It's that time of year again.  I am once more offering a special deal between now and December 24th on my cookbooklets.  Between now and then you can get any five of my cookbooklets at a special price of only £10, ($12.59) which is a saving of £15 (18.88) on the regular price.  They normally sell for £5 a piece. ($6.29)!  There are Eleven delicious titles on offer:

Christmas In The English Kitchen
A Thanksgiving Primer
Recipes to Keep
Cooking For Comfort
The Cookie Jar
A Very Royal Tea Party
The Great British Picnic
When Life Hands You Lemons
Cooking At the Manor
Just Desserts
Spring Into Summer 

All cookbooklets will be delivered via e-mail in downloadable PDF File format,  which I will personally e-mail to you.  I promise that all will be mailed within 24 hours of your payment clearing, which allows for the differences in time between North America and here in the UK.    You will need to have the latest version of Adobe Reader enabled on your computer or device and you will also need to have my e-mail in your safe mail folder.  (mariealicejoan at aol dot com)


 
Each booklet is filled with my coloured illustrations, and fool proof recipes.  If you want to know more about each one click on the cookbooklet tab above to view the individual titles.  This is really a bargain.   In order to let me know which five you would like to receive please place your choices in the Notes to the Seller portion of the Paypal Invoice.  Alternately you may e-mail me.

Many thanks and Happy Holidays! 

It went down a real treat.  Todd was so happy when I gave it to him.  It smelled amazing when it was baking and I am happy to say he gobbled the whole thing down in contentment.  

Now who's a lucky boy then?

pouring cream or custard  
 
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.    Have ready a large wide brimmed mug, large enough to hold your filling.  Mine is about 4 inches in circumference.

Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt.  Drop in the cold butter.  Rub the butter in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Add the water and toss together with a fork.  Bring the mixture together into a ball, kneading lightly.  Remove about 1/3 of the ball and roll it into a long rope, long enough to measure around the circumference of your mug.  Brush the edge of the mug with some milk and then press the rope around the edge to adhere.  This is what your top pastry will stick to.

 Roll out the remaining pastry, on a lightly floured surface, into a round large enough to cover the mug nnd then some.  I used a floured 4 inch round fluted cutter to cut out an exact circle shape to fit on top.  Brush the pastry edge of the mug lightly with some milk.  




 Place onto a baking tray ad bake in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and the apples are cooked.   Serve warm with or without pouring cream or custard.

The final chapter, Little Gifts, includes lots of taste tempting treats to gift your loved ones and friends with . . .  spiced nuts,  tortilla chips, crackers . . .

Through step-by-step photography and quick decoration ideas, UK blogger Aimee Twigger reveals how she creates fun cakes, loaves and pies for every occasion. Whether you're looking for savoury finger food like chicken pie cones or little Cornish pasties, or an extravagant tiramisu cake with hazelnut dacquoise, there's something cheery to be conjured up!

 Aimee''s Perfect Bakes, by Aimee Twigger.

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Murdoch Books (3 Nov. 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1743367422
• ISBN-13: 978-1743367421 

Aimee Twigger is a 28-young crafter and blogger. She lives in Torquay, Devon, with her partner, Howard, and her Dalmatian puppy, Archie. Aimee started her food blog, Twigg Studios, in 2011 to share recipes and her passion for baking and food photography. Aimee's previous book Love, Aimee x was featured in Marie Claire, the Guardian, Telegraph Weekend, Fabulous Sun on Sunday and the Independent I paper, amongst others.

I was sent this book free of charge for review. I was not required to write a positive review in return. I quite simply like it. Any and all opinions are my own.  Many thankns to Murdoch Books for sending it to me.

The Toddster grew up during the War years.  He was born just before the beginning of WW2, and was only 7 years old when it finished.  His mom was a very traditional cook, and of course there was rationing for all of his growing up years.  He has very fond memories however of the dishes his mother made.  He especially loved her meat puddings.


When I talk about a meat pudding here I am not talking about a sweet pudding, but a very delicious steamed savoury pudding, stogged full of meat and gravy.  Some might think it a bit stodgy . . . but then again dishes which were popular during those years were designed to fill em up with less meat and more stodge.



Todd was longing for a meat pudding and so I did a search online to see if I could find a good one.  I found a fabulous one on BBC GoodFood.  It was called Beef, Ale and Parsnip Pudding and it looked fabulous!

Since it was my first time making a meat pudding, I followed the recipe exactly this first time.  It was very easy to do.  I think just about anyone could do it.  The only change I made was to substitute half of the beef suet for grated cold butter.



It was fabulously delicious!  I quite liked it myself, and Todd was in Meat Pudding heaven!  The gravy was rich and wonderful.  The pastry was nice and crisp, and the meat so tender.   Unlike the BBC recipe, I also cooked the filling the day before and chilled it overnight.  I didn't feel right about adding a hot filling to the pastry.   It worked beautifully.

I served it simply with some boiled potatoes and a mix of savoy cabbage, leeks and cavolo nero.  It went down a real treat!  Todd can't wait until he gets the leftovers tomorrow!


Butter a sheet of baking parchment generously.  Fold a large pleat in the centre.  Lay, butterside down, on top of the pudding.  Cover with a pleated layer of foil.  Tie with a string, making a loop that you can use to life the pudding out with at the end. 

Sit a small trivet or a large cookie cutter in the bottom of a deep saucepan which is large enough to easily hold the pudding basin.  Half fill the pan with water and bring to the boil.  Lower in the pudding.  Cover the pan tightly and simmer for 2 hours, topping up the pan with boiling water as necessary.

