novel34

     We did a One Night in Bethlehem activity at our chapel prior to Christmas.   We tried to serve all biblical or middle eastern foods . . .  finger foods, foods that would make great nibbles for the New Year's Eve Buffet table.    I made this lovely feta dip, which was really delicious and tangy and so simple to make.  It is basically just feta cheese, olive oil, thyme and lemon zest and juice blitzed until smooth in the food processor or blender.   Very simple really.      It was absolutely wonderful!   It was nice served with vegetables for dipping and crackers for spreading.  You want something crisp to go with the smooth richeness of this dip.   It went down a real treat.   *Creamy Feta Dip* Makes about 2 cups Printable Recipe   Creamy, sharp and herby.   Goes well with toasted pita chips, raw vegetables, crackers.   Quick and easy to make....

I do get sent the neatest things.  I was recently sent a variety of really nice appetizer pastries to use for the holidays. Pidy UK have recently launched a selection of their deliciously famous canapés for the retail market, the range contains a combination of their most unique and interesting shaped pastry vol-au-vents. All the products are made with their award winning pastry recipe that the Pidy family initially created in their little patisserie shop in Ypres, Belgium back in 1952. Pidy is an innovative Belgian family food business established in the world of ready to fill pastry products. Pidy are a world leader in dry puff pastry and also competitive in short crust, fonçage dough, choux pastry and sponge cakes. With three production units in Belgium, France and the USA,  Pidy are able to offer the perfect day to day service and market support to their customers in more than 50 countries world wide. Pidy supply a range of products to the foodservice and retail industry...

Divo Italiano recently sent me a delicious assortment of exciting new Italian Cheeses to try out. These are thorougly modern cheeses selected by Aldo Zilli specifically for the British Table.  They are available in five different varieties and I could not wait to get stuck in.  First out of the starting gate was a cheese that I use frequently in my kitchen . . . Italian Parmigiao Reggiano P D O Extra.   Crunchy & crumbly texture, matured for a minimum of 24 months for a sweet & salty taste.  I loved it.  I just adore Parmesan cheese anyways, and this was exceptional in flavour.   Parmesan cheese was the one cheese I did eat outside of processed cheese when I was growing up . . . ok, so it was the stuff that came in the green cylinder from Kraft that you could keep on the shelf without refrigerating, but that was quite bold as far as I was concerned.   I am happy to say that my tastes have really advanced since then!  This was a lovely che...