I've just spend several hours going through my archives trying to pick out some of my best recipes that I've cooked and presented to you over these past 12 months. It was a really hard job! I never put anything on here unless it is wonderfully scrumptiously tasty! It was really tough narrowing it down to just a dozen or so! There are ever so many more tasty recipes than just these ones I am showing you at the moment . . . you'll just have to dig around and hunt for them.

I think I just gained ten pounds just looking at these! Happy New Year to you all and all the best to you in the months to come! I'm looking forward to an even tastier 2011, and I hope you are too!!




Strawberry and Mint Scones - I am fairly certain that when you bite into one of these you will be in scone heaven. The dough is buttery and short, with just the faintest hint of mint throughout. The strawberry jam is like a sweet surprise in the centre and that lemon drizzle, well . . . it's just the perfect capper! Printable Recipe



Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Icing - Now these dear friends . . . are totally moreish. I think it's the lemon glaze . . . that is, well . . . the icing on the cake! (Of course the preserved ginger in syrup on the top doesn't hurt either!!) Printable Recipe



Creamy Parsnip Soup with Ginger and Cardamom - I think the hazelnut/dried cranberry garnish on this soup makes it something really special. I really hope that you will try it. I just know you will love it as much as we do. And that, my friends, is quite an awful lot!!! Printable Recipe



Sticky Toffee Cake - This cake moreishly filled with dates with a scrummy toffee icing gilding the top is just to die for. You'll find yourself getting up in the middle of the night and raiding the larder for . . . just . . . one . . . more . . . piece. Printable Recipe.



Creamy Courgette Lasagna - A tasty vegetarian Lasagna filled with lovely courgettes, lots of cheese and a spicy sauce! Printable Recipe.



Lemon and Pistachio Cake - A lovely moist and buttery cake, filled with crunchy pistachios and lemon, and topped with lucious candied lemon and lime slices and of course, some more crunchily addictive pistachio nuts. (I love, LOVE pistachio nuts!) Printable Recipe.




Creamy Mustard, Sausage and Pasta Hot Dish - Imagine little meaty bites of a well flavoured sausage, in a creamy sauce filled with not one . . . but two tasty mustards, caramelized onions and cabbage, and a rustic homestyle pasta . . . perfectly shaped to hug and soak in all those lovely juices. Printable Recipe.



Bakewell Whoopie Pies - My attempt to create a truly "British" Whoopie Pie. What could shout out England more than the good old Bakewell Tart! These tasty little cakes have all the characteristics of a traditional Bakewell tart . . . an delicious cake batter, containing ground almonds . . . raspberry jam, the almond icing on top and the glace cherry. The only thing that is not traditional is that gorgeous whipped marshmallow filling. Printable Recipe.




Fudge Brownie Pie - A fudgy mouthful of rich moist chocolate brownie . . . stuffed with toasted pecans and then topped with oooey, goooey, sweet marshmallow . . . all smoothed over with a rich chocolate fudge frosting. Printable Recipe.



Tasty Tuna Baguettes - A fantastically delicious tuna baguette! Filled with lots of lovely flavours . . . lemon, onion, celery, mayo, sweet pickle, Dijon mustard . . . Perfect Picnic Food. Printable Recipe.




Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Oat Bars - Deliciously oaty bars with a creamy peanut butter filling, and stogged full of rich chocolate chips and crunchy toasted walnuts. Printable Recipe.



Rice Pudding - Perfectly baked rice pudding . . . with creamy, milky, sweet rice beneath a scrummy golden buttery crust . . . a feast for the eyes, stomach and soul . . . Printable Recipe.



Beef Stew with Herbed Dumplings - The meat . . . fork tender and the gravy thick and rich and filled with deliciously simmered root vegetables . . . the dumplings . . . rich and meltingly tender on the insides . . . herbily soaking up that lucious gravy. Comfort food at it's very best. Printable Recipe.



Bakewell Scones - Yummy sweet seedless raspberry preserves, sandwiched between two scone layers made all buttery and flakey with marzipan and butter having been rubbed in . . . with a touch of flaked coconut (not traditional I know) for some added texture, and then topped with an egg wash and flaked almonds. Baked until scrummily flakey and crisp on the bottom and top and then drizzled with an almond glaze and topped with a glace cherry half. Printable Recipe.




Sticky Ginger and Orange Chops with a Parsnip, Potato and Mustard Mash - Deliciously sticky chops with a hint of warmth, atop a bed of luscious parsnip and potato mash. Scrumptious! A feast for the eyes and the stomach! Printable Recipe.



Christmas Pudding Trifle - Without a doubt, hands down . . . this has to be the most delicious Trifle ever! There is just enough Christmas Pudding in it to give you a gentle hint of spicy flavour, without it going over the top. I don't think any die hard Christmas Pudding hater would be assaulted by it in the least . . . don't even tell them it's there. They probably won't even notice what it is, and even if they do, they will forgive you because it is that delicious that they will wonder how they ever got by in life without it thus far! Printable Recipe.

 

 

I like to pride myself on being totally honest with you my readers. I hope that you appreciate that. I know that I always appreciate honesty. Especially in cooking.  When I go to a recipe page, and decide to make one of their recipes I trust that what they are sharing works and tests out well.

I am a pretty competent baker. I started working as a pastry chef back when I was 19 years old.  I worked at a very high class hotel here in the Valley.  Then of course I really honed my skills baking for my family over the years and finally went to college in the year 2000.

I pretty much know what I am doing when it comes to cooking and baking. I only ever very seldom have a failure. In fact I would consider it very rare.  Today I had a failure.  A total flop.

