Warming up...

It's quite a lot warmer outside today but I'm still feeling a bit rubbish, so dog walking was a rather slow affair this morning.  Keith the dog had a lovely time nonetheless with lots of running around with other dogs, splashing in the stream and playing ball.  If I find a way of bottling his energy, I will sell it and become rich :-)

Keith pretending to be a statue...

Sometimes he is actually quite sensible (for an 18 month old dog anyway) and settles down nicely...even if it is almost inside the fireplace...

I can't believe that we had that fire going only a few evenings ago but we still get a lot of cold nights and frost in the morning.  Which also means that I still crave comforting food - potatoes, casseroles...that sort of thing.  A lovely but easy and comforting dish I made a little while ago but haven't blogged about until now is this pork tenderloin in a mustard & cream sauce.  It's tasty but doesn't take a lot of time to make and it's great served with potatoes, rice and I guess even pasta would work. 

Pork in mustard cream sauce...

All you have to do is slice the tenderloin into about 1 - 2cm thick slices, season with salt & pepper and spread some mustard on the slices.  Fry gently in a little oil, turning occasionally and adding diced onion and sliced mushrooms (optional) to the pan.  If the meat sticks to the pan a bit too much, just add a splash of water.  Pour in some double cream and adjust the seasoning, adding more mustard to the sauce if needed.  Just keep tasting until it's right for you.  Done!  We had ours with sauteed potatoes and steamed vegetables. I must make this again soon...

On a roll...

When Mr Happy Larder and I first got married, we fulfilled one of our dreams and went to Africa on honeymoon.  We did a safari in a less touristy part of Tanzania and stayed on the beautiful spice island of Zanzibar.  We saw nature at its most beautiful, made fabulous friends and ate stunning food.  It still amazes me how the cooks in camp were able to create the delicious food we ate with hardly any equipment to speak of..  When bread is baked in a hole in the ground, you know you are somewhere quite remote :-)  One of the things we had for breakfast were the most incredible cinnamon rolls we have ever eaten.  In fact, on arrival at the camp the handful of other guests did not mention the wildlife first but these cinnamon rolls - that's saying something.

Well, cut a long story short - ever since that trip I have been trying to find a recipe for something resembling these rolls at least in taste.  EUREKA!  Yesterday, feeling better, I went up and down the internet and stumbled across a recipe that looked straightforward enough to give it a go.  What can I say?  Not only did I make a small batch (I usually make half the quantity when I first try out a new recipe), we loved this so much that I had to make another batch straight after :-)  If you have enjoyed the cinnamon rock cakes recipe, then you will love these (Pigsmightfly, this should go down a treat in your household)!
I amended the recipe slightly and I hope you like what I have done with it.  It just uses slightly less fat and sugar and I left out the cream cheese icing, drizzling mine just lightly with a mix of icing sugar & lemon juice (totally optional - the second batch was made completely without and that was just as nice).  These freeze really well as well - perfect for a little treat later in the week.

I reckon these will also work really well as savory rolls - maybe filled with pesto instead of the butter/sugar/cinnamon mix... mhm, might have to give that a go...

Have a good start to your week!

Sniffles...

Typical - I've managed to stay healthy for over a year with not a sniffle in sight and just before we are due to go on holiday, I get ill :-(. Mr Happy Larder is on dog walking duties this morning and I will hopefully be back to normal soon.  Lots of hot drinks and vitamins for me and a bit of sleep - I usually fight these things off quite quickly :-).  For dinner tonight, we will just have a pork casserole - it's so easy to just throw together and leave to slow cook in the oven - the perfect food when ill as there is really just minimum effort required but you still get the goodness of a home cooked meal.

Talking of food and recipes, I have just realised that I haven't yet posted the recipe for the chocolate cake we had for Easter, so without further ado, here it is.

Have a lovely weekend!

Of chocolate bellies and healthy choices...

I think I may have overdone the chocolate indulgence a little over Easter :-)  I was given a lovely large dark chocolate egg which was delicious...note the use of the word "was" - no wonder I feel ready to pop!  No regrets though - it's Easter only once a year (just as well).

The latest giveaway was really exciting for me as I was keen to share the River Cottage bread book and it was lovely that people took the time to take part.  Well done to the winner, Pigsmightfly!  I will do another giveaway next month, so it's worth keeping an eye out for the announcements.  In the meantime I will think of a suitable prize... :-)

I might have to eat a few lighter things over the next few days, so that I can still fit into my clothes after my chocolate binge.  One of my favourites is a simple fish dish: trout cooked in a foil parcel.  Not only is it simple and quick but it's also tasty and doesn't cost the earth.  The last time I made this, I served it with small new potatoes and salad. The whole thing takes less than half an hour to prepare and cook and for me, it ticks all the boxes when I want something a bit healthier to eat and don't have much time. 

Now all we need is the temperatures around here to rise a bit and this will become a regular on our summer menu...

Giveaway winner!!!

It's 8:20am and I have just drawn the winner of the latest giveaway prize, the River Cottage Bread book....There were 6 lovely comments on Monday's post (plus one from me but that doesn't count), so I threw a die to get a number (4), counted down the list four places and found the winner...PIGSMIGHTFLY!  Congratulations!  Please email me your address (my email is in my profile) and I can send the book to you :-)

To everyone who took part, thank you so much!  There will be another giveaway next month, so please look out for the announcements.

