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...