Category Archives: At Home

Cinnamon Muffins with Fresh Blueberries and Walnuts

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Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins with Walnuts

I’ve been wanting to make something that brings the sweet warm smell of Cinnamon into our home, now that the nights are drawing in and Autumn is showing it’s first signs of arrival.

Yesterday, (Wednesday) it rained so much that even though  both my kids were wearing their rain coats, when they arrived home it was two wet and soggy girls who needed something cheerful to chase away the dreary weather.

Taking a rummage around our cupboard, we have a very small amount of plain flour and some wholemeal flour. In our fridge was a fresh pack of blueberries that we had to put into our youngest’s lunch bag as a snack.

These ingredients will make one of my favourites – Blueberry Muffins.

I first tried this recipe in the early 90’s when Delia Smith shared the recipe and how to bake them on telly.

The recipe and they way they were baked were a revelation, not only did she use fresh berries, (The cakes I had been taught at school had been sponge cakes, or fruit cakes usually made with dried fruit, so weren’t exactly inspiring or tasty) she showed us how easy it was to make American style muffins and most importantly they looked so yummy.

I hadn’t really thought much about baking until that is I made these muffins and realised how easy they are to make and the way they make a home smell so warm and so delicious.

The fresh blueberries burst as they cook and when you bite into these muffins, because some of the blueberries haven’t quite exploded, they’ll do so as you bite into them, so you get the hit of the warm tangy flavour of the berries, along with the sweet taste of the muffins.

Fresh Blueberries bursting in a muffin

Fresh Blueberries bursting in a muffin

I’ve adapted the recipe slightly because I want to combine the fresh blueberries with walnuts and bring in the scent of Cinnamon.

For an extra kick of Cinnamon, I’ve added a caramelised brown sugar topping that gives the muffins a lovely crunchy texture to bite into.

You can of course make these into smaller sized cupcakes, (this recipe will make approx 12-14) but since we’re eating these for our desserts tonight, they’re being baked in our “Man Sized” muffin tin to serve warm straight out of the oven with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

The ingredients below will makes approx 6-7 large man-sized muffins

Ingredients for the muffins (Adapted from Delia Smith’s American Muffin recipe)

2.5 oz plain flour (75g)

2.5 oz wholemeal flour (75g)

half level tablespoon baking powder

quarter teaspoon salt

1 large egg

one and a half ounce soft brown sugar (40g)

4 fluid ounces milk (110ml)

2oz butter, melted (slightly cooled)

half teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

quarter teaspoon ground Cinnamon

4 oz small blueberries

2 oz Walnuts (Pecan nuts work as well) finely chopped

Muffin mix in tin before baking

Muffin mix with crumble topping in tin before baking

For the crumble topping:

1.5 oz brown sugar

1.5 oz self-raising flour

1.5 oz butter

1 oz walnuts (chopped finely, any nuts if you prefer a different type)

Half teaspoon Ground cinnamon

How to make the muffins:

Sift the flour (You can of course just use plain flour, but we had wholemeal, so I used half and half) with baking powder, Cinnamon and salt into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk the sugar, eggs and butter (melted) and milk together. This time I remembered to put the sugar in!

Fold the dry mixture very gently into the wet batter mixture, the consistency should look lumpy and well, wrong as there should be lumps and bumps everywhere. (Sifting the flour is important to make the muffins light and airy)

Spoon in the blueberries and the finely chopped walnuts. I like pecans with this recipe too, and I think they will work just as well if you like Pecans instead of walnuts. Very gently again, to maintain the light texture of the batter.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tins. I’ve used these foil muffin cases as it’s easier to get out of the tins and less mess to wash-up.

To make the topping:

Ingredients for the crumble topping

Ingredients for the Crumble topping

This is really simple to make, it’s basically a crumble mixture. Mix the flour, cinnamon and butter and crumble together with your fingers, add sugar and hazelnuts and mix together so that it looks like a very fine crumble mix. Sprinkle over the muffin mixture in the muffin tins before putting them in the oven.

