Bread for sharing

I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner yesterday and thought it would be nice to have some home made garlic bread to mop up the sauce with. Ages ago when I first got my bread machine I trotted off to the library to look for books to inspire me to make lots of bread. One of the first ones I got was The Bread Machine Book by Marjie Lambert, which had a lovely selection of breads from around the world which I was keen to try, however the time came to hand the book back and I had made a few lovely loaves from the book, but not all of the ones I liked the look of.
Over a year later and I pop into a charity shop for a quick sweep of the books and utensils and what was on the shelf? The very same book a bargain at 50p, so this weekend I made the garlic and herb monkey bread and it was delicious.

It is really just a good bread dough with garlic added to it, then cut into little bits which are then dipped in garlic and herb butter and layered up in a dish/tin.
I would make it again as all the family enjoyed mopping up their sauce with it mmmmm delicious!

Cake and Candy

We have a fun day for the children at work at the end of the school year and there is always a cake and candy stall. I am also involved with the local scout troop and they were having their summer fete the next day so I had a bit of baking to get done that would be quick but also a bit different to the usual fairy cakes, crispie cakes and marshmallow top hats.
A local bakers makes a lovely cake which is full of digestive biscuits, marshmallows, cherries, raisins and chocolate chips which is rolled in dessicated coconut, it is delicious, but they charge over £1 for a small slice and I am sorry but I knew I could make something similar far cheaper and here it is, it is called fifteens, and I used chocolate digestives and about 6floz of condensed milk. You need to register to see the recipes, but there are some nice ones on the site which are ideal for cake and candy stalls.



Another thing I make is a malteser slice and one of the teachers always wants this one made so she can take some home as it is one of her favourites


The recipe for this one comes from a lovely book I was given a few years ago called the MUMs Cookbook. Anything I have made from it has been delicious and the book was put together for such a good cause, they have another one out now which I am keen to get hold of too.

Mary Berry's Lemon Drizzle Traybake

I recently bought a second hand kenwood chef after seeing it on gumtree. It is about 30 years old, but had the liquidizer, mincer and the usual dough hook, k-blade and whisk attachments too, it even had a stainless steel bowl which instantly drew me to thinking about meringues and pastry!

I have wanted one of these for a long time, but the only problem is that my kitchen is tiny and it will have to live on the table in the living room - I must make a cover for it! Everything works fine and after blending some soup and making a great pizza dough, I thought it was only right to make a cake.

I am on a long journey to reach a healthy weight, but my OH is able to eat pretty much anything and not put on an ounce. He takes a piece to work each day (packed lunch) and I found this lemon drizzle cake recipe in one of the many books in my expanding cook book collection. I thought it would keep well because of the syrup poured on it while it was still warm. It is an all in one mix and took minutes to put together and the resulting cake is moist and delicious with a crunchy sugar top.