Of homemade things...or How to sweeten your weekend

Oh, I love homemade things!  Yesterday, I attempted making butter for the first time after reading Rhonda's post at Down to Earth a few days ago.  I had some thick double cream left over and with a bit of elbow grease (due to lack of food processor), I turned it into butter.  Wow!  I am really pleased with the result and shall be making my own butter from now on - it actually turns out that even buying organic cream still makes the butter cheaper than the cheapest "value" brand stuff in the supermarket.  Plus, I end up with bonus buttermilk to use in making soda bread (if you missed the recipe for the soda bread, please click here). Thank you Rhonda for the fabulous instructions!

Little wells in icing sugar...

I have also discovered the joy of making your own lozenges or throat sweets.  It should come with a health warning - truly addictive.  I have now made three different ones (told you it was addictive): honey/lemon/ginger, peppermint tea and also rosehip ones.  The best thing?  Apart from maybe a thermometer you don't need any special equipment.  For the mold, simply use a plate of icing sugar or corn flour and any rounded object to make little wells into the powder (a bit obscure but I used the rounded end of our coffee scoop).  The liquid sugar mix (careful: very hot!) is then poured into the mold and left to cool and the powder also helps to stop the sweets from sticking to each other.  How amazing is that?  I found the instructions online when I was browsing and came across the recipe and instructions at a website called Instructables (you can find the instructions here).

...filled with hot sugar mix

...end up being sweets

So, I hope you will have fun over the weekend and maybe even some time to try making these.  Whatever you do, have a fabulous time!

Fish Fight...

Did you know that half the fish caught in the North Sea is thrown back dead?  That's over 1.7 million tons of fish per year - discarded!  Strict fishing quotas, consumer choices,...the list of reasons is long. When you have a moment and want to find out a little more, please have a look at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight campaign - Hugh is of River Cottage fame and an avid campaigner on the subject.  What an eye-opener!

Fish gratin...

I love eating fish but now that I am more aware of what is going on, I am trying to make more ethical choices.  I guess the more consumers are happy to try other types of fish, the more these will become available.  And it's not about never eating cod, tuna or salmon again - that would just create another problem - for me, it's about variety and about us, the consumer, influencing legislation so that it makes sense, for us and the environment.

And because fish is a fabulous food I can't not give you this quick & simple recipe to try: fish gratin.  The recipe originally asked for smoked haddock but why not try another type of white fish such as coley?  Or use a mixture of fish, giving some new varieties a chance together with some old favourites?  Here, the fish is placed on a bed of spinach but as I didn't have enough, I also used some finely sliced gem lettuce...it worked a treat!  I have never cooked lettuce before but it certainly wasn't the last time.  I have also amended the amount of cream and cheese used as there was no way I would have been able to taste the fish - the star of the show - under all that fat.

I hope you'll enjoy this one!

Don't need much thyme for this...

It feels as if it hasn't really got light here the last few days.  It's making me rather lethargic and slow - I am hoping that my morning coffee will be giving me a bit of a lift.  If I didn't know better, I'd say it is November.  So, maybe this cheery little number will bring a bit of colour into the day...? 

The last couple of posts have included more time-consuming recipes, so I thought a quick & easy one is needed today.  After all, it is the middle of the working week and a straightforward meal is probably what most people are after.  So, how about thyme chicken? 

This dish is one that always comes out slightly differently and depends very much on what I have to hand.  Mr Happy Larder made this for me when we first met - definitely a keeper (both the man & the recipe ;-)).  We usually have this on rice as in the picture but it's also ideal as a filling for a pie.  And you can turn the dish vegetarian by replacing the chicken with mushrooms.  It's tasty, it's filling and it's quick - marvelous!

Over the Rainbow...

We'd been invited to visit my brother and his family near London at the weekend and with my niece having just had her 13th birthday, I decided to bake her a cake: a rainbow cake.

Surprise...

Rainbow Layer Cake...

Now, I don't know about you but I have a bit of a soft spot for rainbows and was eager to make one of these cakes.  I've seen pictures on the internet but had never eaten or tried making one until now.  Yes, it was a little time consuming but difficult it really wasn't.  The whole cake simply consists of several layers of sponge cake, sandwiched together with icing (or butter cream or jam).  I didn't really follow one particular recipe - more a mixture of different ones but the cake came out well and was very tasty.  And my niece loved it which was the main thing!

For a special occasion, this really is a lovely surprise cake and well worth the effort! And the great thing is that you can make the layers in advance when you have time and just stick them in the freezer until you are ready to assemble the cake.

Pasta perfect...

We were away for the weekend, visiting family - it was lovely to spend time together and very relaxing.  I had made my niece a birthday cake which will feature in one of my next posts but for today I'll write about something my previous posts already touched on: Valentine's Day!

I know people who love it, I know plenty of people who hate it...I guess I am somewhere in the middle.  It's lovely to do something nice and thoughtful for someone but being bombarded with lots of overpriced, fixed menus in restaurants is not my idea of fun or romance.  Maybe making something from scratch is a great way of showing someone you care - not everyone will have the time or inclination for this on 14th February but maybe another day...?

Homemade ravioli...

When this photo was taken a couple of weeks ago, I had never made my own pasta before.  But - in my ever persistent quest to find recipes for this blog - I simply had to give it a go.  I should mention that Mr Happy Larder makes fabulous pasta and his homemade lasagne is to die for (I will sneak a picture & the recipe in when he's not looking ;-)).