Bake in the oven for approx 20-25 minutes (if you’re going for the Man size versions), 15-20 minutes for the smaller cupcake versions.

Take muffins out of the tins – (they are cooked if you can put a knife/skewer through and it comes out clean). Serve immediately if you want to eat them hot. or let them cool on a baking rack. They can be enjoyed for a day or two afterwards, but really I think they’re yummy straight out of the oven.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins
Muffin mix in tin before baking
Wet mix of sugar, butter, eggs and milk
Dry ingredients in a bowl for blueberry muffins.
Some of the ingredients for Fresh Blueberry Muffins
Walnuts for the muffins
Ingredients for the Crumble topping
Fresh Blueberries in Muffins
Mansized muffin tin filled with baked muffins

Feast and Famine on the 5:2

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Salad with sliced chicken

I’ve never been able to maintain my weight or more importantly my size by sticking to a diet.

About a couple of years ago, I stumbled upon a programme on telly which has made a significant impact on my lifestyle.

If anyone reading this post isn’t familiar with the 5:2 diet, visit the Fast Diet site which explains the health benefits of fasting two out of 5 days of the week.

So here’s the thing, I resent the notion of giving up indulgent treats such as cake or chocolate or a really great fry-up. Missing out on Peking Duck as part of a Chinese feast or a fully loaded Sunday roast, is my idea of hell, so I hated dieting and gave up easily when the smell of something lovely was being cooked by my husband for the rest of the family. I could never resist.

So re-training myself to fast for 2 days each week so that I could eat normally on the other 5 days (as long as they’re not consecutive days) seemed achievable, so I gave it a try and haven’t looked back.

On a fast day, I eat a couple of rice crackers with coffee and a glass of water with lemon juice for breakfast – just so that there’s a routine for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

At lunch, it’s usually a bowl of salad leaves, some cucumber, tomatoes, maybe some radishes or a carrot that’s been cut into thin ribbons,with a slice of chicken or ham torn or shredded into the salad. If I am home, a few leaves from the fresh basil on my kitchen window sill will get added to the salad to make it more fragrant with a dressing of just balsamic vinegar.

Dinner might be a bowl of soup, this can either be tinned soup or home made that I’ve watered down, along with some rice crackers or a light broth and a few noodles.

As long as the total amount comes to 500 calories. I keep things simple on fasting days when my brain and stomach is too hungry to work on cooking something complicated.

I’ve figured out that rice or corn crackers are about 30 calories each, a bowl of salad is around 50-100 calories depending on the sliced meat I’ve added (A boiled egg is about 90 calories) or noodles (I use half of a serving of dried noodles and cook with chicken stock, Miso or some soy sauce). Anything goes as long as the total is about 500 or less. Dinner might just be a banana for instance.

It works for me because it’s simple to remember to stick to a schedule of 2 days of fasting in a week, usually a Monday and Friday.

Yesterday, however, I had a big meeting to attend and I didn’t want to think about an empty stomach.

So today, I’m fasting and whilst my kids are indulging in their hot chocolates. I tell myself it’s only a day. Tomorrow I can feast.

So simple and effective. I’ve lost about three-quarters of a stone and kept it off.

Previously, I’ve lost weight then piled it back on when I’ve stopped dieting and feeling guilty when I’ve fallen off the wagon.

If I miss the 2 days fasting in a week, I don’t feel the guilt, I’ll simply restart the routine the following week.

This works because there are times when I want to be indulgent with food full-on, such as when we’re on holiday or at Christmas or Chinese New Year.

Just to be clear, fasting for consecutive days, for long periods of time is not healthy and It goes entirely against the approach and principles of the 5:2. The aim is to eat a healthy balanced diet with normal portion sizes on the 5 days when not fasting.

This approach is quite the opposite of being on a diet, and has become part of my lifestyle. When I think of it in this way, I don’t feel as if I’ve given up on all the pleasures that food has to offer.

Do let me know if any of you are using the 5:2 and maintaining a healthy and balanced approach to food. I’d love to know if you have any tips to share.

