~ A Provence Summer Preserve ~ French Set Apricot and Lavender Jam (Confiture) Heady perfumed lavender fields, rolling hills of thyme and oregano, hot sun, dusty paths, aching backs and grape stained fingers, hawks sitting on hay bales, the distant throb of a tractor, diesel, warm hands and faces, rich pate, crusty bread, herb scented rillettes, metallic…
Christmas
Frugal but Comforting Family Fare: Stuffed Tomatoes with Herbs & Oats (Gluten Free)
Frugal but Comforting Family Fare: Stuffed Tomatoes with Herbs & Oats (Gluten Free) This is an old family recipe, one that has been welcome on my table for many years and before that on my mum and grandmother’s table too…..a recipe that is comforting and yet frugal, a recipe that “pads” out the meat but…
Frolicking Fun and Frivolity with “Whim Wham” ~ A Scottish Regency Trifle
Frolicking Fun and Frivolity with “Whim Wham” ~ A Scottish Regency Trifle ~ Who doesn’t love a bit of frolicking fun and frivolity? Especially when the weather has been dire this summer; so when I received a package of FRESH Scottish raspberries recently, my face LIT up and I immediately started to concoct a divine dessert that had FUN in the title…
Summer Holiday Baking: Pear,Walnut & Goat’s Cheese Breakfast Buns (Muffins)
Summer Holiday Baking: Pear,Walnut & Goat’s Cheese Breakfast Buns (Muffins) I have been jamming, as in making the sweet conserve, and baking……the wet and cold weather brings out the baker and preserver in me……as if I need to feed the soul and lay down stores for the winter. By nine o’clock this morning I…
Cake Stall Baking ~ Double Chocolate and Summer Berries Truffle Slice
~ Cake Stall Baking ~ Double Chocolate and Summer Berries Truffle Slice I’ve been baking….Cake Stall Baking, baking with chocolate and summer berries, and salted butter, and cocoa…..it’s been a veritable feast of calorie laden ingredients and the kitchen has been infused with a rich chocolatey aroma…..it’s great to break free of calorie counting and diets now…
Scotch Griddle Cakes with Heather Honey for Scotland and Best of British
Scotch Griddle Cakes with Heather Honey for Scotland and Best of British How I LOVE Britain’s diverse and unique cuisine……from John O’ Groats to Land’s End, and in-between of course, we are a nation rich in regional recipes; dishes and ingredients that take advantage of the our farming heritage, as well as the seas that surround our wonderful island…
Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod with Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions
Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod with Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions Well, look at this, my regular Fish on Friday post has become a Fish in Saturday post, but, with good reason……I had a few internet problems yesterday and by the time they were all sorted out…
Vanilla, Strawberry & Rose Victoria Sponge Cake for Lavender and Lovage’s 1st Year Blog Birthday!
Vanilla, Strawberry & Rose Victoria Sponge Cake for Lavender and Lovage’s 1st Year Blog Birthday! Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday Lavender and Lovage, Happy Birthday to me! Yes, it’s hard to believe, but the 28th June 2012 is my FIRST year’s birthday as a Blog and a food Blogger……it was a year…
The Original Cup Cake – Little Coffee Cup Chocolate-Chip Cakes with Vanilla Cream Froth
The Original Cup Cake Little Coffee Cup Chocolate-Chip Cakes with Vanilla Cream Froth Forgive me if I have a little rant, but I am not a cupcake baker……..I make fairy cakes, butterfly cakes, buns and little cakes, but not cupcakes! I know, I know……I need to move with the times, but the thing is this,…
Bursting with Berries on Midsummer’s Day – Sorbet Cassis (Blackcurrant Sorbet)
Bursting with Berries on Midsummer’s Day Sorbet Cassis (Blackcurrant Sorbet) Midsummer’s Day dawned this morning and I was not impressed……half the apples had been blown off my tree and some of my herbs had been flattened. It had obviously been raining all night and there were deep, secretive puddles waiting to envelop my feet as I…
Team Capricorn! Olympic Power Salad with Goat’s Cheese, Fruit and Nuts
Team Capricorn! Olympic Power Salad with Goat’s Cheese, Fruit and Nuts #CapricornChallenge Not more Goat’s cheese I can hear you saying, or maybe not if you love it as much as I do! But, the thing is this, the hamper that I was sent from Ethel the Goat at Capricorn Goat’s Cheese was stuffed with such amazing ingredients,…
Somerset Scramble – Scrambled Eggs with Goat’s Cheese, perfect for Breakfast, Brunch or High Tea
Somerset Scramble – Scrambled Eggs with Goat’s Cheese, Perfect for Breakfast, Brunch or High Tea Capricorn Goat’s Cheese Hamper for the Capricorn Challenge Remember that lovely hamper that I was sent by Ethel the Capricorn goat? Well, I have been attacking all of the ingredients with culinary gusto and here is my next offering for…
Somerset Goats in my Kitchen! Ethel’s Old Thyme Goat’s Cheese and Tomato Tart
Somerset Goats in my Kitchen! Ethel’s Old Thyme Goat’s Cheese and Tomato Tart I have been approached by a goat, Ethel to be precise; Ethel asked me if I would like to participate in a BIG culinary challenge, and who am I to refuse a goat! Ethel is one of the infamous Capricorn Goats from…
Strawberries and Flowers for Tea – Strawberry & Elderflower Cake and Tart Topping
Strawberries and Flowers for Tea ~ Strawberry & Elderflower Cake and Tart Topping ~ Now is the time for fragrant lanes where clouds of billowing white frothy flowers hang heavy with rain drops……..damp earth and sweet-scented blossom pervades the damp summer air and bees hover over blooms in anticipation of nectar gathering. Berries glisten and blackbirds, the…
Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon Tartine (Tartine au saumon fumé) – perfect for a Jubilee Picnic!
Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon Tartine (Tartine au saumon fumé) Perfect for a Jubilee Picnic! I was lucky enough to be sent some wonderfull smoked salmon and a bottle of wine recently, from Loch Fyne, a fabulous Scottish company that provides a range of delicious seafood and larder products delivered directly to your door from the shores…