few drops vanilla



Sift the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cardamon, salt and soda into a bowl.  Whisk in the brown sugar.  drop in the butter and rub it into the mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips.   Whisk together the milk, egg, vanilla and molasses.  Add all at once to the dry ingredients and stir together quickly to make a soft dough.  It may be a bit sticky.  That's okay.   If by some chance it is too dry, you can add a touch more milk.  Tip out onto a lightly floured board and pat and shape into an 8 inch round circle.  Cut into quarters with a sharp knife and then cut each quarter in two again to give you eight wedges.  Place on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading.  Brush the tops lightly with milk and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 24 minutes until nicely poufy and set.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. 

Whisk together the drizzle ingredients until smooth.  Drizzle decoratively over the top of the scones.  Allow the drizzle to set before serving.  These will keep in an airtight container for several days.

I will tell you up front that this is not your traditional cookbook. You will not have to do a cleanse, eat kale every day, or eliminate an entire food group. Instead, you will learn the step-by-step process for eating with intention and put a stop to the never ending cycle of fad diets, constant exhaustion, and general unhappiness with your body and yourself.   I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty refreshing to me!



Meditation and wellness teacher Cassandra Bodzak struggled for years with unhealthy dieting, stomach pains, and food allergies. It was only when she began to listen to her body and eat with intention that she transformed her life. In this book, she shares her wisdom to help you discover:

*how to uncover the foods that are hurting you
*how to nourish your body from a place of self-love
*how to incorporate a daily gratitude or meditation practice into your life
*how to prepare nearly 75 plant-based recipes, each accompanied by a mantra and meditation for eating with purpose and fueling your body






Cassandra Bodzak is a certified holistic health coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. After years of disordered eating, food allergies, and painful illnesses, she made peace with her body and took control of her diet. At the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, she studied over 100 dietary theories, practical lifestyle management techniques, and innovative coaching methods. She took her new knowledge and set out to help others improve their relationship with their bodies and the diets they consume.

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Race Point Publishing (15 Nov. 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1631062360
• ISBN-13: 978-1631062360

Race Point Publishing is part of the Quarto Publishing Group.

Note - Although I was sent a copy of the book free of charge for review, I was not required to write a positive review.  Any and all opinions are my own entirely.  If you are wanting to make a change to what you are eating and the way you are eating it, this is the book for you.

If you are looking for a simple dessert this weekend look no further.  This Triple Chocolate Cookie Tart is not only delicious, but very simple and quick to make.    I would actually call it fabulous and a ten out of ten on the win/win/win scale!!!

Remove and discard the skin from the turkey breast.  Carve.  Serve hot, sliced along with the gravy and any additional dishes you are serving.





I actually shook some flour with a bit of water in a jar and whisked it into the turkey juices to thicken the gravy because we like really thick gravy.   About 2 TBS of flour  in 80ml or 1/3 cup of cold water did the trick beautifully.  I serves it with mashed white and mashed sweet potatoes, stuffing, peas and carrots and the traditional Brussels sprouts.   Bon Appetit!

 

 

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.