Idiot proof Orange and Almond cupcakes

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Orange and Poppy Seed Cupcake

For anyone that can’t follow baking instructions (me) these cupcakes turned out to be idiot proof.

I had the following ingredients in my cupboard and thought I’d make some tasty little cakes.

Some of the Ingredients for Orange Poppy Seed Cupcakes

Ingredients:

125g Butter (softened)

2/3 cup soft brown sugar (or Caster Sugar)

1 large Orange (grate the rind and juiced)

2 eggs at room temperature

1 cup self-raising flour

3/4 cup ground almonds

Some of the ingredients for Orange & Poppy Seed Cupcakes1 tablespoon of Poppy Seeds (optional)

1 tablespoon of Popping Candy (optional)

Icing Sugar (for dusting)

I thought I would make some simple cupcakes for an afternoon / tea time treat.

My daughter arrived home from school early today and I was just assembling the ingredients when she asked if she could help with the baking.

The instructions for cupcakes are so simple, as we have made these so many times, I didn’t pay too much attention to actually reading it properly.

I somehow managed to put the Self raising flour and sugar together in the bowl while I was measuring out the ingredients.

What I should have done was creamed the butter and sugar together along with the eggs and the grated orange.Orange and Poppy Cupcakes (8)

However, when I’m baking with my kids, I am distracted by their questions and excitement at the steps involved in cake baking. This time the distraction took the form of what additional ingredients we should add in the mix to make it our own (Popping Candy) and my personal favorite ingredient for cakes, Poppy Seeds, which gives a cake a bit of a crunchy texture.

Also, using brown sugar was a better alternative than caster sugar, if you have this instead, as it’s not so processed and will give the final cupcakes a softer caramel flavour.  As the sugar was lumpy, I asked my daughter to separate the sugar and we added this into the flour.Eggs and Butter with Grated Orange

So, instead of creaming the butter and sugar together, we mixed the butter with the eggs along with the grated orange zest which produced a very runny looking batter.

By this point I realised my mistake, it would be impossible to separate the sugar from the flour and combine this into the batter mixture, so I got my trusty electric hand-whisk and mixed the batter into the sugary flour instead.

The resulting mixture formed the cake mixture that looked about right. Into this we added the orange juice (1/4 cup) and the almond flour, this was gently folded into the mix, along with the poppy seeds and popping candy.

Batter for Orange and Poppy Seed CupcakesOnce these ingredients were combined, we put them into the little cupcake cases into the cake tins. This recipe makes about 12-14 generous sized cupcakes.

I love cupcake cases as they’re so easy, no greasing the tins and no worries or hassle of whether the cake will come out of the baking tin at the end of baking, so we use the paper cases a lot.

Added to the fact that the individual cakes are easy for packed lunches, they really are a mini cake perfect to take anywhere.

Poppy Seeds and Popping Candy in Cake BatterWe put the tray of cupcakes into a pre-heated oven on 180 c, and let them bake for 15-18 minutes (checking at about 14 mins, to see if they were cooked as we have a fan oven, things tend to cook faster) Use a skewer or knife to put into the cupcake and if it comes out clean, they’re cooked.

Cake Mix in cupcake casesReally you are supposed to wait until the cupcakes have cooled before dusting with icing sugar.

By this time, my youngest had arrived from school too and both kids were now not content with just licking the remaining mixture from the mixing bowl as the smell of the orangey almond cakes had filled the kitchen and dining room.

They wanted to eat them straight away, so we dusted the cupcakes in the tins straight from the oven. (You are supposed to let them cool before dusting the icing sugar)

Orange and Poppy Cupcakes (1)Pretty much fool proof as they turned out pretty good in spite of the fact that we forgot to cream the sugar and butter and added a few optional extras of popping candy and poppy seeds.

I had just enough time to put a few on a small plate and take the pictures for this post before they disappeared.

