wi' yer haggis. Ah prefer it plain wi' neeps and tatties. Fit fine!</div>
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But fit ah am here tae spik aboot is this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2013/01/random-recipes-24-another-country.html">Random Recipes</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Dom</a> has speart us tae get uir recipe fae somebody else's cookbook collection.</div>
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The bonny quine fae <a href="http://littlemacaroon.blogspot.co.uk/">Little Macaroon</a> emailed me a recipe for Spezzatino Di Cinghiale fae Twelve by Tessa Kiros.</div>
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Ah used pork shooder insteid o wild boar but it made a braw, comfortin bowlie o scran.</div>
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Reminds me o the rhyme mah Grandma wid say when dishing up the tea - </div>
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<i>Soup in a bowlie</i></div>
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<i>Tatties on a plate</i></div>
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<i> And a wee bittie beef</i></div>
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<i>If ye dinna come late.</i></div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-23776603957161510922012-12-30T13:18:00.000+00:002012-12-30T13:18:02.214+00:00Late, Late, Late for a Very Important Date...<div style="text-align: center;">
Eeeek - I think I am too late for Random Recipes No. 23. I have never missed a <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2012/12/random-recipes-23-round-up.html">Random Recipe</a> since it started so I am going to beg <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Dom</a> to slip this one onto the end. I made the recipe ages ago but work has been hectic and then we have had two Christmas days and then my sister-in-law's wedding so I apologise for being so tardy but couldn't be helped.</div>
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This time, we had to choose a random recipe from the books we received as gifts last Christmas. I admit, I didn't choose entirely randomly. I received The Flavour Thesaurus from my lovely husband and had never cooked a single thing from it yet although I have enjoyed reading it so I decided that I would pick this book and then randomly select a page from it.</div>
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It fell open at a butternut squash entry and the first suggestion to catch my eye was for the combination of butternut squash and bacon. Mmmmmmmm. I didn't need convincing that they would go well together.</div>
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I made the suggested butternut squash and bacon cakes with lime mayonnaise. They didn't hold together all that well so didn't look particularly presentable, however, they tasted great and we all gobbled them up. Perfect comfort food for this time of year.</div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-86047166445394816112012-11-29T23:05:00.000+00:002012-11-29T23:05:07.859+00:00Surprise Ingredient Swap.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2NRmCBz8rZA/ULfbPvStHoI/AAAAAAAABxA/7puLB4hIB74/s1600/P1110832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2NRmCBz8rZA/ULfbPvStHoI/AAAAAAAABxA/7puLB4hIB74/s320/P1110832.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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You may notice that I missed the "seasonal" bit off the title. That is because I completely forgot about it when I was choosing my secret ingredient to send to <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Dom</a> and he admitted on Twitter that he had forgotten too. No matter - the Lincolnshire relish he sent me was perfect for making a lovely warming comfort food dish perfect for this time of year so I think we managed to stick to the loose theme <a href="http://makey-cakey.blogspot.co.uk/">Ruth</a> had set.</div>
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I sent Dom some cocoa nibs as I had never used them and was intrigued to know what one would do with them. Dom, of course, didn't disappoint and he made some gorgeous <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2012/11/cocoa-nibs-and-rose-tea-cupcakes.html">rose tea and cocoa nibs cupcakes.</a> Perfect for afternoon tea - very sophisticated!</div>
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Dom sent me some Lincolnshire relish. I believe this has recently been developed in Lincolnshire (doh!) and is thought to go particularly well with the region's sausages. The ingredients are vinegar, grapefruit, molasses, onion, orange, dates, honey and spices and, as you would imagine, it does taste very fruity but with a lovely piquancy. Not too dissimilar to HP sauce actually but a bit fruitier. I usually think of a relish as something quite thick and chunky more like a chutney but this is actually very thin and liquidy. </div>
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Inspired by Christmas dinner pinwheels made by @psychtwin (Tom) at our latest Pinnies And Petticoats baking club meet (yet to be blogged - I'm a bit behind), I decided immediately I would make some kind of savoury pinwheel. I really felt that the fruity sauce would go best with lamb and I decided I wanted to include mashed tatties, neeps (swede) and carrots to the pinwheels to make them into a complete meal in the same vein as Tom's Christmas creations.</div>
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However, I quickly came to realise that I wanted my lamb mince to be fairly juicy and saucy and realised I would never manage to make a pinwheel so I opted instead just to do a big rolled pie, bake it and then slice it. I'm going to try to do the Christmas dinner pinwheels for a party in December so I'll let you know how that goes.</div>
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This meal was great. The fruity sauce did indeed give an amazing flavour to the lamb mince and the sweetness was echoed by the carrots and neep. I cheated and used pre-rolled puff pastry but I make no apologies for this. I'd like to try the relish again to make an onion gravy to go with sausages - mmmmm. Thanks very much <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Dom</a> for a very good ingredient. </div>
