Have you heard about Pretty Nostalgic yet? It's a lovely independent magazine, published in the UK, with a love for all things vintage.
"Pretty Nostalgic is a bi-monthly home and lifestyle magazine that celebrates vintage, traditional and sustainable ways of living. We passionately support independent British producers and love seeking out unique, eclectic homes and meeting people who love life and live by their own rules. The magazine is packed with inspiration to help make your house a home, to fill your kitchen with homegrown and foraged food, to inspire you to reuse and upcycle and to make every day an adventure. It is a handbook for creative, curious and resourceful folk who yearn for a simple, stylish and sustainable lifestyle."
Over the month of December they are sharing goodies from some brilliant British bloggers with you, along with with some Pretty Nostalgic free printable goodies along the way. Each day you can hear about the inspiration behind many Christmas crafts, and find out some interesting nostalgic facts about Christmas along the way. It is a very special online Advent Calendar, filled with lots of lovely Christmas goodies. There are crafts to do and all sorts. Day One begins here, and I am of course . . . Day Eight . . . sharing my special Christmas Recipe for Gingerbread Pancakes on a lovely printable recipe card!
Do go on over and have a peek at all of the Christmas Lovelies they have on offer. I think it's beautifully Brilliant!! Many thanks to Pretty Nostalgic for asking me to participate!
What are you waiting for, hop on over and have a peek!
This recipe is a little bit of a cheat as it uses a boxed brownie mix, but I think most of you will forgive me for that! Now you CAN have your brownies and EAT them too!
If you are really adverse to using mixes . . . I have a from scratch recipe for a light brownie which you can see here. I am thinking it would work just as well as the mix. But I am adding no guarantees here as I haven't done this myself. Not yet, anyways. When I do, I'll report back!
I am always looking for lighter options. I know that it may not seem like that from looking at a lot of the recipes that I post on here, but it's true. If I can figure out a lighter way of doing something . . .
AND actually have the adaptation taste as good or better than the original recipe . . . then I am all for that!
It's not always possible, but these tasty brownies do just that. Seriously!!
Less fat, just as much taste as the original. I did not ice mine. I simply dusted them with a bit of icing sugar to serve. It dresses them up quite nicely . . .
I'll guarantee nobody will even guess that these are low fat.
They're really easy to make too . . . the only difficult part will be eating just one.
I betcha can't! And if you can??? Well . . . then, you're a much stronger woman than I am!
*Low Fat Cheesecake Brownies*
Makes one 8 inch square pan
Printable Recipe
Deliciously low fat alternative to the real thing. Rich and fudgy too. You'll never miss the fat.
1 package of brownie mix
2 heaped dessertspoons of smooth applesauce (about 1/4 cup)
2 large free range egg whites, divided
2 TBS water
125g of light cream cheese, softened (1/2 cup)
95g of granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
2 TBS plain flour
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Spray an 8 inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray, and line with baking paper, leaving an overhang for lifting. Spray the paper. Set aside.
Whisk together the brownie mix, one of the egg whites, the apple sauce and water until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan. Stir together the cream cheese, remaining egg white, sugar and flour until well blended. Pour this over top of the brownie batter. Cut through the batter with a knife several times to create a marbled effect.
Bake for 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with fudgy crumbs attached. Don't overbake. Cool completely in the pan on top of a wire rack before removing and cutting into squares.
Today was a day when we really felt like having a comfort food pudding. Something really homey. Something to warm up our insides and chilled bones. A winter pudding.
Nothing flash or using ingredients that are hard to come by.
Something that uses things I generally have in my fridge and larder all the time.
Something that would deliver a big reward, with little effort. Simple food.
Something that would put a huge smile on Todd's face and have him coming back . . . for more.
He's a simple man with simple tastes . . . nothing fancy for him, please and thank you . . .
This fit the bill on all counts! This is exactly the type of pudding the British are famous for . . . warm, comforting, rich and delicious!
*Apple and Blueberry Pudding Cake*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
This has to be one of the easiest desserts around. The fruit gets all soft and delicious and that buttermilk cake topping is just to die for! All in all, a wonderful combination!