I will write another post in a couple of hours with a recipe - just wanted to announce the winner first as promised :-)

The Great Easter Giveaway

It's Monday, 1st April and this is no joke:  here is the Great Easter Giveaway! 

The prize: a copy of the wonderful River Cottage Handbook Bread! 

I love this book and I hope the winner will too!  It definitely has become my bread bible and so far, every recipe I have tried has come out really well.  It is so well written and the recipes so easy to follow that even as a novice bread baker, I have found these recipes straightforward.

The rules:  as per the previous giveaway, simply leave a comment on today's post and I will draw the winning name out of a hat.  Given the time difference to some countries, I will draw the winner on Wednesday, 3rd April at 8am UK time, so as long as you have commented by then, you will be in with a chance to win.

Good luck and thank you for taking part!

Rabbit-proof fence...and the giveaway prize...

I promised to share my cake with you today.  It's taken me a little longer because I had run out of KitKats (other chocolate fingers are also available ;-)) and Mr Happy Larder had to dash to the shops to get some more.  So, finally, here it is:

I hope it tastes good - fingers crossed!  I saw the KitKat fence idea a little while ago online and thought that would make the ideal decoration.  Unfortunately, I can't remember where I saw it but if I do, I will let you know.  The cake itself is just a simple chocolate sponge with a layer of chocolate ganache in the middle and on the outside.  Ganache is something I had never made before but it is very easy - it's basically just heated double cream with melted chocolate.  Once cooled you can use it to create a wonderful even glaze on a cake or leave it a little longer and it becomes pipeable and spreadable for cake decoration.  The little carrots in the picture are shop-bought, the rabbits (recognise Karl?) are made out of marzipan and the lawn is just a bit of green icing, rolled out thinly.  The ribbon came from one of my birthday presents - I knew it would come in handy one day :-).  So, all in all not a difficult cake at all but I am very pleased with the result and hope my niece and sister-in-law will be too.

I had also promised you some more details about the next giveaway.  Please remember to stop by on Monday, leave a comment and you are in with a chance to win a copy of the River Cottage Handbook BREAD.  It is an absolute gem of a book and got me into making my own bread, so I hope the winner will enjoy it as much as I do.  Also, there is a US version available, so I can get that one for the winner if preferred.

Right, time to lay the table for coffee and cake now...

Have a very happy Easter!

PS:  recipes for the chocolate sponge & ganache to follow shortly...

Ready!

I really am not too sure where the day has gone today!  The house is now guest-ready, I have per-cooked a couple of simple meals (of the meatballs & pasta variety) and the cake is almost done.  That's probably where the time went :-).  It was my niece's birthday a couple of weeks ago and my sister-in-law's is tomorrow, so I wanted to make a cake - I hope they will like it!  I will post pictures and the recipe tomorrow so that I don't give away the surprise today :-).   I had made a rainbow cake for my other niece a little while ago, so I have to follow it with something equally nice.  It's only fair, isn't it?  

I love having guests and making all the preparations - it means that when everyone is here, there will be no stress and we can just enjoy ourselves rather than slaving away in the kitchen.  I usually make a menu plan for the visit and prepare and precook as much as possible.  It's busy and quite full-on right now but will be very relaxing over the weekend - perfect!  For now, I shall collapse on the sofa for a bit but don't forget to come back tomorrow to see the cake and also to find out more about Monday's giveaway!

We had steak at the weekend - bought from a wonderful indoor market in Swansea where you can buy pretty much anything from potatoes to pajamas.  I like supporting the traders, many of whom are farmers and local businesses and so far, we have really enjoyed the produce.  That is until we bought the steaks from one of the stalls - the meat wasn't cheap and looked good, so we were very much looking forward to our dinner.  What a disappointment!  Not only did the meat taste less than average, there was so much water coming out of it after grilling that we could not believe it - that must have been one thirsty cow!  Seriously though, I was pretty annoyed - we will still buy at the market but avoid that particular stall.

Little treasures...

I was thinking this morning that every time I use one of my mum's recipes, I am only satisfied with the result if it tastes exactly like hers :-)  Even if my dish is nice - if it doesn't taste like my mum's, it's not right.  As a little girl she learned to cook and bake from watching her mother and I guess that's how it happened for me as well.  Having a mum (or dad, for that matter) in the house cooking and baking is a very good inspiration.

My mum makes the best baked cheesecake in the world!  It has a hint of vanilla to it and she sometimes puts raisins into it as well - delicious.  Her recipe uses quark (a type of soft curd cheese) and the cake is just lovely and light.  I will ask her for the recipe, so I can share it with you.

In the meantime I have one for baked mini cheesecakes that I think you will enjoy.  We found that these tasted best the day after baking which is ideal if you want to prepare something for guests in advance.  They also freeze incredibly well - just defrost and you have fresh cheesecakes.  Perfect! 

I will give you the original recipe below which uses cranberries - I replaced these with tinned cherries, cut up into small pieces and put a spoonful of cherry sauce on top (made by reducing some of the juice from the tin plus a few cherry pieces and some sugar over a medium heat).  I also used a different base for the cakes as described below.

Mhm...I could do with one of these little treasures right now...