Red colour pork Chinese style with braised vegetables

Posted in At Home, Food, inspiration, lifestyle by
Red Pork Chinese Style

Red Pork Chinese Style

This one is a favourite dish of ours. Whenever we cook this, it is with guilty pleasure as the belly pork isn’t something that is exactly good for those who are health conscious.

I think though a little indulgence sometimes is also good for the soul.

We tend to cook this dish when the kids are staying with their grandparents. (My eldest insists that she does not like Chinese food and so far nothing has worked to persuade her otherwise. It is one of my disappointment, so we don’t cook this one very often).

The dish is actually called Hung Shao Pork, and if you were to say this in Chinese, the translation would be equivalent to Red casseroled pork. The red being the colour that the pork takes on as it slowly cooks and releases its flavour in the glutenous streaky fat running through the meat.

Chinese red pork casserole

Chinese Red pork casserole

Once the onions, garlic and freshly sliced ginger have been gently fried in some oil (sunflower is best as this is odourless) small batons of the belly pork that have been cut into smallish pieces and lightly salted (the size is approximately your little finger) is added and gently fried with the onions, garlic and ginger.

At this point, whilst it is sizzling away, dark soy sauce is added so that the rich dark flavour of the sauce will infuse and work its way into the pork. Add a splash of water and a splash of Chinese wine (if you have this to hand, If not, then some sweet sherry will also work in this dish). Honey added to sweeten the dish along with the saltiness of the Soy Sauce and Star Anise will make this dish rock.

You can use a saucepan or a casserole dish that can be used directly on the cooker, so no need for a wok if you don’t have one.

When the pork has been fried, turn down the heat to the lowest setting and then leave to simmer away for about 30-40 minutes, with the lid on, turning 2-3 times during the cooking time. The goal is to get the lovely pieces of pork to be slightly crispy, but also tender and juicy with the luscious red sauce coating it and making it sticky and oh so yummy to taste.

To balance the richness of the pork, we tend to cook some simple chinese vegetables – Pak Choi with some sugar snap peas, the crunchy sweetness of the sugar snaps are a great compliment to the pork. In fact any Chinese greens if these are available or in season. If not, then fresh brocoli or spinach also works well with this dish. The greens are gently braised in some water, lightly seasoned with salt, with the water not covering the vegetables completely, but as if you are using the liquid to fry the vegetables in.

Braised Chinese Vegetables

Braised Chinese Vegetables

Once the vegetables are just cooked, they can be just on the verge of being cooked, take off the heat and add a very small splash of sesame oil and soy sauce to taste, if you like (seasme seeds sprinkled over the vegetable at this stage will also be a tasty addition.

All of which is simply served with some fragrant Jasmine and wild rice.

Enjoyed with some light sparkling white wine as a balance to the richness of the pork.

Ingredients: 

1 pound of lean belly pork, including skin (bought as a whole large piece, cut into small pieces)

Approx 4 tablespoons of dark soy sauce

Approx 1 tablespoon of water

Fresh Ginger (small amount – roughly equal amount to the onion)

1 small onion

1 Star Anise

1 spoonful of honey (sweetness to taste – add more if you prefer)

Approx 3 tablespoons of Chinese wine (sherry if not available – taste and add more if you need to)

Home Made Cuticle Oil

Posted in At Home, Spa & Self-care by

Sweet Almond Oil for home made Cuticle Oil

This week, I took the opportunity of doing some gardening with my kids and planted some lovely herbs. The combination of this and the broken dishwasher has meant my hands have taken a battering.

Since I have all the ingredients to make a home-made Cuticle Oil, I thought I would share this with readers of this blog.

Lavender and Lemon Essential OilIt’s so simple that it really requires very little effort and saves a great deal since I no longer purchase commercial cuticle creams or oils to condition my nails.

If you have some Sweet Almond Oil* or Olive Oil, these can be used as the base, both are perfect oils for conditioning and softening nails. Other oils to try are Coconut, Grape Seed, Jojoba oils.

The oils will nourish, add moisture and soften the cuticles.

I’ve used an empty essential oil bottle which I’ve washed out – but really you don’t need to do this if you are pressed for time as the one I’m using contained Tea Tree Oil,  any residue in the bottle will simply mix with the carrier oil.