2 large tart green apples, such as Granny Smith's
225g fresh blueberries (1/2 pound)
140g plain flour (scant 1 1/2 cups)
3 tsp baking powder
110g caster sugar (generous half cup)
250ml buttermilk (1 cup)
1 large free range egg
1 tsp vanilla paste
85g soft light brown sugar (7 TBS packed)
250ml of boiling water (1cup)
creme fraiche to serve
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a medium sized glass baking dish really well. Set aside.
Peel and core the apples. Slice them really thin, directly into the prepared baking dish. Toss together with the blueberries. Set aside while you make the batter.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and caster sugar together in a bowl. Beat the buttermilk, egg and vanilla paste together. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture, mixing it in well.
Add the boiling water to the soft light brown sugar, stirring it well to dissolve the sugar.
Pour the batter over the fruit, then carefully and quickly pour the boiling water mixture into the baking dish, pouring it into a corner. Place the pudding into the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until it is well risen and nicely browned, and the top springs back when lightly touched.
Spoon out warm into individual serving dishes and pass the creme fraiche!
Bacon Cheeseburger Pie. There are fewer things that are better to eat than a delicious cheeseburger. Until now. This easy Cheeseburger Pie combines all the flavours of a traditional cheeseburger with the addition of bacon, in a simple to make but delicious pie.
I decided to go through the refrigerator today and get it ready for Christmas. It's something I do every couple of months anyways, but today I went for it with a particular vigor. My refrigerator is very small, with very little shelf space, mostly due to a water gadget on the door . . . which was a complete waste of space.
It's never worked properly and used up half of the door, which is really vital space when it comes to bottles and jars. Because of that, I can only ever have one jug of milk in my fridge at any given time . . . and a very small container of juice. It's really irritating, but . . . live and learn.
Anyways, I went through the refrigerator and had a real clean out. You know . . . little bits of jam in the bottoms of jam jars, out of date pickles, etc.
I really hate waste like that . . . but with only two of us in the house . . . it is inevitable sometimes.
To make a long story short I had some pastry which needed using, as well as some cheese and a pound of extra lean beef mince.
So I decided to make a pie with it, but not just an ordinary pie . . . a Bacon Cheeseburger Pie, because I also had some streaky bacon which needed using up as well. When you got it, you got it.
This is not the Pioneer Woman Cheeseburger Pie. This is my Cheeseburger Pie. I am no Pioneer woman, but this is great if I don't say so myself.
I tried so use tradition cheeseburger flavor in this tasty pie . . . yellow mustard and tomato sauce (ketchup) and pickle, and some caramelized onions, along with a variety of spices and herbs.
There's grated cheddar in the meat mixture as well as on the top . . . and of course some scrummy streaky bacon garnishing the top. Everything tastes better with bacon!
I recently got some of the Gourmet Garden Products and thought their crushed Garlic would be perfect for this pie. My garlic bulbs always dry up before I can get them used.
This Gourmet Garden crushed Garlic is perfect for me. It's stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, is easy to squeeze out into my dish, contains natural ingredients without a lot of preservatives and oil.
I have tried ready chopped garlic etc before, but have never really liked the stuff.
I really like the Gourmet Garden garlic though and best of all it's ready on tap, no mess or fuss and my hands stay garlic free.
I really dislike the smell of onions and garlic on my hands. One teaspoon of the Gourmet Garden Garlic is the same as one regular clove of garlic.
I was really pleased with the way this pie turned out and my husband loved it so much he had two slices! It's filled with beautiful flavours so I am not surprised.
If you like you could also garnish it with your favourite burger toppings, like chopped onions, pickles, sliced tomatoes, lettuce. I had in mind to make some special sauce to have on this, but after smelling all of those tasty aromas coming out of the oven while it was baking, we just couldn't wait long enough.
It would be a really great addition however.
We just had to tuck in right away! If anything it tasted even better than it smelled . . . like I said hubbie had two pieces all by himself.
Both of us are looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow. All in all it was a really scrummy way of making one pound of beef mince go a very long way!