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Here's the recipe - Serves 4.</div>
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<i>Ingredients - </i></div>
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1 pack of pre-rolled puff pastry</div>
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1 tbsp vegetable oil</div>
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500g lamb mince</div>
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1 onion, peeled and diced</div>
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1 bottle of Lincolnshire relish (150g) or you could use stock instead with or without your choice of flavouring - English mustard or mint sauce would work well.</div>
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100mls water</div>
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2tsp cornflour or Bisto original gravy powder</div>
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A quarter of a neep (swede), peeled and cut into large dice</div>
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2 large carrots, scrubbed or peeled and sliced</div>
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6 medium potatoes, peeled and halved</div>
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4 tbsp butter</div>
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salt and pepper </div>
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beaten egg or milk to glaze pastry</div>
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<i>Method - </i></div>
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1. In a large, heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil over a gentle heat. Add the onion and cook gently for a few minutes.</div>
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2. Add the mince to the onion and cook until browned.</div>
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3. Add the Lincolnshire relish and the water and allow to simmer gently for 20 mins.</div>
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4. Meanwhile, put potatoes into a medium saucepan of boiling, salted water and simmer for 10 mins until soft to the point of a knife.</div>
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5. Put the carrots and neep into another medium saucepan of boiling, salted water and simmer for 10 mins until soft to the point of a knife.</div>
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6. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/GM6.</div>
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7. Drain the potatoes and mash with 2 tbsp of butter. Season with salt and pepper. Leave aside.</div>
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8. Drain and mash the carrots and neep together with the remaining butter. Season with salt and plenty of pepper. (Neep loves lots of pepper). Leave to cool.</div>
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9. Add the cornflour or gravy powder to the mince and keep stirring until the liquid has thickened then let cook for another few minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool.</div>
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10. Lightly grease an oven tray and remove the pastry from the packaging and unroll.</div>
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11. Spread the mashed potato over the pastry leaving 1cm clear on one of the shorter edges.</div>
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12. Spread the mashed neep/carrots over the top of the potato.</div>
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13. Spread the layer of mince on top of the neep/carrot layer.</div>
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14. Brush a little of the milk or beaten egg on the uncovered edge of pastry and roll up from the opposite end. Seal the parcel. Place on the baking tray.</div>
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15. Brush the pastry with milk or egg to glaze then put in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes untilt the pastry is golden brown.</div>
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16. Slice and serve.</div>
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Thank you very much to Ruth from <a href="http://makey-cakey.blogspot.co.uk/">Makey Cakey</a> for another fun ingredient swap. There really is nothing better than getting parcels with foodie gifts inside! And thanks to <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Dom</a> for a brilliant and challenging ingredient. It was lovely to make something savoury this time. </div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-41802210443846863122012-11-25T13:55:00.001+00:002012-11-25T13:55:05.676+00:00Very Quick, Easy, Family Meal - Pea Pasta.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is my 22nd random recipe challenge. (Dom from <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2012/11/random-recipes-22-random-birthday-number.html">Belleau Kitchen</a> challenges us each month to choose a recipe at random from our cookbooks to try.) I was lucky to get a lovely quick and easy recipe that went down well with the family. </div>
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If the kids ask what's for tea and I reply "pasta", I get lots of "yay"s. Their favourite meal is actually one of our quick, shoved together concoctions from the storecupboard - chickpea pasta. To make this, we cook some wholemeal pasta in boiling water, and while that's cooking, slice some garlic and heat it gently in a good slug of olive oil then add a drained tin of chickpeas to heat through too. Mix the pasta into the other ingredients and sprinkle on a heap of grated parmesan. Simple, eh? That's what we do often on the nights I am working, we just don't have time to cook properly, or we haven't been shopping for any fresh ingredients. Lazy meal but perfectly nutritious.</div>