So I made ravioli and whilst this recipe does not fall into the category "quick", it still ticks all the boxes for "much easier than I thought it would be".  Plus: you don't need any expensive equipment for this either - just a rolling pin (and if you don't have one of those, then a large empty bottle will also do the trick).  So, here it goes: homemade ravioli with a mushroom filling...and there is a delicious sauce for which you will also find the recipe below.  Enjoy! 

Bonjour!

Ok, this is almost the extend of my knowledge of French.  It is such a beautiful language and yet so scary when it appears in the name of a recipe, don't you think?  It sounds complicated, so it must be - right?  And here comes the funny bit:  I am finding that more often than not, it is actually not that hard!  Sure, there are plenty of recipes that need a lot of skill and will only be perfected after much training but there are others that just sound difficult.

Trout meuniere...

Take "sole meuniere", for example - I heard the name and ran for the hills.  Not that it didn't sound tasty but I didn't have a clue what it meant or what was involved and so I was never going to cook it.  Until now, that is, because I actually bothered looking up the meaning and reading the recipe.  A "meuniere" is a female miller or wife of a miller and in this dish it basically just means that the fish (sole) is covered in seasoned flour (hence the miller bit) before being cooked in plenty of butter which then forms the basis for the sauce.  To me that does sound quite a lot easier.

I cooked trout meuniere because that's the fish I could get hold off and we served it with broccoli, crispy potato cubes and a creamy mustard sauce (which I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of).  We loved it and I will definitely make this again.  It was surprisingly quick to make as the fish only needed frying for a total of 6 minutes - talk about fast food!

And so, as promised, here is the recipe for a quick and easy dinner...

Just Say Neigh...

It's actually not funny at all.  I am not sure how much of this has been covered in the global media but we have the latest food scandal on our hands here in the UK (and other European countries):  horse meat!  It turns out that with our constant appetite for increasingly cheaper food products, some producers have taken it upon themselves to replace beef with horse meat in a number of ready meals, burgers etc.  Needless to say, they failed to communicate this little fact to their customers and packaging still labels the meat as beef.  Not only that, the horse meat used is unlikely to have undergone the same stringent tests that would be normal for beef (especially after the mad cow disease crisis).  Can you imagine that some products such as "beef" lasagne actually contained 100% horse meat?  And this only appears to be the tip of the iceberg...who knows which other countries are affected by this?  In some countries eating horse meat is the norm and for me this is not about whether you like to eat horse or not.  It's about being lied to by producers and not being given the choice.

Budgets are tight and lives are busy but I think that the only way to ensure we know what goes into our food is to make our own as much as possible.  And maybe some of the recipes here, on other blogs, in books & programmes show that meals can be made from scratch without too much effort.  Yes, it might need more planning and a little more time but at least we know then what we feed our families and ourselves!

Climbing off my soap box now to prepare another post with an easy & quick recipe for you to try...

Until then, get mad, get even, get cooking!

Sweet Nothings...

Cheeky...

How has your week been so far?  I hope it's been good but if you need a bit of cheering up, this little photo of Keith the dog might just do the trick.  His cheeky face always puts a smile on my face, so hopefully it will do the same for you.
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It's Valentine's Day next week.  Are you thinking of treating a loved one to something special? Or are you the one being treated?  Maybe you hate how commercial it has all become but want to do something nice for someone else on another day?

Tangy...

Either way, I think you might enjoy this dessert recipe: lemon syllabub.  Creamy and tangy with a bit of added crunch from the biscuits, this fluffy lemon dessert can be prepared ahead and would be the perfect finish to a meal at any time of the year.

And if you really want to push the boat out, then I've got a couple of main course recipes for you that will be just the ticket - I will share those with you over the next few days.  For now, here is the dessert recipe...Enjoy!

Mexican wave...

Do you love Mexican food?  I simply adore it...or at least the stuff that is served over here under that name.  Unfortunately, I have never been to Mexico but I imagine that it would be an amazing trip with lots of brilliant foods to try in different regions of the country.  Whenever I watch a cookery programme and it features Mexican food, I am sure I can taste it just watching it, so one day we are going to have to visit!  And until that dream trip becomes reality, I am just going to have to cook my own take on Mexican food.

I promised you another recipe and here it is: a fajita bake...corn tortillas stuffed with vegetables and chicken in a spicy sauce (or not so spicy, depending on how you like it) with a crunchy topping...how does that sound?  Some guacamole (or my version of it) on the side and cooling yoghurt (or sour cream) on top, this makes a great meal for during the week or would also work as an informal dinner for friends. And if you need to turn it vegetarian. it couldn't be easier!

Please click below to find out how to make this - I hope I have whet your appetite...

Excitement in the Larder...and a recipe update

First of all I can't say just how thrilled I am that some of my recipes are being tried in far-flung corners of the world.  It really means a lot to me to that you are going through the trouble of giving the recipes on this blog a go, so thank you! :-)

Based on feedback I have received  (thank you Softie), I have made a couple of adjustments to the apple crumble cake  which featured early on in the life of this blog - I've been a bit more specific on timings and temperatures, so hopefully that will help.  And since this is a rather large cake, I have also added a note on freezing any leftovers. 

Now, I had better got back to writing a new post with a recipe that I think you might like as much as I do...

Back soon!  Until then, happy baking/cooking/eating!