novel34

I picked up a couple of bags of nice looking naval oranges at the shops the other day, and after eating as many as we wanted to eat fresh, I decided to make something delicious and yet unusual with them. I had in mind to make a crumble . . . and why not? We use all sorts of fruits to make tasty crumbles with . . . apples, pears, rhubarb, plums, blueberries, gooseberries and so on . . . why not oranges? Juicy and sweet, I thought they'd make a fabulous crumble . . . Especially with a buttery crispy topping shot full of flaked coconut. Oranges and coconut . . . ambrosia! I was going to add some macadamia nuts to the topping as well . . . but alas, I had none in the cupboard. Do try it if you want though. I'd add about 1/2 cup chopped nuts. It would be a fabulous addition I think! Each mouthful of this was sweetly orangy, buttery crispy and moreishly scrummy! I dare to say it's quite healthy as well as there is not a lot of fat in it really. Oranges . . . chock full of ...

 I had some lemons that I needed to use up today. I always buy too many. I just love the sight of a bowl of lemons on the counter top.  They  just look so cheerful to me, and homey.  A little spot of sunshine on a dark and drizzly January day . . . lemons to me are the the perfect pick me up!   I decided to make some of my favourite slices . . . Lemon and Jam slices.  Or Squares if you would rather call them that.  I like to call them slices . . . sounds even more delicious when you call them slices.  A rose by any other name and all that . . . I love these slices because they encompass three of my favourite things . . . a buttery, crisp baked shortbread crust on the bottom . . . sweet strawberry preserves in the middle . . . a tangy lemoncurd like topping . . .   Oh my . . . but these are heavenly bliss.  I love to enjoy them in the middle of the afternoon along with a hot drink.  They're so good.  These are the type of ...

        I don't remember ever having Brussels Sprouts when I was a child.   They just were not a vegetable that was readily available back then. We basically only had peas and carrots and green beans and sometimes corn.  I can remember discovering sprouts as an adult and falling completely and totally in love with them, and with cauliflower and broccoli too.  I am a real brassica lover!        I got a huge bag of sprouts in my Christmas Vegetable Box and of course we did not use them all and so I sat here looking at them the other day and thought to myself, I better use them up before they go off and so I thought I would make a sort of gratin with them.      I did a search on line to see if I could find any suggestions and found what looked a lovely recipe on the BBC food web page by Sophie Grigson.  I like Sophie's recipes and so I thought I would use it as a basis for what I wanted to d...

I do the same thing every year.  I buy in far too much veg for the holidays and then am left with a surplus which I am trying to use up at the beginning of the new year.   It's usually a whole lot, but not a whole lot of anything, if you know what I mean. When I looked into my vegetable drawer yesterday I saw a whole lot of normal carrots, a couple of white carrots (Yes, I did say white.   Apparently that's a variety.  I got them in a veg box in December) a few purple carrots (see my last explanation) an acorn squash, a small to medium sized white turnip.a bunch of fresh thyme and a few other odds and sods . . . most not in quantities large enough to cook any one thing, with the exception of the orange carrots.     I peeled and chopped them into large pieces and added a chopped red onion and then I roasted them in a hot oven along with some garlic, a good grinding of black pepper, a few sea salt flakes, some olive oil and a few springs of that f...

 I love food this time of year . . . I know I say that all year round, but this is the time of year that we really start to get stuck into comfort foods . . . winter warmers . . . rich soups, stews, casseroles and bakes. Food that, with the exception of a few small prep details, pretty much cooks itself.  Simple and wholesome ingredients, but let me tell you . . . more often than not there it nothing simple at all about the flavours!  Most pack a very delicious punch! I've always been the kind of person that has been able to put things together and come up with something satisfyingly delicious . . . things like this Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole I am showing you here today. It's simple.   It uses stuff you most likely have in your fridge, larder and freezer right now.  It tastes fabulously delicious, and it basically cooks itself.  I like to serve it with some fluffy mash.  The Toddster is a real mash lover.  I like to cook some greens on the ...