I picked out a recipe on Flourist to bake.  A White Chocolate Blueberry Cake. I had really high hopes.  The photograph looked delicious. 

 I confess that I did get derailed after I had mixed all the dry ingredients together, but I hadn't yet mixed the wet. I set it all aside and went to clean the chapel, which I had totally forgotten about! Today was my teams turn.

I finished putting the cake together when I got home. There is no reason that my brief interlude at the chapel should have had any impact on the cake. The real chemistry had not begun when I left.

I did everything right. What I ended up with was a rubbery, overly sweet loaf cake in which all of the blueberries (and I suspect the white chocolate chips) ended up at the bottom of the cake.  It would be forgivable if the cake itself had any flavor or redeemable factors, but it simply does not.

This cake is headed for the bin.  I hate it when that happens. When I waste really good and expensive ingredients on a cake that turns out bin-able.  Sometimes when something like that happens you can blame it on the cook's error.  I am afraid this is not the case today.  And I don't say that to sound conceited.

The only thing I might have done differently in hindsight is to fold some of the flour into the berries.  This might have prevented them from sinking. But it could not have redeemed this cake.  Far too much sugar for one thing. Combined with the sweetness of white chocolate chips and that sickly glaze, this cake was a losing proposition. In fact it was a tragedy.

So, I have nothing new to share with you today. Instead I have decided to share with you some blueberry recipes that are delicious and that I can highly recommend! I hope you will forgive me. 

Dutch Baby with Blueberries & Lime -  I love Dutch baby pancakes. Light and puffy, golden brown. They make the perfect canvas for many fillings, both savory and sweet. This particular version is delicious with sweet/tart fresh berries, lime zested brown sugar, dollops of sour cream and freshly squeezed lime juice. Oh so tasty!

LEMON SANDWICHES WITH BLUEBERRIES & CREAM - This simple dessert is just the ticket to brighten anyone's day! Thick slices of a moist and delicious lemon cake are topped with a rich yogurt cream and a sweet fresh blueberry sauce. Its very similar to a strawberry shortcake in a way I suppose.  Its every bit as delicious and such a simple and easy make.

COCONUT, LIME & BLUEBERRY SCONES - These puff up really nicely, and are stogged full of lovely coconut and lime flavors which go really well with the blueberries. Rich and flaky and perfectly delicious served with some lime or lemon curd! 

BLUEBERRY BLISS DESSERT - A blueberry version of a traditional Eaton Mess, using blueberries, lemon curd yoghurt, whipped cream and meringues. Oh yes . . . some good!  Quick, easy and incredibly delicious. Everything you would expect in a good dessert! 

LEMON & BLUEBERRY TURNOVERS - What is a turnover but a little pie, and these ones are so easy to make! Lemon and Blueberries combined with flaky puff pastry and sweetly glazed. A combination made in heaven!  These are fabulously tasty!  Also a very easy make.

BLUEBERRY CRUNCH CAKE - This delicious cake has a wonderfully moist texture and is topped by a delicious crumble crunch.  This is quite simply a fabulous cake.  For breakfast, brunch or dessert. You choose!  It goes perfectly for all three occasions! 

I'm not sure how many of you know this or not, but I am a Latter Day Saint, or Mormon as we are commonly known throughout most of the world. One of the things that I love most in my cooking life, is being able to have the missionaries over for tea. After having raised five children, and now with just Todd and I living here on our own, my table is far too empty most of the time. There is nothing that makes me happier than having the opportunity to see some young and smiling faces sitting around it, especially when they are hungry.

Young people . . . far away from home and family . . . just ripe for spoiling in a way only a mom can spoil them. It's one of my absolute favourite things of all to do!!



We have two young sister missionaries here right now, and tonight was my first chance to cook a meal for them. One is from Brommieland (near Birmingham) and the other from Idaho. They are such sweet young ladies.

Boys, you can feed until they are full to exploding, and they will come back for more. Young women . . . they can be a somewhat different kettle of fish. I wasn't sure how much they would eat, or if they would prefer a light meal over something heavy . . .



My solution . . . a nice big pot of corn chowder, the perfect meal on a cold and rain swept day . . . served with some cheese and oat drop scones, and then for dessert this tasty crumble traybake.

They loved it, warm from the oven and served up with lashings of pouring cream.



They took the leftovers home with them.

They're my kind of girls!



*Blueberry Apricot Crumble Traybake*
Serves 12 (HA!)
Printable Recipe

This scrumptious cake is deliciously moist with a hidden surprise of creamy yoghurt hiding beneath the tasty fruit and crumble topping. I bet you can't eat just one piece!

1 420g tin of apricots, drained well
8 ounces softened butter
8 ounces golden caster sugar
8 ounces self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, beaten
2 TBS milk
150g pot of lemon yogurt
8 ounces blueberries
For the Crumble:
1 ounce softened butter
3 heaped dessertspoons self raising flour
3 heaped dessert spoons demerara sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/375*F. Butter a 9 by 12 inch tray bake pan. Line with baking paper and butter again. Set aside.

Make the crumble by rubbing all the crumble ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside.

Weigh the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and milk into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Spoon into the prepared tin, leveling the top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until almost set. Remove from the oven and immediately spoon the yogurt over top. Scatter the fruit over top of the yogurt and then top with the crumble. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes until done and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Serve warm and cut into squares, with some pouring cream, or cold as a tea time or picnic treat.

I wanted to share these quick and easy dinner rolls with you today. Not only do they go together in a flash, but they are very simple to make and incredibly delicious!