*Bacon Cheeseburger Pie*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
Kids, big and small will love this one. If it's in a pie . . . I'm there!
2 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 tsp of garlic paste
1 pound of extra lean minced steak
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp ground chili pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS tomato ketchup
1 TBS yellow mustard
1 TBS balsamic syrup
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 large free range eggs, beaten
1 dessert spoon sweet pickle relish
40g of seasoned dried bread crumbs (1/3 cup)
240g grated cheddar cheese (2 cups)
3 slices of partially cooked streaky bacon
pastry for one 9-inch pie tin
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a 9 inch pie dish with the pastry and flute edges.
Heat
the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until they are
softened and beginning to caramelize. Crumble in the beef and cook,
stirring and mashing it with a fork, until it is cooked through. Stir
in the garlic paste, both paprikas, thyme, chili, black pepper, and
salt. Continue to cook until it begins to brown.
Turn out the heat. Stir in the bread crumbs, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, Balsamic syrup, Worcestershire sauce, pickle relish, and half of the cheddar cheese. Stir in the beaten eggs. Spread the mixture into the prepared crust. Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with the remaining
cheese and the partially cooked pieces of bacon, cut in half crosswise,
placing them in a spoke manner. Bake for an additonal 20 to 25
minutes, until the crust is crisp and the pie is golden brown. Let
stand for 5 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges to serve.
Note: you can serve your traditional burger toppings with this if you like.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I know a lot of you are big Baking Fans. I am too, and I wanted to call your attention to the Duerr's Online Baking Series, which is a masterclass video series being shown weekly on the run up to Christmas. Being run by Mrs Duerr's Family Kitchen.
First up is Jam Roly Poly! Everyone's favorite!
You can access the recipe here.
Next up . . . Sticky Orange Marmelade Cake! Tune in tomorrow!
If you are looking for a tasty and low fat nibble or snack for the holidays look no further! I'm about to show you some ready popped pop corn that is amazingly delicious and virtuously low in fat and calories! I just love popcorn and when the Lord Poppington's people asked me if I would like to try some of their already popped corn, I said yes right away.
When I was in North America we often had air popped corn for snacks . . . as well as a tasty variety of low fat microwave popped corn which was readily available. I have been wishing for something similar over here . . . those boxes of microwave pop corn that you buy always taste so artificial and well . . . just plain yukky to be blunt.
I've not really been overly fond of the already popped bags of popcorn either. They usually taste stale to me. Ho hum . . . hum drum. Nothing exciting there. Back home we have a variety called Smart Pop and it's beautiful, a real favourite. I always treat myself to a big bag when I go home.
Well, I am happy to say that I won't be doing without anymore. This popcorn is fabulous, I kid you not!
First up . . . the Four Cheeses . . .
20g of beautiful cheesy loveliness . . . mmm . . . mmm . . . good.
Four cheeses (Cheddar, Red Leicester, Camembert and Mozzarella). Yes . . . popcorn coated with four delicious cheese flavorings. Is your mouth watering yet?I felt like the baby bear when I was eating . . . it was not too much, not too little . . . it was just right, and at only 94 calories in a 20g pack, the perfect snack.
Next up Sweet and Salty . . .
Sweet and salty is one of my favourite flavor combinations. I was not disappointed. This had the perfect balance of both . . . and was yes . . . terrifically tasty! A little bit higher in the calorie count at 128 for 30g, it would still make a relatively healthy snack.
Next there was . . . Chilli and Lime
The Chilli and Lime was pretty spicy, but not obnoxiously so. I hate things that are so hot they burn your mouth and tongue . . . I'm not a real fan of hot and spicy, but this was pretty good . . . and at only 94 calories for a 20g bag, that makes for one really tasty low calorie snack . . . that went down really well.
Finally . . . Lightly sea-salted . . .
After the other three, this was quite lack-luster . . . and yes, boring. I probably should have tried it first. I don't think I had a fair taste of it, but again at only 96 calories for a 20g bag, a relatively low calorie snack, and it is probably a good thing that it wasn't drowning in salt.