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This recipe is really very similar. I chose it randomly from Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater. I recommend getting a copy of this book if you need to do quick, easy meals from time to time. It is just full of ideas and suggestions for things to plonk together but with loads of variations and a whole heap of inspiration. If you feel a little intimidated by the rather high class "leftovers" Nigel seems to have in his cupboards and fridge in the last couple of TV series, don't worry - as this recipe shows, so much of what is in this book is just really normal, accessible ingredients.</div>
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The front of the book states that there are 350 recipes all of which take less than 30 mins to make. I have had this book for years and have made loads from it and been inspired by it so many times. Perfect for busy families. And it was published in 1992 - long before Jamie Oliver's fast food versions. My copy is a rather battered and grease spattered paperback and there are no photos in the book. It's a book for using, not for sitting prettily on the coffee table.</div>
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So, onto the recipe. Basically, cook your pasta. Pour some olive oil into a pan, add some frozen peas, finely sliced onion and some mint. Heat gently for 10 mins then mix into the pasta.</div>
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Gives us an alternative to our chickpea version and the kids loved it nearly as much. It's their second favourite pasta dish. </div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-26261675251028446642012-11-20T17:09:00.001+00:002012-11-20T17:09:23.743+00:00Shoo-Fly Cake - Cake Slice Bakers 18.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is the new book for The Cake Slice Bakers. We will be baking from this book for the next twelve months. Doesn't it look pretty? I have high hopes...</div>
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Our first bake from the book was the Shoo-Fly Cake. This is a treacle cake with a crumb topping apparently named after Shoo-Fly pie which had a sticky topping which would attract the flies as it cooled. </div>
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I was rather underwhelmed with this cake, unfortunately. Firstly, I made it for Dad's birthday and it just looked plain ugly so that was disappointing. Secondly, the flavour was okay but nothing very exciting and it doesn't have the lovely stickiness I would expect from a dense treacle cake.</div>
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I won't be making it again.</div>
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Onwards and upwards - I'm hoping the next bake from the book will be an improvement. </div>
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If you want to see some other opinions of this cake - have a look at <a href="http://thecakesliceblogroll.blogspot.co.uk/">The Cake Slice Blogroll</a>.</div>
Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-26041857708939885672012-10-30T23:09:00.000+00:002012-10-30T23:09:40.829+00:00Loadsa Dough!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just look at those gorgeous bakers and their amazing baps!</div>
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From left to right - me, the rather talented Janice from <a href="http://farmersgirl.blogspot.co.uk/">Farmersgirl Kitchen</a>, and the amazing Jacqueline from <a href="http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/">Tinned Tomatoes</a>. </div>
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Last Saturday we all met in Freuchie for a day of baking bread with Colin from <a href="http://www.breadinfife.co.uk/">Bread In Fife</a>. </div>
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We did the Mediterranean Breads and I must say I had a brilliant day. Colin runs the courses from his own spacious kitchen. I just felt that it was such a lovely relaxed experience - very homely - and only the four of us leisurely baking bread with lots of breaks for cups of tea and to eat what we had made.</div>
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We made a LOT and got many useful tips and ideas from Colin. We had all made plenty of bread before and still gained plenty but I know that Colin's course would be excellent for beginners too. He has a range of courses such as rich breads or sourdough or essential breads.</div>
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We started the day by making breadsticks - nice thick ones - chewy in the middle and crispy on the outside.</div>
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We then made pretty fougasse.</div>
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As Colin said, this was really just an exercise in shaping the breads as the dough itself was fairly uninspiring. Would go well with a flavoursome soup though. I was reminded of my first time making fougasse which I outline in <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/fresh-from-oven-9-september-2011.html">this post</a> - you can either have the pretty shape or you can have lots of interesting fillings. I have yet to master doing both but I might try again and see if I can find a compromise. </div>
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We then made our olive oil dough for the paninis and focaccia. Colin gave us a display of his encyclopaedic knowledge and displayed many different kneading techniques and who they were attributed to. We had plenty of time to practice different ones and find what suited us best and Colin was able to watch what we were doing and chip in with advice. I think I have found my own kneading style but whether I use it or whether I stick with my trusty technique of using the Kenwood Chef remains to be seen!</div>
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Colin finished off with a demonstration of pizzas. He made a savoury one and a sweet one. The sweet pizza was my favourite thing of the day - he spread some thinned apricot jam onto the dough then added some sliced apples. It was beautiful. I know the boys will absolutely love having pizza for dessert so I'll be making this again next week. I then plan to experiment. I want to do a banana one and all sorts of pizzas for pudding. </div>
