Comfort Food!

Goodbye's are always hard, if they are for longer than a few days.

Or maybe i'm just a sensitive person!

My boyfriend has just gone back to uni after an amazing weekend here. We are pretty used to spending time apart, but goodbye's never get any easier! I always shed a little tear or two....

But thank you lord for food! I've already come home and made myself a chocolate fudge cake, it's massive and i'm the only one who is eating it!

I also have ingredients for pancakes! :) So going to have nice thick, fluffy pancakes and maple syrup and blueberries for pudding tonight! And my main meal.....carbohydrates....so cold tuna pasta! :) Lovely

Still wish someone was here to share it with me

Cupcake Recipe

Thought I would give you all one of my favourite recipes.
I've been on 2 cupcake courses in the last year. 


Cupcakes have pretty much taken over bakery's around the world.


Here is my recipe for a simple vanilla cupcake, these come out perfect each time as long as you follow the simple steps :)


(makes 12)
- 110g butter
- 110g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 110g self-raising flour
- 1-2 tbs whole milk


1. Oven at 170-180 degrees. Gas mark 4
2. Line 12 muffin tin with cupcake cases
3. Cream together butter and sugar, beat in the eggs (a little at a time) and stir in extract
4. Fold in the flour using a metal spoon
5. Spoon mixture into cases until they are 1/2 full
6. Bake for 15 minutes


Then go mad with the icing! My favourite part
Buttercream, fondant, whatever takes your fancy! :)
Et Voila!

Jalepenos

It's another random one people! :-)


And another love declaration, this time, for Jalepenos.

Only last year, I would remove any traces of these small, chilli peppers from my food, mainly nachos and fajittas. 


Yet, about 2 weeks ago, I was ordering pizza from Dominos, and I decided to change from my usual "Vegetarian Supreme" to "Veggie Volcano" pretty much the same toppings but with Jalepenos added. 

And I loved them! I'm pretty hooked on them now. Before, I'd always thought they had a different taste.....a bit like Tabasco sauce, (WHICH IS GROSS!!!!) So i'd avoided and always handed them to someone who would actually eat them. 


Just another food to add to my list now. I'm rather looking forward to my potential next plate of nachos, covered with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and JALEPENOS!

Cheese Board

I love cheeseboards.
We had a family get together yesterday and mum decided to offer a cheeseboard. On one of our gorgeous green platters she neatly displayed: Brie, Cheddar, Shropshire Blue, Bavarian Smoked, Port Salut and a bunch of grapes.


That is my idea of heaven, and give me a good caramalised onion chutney and some crackers and i'm gone.


That selection above is perfect for me. I love all of those.


In 2010 i visited the Wensleydale cheese factory, something that I really wanted to do. I loved it. I was fascinated by the history of how cheese was made (don't call me sad, you would be too) and watching the cheese being made with modern technology. I'm hoping that one day I will be able to make cheese completely from scratch. From milking the cow/ goat - serving it at the table, I want to be part of the whole process.


Then the tasting. WOW! They have a cold room to the side of the shop where all the cheeses were displayed, all cut into neat little cubes just waiting for me. I could have spent all day there! I was standing there for rather a long time, people had come and gone in that time! They had everything from cheddar to Wensleydale with every kind of extra ingredient you can imagine:
Chive, Onion, Cranberry, Apricot, Ginger, Smoked - just to name a few!

I can't remember which ones I bought, but definitely bought at least 2 packets! If I wasn't camping I would have bought so many more! I even sent a packet of Wallace & Gromit cheese in the post to my family. They have an online shop: http://www.wensleydale.co.uk/shop/ go and check it out!


I am determined to return to the factory soon. If I am ever that way again, I may just accidentally pop in! 

Levi Roots, Business Idol!

Levi roots hit our screens in 2006 on the BBC program Dragons Den.

He instantly won the hearts of the dragons with his guitar, song, steady business attitude and charismatic smile. Although figures were slightly muddled during his pitch he won over the hearts of Peter Jones and former dragon Richard Farleigh offering £50,000 for 40% of the company. 


Reggae Reggae sauce is a Barbeque jerk sauce. From my knowledge (I don't usually buy the sauces) he also has a range of marinades, relishes and i think nibbles (nuts and crisps)


Since his premier appearance he has gone on to be a multi-millionaire!! Not something that many  people on Dragons' Den can claim! He has written a handful of cookbooks, appeared on more television programs, stared in and wrote a music video and had his own cooking show.

Like I mentioned earlier, it's a product that I don't often buy and I never see anyone else buying it! However it must be doing well in order to maintain it's shelf position in over 600 Sainsbury's stores. 
I have had the sauce on 2 occasions, 1 while camping and I can't even begin to remember what it tasted like or what it was used for! And the other I bought a "squeezy" bottle of reggae relish. Once again no idea what it was used for, but i remember not liking the taste of it!


As shown last night on BBC The Apprentice, where the teams were asked to produce a new condiment, that market is over-crowded. I sat wandering how they were going to squeeze themselves into the already plentiful variety out there. Levi Roots was lucky, his sauce was unlike anything currently on the market at that time. Since it's appearance, other similar sauces have been introduced to our shelves, proving that the market is not only impossible to get into but also very cut-throat. 


Hats off to you Levi. No other business man out there walks around in a suit with dreadlocks down to their waist!! Yea man!

P.I.E

So, people who know me well, will know that I am a bit of a foodie!

Pie is one of my favorites.I will happily have it served with almost anything! 
Chips, Mash, Beans, Greens, Gravy just to name a few savory sides.


Pies first appeared around 9000BC. They became popular among those having to make long travels with very few stops for food such as sailors, due to their easy to store and long shelf life nature. 

My favorite savory pie fillings include:

Steak and Ale, Beef and Onion, Chicken, Sausage, Pork, Quiche. (I have even had a Brussels sprout pie!)

Favorite sweet pies would include apple, pumpkin, blackberry, mince, pecan and custard. ALL savory pies (expect mince) should be served with custard in my opinion!

ANY fool will know that the quickest way to MY heart is PASTRY!


Of course I will have to give you all my most favorite pie recipe. This recipe is so simple everyone can do it, from students to OAP's.


SAUSAGE MEAT PIE
Sausagemeat 1lb
1 Onion finely diced
Few leaves of fresh sage (or dried sage will do)
1 Egg
1 Packets of shortcrust pastry


1. Cook the onion until brown
2. Mix in a bowl the sausagemeat,, sage and add the onion
3. Roll the pastry out and cut a circle out to fit both the base of your pie and the top.
4. Place the base in the dish and spoon in the meat mixture.
5.. Put the pastry lid on the pie, use the egg whites to seal the edges and the yolk to give the pie a golden crust.
6. Cook for 40 minutes at 180-200 celcius.


ET VOILA!