Recipes
Beef Stew with Dumplings
If you’re planning meals for the weekend, then this recipe is definitely a winner for Sunday! It’s perfect on a cold Autumn day – proper comfort food. The recipe originally comes from James Martin’s ‘Slow Cooking‘, which is a great book packed with recipes that you can take your time over (you don’t need a…
Bakewell Cake
It’s always good to have cake in the house when people come to stay, and this weekend our lovely friend (and old flatmate) Katrina came to visit 🙂 So I decided to try out a recipe from Rachel Allen’s ‘Cake‘ and this Bakewell Cake seemed like a good choice. It’s a really easy recipe and…
Elderberry Liqueur
So it’s that time of year where you start thinking about Christmas presents. More specifically, what can you make for presents this year?! A friend at work brought in some elderberries from his garden, and after a quick google search I found this recipe for some elderberry liqueur. I don’t really drink (except for the…
Guinness Parkin
Parkin is a real taste of Autumn, and I absolutely love it! Last year I made a traditional Yorkshire Parkin, but recently I spotted a less traditional recipe in Edd Kimber’s ‘The Boy Who Bakes‘ and just had to give it a go! I made two (one for a friend, who bought the Guinness –…
Super simple creamy basil pesto and spaghetti
I’ve been meaning to get around to making my own pesto for ages, and the basil plant on our kitchen windowsill was looking a bit overgrown so I decided to give it a go. This recipe is from Gino D’Acampo’s book ‘Gino’s Pasta‘, and you could make it without the yoghurt if you don’t want…
Moroccan lamb tagine with lemon and pomegranate couscous
We bought a gorgeous Le Creuset heart-shaped casserole dish with some vouchers that we were kindly given for our wedding, and I decided to try out a new recipe for its first outing. I found this Rachel Allen recipe on the BBC food website, which is originally meant to serve 12-14 people and would be…
Dark chocolate and ginger cookies
I absolutely love The Great British Bake Off, and am already hooked on the new series! I’ve just got the books of two previous winners, and this recipe come from John Whaite Bakes (John won the third series). It’s one of those books where you want to make everything in it! I love the photography…
Bacon and leek quiche
This is another of my Mum’s tried and tested recipes and it’s really tasty and easy to make. You can either make the pastry yourself, or use cheat pastry from the shop if you want to make it quickly during the week (which is what I did!). Smoked bacon works really well with this recipe,…
Rich chocolate almond cake with white chocolate frosting
Last week we had a pre-birthday celebration for our lovely friend Hannah, and everyone brought something along to contribute to the meal. We were set the challenge of making a birthday cake – but what sort of cake do you make for the person who made you the most amazing wedding cake?! So we decided…
Butternut squash soup
Butternut squash isn’t something that I’ve cooked with a lot before, but recently I’ve realised how delicious it is and I seem to keep choosing it! Here’s a delicious recipe by Nigel Slater, which I saw on TV last week on his programme Nigel Slater’s Dish of the Day. It was first broadcast on 23rd…
Pear, almond and amaretto tart with stem ginger mascarpone cream
Almond has to be one of my favourite flavours, and as I’ve got a super sweet tooth I’m always tempted by almond puddings! This one is so easy to make and is really tasty, and is taken from Lorraine Pascale’s ‘Fast, Fresh and Easy Food’. We had this for pudding after our Butternut and sweet…
Butternut and sweet potato lasagne with sage, toasted pine nuts and nutmeg
I love getting new cookery books, and the latest addition to my collection is Lorraine Pascale’s ‘Fast, Fresh and Easy Food’. I saw her TV show when we got back from honeymoon and really liked the recipes, and when I flicked through the book in the shop this recipe caught my eye. I couldn’t wait…
The Hummingbird Bakery Traditional Brownie
This week I have my last class with my English students, and as a special treat I’ve decided to make them some cake. I couldn’t decide what to make, and ended up with two choices – the first is chocolate brownies (I know, not really cake, but they will be easy for me to carry…
Lemon Sorbet
For the past week or so it has been hot and sunny here, which doesn’t normally happen in Newcastle, so it’s best to make the most of it! So I decided to make some of this lovely lemon sorbet from a bargain cook book that I found in a charity shop – Good Housekeeping’s Healthy…
Courgette Filo Pie
So the first thing you’ll probably think is ‘that isn’t filo pastry in the picture!’ – and if you’ve seen my last post then you’ll know that it isn’t! I came across this recipe for Courgette Filo Pie in the July issue of Country Living magazine, when looking for a recipe that included olives. This…
Tuna and Courgette Quiche
My Mum used to make this tuna and courgette quiche when I was younger, and now we both make it! It’s really tasty and easy to make. You can either make the pastry yourself, or use cheat pastry from the shop if you want to make it quickly! It makes a great summer meal or…
Simple Spaghetti Bolognese
I was surprised to discover that I have not blogged about what is one of our staple meals – this yummy spaghetti bolognese. It probably isn’t the most authentic recipe but we love it! It doesn’t include carrots or celery (I really don’t like celery) so kids seem to like it a lot! Great for…
Tuna, courgette and tomato pasta bake
I was quite surprised when I looked through my blog posts earlier and discovered that I haven’t posted this recipe before – it is one of those ‘tried and tested’ ones that I’ve been making for years! In fact, my Mum used to make it when I was younger and it was one of the…
Chorizo Bean Burgers
Before I went to Madrid, I asked Tom if he wanted me to bring anything back for him – he asked for chorizo. I didn’t fancy putting one in my suitcase (which, considering what happened to the suitcase in question, was probably a good thought to have had!) so I decided to chance it and…
Tom’s Cassoulet
Tom is making his recipe debut on my blog today – he quite often makes things up when cooking, and this is what he made up for dinner tonight! A yummy cassoulet which was carb-free (great if you’re trying to eat healthily). He left the sausages whole so that there would be leftover veggie stuff…
Honey Cake
I’m trying to be super healthy at the moment, because operation wedding dress is officially on! But I did make this yummy cake for Mum’s birthday, which doesn’t count (that’s what I keep telling myself anyway!). It is a James Martin recipe from the BBC website and is really easy to make – I actually…
Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns are my favourite Easter treat by far – in actual fact, I love them so much that I tend to eat them all year round! (They do sell them all year round in Marks and Spencer, which is very helpful.) I did once ask Tom’s Dad, Keith, if he would like a…
Orange and Almond Cake
Whilst I was doing some sleepy baking last night (see yesterday’s post!), Tom was making another cake. His looked much better than mine and it tasted amazing too – possibly the moistest (is that a word?) cake I’ve ever had, and really zingy too. Tom is getting a reputation for being a star baker at…