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We rounded off the day by sitting round to share our pizzas with some salad.</div>
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A hugely enjoyable day with great company and a bounty of bakes to take home.</div>
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I would thoroughly recommend Colin's classes to anyone near enough for a day trip. As usual, I paid for the day myself so there is nothing influencing my recommendation. </div>
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Here is the <a href="http://www.breadinfife.co.uk/">Bread In Fife</a> website if you are interested and Colin does gift vouchers if you are looking for a Christmas gift. </div>
Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-50155949686881507182012-10-29T21:34:00.000+00:002012-10-29T21:34:58.731+00:00Pinnies And Petticoats Do Halloween. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The second night of the Aberdeen Baking Club - Pinnies and Petticoats at Tiger Tiger was a Halloween themed one. </div>
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As a Mum of wee-ish ones and a huge fan of owls, I went with baking these <a href="http://timetocookonline.com/2011/10/30/halloween-hoot-owl-biscuits/">Halloween Hoot Owl Cookies</a> from <a href="http://timetocookonline.com/">Time To Cook</a> - the blog by Mary-Anne Boermans, finalist from the 2011 Great British Bake Off. She gives the full recipe and a link to the lady who came up with it. </div>
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I just love these biscuits because they look so cute, are fairly simple to make and go well with a cup of tea. I think they make a fine change to some of my over-the-top baking too.</div>
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I tried them out for Pinnies and Petticoats and when they were a success I repeated them for this weekend's Halloween party. The party was for lots of little ones from a few weeks old up to 5 years so I felt the not-scary-at-all-but-still-Halloweeny owl biscuits would work well. And the best bit? My very own 5 year old loved them and helped me make them all. We had a rather good team-working system running. I cut the discs of dough and he put in the eyes and beaks.</div>
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And here is a picture of my boys in this year's costumes. Adam is a dragon (I got the costume from etsy - from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/people/BeauMiracleForYou">this store</a>) and Rufus is a spider's web (which I fashioned myself - I'm not very crafty!). </div>
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But, back to the point of this post which is to talk about Pinnies and Petticoats. It was a great success. I was so impressed with the array of baking we had. Our numbers had swelled somewhat from the 8 we had at the first one. I was telling people we had about 30 people there but I see <a href="http://foodiequine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/spook-tacular-pinnies-and-petticoats.html">Foodie Quine</a> has put the number at just over 20 and she is more likely to have counted properly. </div>
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I was unable to taste everything but I did get to try loads of amazing bakes and I managed to get photos of a few of them. Check them out!</div>
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And that's just a fraction of what was actually there for us to sample.</div>
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If you are in the Aberdeen area and would like to come along, our next one will be held on Friday 16th November at 7pm at Tiger Tiger.</div>
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This will be our Christmas event so bring a festive bake and a Tupperware box for taking home some samples!</div>
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You can see my post to the first ever Pinnies and Petticoats <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/pinnies-and-petticoats.html?showComment=1351544451211">here</a> and you can find the Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PinniesAndPetticoats">here</a>. </div>
Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-5578321282742333922012-10-28T19:34:00.001+00:002012-10-28T19:34:10.815+00:00What Can I Do With Maize-Meal?<div style="text-align: center;">
What can I do with maize-meal? Well, that's a good question!<br />
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Dom from <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2012/10/random-recipes-21-store-cupboard-finds.html">Belleau Kitchen</a> challenged us this month to rummage in our kitchen cupboards for a poor forgotten or neglected ingredient and to make something with it.<br />
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Well, believe me, I have many items I could have chosen for this challenge. The one I chose, though, was the bag of maize meal. A friend had picked it up for me when I had been struggling to get hold of polenta at one point thinking it might do a similar job. I had managed to find polenta by this time, though, and so the maize meal has languished on my shelf.<br />
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I didn't think it would be difficult to find recipes to use it up - my old friend Google always comes up trumps. And, it did again this time. I got lots of links to South African blogs or recipes and thought I had lots to choose from. Unfortunately, though, when I started to read the recipes in more detail I kept finding glaring omissions. Ingredients not listed in the ingredients lists kept popping up in the methods with no information to quantities. In fact, this seeming mistake seemed to happen so many times from different sources that I am now wondering if recipes are written differently in South Africa. Can anyone enlighten me? Am I supposed to have some basic knowledge and assume that if a recipe doesn't list eggs or rising agents or sometimes completely different ingredients, they are there anyway and I should know how much to add?<br />
