TARRAGON & THYME

HAWAIIAN CHICKEN My very good friend Margaret gave me this recipe, which she cooked for a bunch of us when we went to supper one night. It really is delicious. Preparation time approximately 30 minutes Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 x 15ml/1 tablespoon vegetable oil 15g/ ½ oz butter 1 medium onion thinly sliced 1 green pepper de-seeded and thinly sliced 1 red pepper de-seeded and thinly sliced 4 skinless and boneless chicken breast fillets 410g/14oz can sliced peaches in syrup 1 x 15ml/1 tablespoon cornflour 1 x 15ml/1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 x 15ml/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 1 x 15ml/1 tablespoons soft brown sugar 2 x 15ml/2 tablespoons water/chicken stock Sprinkle of cayenne pepper/paprika 1. Heat the oil and butter in a wide shallow pan and gently fry the onion, pepper and chicken for approximately 5 minutes. 2. Drain peaches, reserve the syrup mix the cornflour, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and water with syrup and add to the pan with chicken. Stirring all the time. Bring to...

Don’t know what it is but come the cold weather I start cooking proper puddings in an effort to keep the cold and winter blues away. Anyway I was messing about I love crumbles, but had some cheap eating apples that I had bought reduced from my local veg shop for 50p a bag and so I thought I would play slightly. I fancied an apple crumble, but just wanted to try something different. So I went rootling through the cupboard and found some crystallized stem ginger that I had forgotten I had. I absolutely adore ginger anyway. Ingredients: Fat for greasing dish 1 ½ lb apples eaters or cookers 4 oz sugar if cookers but 2 to 3 oz if eaters grated rind of a lemon 5oz plain flour 3 oz butter or margarine 3oz caster sugar 1 to 2 oz crystallized ginger or ginger in syrup drained and chopped Grease a 1 litre pint pie dish. Set oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F or Gas mark 4 Peel and core the apples. Place in a saucepan adding the sugar and lemon rind. Add about 2 fl oz water. Cover the pan ...

This is a pudding I make regularly usually when I am in a bit of a hurry as it is quite quick to make and it is really absolutely scrummy. It forms like a sponge top but has a self-saucing lemon sauce. Absolutly delicious. Lemon Pudding This is like a batter mix with a slight twist but it cooks with a sponge top and the mixture splits off and makes a lemon sauce underneath it is good honest cooking and is absolutely yummy. Ingredients: Butter for greasing dish 3 eggs separated 3oz caster sugar 7 fl oz of milk 1 tablespoon self raising flour sifted grated rind and juice of 2 large lemons Pinch of salt 1 tablespoon icing sugar Grease a deep 1 3/4 pint ovenproof dish. Set your oven to 180 degrees C Gas Mark 4. In a mixing bowl beat the egg yolks with the caster sugar until light and pale and creamy. Whisk the milk, flour, rind and lemon juice into the egg yolks. In a clean, grease-proof bowl whisk the egg whites with the salt, adding the icing sugar gradually. Continue to whisk until st...

I don’t know how you all feel about packaging and how our goods are recycled, but I for one think that our producers do not necessarily take a responsible attitude to what they package their produce in or to what happens to it when it leaves their premises. Some items are ridiculous in the amount of packaging that they come in and where does it go straight in the dustbin. People don’t want to pay for something that is going to end up straight in the dustbin. Now forgive me if I am wrong but that ends up straight in landfill and I thought that was what the powers that be wanted to stop us doing. What happened to the good old paper bag. I remember my grandmother had a drawer where pieces of string, pretty bags, plain paper bags even good polythene bags that could be used again went and was stored until there was a need for a bag or some string. That drawer never disappointed and what’s more it’s a habit I have followed on. It comes under the heading waste not want not. I think people...

Thank you to to the lovely Nita of The Kentish Lass at http://thekentishlass.blogspot.com/ who has nominated me for a blogger award I am so chuffed. The rules for winning this award are lovely because I get to promote some of my favourite folk. I would love to just include everyone on my blog role but that's not allowed.Blogs who receive this award are 'exceedingly charming' say its authors. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. The blogs I nominate are: Leanne at Somerset Seasons http://somerset.seasons.blogspot.com/ for her encouragement and all her behind the scenes support she has given me. Mrs L at Unbought Delicacies httop://unboughtdelicacies.blogspot.com/ Jenny at Codli...

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door (nose height). Dear Dogs and Cats, The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me up doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run. I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing b...