To be honest . . . after opening and tasting them all, I was quite generally pleased with them. I ended up shaking them all together into one big bag, and I've been snacking on that tasty combination ever since . . . kind of like a popcorn pic-n-mix!
I know, you probably won't believe me when I say that I try to snack healthy most of the time, except for an occasional treat, usually at the weekend. This popcorn has no artificial colouring, no articial flavouring and no genetically modified ingredients. Popped using rapeseed oil, it's gluten free, and popped and packed in the UK! All pluses for me!
I give Lord Poppington's Perfectly Popped Popcorn a hearty ten out of ten. Low in fat and calories, high in flavour and ease and lack of faff snacking! Many thanks Seema at the Clip Group to Lord Poppington for sending me some to try out.
With all of the calories which are going to be flying around the holiday buffet/party circuit over the next few weeks it's nice to have a viable healthy alternative for snacking!
Keep up with the latest popcorn news on their facebook page.
Follow them on Twitter.
I'm a person that hates waste . . . and really, in today's economic climate, getting the most that you can out of your food budget only makes good sense.
I hate to think that half of the world are starving, and yet we here in the UK, throw away more than 8.3 million tons of edible food every year. I know we are not alone. It is probably the same in most developed countries and to be honest . . . it's just plain wrong.
I think the best way to deal with that sort of thing is to only buy and cook what you are going to eat . . . and to eat all of whatever you have bought and cooked.
That means learning to use our leftovers, which can be quite a challenge at times, but then again . . . I do love a challenge!!
My mother always got every pinch out of her pennies and she knew how to stretch a food dollar further than anyone I knew. She still does. I like to think that I have learned a thing or two from her.
Pot pies, casseroles, salads, soups . . . these are all great canvases to use to paint your leftover pictures on. Have a tasty recipe to make with raw chicken, beef, fish or pork? There is no reason why, with a bit of adaption, you can't use it to make a perfectly tasty dish from your leftovers as well!
Take this recipe for instance. It originally called for raw beef mince . . . I have chosen to use leftover cooked shredded brisket instead . . . and, it was loverly! Absolutely LOVERLY!!
Of course you can make the same casserole using browned minced beef if you like, but, I would suggest that next time you have some cooked beef leftover from your Sunday roast you give this tasty dish a try!
Move over Bubble and Squeak! There's a new kid in town!!
*Beef, Bean and Bacon Casserole*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
This is what I'd call a real winter warmer. Hearty and very flavourful. You can use ground beef in this, or leftover beef as I have used here. Pork, Venison or turkey are also lovely and work quite well.
16 ounces leftover cooked meat, shredded, or an equal
amount of raw ground meat (1 pound)
200g package of smoked bacon lardons (about 1/2 cup)
1 TBS olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 TBS cider vinegar
1 TBS Dijon mustard
125ml of tomato ketchup (1/2 cup)
1 TBS soft light brown sugar
1 400g tin of cooked pinto beans in water, drained and rinsed (2 cups)
1 400g tin of cooked kidney beans in water, drained and rinsed (2 cups)
1 425g tin of sweet corn kernels, drained (2 cups)
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1 coffee mug of crushed tortilla chips
Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil. Once it is hot add the lardons and cook, stirring occasionally browned. Add the beef, onions and green pepper. Cook and stir together until the onions have softened and the beef is lightly browned. Drain off any fat if need be. Stir in the beans, (Both tins) the corn, mustard, ketchup, vinegar, and brown sugar. Mix well to blend. Pour this mixture into a 2 litre casserole dish, cover and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer. Remove from the oven. Top with the cheese and sprinkle the tortilla chips over top. Return the oven and bake for about 10 minutes longer, until the cheese is melted and the chips are crisp. Serve hot, with some steamed rice if desired.
Last week I got sent the cutest thing in the post. That is one of the plus's of having a food blog. You get to try out new things. It was a Gingerbread Christmas Tree Kit from Waitrose and the challenge to create a tree special enough to be put onto their Facebook page.
