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Happy New Year
We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. Thank you for taking the time to read our posts this year. A special thank you to all of our subscribers for sticking with us. We hope you are occasionally inspired to make stuff too. Let us know when you do. We have […]
List for Christmas Future
January 1, 2011
We had a lovely and quite white Christmas and New Year. But I was left with a slight feeling of disappointment in myself under a general sub-heading of ‘Must-Try-Harder’. I was about to write a list of things to do differently next year, but I just know I’ll lose it so here it is, preserved […]
Bubble and Squeak
December 27, 2010
We hope you all had a good Christmas and are relaxing in this strange lull before New Year. Bubble and Squeak isn’t pretty, but it’s got to be done. It’s something that I avoided as a kid, but I now see as an essential part of Boxing Day and a great way to empty the […]
Brandy Butter
December 23, 2010
Do you think of Brandy Butter as a bit odd? Or does it take you back to childhood Christmases and nicking spoonfuls out of the fridge? I’m in the latter category. In fact I only ever remember surreptitiously eating spoonfuls of it when no one was looking as I have never been a fan of […]
Video Diary
December 18, 2010
Got 4 minutes to spare while you boil the kettle? From carnivals to cakes and furniture to photos; here is a video of our Flickr photos from the last few years thanks to Pummelvision.
Roast Sprout Tree
December 16, 2010
I bought a ‘sprout tree’ at the supermarket. I guess they are so ‘in season’ that they are a bargain at the moment. It was really fresh and a beautiful thing to look at with its perfect spirals of firm green sprouts. It seemed a shame to chop them all off and cook them. I’d […]
Happy Birthday, Boy
December 11, 2010
Today is the boy’s 9th birthday. George requested a chocolate cake. His wish is my command. I can’t believe where the last 9 years have gone. I made Nigella’s Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake and it looks lovely. We can’t try it yet though as we are off to The Lego Discovery Centre. We tasted a […]
Market Kitchen
December 8, 2010
I had a fabulous day at Optomen Studios, filming for Derbyshire Week at Market Kitchen. The show aired on Thursday 9th December at 7pm on the Good Food Channel. Leslie Jordan was a guest, he is perhaps most well known for his “Beverley’ character in Will & Grace. He the sweetest, funniest person you could […]
Jambalaya
December 7, 2010
When I don’t feel like standing at the hob stirring a risotto and I’m craving something warming and spicy, we have jambalaya. This is my take on the creole dish which has been tempered down to be child friendly. It is also made with things we very often have in the fridge or freezer and […]
Kenwood vs KitchenAid
December 2, 2010
Here I sit, snowed in for another day. For the last month Amazon has sent me daily special offers for ‘Stand Mixers’. I find this surprising as not only did I buy my stand mixer several weeks ago, but I bought it via Amazon. I am not going to buy another. They are not cheap […]
Aunt Caryl’s Ginger Cake
November 30, 2010
I tried some of this cake last year and it was so nice I asked Ed’s aunt Caryl to send me the recipe. It’s a good one so as we are snowed in and I have just made some, I thought I would share it with you…The recipe, not the cake. The collection of golden […]
Kiflice
November 28, 2010
The best way to introduce this post is to let the host of the November Fresh From The Oven Challenge tell you herself: Hi! I’m Maja (pronounced Maya) alias mamajac from Cooks and Bakes, I live in Belgrade, Serbia. I joined FFTO a year ago, and now I’m proud to host the November challenge. I decided […]
Saturday Staples – Crispy Chicken
November 27, 2010
Crispy Chicken get’s eaten in our house more regularly than anything else because it is a child friendly quick tea. I would feel bad about that if I bought it from the supermarket ready done. I don’t feel so guilty about this homemade version though because it’s low-fat and I can choose the quality of […]
Saturday Staples – Stuffed ‘tatoes
November 20, 2010
The 2nd of a short series of mini, single photo posts about food that we eat regularly. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just everyday food that takes minutes to make and doesn’t need special equipment, scales or unusual ingredients. If I make jacket potatoes, I make an oven full. Not because we are greedy, oh no. […]
Kibble
November 17, 2010
I don’t remember quite how this happened, but a while ago our Twitter friend Marley Terrier told Debora at Licked Spoon that he bet I could even make kibble look delicious. Today I got the perfect opportunity to try and prove the theory when Ernie received a gift through the post. He’d won a prize […]
Posted in: Claire, Photography
Saturday Staples – Mars Bar Crispies
November 13, 2010
I thought I’d start a short series of mini, single photo posts about food that we eat regularly. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just everyday food that takes minutes to make and doesn’t need special equipment or ingredients. These chocolate crispy cakes are a cheap packed lunch standby, or a last minute offering to the School […]
Grate new fire
November 11, 2010
Since we moved in the fire in the living room has mainly been held together with jubilee clips and hope. When the shaped fire bricks fell out of the back it was time to get it sorted properly. I took what was left of the cast iron fire grate to a local blacksmith to see if […]
Cookies #2
November 10, 2010
The cookies I wrote about back in 2009 seem so old fashioned and innocent now. Meet my new favourites: Choc and Peanut Chip, it’s taken us to a whole new level of cookie-ness. These ones started their lives when Deb and David brought us a serious stash of goodies back from their trip to America. […]
I Ganache
November 8, 2010
When I ran out of cherries this week, my usual fairy cakes looked a bit forlorn. I was about to rustle up some buttercream when I remembered we had a carton of double cream. Ooh…ganache, I thought. I rummaged round the cupboards to find an equal quantity of chocolate to match the cream. I couldn’t […]
utility shelves
antipasti plank
whisky cupboard
a case for books
favourite brownies
how to make a cajón!
funnel cakes
laab moo
reuben sandwich
Ed on the decks
massive meatballs
apple pie
sweetcorn fritters
all day pork
rillettes
just chilli
macaroons
Things we make 
January 1, 2011
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