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Anyway, undeterred I thought I would use the titles of the recipes but just make up my own ingredients and methods and so I did.<br />
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First up is maize meal porridge.<br />
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This was okay and did me my breakfast for a couple of days. However, I wasn't excited about it and prefer my nice Scottish oat porridge so I won't be making this again. I decided to add cocoa powder to make a chocolatey version as the maize-meal has a pretty cardboardy taste on its own and I served it with bananas and cold milk.<br />
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Here's the recipe to serve 2 with big portions or 4 with small portions. I recommend small portions!<br />
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<i>Ingredients - </i></div>
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80g maize-meal</div>
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1 tbsp cocoa powder</div>
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1 tbsp light brown muscovado</div>
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2 tsp cinnamon</div>
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650mls water</div>
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pinch salt</div>
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Pop all the ingredients into a large saucepan, mix well. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes.</div>
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As an aside to this post, I can recommend a tastier porridge. While making Dan Lepard's <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/just-what-doctor-ordered.html">Rye Apple cake</a>, I kept eating the uncooked batter and thinking it was like a lovely spiced rye porridge so I decided to look and see if there were any recipes for porridge made with rye flour. I found <a href="http://scandifoodie.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/whipped-berry-rye-porridge.html">this recipe</a> for whipped berry rye porridge from <a href="http://scandifoodie.blogspot.co.uk/">Scandi Foodie</a>. It was lovely and obviously very healthy. </div>
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So, moving on from breakfast to a main meal, I decided my next project would be for maize-meal pancakes. This is based on recipes I found for fried maize-meal bread which seems to be served as an accompaniment to stews. We were having <a href="http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/">Tinned Tomatoes</a>' Jacqueline's <a href="http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2012/09/richly-braised-lentils.html#.UI1c-HjUbao">braised lentils</a> for tea and these actually went very well with it. The lentils dish was lovely - very comforting and satisfying - I recommend it and will be having it again. Another great way to get loads of fibre into the kids. We also had some leftover meatballs so we served those alongside - sorry Jacqueline. </div>
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Here's the recipe for the pancakes - </div>
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<i>Ingredients - </i></div>
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120g maize-meal</div>
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120g plain flour (or what I did was 60g plain and 60g spelt flour just to keep the fibre levels up a bit more)</div>
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1 tsp baking powder</div>
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pinch of salt</div>
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2 eggs, beaten</div>
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250ml milk</div>
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2tsp oil</div>
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<i>Method - </i></div>
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Beat together all the ingredients. Grease a frying pan with a little oil and heat over a moderate heat. Drop tablespoons of batter onto the pan when hot. Fry for about 1 minute or until bubbles form on the surface then flip over and fry the other side. Serve warm with a comforting stew.</div>
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And now onto my final maize-meal recipe for pudding. These are wee chocolate puddings and are inspired by a recipe from <a href="http://www.shonaskitchen.co.za/">Shona's Kitchen</a> - a blog with lots of South African recipes. They have a prune in the middle of each cake which gave me a bit of a double whammy as it used up a tin of prunes I found in the cupboard too. And prunes are good for fibre - am I preaching too much? I served these with custard but I appear to have forgotten to photograph them when served so here they are still in the tin.</div>
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My recipe here - </div>
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<i>Ingredients - </i></div>
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230g maize-meal </div>
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1 tsp baking powder</div>
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2 tsp cinnamon</div>
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115g caster sugar</div>
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2 tbsp cocoa powder</div>
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1tsp vanilla extract</div>
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500ml single cream</div>
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250ml milk</div>
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12 prunes</div>
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<i>Method - </i></div>
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1. Preheat oven to 180C.</div>