Isn't that just the cutest thing you have ever seen??? I thought so too. They also sent me some extra's to use to dress it up really extra special . . .
Gold edible glitter, silver pearls and some ready to roll white fondant icing. Hmmm . . . not sure about the fondant icing. I am not a fondant fan . . . but I am a sparkle gal so the other things looked quite promising.
Essentially the kit had everything in it you needed to build your very own Gingerbread Cookie Christmas Tree . . . white icing, green icing, gingerbread dough, green sparkles and a sturdy carboard template to use to cut out the gingerbread with.
Now folks . . . I have a confession. When my children were growing up I used to create a beautiful Gingerbread creation for them every year during the month of December. Sometimes they were simple, sometimes they were incredibly complicated, always they were fun. I enjoyed making them, the kids enjoyed eating them . . . it was a win/win situation all round!
One year I made a house that was literally covered with every type of candy you could imagine . . . candy which disappeared on a daily basis, but which I never saw anyone taking or eating . . . however there was one of my children who pretty much sat on top of it every day, so I had a pretty good idea of who was the culprit!
Who me???
Anyways, I was really looking forward to making this gingerbread cookie tree. I thought I had read everything on the back of the package that I was supposed to do, and so I kneaded the dough to make it soft . . . it did take a lot of kneading, but I got there in the end. I found the cardboard template a bit annoying . . . but that's because I am a little bit lazy and I didn't like having to stop and keep cutting the stars down as I went along . . . there was a lot of rolling, and re-rolling and cutting.
They all fit onto my lined cookie sheet though so that was good. I had a big clump of dough leftover, so I cut out a few gingerbread snowmen, which I planned on sitting around the base coz . . . well, this is The English Kitchen and my Gingerbread Christmas Tree was just going to be the best ever don't you know! It smelled heavenly when it was baking. BOY!! If this tasted even half as good as it smelled, it was going to be fabulous!
Mistake one. Don't ever trust the timings on a package of anything. Always check sooner than you think they will be done. Mine ended up a tad bit on the burnt dark side. Obviously my oven runs a bit hotter than normal. (I must get that checked out!)
There is an old saying about Pride going before the fall . . . tis so true. I baked all the biscuits on one day, and then because the light was fading and I like to do all my photography in natural light . . . I decided to wait until today to put it together.
The icing was really hard to squeeze out of the icing bags . . . and I have to say in all honesty, it was a bit on the sparse side. If you plan on making this tree, I'd plan on making extra icing. I didn't, and found myself panicking a little bit because I felt I was going to run out and so I was being a real scrooge with it on each star. But that's not the worst of it . . .
Remember that nice clump of dough I had leftover and made gingerbread snowmen with? Well . . . I didn't read the instructions on the back of the box properly . . . I was supposed to use that to cut out a whole bunch of extra small stars to put between the star layers. DOH!!
I decided to improvise and cut up a digestive biscuit cake thing I had into slices and place the slices in between the layers.
See that hand in the above picture. I think my tree fell over about a dozen times . . . the improvised layers just didn't cut the mustard. That is Todd trying to hold it up so I can get a photo of it.
It didn't work . . . waaahhh!!! That will teach me to not read the instructions properly before doing something.
As you can see the sliced digestive cake things just did not work very well at all . . . boo hoo . . .
I ended up removing them altogether and just layering the stars together without anything in between . . .
This actually worked quite well . . . even if by then, having fallen over more than once or twice and being pried apart my tree looked a bit more than worse for the wear!
Perfectly edible, although . . . but . . . let's be honest here. It's not going to be winning any Prizes I don't think . . . well not unless they give one for the most miserable looking tree!!
Sometimes you just have to laugh, and get on with it, and laugh we did.
Many thanks to Waitrose for sending me their kit. I think this would be a fun activity to do with the kids during the days in the run up to Christmas. A lot of good family entertainment for only a fiver, and quite tasty as well. My recommendation . . . read the instructions thoroughly before making! (A good cook should really know that don't you think? I am humbled.)
Waitrose Christmas Gingerbread Tree Kit
£5 at Waitrose shops all over the UK
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