Into this 10ml bottle, I have added just one drop of Lavender Essential Oil, along with Lemon Essential Oil. Sweet Almond Oil for making Cuticle Oil

Both the essential oils have been chosen for their cleansing, rejuvenating and healing properties. (Lemon is also antibacterial, used along with Tea Tree Oil, will combat against the threat of any infections.)

Mixed thoroughly, I have then applied this mixture using a cotton wool bud all over my nails covering the cuticles as well.

Left on overnight, my nails and cuticles feel stronger and the rough cuticles have been smoothed out. I didn’t even need to use a cuticle stick to push them back which I normally resort to.

Simple!

 

*If you would like to order the Sweet Almond Oil in the UK, the link will take you through to the product page on Amazon.

*If you would like to order the Sweet Almond Oil in  the US, the link will take you through to the product page on Amazon.

*These are affiliate links, which if you order through, a small commission is earned. Thanks in advance for using the links – any money earned will go towards maintaining the blog.

St Clements with Orange Blossom Water

Posted in At Home, Drink by

St Clements & Orange Blossom Water

St Clements is the quintessential  English drink for the summer, made with equal parts of oranges and lemons.

I love squeezing the fresh oranges into a jug with a wooden Citrus Reamer.* There is something therapeutic about using this wooden utensil. Since all the juice gets squeezed through the pulp, I think the oils from the fruit are released with the juices as you squeeze, so that the air is filled with the smell of oranges and lemons and is just the best way to cheer up a dull rainy day.

It’s like sunshine in a drink.

I hold a sieve over the jug so that it catches the pulp bits to keep the juice clear.

The recipe couldn’t be any simpler – Oranges and Lemons in equal amounts, squeezed into a jug – about 3 large oranges and 3 un-waxed lemons.

Once you have squeezed the juice into the jug, add ice and water.

If the oranges are very sweet, then there’s really no need to add sugar. But if you are using the bitter variety or just want some sweetness, I think it goes really well with Honey.

For a Mediterranean feel, a splash of Orange Blossom Water will lift this drink. It’s difficult to describe, but if you like the scent of orange blossoms combined with citrus notes, then this is the perfect combination . It’s delicious with just a hint splashed in at the end with some fresh mint.

Of course, this is one of the many ways that Orange Blossom water can be used at home. It is a hydrolat, collected from the making of essential oil.

Bitter-orange blossoms are collected, washed and then crushed to release their scent into distilled water, gently steamed, so that the essential oil can be collected, what’s left is the scented water which is the hydrolat that can be used both in food and in  skin care and can also be used as a room scent, or even as a linen water.

In Morocco, Orange Blossom Water in a bowl of water is presented to guests so that they can refresh their hands when they enter the host’s home. I think this is such a lovely tradition, which has given me an idea for making an Orange Blossom Water hand wash and lotion.

But first, back to that St Clements….

*affiliate link

Mango and Cherry Loaf

Posted in At Home, Food, inspiration, lifestyle by
Mango and Cherry Loaf

Mango and Cherry Loaf

We usually make this lovely cake with over ripe bananas. However, as we had an over ripe Mango, which no one was too keen on, I thought it would be good to try using the banana and apricot recipe rather than throw it away.

Having rummaged around in our cupboard, I discovered we were out of dried apricots, but we did have some dried figs, prunes and a tub of glacé morello cherries.

Mango and Morello Cherry

Over ripe Mango and morello cherries found in our cupboard

Since cherries would give the loaf some colour, I decided it would do rather than go and get some dried apricots. I like the idea of using what’s in a cupboard and experimenting more than sticking rigidly to a recipe. This is by far the best way of discovering something new and tasty.

By the time I had assembled the ingredients, my eldest appeared in the kitchen and decided to help with the baking. I was smiling since a few days ago I’d written a post about Google search trends, the British Bake off and that I would have to get my kids to help me with some baking.

There was no need to ask, baking is, next to Minecraft something that my eldest enjoys.