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2. Mix together all the ingredients except prunes and combine well.</div>
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3. Pour mixture into 12 muffin cases.</div>
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4. Add a prune to each one.</div>
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5. Bake for 30 mins until set.</div>
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6. Serve hot with custard. </div>
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And yes, I finished the whole bag of maize-meal with these three recipes. I am unlikely to buy it again but if I ever find myself with some, I'm going to go with the pancakes as my favourite way of using it up. I would be fascinated to hear if anyone else has any maize-meal recipes - please let me know in the comments.</div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-55860735761323616282012-10-26T20:38:00.001+01:002012-10-26T20:38:56.435+01:00Cake Slice Bakers 17 - October 2012 - Chocolate Almond Torte.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Chocolate Almond Torte is what I chose to make for The Cake Slice Bakers' last ever bake from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.</div>
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Unfortunately this has been a somewhat hectic time for me so I haven't baked half of the items I should have with The Cake Slice Bakers this year.</div>
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I did, however, make <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/chocolate-peanut-butter-mousse-cake.html">the chocolate peanut butter mousse cake</a>, <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/meringue-cups-with-lime-cream-and-fresh.html">meringue cups with lime cream and fresh berries</a>, <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/individual-warm-chocolate-puddings.html">individual warm chocolate puddings</a>, <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/cake-slice-bakers-14-fail.html">not-quite-the-pumpkin-cheesecake</a> and t<a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/cake-slice-bakers-13-apple-cake-with.html">he apple cake with maple frosting</a>. I would actually only class one of those as an actual cake. I think that was one of my problems with the book - too many complicated desserty type things and not enough simple cake. I have enjoyed most of what I have made, though, and will certainly refer to it for other recipes when I need a reasonably nice dessert for a special occasion.</div>
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The other thing I have already mentioned but is worth saying again is that the author of this book is American but has made the effort to convert every measurement to metric which I hugely appreciate as it saves me a lot of time. She hasn't converted the oven temperatures but I'll let her off with that as it just takes me one glance at the front of a Delia book to get that right.</div>
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For the last month of this book, we had a completely free choice as to what we would bake. I chose the chocolate almond torte when I was invited to a friend's house for a girly night. There were about six of us going and I said I would bring the pudding. I thought a chocolate torte was likely to be appreciated by most women. I also saw there was brandy in the ingredients and I knew immediately I would swap that for some of my favourite - amaretto. In fact, I chose to add rather a lot of amaretto which was a good choice in my opinion.</div>
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The torte was lovely. Quite rich but moist and almondy and was really set off with some raspberries and cream. Very quick to make too so I am likely to make this one again.</div>
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So, goodbye to The Cake Book and hello to our new book. I have already made the first cake from it and will post next month. The new book looks like it will have more proper cakes in it so I'm looking forward to that.</div>
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Please have a look at the <a href="http://thecakesliceblogroll.blogspot.co.uk/">Cake Slice Bakers Blogroll</a> if you are interested in what the others chose to make this month for their free-choice. </div>
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Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1312788323256129344.post-60844246801354028022012-10-04T22:24:00.001+01:002012-10-04T22:24:18.821+01:0022 Minute Meal - And Kitchen Is Clean!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, if you saw my <a href="http://pleasedonotfeedtheanimals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/23-minute-meal.html">last post about Jamie's 15-Minute Meals</a>, you will remember that I did my meal in 23 minutes and left the kitchen in a complete state.</div>
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My husband today beat my time by a whole minute and managed to fill the dishwasher and put everything away as he went along. Oh dear! I have to admit he is so much more the domestic goddess than I.</div>
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Steve chose to make Chorizo Carbonara and Catalan Market Salad. He was impressed with the recipe and really felt that it was a more complex meal than you would expect for the time it took to prepare. He thought the 15 minutes was ambitious but actually he was closer to 15 minutes than 30 and he had managed to clean up after himself as he went along.</div>
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The boys and I enjoyed the meal and we feel sure we would make this again.</div>
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A few more meals from this book coming up. I am very pleased with it, actually, and think it will be fairly well used. I do need to beat Steve next time, though. Or maybe just tell him that as he is better at it than me, he should carry on and cook all our meals. </div>
Please Do Not Feed The Animals.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18253995950103215275noreply@blogger.com9