I have grown up with the mantra of three things being very important basics in our lives. And they are the three basic rules for survival through good and difficult times and should not be compromised at any cost. These have come down from my grandparents then to my father and then to myself. Basically it is keep a roof over your head for shelter, food in your stomach, and third warmth. Anything else is a bonus. Currently the credit crunch is hitting every household and every person in the country quite harshly, it’s nice to be able to make economies, not waste anything and get something for virtually nothing. We are all having to make adjustments and any opportunity to save means we have the wherewithal to buy something else that we may otherwise have to go without. My way of dealing with this is to make things rather than to buy them already made. I do job lots of things and squirrel them away in the freezer or I bottle fruits in syrups make my own k...

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you have found something that you like or that helps you. I am astounded just over a week and a hundred hits . Thank you so much

HOME MADE VANILLA ESSENCE INGREDIENTS * 1 x 750ml bottle vodka * 2 vanilla beans DIRECTIONS 1. Submerge vanilla beans in vodka and store in a cool, dark place for several weeks, shaking occasionally.

Flavoured Sugars Cinnamon Sugar 1lb caster sugar 4 cinnamon sticks Put the sugar into a preserving jar and push in the sticks of cinnamon into the jar, seal tightly. Leave for about a month then check for strength. For concentrated flavour mix caster sugar and cinnamon allowing one teaspoon of the ground spice to 2 ozs of sugar. Stir together evenly then store in a screw topped jar. Use the sugar wherein you would use dried fruit and gingerbreads and to make that autumn warmer cinnamon toast (just a sprinkling) onto hot buttered toast. Lemon/Orange/Lime Sugar Yes you can do it with lavender flowers as well and rosemary and lemon and orange rinds - however with lemon I put granulated or caster sugar on baking parchment on a swiss roll tray and sprinkle the sugar out all over the parchment. I then get a couple of lemons/limes/oranges and drizzle the juice all over the sugar and then put in a low oven to dry out gently making sure it doesn't go brown - would perhaps be easier to do th...

Recipe for Preserving Friends Select those with round hearts. Don't bruise with unfeeling words. Add a heartful of the milk of human kindness and plenty of tact. Warm with sympathy. Don't overheat or it may ferment mischief. Knead with the oil of unselfishness but beware of jars. Keep in a warm corner of the heart. Years will improve the flavour of this preserve.

I had a few lemons and clementines left over from Christmas and rather than waste them I decided to make a jar or two of curd, which is very tasty in a swiss roll or sandwich cake. It is also rather scrummy on thick slices of toast and in lemon meringue pie. Or lemon curd tartlets or lemon coconut cheese cakes. For lemon meringue pie all you need is your pastry case and some egg whites whipped up until really stiff then add a small amount of sugar until the meringue shines. Then layer on the curd mix which is spread into the pastry case. Put in a medium oven to set the meringue and then leave to cool. Delish. Anyway here's the recipe for Lemon Curd Butter 3oz/75g Sugar 8oz/225g Juice and finely grated rind of 2 lemons 2 large eggs beaten Place the butter and sugar into either the top of a double boiler or large glass bowl over a pan of boiling water Add to this the juice and the rind of the lemons; heat until the sugar has dissolved Add the eggs and stir well over th...

Just a thought for the day - after all it is Sunday, the day traditionally given over for contemplation and care of others. We all get downers from time to time in our lives - usually when we get a little frazzled at having to cope with whatever is flung at us in our day to day lives and sometimes ends up too much to cope with. We end up rushing around looking after other people and their problems and nobody seems to be taking any particular notice of us . Okay, we then end up chucking the rattle out of the pram and feeling all sorry for ourselves. This is the inner ego rising to the surface. We all do it - it is just to what degree. This is a learned behaviour and mind set we get ourselves into which, if we aren't careful can tend to colour our take on life and have very negative tendencies and bring us down even lower. Behaviour patterns are repetitive and you can get stuck in that rut of Why me? Lets turn things on its head and say Why not me? Like the glass half full rath...

A CARROTT AN EGG AND A CUP OF COFFEE A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, egg...

It is now officially January. Christmas is over the decorations are packed away and all the glitz and colour are gone and everything seems drab and without energy. Everything has quietened down to the frenetic energy and hard work and fun involved in preparing for Christmas season. Fresh trees are either replanted or sent to the Council shredder, Christmas cards are used to make Christmas cards and tags by the home crafter for the next season or recyled at special points i.e.Marks and Spencers in aid of the Woodland Trust. The weather is cold - well it is this year. The coldest it has been since I was a small child. Brrgh... We need this cold, to break down the soil for nature to do its work and to kill off all the nasty bugs that cause too much damage and to restore some balance. However, we don't have winters like we used to. What we are experiencing today is but a shadow in many respects of what we used to endure then. In the Autumn the farmers setting up snow fences in v...