Based on the recipe from the River Cottage Family Cookbook, this loaf is very simple to make, there are no whisks or electrical appliances involved, just a spoon and some elbow grease.

Cream the sugar and butter together (Prior to this I had accidentally put flour into the bowl and had to separate the flour from the butter as I had been distracted by my daughter peeling the skin from the over ripe Mango and mashing it up with a fork).

Add the 2 eggs and beat until mixed together.

Add chopped morello cherries.

Add the grated zest of 1 lemon (we used half a lemon zest and all the zest of a small lime)

Add the mashed mango (or over ripe mashed bananas as in the original recipe instead) and add to the mix.

Mashed Mango for baking

Mashed overipe Mango

Gently fold in the self-raising flour.

Pour into a loaf tin which has been lined with a large loaf tin case, I like this as it’s easier to clean the loaf tin afterwards. It also means I don’t need to butter the tin.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes on 160c/Gas Mark 3 (Check around 50 minutes, put a knife/skewer through the middle and if it comes out clean, then it’s ready)

The lovely scent of the baking and the mango and cherry filled the kitchen and our living room and this got the attention of both my hubby and youngest who wanted to know when it would be ready to eat.

Unfortunately, they needed a bit of patience as once it was removed from the oven, it needed to cool on a baking rack before it can be enjoyed.

As the loaf was baked just before tea-time on Saturday, it was perfect to serve as our dessert. We usually find that although the loaf will keep for a few days, it never usually lasts longer than a day because it gets eaten as snack.

I think this recipe made with Mango and Cherry makes a lovely alternative to the bananas and apricot version.

Softened butter with eggs and sugar

Soften Sugar and Butter and beat the eggs

For the reciepe:

Dried apricots (squidgy ones) or Morello Cherries 75g

Saltanas 75g (we didn’t have any so used more cherries)

1 Lemon

Unsalted butter, 100g soft but not melted

Caster Sugar 125g

2 large (free range) eggs

3 large ripe bananas (we used a large mango)

Self raising flour 200g

Loaf tin measuring about 13 x 23 x 7 cm

Do let me know if you’re looking forward to watching the Great British Bake-off.

Soften Sugar and Butter and beat the eggs
Over ripe cherry and morello cherries found in our cupboard
Mashed overipe Mango
Mango and Morello Cherry cake batter
Tin loaf cases
Cake batter in loaf tin
Mango and Morello Cherry in loaf tin
Slices of Mango and Morello Cherry loaf
Original recipe for Banana Loaf cake
The River Cottage Family Cookbook

Easy brunch – Prosciutto & eggs with Spinach in a cup

Posted in At Home, Food by
Prosciutto egg cups

Prosciutto egg cups

I am always amazed at the creativity with which my husband cooks. Today, he said he was going to make some egg and bacon for lunch and asked me if I knew where the silicone muffin cases were stored. This piqued my interest and he explained that he was planning to cook the eggs in the muffin cases wrapped in bacon.

Since we also had some spinach from our Organic box from last week, which we should have used up. They were now a little limp, but still too good to throw away, the leaves were washed, trimmed and sautéed to wilt them a little with some garlic and onions in a pan with a little butter. This was done so that they could be used as a filling with the eggs.

Eggs wrapped in Proscuitto in a silicone muffin case

Eggs wrapped in prosciutto in a silicone muffin case

After lining the Muffin cases with some oil, 8 cases were lined with prosciutto, into 4 of these, whole eggs were simply cracked and dropped into the cases. In the other 4 cases, the sautéed spinach was added, into which 3 eggs were whisked and added into the little cases. Salt and pepper were added at the end for seasoning.

They were baked in a preheated oven at 180c – 200c (for a fan assisted oven 180c, 200 if not) for about 10-15 minutes.

I checked them at around 10 minutes and left them for a little longer, as my kids preferred their eggs well done.

They were served with a simple salad with a lemon and honey dressing, along with some french fries.

