Charleston Gumbo

January 31, 2012 By 2 Comments
charleston-gumbo

A Charleston Gumbo is, probably, the most known and most famous recipe of the Lowcountry cuisine. Lowcountry recipes are mainly associated with the US regions of Charleston and Savannah with some parallels to the Cajun cuisines of New Orleans. The beauty of this style of recipes is not only the fantastic taste, but also the combination of different cooking styles. Lowcountry recipes are a unique blend of ideas and traditions from European, African and Native American cuisines. I love the spice … [Read more...]

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Engagement Party Planning

January 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
successful-engagement-party

A close friend of mine has recently become engaged and, as per usual, it has fallen to me to do the menu planning. At the moment I am contemplating the sort of things one can serve for a spring engagement party.  I am leaning to towards something a little different because their party is expected to be a little, how can I say, off the wall perhaps? Personally I would like to keep the food to simple yet hearty food because I have a feeling the guests may well be drinking plenty of champagne (and … [Read more...]

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Shark Fin Soup: The Soup with a high price

January 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
shark-fin-soup

Quite often I receive requests from random visitors to provide ideas for recipes - sometimes those requests border on the extreme. One such request landed in my inbox a few days ago. They asked if I knew of any recipes for Shark Fin Soup which, apparently, they were planning to serve at a special gathering on New Years Eve. The short answer is "No, I don´t". The longer answer is I would not, ever, contemplate eating Shark Fin Soup and nor would I ever encourage others to do so because the … [Read more...]

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Roscon de Reyes

January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Roscon de Reyes

One of my favourite times of the year has arrived - my birthday! Since I am in Spain we will once again replace the traditional birthday cake with something far more interesting - Roscon de Reyes filled with crema de trufa (chocolate cream) and nata (cream). A delight! If you would like information on how to make this Spanish delight check my posts on Roscon de Reyes and Cream de Trufa … [Read more...]

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The New Year Diet…

December 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
hp-day1

I cannot believe it is that time of year again - the season to be jolly and eat lots. Don´t get me wrong all of this is highly enjoyable. Its the bit which follows the festivities of Christmas and the New Year - the month I like to refer to as the annual month of dieting pain - January. You can be pretty sure no matter how good I think I´ve been - no matter how much exercise I did over the festive period somehow those few choccies and other christmas goodies have all sunk to my bottom. In … [Read more...]

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Jamie Oliver bows out in real pantomime style in his last ever TV advert for Sainsbury’s

December 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
jamie-olive-christmas

It really does feel like an end of an era. For the last eleven years Jamie Oliver has graced our screens in adverts for supermarket chain Sainsbury´s, and now he is bowing out. He´s appeared in over 100 adverts since signing on with the retailer in 2000. Jamie Oliver’s final television advert with Sainsbury’s will be broadcast tonight for the first time. The advert, which has a Christmas pantomime theme, will be premiered during the break for X-Factor on ITV. The advert was filmed on … [Read more...]

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Make your Christmas go with a bang

December 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
tesco-realfood

We all know how preparing something extra special over Christmas can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. Until recently, for example, I had never attempted to put together a Gingerbread Tree House but now, thanks to Tesco, I have! Its currently taking pride of place on the table next to the Christmas Tree. The Christmas Zone has a great deal of useful information which will help you make this Christmas extra special - here are just three very handy videos I particularly liked and found … [Read more...]

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Christmas Giveaway #3 Cadburys Festive Favourites

December 8, 2011 By 20 Comments
festive-favourites

In the last month we have covered chocolates with a more adult audience in mind for the festive period - the rich dark chocolates of Hotel Chocolat and the organic variety of Green and Blacks Ultimate Chocolate Sharing collection but what about the kiddies? Well, Cadburys was kind enough to provide us with one of their Festive Favourites Hampers from Cadburys Gifts Direct and, although there are presently no children amongst us, we nevertheless enjoyed its contents immensely. The pack … [Read more...]

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BUPA: What does healthy mean to you video competition…

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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BUPA has launched a nationwide competition to find the stars of the forthcoming TV ad campaign for 2012. The competition invites members of the public to upload short videos of what healthy means to them. From these videos 3 will be selected from a shortlist selected by the public and will be aired during 2012. Its certainly an interesting premise and one I have found myself contemplating over the last few weeks, largely because I have been taking significant steps to live a little healthier - … [Read more...]

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Christmas Giveaway #2 Green & Blacks Ultimate Chocolate Sharing Collection

December 2, 2011 By 17 Comments
ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE SHARING COLLECTION

The life of a recipe blogger can be painful sometimes - well, to the waistline at least. A few days ago we received a special gift from the awesome guys at Green & Blacks - an Ultimate Chocolate Sharing Collection hamper! More importantly, for you at least, we also have one to giveaway - stay tuned for further information. Description: Green & Black’s chocolate ultimate sharing hamper is a perfect way of showing you care. Containing a selection of Green & Black’s intense … [Read more...]

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