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Showing posts with the label Food and Drink

Games Night with Sweet Treats

Life for the most part is busy, so busy you don’t always have the time to spend with the people you love.  For my part I try to catch up with my best friends as often as I can, that time we spend together is really special so in my own way I try to make it the best night until the next night.   Games Nights are a fun catch up evening with friends, we share good food, good stories and play board games.  These nights are about taking the time to stay in each others lives, have fun and create memories which we will take about at Games nights in the years to come.   I love entertaining, I love having people to my home, I love to cook and bake for my guests.  I have a lot of really good memories, which are associated with food, so I like to make dishes that become an integral part of the memory the evening.  There’s something very special and cathartic about preparing food for people you love, so it’s not just the evening’s entertaining that creates.   For my latest get togethe

Cosy Comfort Food - Fruit Cake

There's nothing better than sitting down with a hot cuppa and a sweet treat.  I love cake, probably a little too much and I love always having something ready to go in my cake tin.  It's always nice to have something ready for that late afternoon slump or for when someone pops in for a chat. I discovered the inspiration for this recipe last year, it was inspired by a Christmas Tray Bake recipe by the fabulous Mary Berry and I adapted it to my taste and store cupboard. It's a little to no rise fruit cake which I cut in to bars for serving.  It's rich and golden and foes great with a cup of tea or coffee. You can use marzipan and icing like I do or keep it plain, its adaptable throughout the year and keeps well if you can stand to stop eating it. Fruit Cake Tray Bake  I stary with 175g of butter or margarine  whichever is your preference and 175g of light brown sugar. Creaming them together until light and fluffy before I add 4 eggs, 175g of plain flour, 450

My Cosy Comfort Food for Autumn Nights - Panacalty

Summer is over, thankfully for me, I'm not a sun person I melt in the heat.  So as soon as the leaves start to turn and the nights start to draw in I do a little happy dance.  I love autumn/winter, I love the deep jewel colours, the cosy jumpers, big thick coats and walking on ground that crunches underfoot. Over the past couple of weeks I've had some time to myself to chill, relax, concentrate on my writing and also my cooking.  I love cooking, I like to play with flavours and mess around with random things I have in my fridge. At this time of year my craving for cosy comfort food starts to grow.  I love food that makes me feel warm and satisfied.  So I've decided to share with you all some of my favourites over the coming weeks and I would love to hear about some of your favourite cosy comfort foods so I can give them a try too Panacalty or Pannack  I'm from the Northeast and we have some regional variations on Panacalty or Pannack as my family has always ca

Tried and Tested Bake at Home Dog Biscuits

If you follow any of my social media accounts (thank you by the way) you will have seen an inordinate number of photos of my large, fluffy, Golden Retriever Hero. My Boy Hero  Now Hero is a real character, he loves playing with his toys and going on long walks.  He also loves his food but he's a little picky. Since he was a puppy he has always had a sensitive stomach, a bit like me really.  Anyway, I always try different foods that help me with my sensitivities so why wouldn't I do the same with my dog when he means the world to me. It took me a long time to find the right dry dog food for Hero, and sometimes he has reactions to treats.  So recently I've been looking for alternatives to shop bought biscuits and treats. I have so far tried Dehydrated Courgette in place of a rawhide chew - he wasn't so keen.  Peanut Butter drop biscuits which he likes and today I made Cheddar Cheese and Parmesan Pillows. Hero - his attempt at sunbathing  Hero love