Spinach & eggs wrapped in Prosciutto

Spinach & eggs wrapped in Prosciutto

As my husband doesn’t really get on with dairy, these were perfect, You can of course vary the filling, we used spinach, but tomatoes and cheese would work too along with some slices of mushrooms. The eggs, bacon and spinach were a hit with everyone, I think it was because the eggs looked so sunny and enticing, wrapped in little parcels of thin cured Italian Prosciutto.  It was also a good way to use up the spinach. There was nothing left on the plates to clear up afterwards.

Do let me know if you have tried this recipe before and what other fillings can go into the little cases.

Life is just a bowl full of cherries

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A bowl of Cherries

A bowl of Cherries

On my way home from work this week, I stopped by a local store, I think it’s best described as an emporium full of exotic foods from the Middle East. I must admit, it’s not usually the sort of store I visit as it’s unfamiliar and I think I’ve been conditioned to prefer familiarity.

At any rate, I am running low on Rosewater and spying the words “Middle Eastern, Continental and English Foods” on the banner outside the store, I thought this must be a good place to try instead of going all the way to the Edgware Road.

There in the store was not just a shelf full of different brands of Rosewater, but other types of floral waters, most of which I have no idea what to do with. I do have an idea for an Orange Blossom skin lotion next, so the store was very useful for this as well.

Cherries displayed outside a local foodstore

Display of fresh Cherries

I purchased the Rosewater and Orange Blossom Water and as I was leaving the store, the cherries displayed outside seemed to call out as if to say “Eat Me”.

July and August are the best months for Cherries and if you can get them as fresh as possible, I think they are best eaten just as they are.

In winter months, they are delicious made into a Cherry pie or a Cobbler.

I love them, they are both sweet and sour, the ripe bouncy flesh yielding to reveal the juicy tart and sweet flavour,

I used to stone them before giving them to my kids when they were toddlers. Now I no longer have to worry, every time we have cherries in the house, they are gone in a matter of minutes.

Cherries, by the way, are also very good for you, they are full of antioxidants, they’re great for the skin (you can read about them here) and apparently, 16th July is National Cherries day in the UK. How apt as I bought these today.

If I haven’t persuaded you to get a bowl of cherries, perhaps listening to this might:

There’s something about swing music that instantly lifts my mood. I’ll add a few more tracks to this listing when I get the chance. Please do drop by and let me know if you have any recipes for Cherries to share.

I got Lushed for my birthday

Posted in At Home, Skincare, Wellbeing by
Lush shower Gel, Lush black currant shower gel and Lush bath fizz

Lush bath treats

For my birthday last week, my husband got me Lushed. I’ve always wondered what the store held.

Each time I’m in Wimbledon, the store is just by the train station and as you walk past the storefront, a blast of scent hits you. It’s sometimes over powering, to the point that I wonder what concoctions are being created, like a witches cauldron full of mystery.

I’ve never been in the store in case I get an overwhelming desire to buy everything and anything I can lay my hands on.

Well I guess I got my wish, as a little bag of delights were handed to me by my grinning daughters and a sly looking husband who said that I might like to try these out since he’d watched me experimenting in our kitchen over the last month, whisking up home made deodorants, foot soaks and the like.

I’ll update this post as soon as I’ve tried each one of these little treats. The cherries and coconut jelly tub looks particularly yummy, but as I’m not entirely sure how it will get from the pot onto me, without it washing away in my hands, I’ll let everyone know tomorrow how I get on with it.

Update – Sunday morning

The Shower  Jelly was an interesting experience. Exactly as the tub described, it looked and smelled like a pack of Rowntrees Jelly before you add water and make it into a jelly, which means it was a little hard to scoop out of the tub with your fingers.

It also smelled like a delicious tub of sweeties, the kind that you know is not good for your teeth kind. It rubbed on and lathered up, but didn’t have a load of bubbles, it was a fine lather. I’d say it’s best to use in the bath-tub as it kept slipping out of my hands. A lot of fun, I think my youngest will enjoy in her bath tonight. Worth trying just for the fun of it.

Lush shower jelly