At the end of that time, reheat the cooking liquid, bubbling it down until you have reduced it to a delicious gravy.  Carefully lift the pudding out of the basin.  Run a knife around the rim and then turn it out onto a plate.

Serve cut into wedges along with some of the gravy and some cooked greens if you wish.


This is really, really, REALLY nice!  If you can't find parsnips you can use carrots or another root vegetable that you enjoy.

Bon Appetit!

You just can't beat having a delicious homebaked muffin for a great "Breakfast on the Go!"  Now that the school year has begun once more in earnest . . . those morning moments are all the more precious.  Breakfast being the most important meal of the day . . . it's also really important that you eat something which is substantial, fairly healthy and that will help to keep you going until at least coffee break time!


Children have early morning sports and club activities to dash off to, early morning buses to catch . . . mom and dad are trying to get everything sorted, showered and fed before they have to dash off to work . . . and the list goes on and on.  It soon becomes far much easier to pick up a donut at the coffee shop on the way in, or feed the hungry babes with a pop tart or other equally as chemical and additive filled portable "breakfast" goodie.  Not good . . . they might taste good . . . but they are just not good for you.


Wholesome and hearty muffins, baked with natural ingredients are a delicious and healthier alternative to a fast food breakfast sandwich or other "quick" choice.   Taste tempting muffins such as these fabulous ones shown here today . . .

Muffins made with whole grains . . . fruit, not a lot of fat, not a lot of sweetening . . . filling and tasty nonetheless . . . and reasonably sized, not gargantuan.  A muffin is supposed to be a muffin . . . not a cake baked in a muffin tin.


Breakfast on the go.  Portable goodness.  Very easy to bake ahead and freeze, and then just take out as and when you are wanting something quick, and wholesome . . . and filling.  This will put some lead in your pencil and help to get you and your family through the morning without  finding yourself hungry again half an hour down the road, and so starving by elevensies that you grab something very bad for you like a candy bar or a bag of crisps . . .

I used to have my own coffee shop years ago . . . and these tasty little babies were one of the most popular muffins on the menu.  You can substitute mild molasses for the maple syrup if you wish, and other dried fruits for the sultanas . . . if sultanas are not to your taste.

The low fat buttermilk makes them moist . . . sweetened naturally with some maple syrup and muscovado sugar . . . whole bran cereal and unbleached plain flour . . . naturally sweet sultanas, high in fibre and low in fat.   These are my breakfast winners!  (Sans the butter, of course!!  What can I say . . . I felt like indulging myself this morning . . . I can sometimes be quite naughty.)


*Everyday Maple, Bran and Sultana Muffins*
Makes 12 medium muffins
Printable Recipe


I like my Bran Muffins chock full of raisins, but feel free to subsitute other dried fruits such as blueberries, cranberries or chopped apricots or dates. 
Moist and delicious muffins!  Not too sweet.  I bake these and then store them in the freezer.  Then I take them out, one or two at a time and just reheat them for a few seconds in the microwave.


375ml of low fat buttermilk (1 1/2 cups)
2 large free range eggs
4 TBS unsalted butter, melted
60ml of sunflower oil (1/4 cup)
60ml of pure maple syrup (1/4 cup)
50g of all bran cereal (about 1 1/2 cups)
225g of raisins (1 1/2 cups)
100g of plain flour (1 cup)
30g of wheat or oat bran (1/2 cup)
50g of soft light brown muscovado sugar (1/4 cup packed)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
50g of toasted chopped walnuts, or pecans (1/2 cup) (optional)


Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Butter a standard sized  12 cup metal muffin tin(2 1/2 inch diameter cups) really well, including the top of the pan.  Set aside.


Combine the buttermilk, butter, eggs, oil, maple syrup, bran cereal and raisins in a large bowl.  Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to soften the bran and plump the raisins.

Whisk the nuts (if using), flour, wheat bran, sugar, baking powder, soda and sea salt together in another bowl.  Make a well in the centre and add the liquid mixture.   Fold together just to moisten.  Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling them just level with the edge of the pan.  Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown, well risen and spring back when lightly touched.  A toothpick should also come out of the centre clean.  Don't overbake.  Allow to sit in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.  Serve on the day, or freeze in air tight containers for up to 3 months.  (Reheat for about 30 seconds in the microwave when you are ready to eat.)
Bon Appetit!

 

I've always been a great fan of chocolate and nuts together. When I was a child we always got a big box of Black Magic Chocolates given to us every Christmas time.    Next to the caramel ones, the chocolate covered nuts were a real favourite with everyone . . . with each of us vying to try to get our dibs in first.  Usually though my mom got there before any of us.  My dad got the cherries, my mom the nuts . . . and we children were left  to squabble over the caramels.  Nobody wanted the coffee flavoured ones.   Rank does have it's privileges . . .

 

 Do you know what today was? (Thursday as I write this.) Torture Todd with pasta day!  Yes . . . every once in a while, I have a day  in my kitchen, where I play Torture the Toddster with Pasta.  He hates pasta.  I love pasta.  Now and again I just have to have my fix.  He doth protest somewhat . . . but meh . . . you can't have things your own way all of the time can you?

These Quick Drop Danish are fabulously delicious breakfast buns that I have made over and over through the years.  I think that the recipe originally came from Bisquick, but I have adapted it to use my own homemade baking mix and it works beautifully that way.  (Recipe for both the buns and the mix below)