














All in all the book is pure teatime baking delight from beginning to end.










Tea & Cake
by Lisa Faulkner
Published by Simon and Schuster
ISBN 978-1-47112-560-7
£20 UK
Show mums just how special they are this Mother's Day with a beautiful box of award winning Radnor Preserves arriving on their doorstep. Even if sons and daughters can't be there in person, preserve-maker Joanna Morgan hand-makes preserves and marmalades so delicious and unique in flavour, that they'll top the traditional bouquet.
The collection is perfect for mums who enjoy exploring their culinary skills, as the Snowdon Marmalade gives a zesty twist to bread and butter puddings, whilst the gold mdal World Marmalade Award winning Sicilian Blood Orange transforms casserole dishes.
Flavours also include the indulgent dark chocolate and pear Belle-Helene, Clementine & Cointreau, Rhubarb & Caramelized Fig and Great Taste Award winning Raspberry & Crushed Cardamom. Gifr boxes and hampers can also contain a personalized message.
A box of three costs £15 plus P&P or for a real treat, try a hamper for £50, which contains 7 jars and a recipe book. All are gluten-free, vegan-friendly and free from artificial perservatives and additives.
I was sent a jar of their Great Taste Award Winning 2013 Black Currant & Vanilla Preserve to try out.
I found it to be lovely and thick with lots of fruit as well as having a heavenly scented of vanilla. All in all it went down a real treat with some homemade crumpets.
As fans of black currants, we both really enjoyed this jam. Tune in tomorrow for the crumpet recipe. You're in for a real treat.
Many thanks to Radnor Preserves for sending me a jar of jam to enjoy. Although I was sent the jam, any and all opinions are my own. This isn't award winning jam for no reason. It's really lovely.
This is an easy Vegetarian dish I have had on my list of things to make for a very long time. I can't even remember where it came from now. I think possibly it was a Pillsbury recipe, but I can't say for sure. In any case it I finally got it made the other day and it wasn't half bad!
We have had some really cold weather these past couple of weeks. I know it is not near as cold as the temperatures you hardy North Americans are used to, but over here in the UK, the temperatures don't have to dip very low before we are freezing. We don't have the heating, insulation and windows that you are used to in North America, and it is a lot damper . . . so when it is cold, it is cold. Cold weather is soup weather and when I cook us a pot of soup, I always like to bake some sort of bread to accompany it. A decent piece of bread can turn even the simplest of soups into a hearty meal!
For Soft Boiled Eggs with set whites and runny yolks
Fill a saucepan wit enough water to cover the egg, and heat to a gentle boil. Pierce the large end of the egg with an egg piercer or a needle. (This helps to release any pressure which might crack the shell.) When the water is gently simmering, lower the egg on a tablespoon. Set an egg timer. It will take 3 to 4 minutes for a large egg to be soft boiled. If you are cooking many eggs at the same time, it is helpful to lower them into the water in a wire basket, such as those used for deep frying.
For Medium Boiled Eggs with firm opague whites and soft yolks.
Medium boiled eggs can be shelled and used in place of poached eggs. Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover the egg, and heat to a gentle boil Pierce the large end of the egg with an egg piercer or needle. (See above) When the water is gently boiling, lower the egg on a tablespoon into the pan. Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let the egg stand for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on how firm you want it to be.
For Hard Boiled Eggs with firm whites and yolks
Pierce the large end of the egg with an egg piercer or needle (see above). Put the egg in a pan and fill it with water. Bring it to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately place the egg into cold water.
NOTE: An over cooked egg will develop a harmless dark ring that isn't as appetizing as the bright yellow yolk.
Also for hard boiled eggs, older eggs are easier to peel. If I know I am going to be needing boiled eggs for something I always get them in well ahead of time. I have tried adding salt and vinegar to the water, which is said to help, but the fact remains that the fresher the egg, the more difficult it will be to peel intact.
Makes 12 servings
I came across a peanut butter cookie recipe the other day that looked pretty good, on a blog called Julia's Album . I like puffy peanut butter cookies. I prefer my peanut butter cookies to be a bit soft and chewy rather than hard and crunchy. These looked perfect and not only that, but her recipe only made between 12 and 15 cookies, which is just the perfect amount to have here in this house because we are only two. People that is.
As you know we had the Missionary Elders here for their supper the other night. That's when I made that gorgeous Profiterole Cake.
Today I am going to show you what they had for their main course. A delicious Hamburger and Potato Casserole! They both had seconds!
There are not a lot of ground beef and potato recipes out there when you take Cottage Pie out of the mix. This ground beef and potato casserole is amazingly delicious, I kid you not!
I always figure they get enough roast dinners and so when they come to us I always try to cook them a meal similar to one they might get at home from their mums.
Family type of food. Home cooking at it's best.
This went down a real treat. It's simply potatoes, browned ground beef and cheese layered together with a simple sauce made using tinned condensed soup, sour cream and regular cream.
I know it's a bit of a cheat using tinned soup, but I'm not a tinned soup snob. It has it's uses.
There are not too many tinned soups (except maybe tomato) that I would eat as soup, but they do make great sauces for Casseroles in a pinch!!
And this meat and potato casserole is a wonderful way to use it. I simply serve it with some vegetables on the side, a salad and some crusty bread to mop up all that cheesy sauce. Scrumptiously tasty!
Serves 4 to 6
Whisk together the soup, onion, cream, sour cream, Parmesan Cheese, garlic powder, seasoning salt and black pepper. Set aside.
Begin to layer the ingredients into the prepared baking dish as follows. One third of the potatoes, half of the meat, 1/3 of the soup, 1/3 of the cheese, one third potatoes, remaining half of meat, 1/3 of the soup, 1/3 of the cheese, remaining potatoes, then remaining soup and cheese.
Cover with a sheet of foil which has been buttered on one side, buttered side down. Place on a baking sheet and bake for one hour in the preheated oven. Uncover and bake for about 30 minutes longer until the potatoes are fork tender and everything is nicely bubbling and golden brown.
Note: If you want
you can add an additional handful of cheddar cheese to the top for the
last half hour of baking. I often do and nobody complains at all!
Delicious!
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