All posts filed under: food

A twinkle of a star

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So I grab a cup of coffee and spend a couple of hours looking around blog world capturing wonderful interpretations of different lifestyles and kitchens. I for one enjoy this time catching up with many friends old and new, seeing what they’ve enjoyed throughout the week or day, and seeing what great ideas they have shared with us all. One of these new blogs I’ve met through a link up is “The Mixing bowl Diary”. Becky challenged herself in baking gluten free and dairy free. Experimenting with her passion of cooking: “…I take out the mixing bowls,the spoons and measuring cups and somehow the hours pass without me knowing it. Creating,recreating and taste testing my way through this new Gluten-Free world…” One of those recipes she’s shared with us for Valentines Day was Hi Hat Cupcakes Don’t they look divine! Wait and see the finishing touches Hi Hat Cupcakes . I just had to share these with all of you. “…Reminds me of a soft serve ice-cream with a hard chocolate shell…” Thanks Becky for …

Take a coffee break …

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What better way to take a break with these crunchy, no fuss biscuits. This recipe is one of those hand me down recipes, that has been passed down from our grandmother, hence “ add a bit of that, a pinch of that, feel the mixture sort of recipe”. I’ll do my best to give you the amounts of these ingredients, but you’ll know what I mean if you try this recipe, you will feel when the mixture is right. Recipe: Pre heat oven moderate 180°F 4 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons sultana’s (not included in mine) 125g butter, melted 2 cups self raising flour ( 2 extra cups ) 1/4 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Icing sugar for decoration Beat eggs until frothy, add sugar, beat well. Add melted butter,and sifted flour. If making with sultanas add as this point. Stir in milk and vanilla. At this point continually add sifted flour until the mixture forms a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead for 30 seconds until smooth and …

Chocolate Apricot Delights

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I’ve never really been a biscuit/cookie baker. Except maybe for the traditional Italian biscotti. However since spending time with my niece and nephew, the week begins with a bake off between biscuits and slices, thin enough and bite size enough to fit into the school lunch boxes. So I started the challenge of finding some new, fruity cookie recipes to bake. Interesting enough the list is infinite and the stack of cookbooks even higher. With a large variety of ingredients to choose from, I settled for apricots. As they’re on the hit list of my niece and nephews taste buds. These delicious ( if I don’t say so myself ) cookies are easy, easy as child’s play. No fancy formats, all in a bowl, easily made and cooked within 20 minutes. I found this recipe in Biscuits and Slices ( Murdoch Books)…In this book you’ll find a collection of Biscuits and Slices, you’ll find tempting treats to suit all tastes. There are savory biscuits, perfect for morning tea. Tempting home made melting moments, chocolate chip …

Castagnaccio…Chestnut Pie

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We’re well into the season of Autumn showers and new snowflakes falling…an image of everything in the garden sprinkled with a light dusting of icing sugar. Chestnuts are also in season, and although they’re not (of what I can remember in the past) the in thing over in my homeland, chestnuts are the “in” thing here at the moment. I introduced you to our roasting methods here and have had many more Sunday family get together’s  since then, another family favourite is Castagnaccio it’s made from chestnut flour and originates from Tuscany. There are many variations of this recipe, but I found this one and I’m sticking to it! If you haven’t used or tried chestnut flour here’s your change to make a traditional Italian chestnut pie..read on for the recipe…