tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109606432014-12-01T21:07:37.798+00:00live.do.blogVictorianoreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-60044914738490679982013-12-22T23:58:00.001+00:002014-02-03T12:22:23.154+00:00

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/get-ahead-gravy

Victorianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-10537764439943174692012-12-05T13:03:00.002+00:002012-12-05T13:09:49.957+00:00

  Got into the kitchen for a (these days) rare baking sesh on Sunday. It was triggered by eating a packet of disappointing store-bought mince pies, and needing to remember that home made ones are much much better. Especially my home made ones. The texture of the pastry is so incredibly light and crumbly, and the flavour rich and buttery - the perfect indulgent Christmas treat. I've used

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-3128853154190281782012-03-08T21:24:00.187+00:002012-03-18T21:08:54.743+00:00

If there's one thing that can motivate anyone to make a quick meal, it's a hungry pregnant woman. In this, Episode 2 from Series 1 (watch here on 4OD) Jamie explains that this recipe was invented when a pregnant Jools Oliver wanted pasta with ragu sauce and she wanted it NOW! I love pasta and often knock up pasta sauces from bare looking store cupboards. It's the ultimate quick, easy, not to

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-28950374067755561342012-03-01T21:26:00.001+00:002012-03-01T22:06:17.339+00:00

After the success of last week's duck salad, I was really looking forward to trying out my next 30 minute meal, and to save me having to make decisions about which to cook next, I've decided to work through the TV series in episode order. So this is Series 1, Episode 1 if you want to watch it online over at 4OD. Let's begin! Determined not to make the same mistakes as last week, I make sure I

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-61910329047082746232012-02-23T17:15:00.004+00:002012-03-01T21:38:01.342+00:00

Here we go! Now, I consider myself to be a fast cook. Almost none of my weekday meals take longer than 30 minutes, so I should be able to bash out these Jamie meals with no problem at all (confidence is everything ;)). For my first foray, I've chosen to make duck salad, which is Series 1, Episode 6. Watch here on 4OD. Oven on, pans out, and we begin. The duck breasts are given a quick massage

Victorianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-69931719680470880152012-02-19T19:40:00.007+00:002012-02-19T19:47:34.026+00:00

Over the next few months I've set myself a challenge of cooking one of Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals per week and I'll be publishing the results on this blog every Thursday, in the aptly titled: Thirty Minute Thursdays. I'll fess up right now to not having bought the book. Instead I'll be working off some roughly scribbled notes from the TV series. All 40 episodes from series 1 can be viewed

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-71174270697623263432012-01-11T16:42:00.005+00:002012-01-11T16:48:31.228+00:00

The cider in this recipe brings out the sweet flavours in the parsnips, swede and carrot. Make up a larger batch and freeze half - this one tastes better with age! For 4 people... 1 swede 2 leeks 2 carrots 2 parsnips 1 bay leaf 500ml water 1 garlic clove 500ml dry cider 3 celery stalks 1 teaspoon thyme 1 beef stock cube 1 onion or 5 shallots 1 handful of mushrooms 800g diced casserole beef

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-63790797425995727182011-11-01T16:15:00.003+00:002011-11-01T16:18:49.841+00:00

I'm not the biggest fan of Nigella Lawson's more recent TV series, where she opens a packet of something ready made and calls it cooking (see previous rant). However, I've got to hand it to her, when it comes to cakes, biscuits, and general sweet things, she is hard to beat. The only book of hers that I own is How To Be A Domestic Goddess and it has been well used over the years. The recipes

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-9271778359616122922011-10-31T21:07:00.007+00:002011-10-31T21:18:04.739+00:00

Pumpkin... carved in a rush between feeding William, feeding the cat and making the dinner. Cat Sillhouette inspired by Feast Bowl Halloween Votives thanks to Skip to my Lou Spider Sacks thanks to Modern Parents Messy Kids

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-69292547979288589972011-10-27T14:32:00.008+00:002011-10-27T15:22:04.216+00:00

1. Hanging Spider Sacks :: Modern Parents Messy Kids 2. Halloween Votives ~ Skip To My Lou 3. Spirit Jugs ... eighteen25 4. Cat Sillhouette || Inspiration only. Image from Feast Bowl 5. Menacing Mummy Window Cling - you could buy a window cling like this one, but I fancy working out how to make one of these mummies for real. 6. Batty Sock Puppet >> Country Living

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-83797018126931780702011-10-25T19:47:00.002+00:002011-10-25T19:49:35.370+00:00

Since William was born we've been very lucky to be showered with gifts from our amazing family and friends. I especially love the handmade ones, as I can appreciate the effort that has gone into their making. My brother in law's mum surprised us with a wonderful hand sewn quilt and I thought that, for her, I'd hand make a thank you card. I had spotted this neat tutorial from Freckled Nest

Victorianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-85171168932485928402011-10-24T21:02:00.008+00:002011-10-24T21:04:31.555+00:00

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-45804070883414274782011-09-29T15:30:00.017+00:002011-09-29T16:08:43.233+00:00

I wanted some artwork for our nursery and took inspiration from my IKEA Barnslig Djur curtains. They have some bright little cartoon animals on them. First I traced the outlines of the animals by placing a piece of paper over the animals and holding the curtains up against the window so I could see through them. Tip: pin the paper to the curtains to hold it in place. Then I took the paper

Victorianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-42525657097044912442011-09-19T15:08:00.001+00:002011-09-20T06:25:05.914+00:00

I've been promising Dom that I would make him a sticky toffee pudding ever since watching the first in the BBC series of The Good Cook. In fact, I've probably been promising it long before then, but ever since Simon Hopkinson left us drooling over our TV remote, Dom hasn't let me forget my vow. A few weeks ago I teased him by buying the requisite packet of dates, but never followed through.

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-63903376477366591852011-09-11T10:09:00.006+00:002011-09-11T10:45:30.831+00:00

Finally, finally, finally, I am finding the time to make things. I was able to make my fab friends Matt and Elena this simple card to congratulate them on their wedding yesterday. My stash of beads, ribbons, buttons and bows got a long-awaited chance to shine.

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-81435420975433997652011-09-03T09:37:00.003+00:002011-09-03T09:46:57.649+00:00

An original recipe that has become a staple mid-week meal in the Grace household. Takes about 10 mins to prepare and about 50 mins to cook and all in one pot! Easily scaled up or down for any number of guests. For two people... 1 onion 1 red pepper 1 yellow pepper 5-6 chicken thighs Schwartz Piri Piri seasoning 3 good handfuls of frozen peas 1 chorizo sausage (about 15 cm long) 1. Place the

Victorianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-80094053916070071272011-05-30T15:27:00.002+00:002011-05-30T15:28:39.504+00:00

American cookies are a big weakness of mine - soft and chewy, fresh from the oven... *drool*. Having the ability to re-create them in my own kitchen is a danger indeed if this first attempt at these peanut butter cookies from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook is anything to go by. They are so more-ish! From The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook Makes 24 225g unsalted butter at room temperature 200g

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-56860891079228491472011-05-22T20:44:00.003+00:002011-05-30T15:04:57.448+00:00

The surprising thing about this cake is that it does not call for any proper chocolate as one of its ingredients - all of it's chocolatey-ness comes from cocoa powder. Not only that, but instead of butter frosting, the cake is covered in a sort of set chocolate custard, made from water, sugar, cornflour and cocoa powder. It certainly doesn't look or taste any less rich for it and goes down nicely

Victorianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-56114582553430844212011-05-07T20:40:00.015+00:002011-05-07T21:00:39.528+00:00

Usually, for me, a meal without meat is not a meal. But conscious of my growing bump (yes, I am pregnant!), I'm trying to consume as much veg as possible. Spinach seems like one of those vegetables that is pure goodness - after all, it did wonders for Popeye. So, tonight my goal was to consume as much spinach as possible. This recipe from the BBC Good Food site calls for goat's cheese, which is

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-44822533946701167782011-04-29T17:06:00.005+00:002011-05-07T21:03:20.115+00:00

Our royal wedding celebrations involved eating lots of traditional British fayre with friends. Yesterday I undertook a marathon baking session and produced fruit scones, a Victoria sandwich cake and millionaire's shortbread. Of course we barely had room for all this after scoffing sandwiches and huge slices of my celebratory pork pie! And just to make sure we had more than enough, our friends

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-56756393728960589852011-04-27T16:49:00.004+00:002011-05-07T21:06:44.069+00:00

Our lovely local butcher chopped up a whole pig leg for this one, including the trotter! I used this Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe from Them Apples. Cubing the pork shoulder takes a good hour and a lot of patience. To that you add minced pork belly, chopped streaky bacon and herbs and spices. It all gets squished into a deep tin lined with hot water crust pastry and baked in the tin at

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-7307187213765347122011-04-17T17:22:00.002+00:002011-05-07T21:08:27.206+00:00

I'm no royalist, but the upcoming marriage of Wills and Kate is the perfect excuse for a party. So, we're inviting some friends round to watch the wedding, followed by a thoroughly British buffet spread, and we thought it would be a good idea to get them in the mood with some joke invitations. To make your own, just copy the wording of the official invite, make up some silly royal names for

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-58363649456093778072011-01-17T19:29:00.019+00:002011-01-17T23:19:09.800+00:00

London appears to have gone mad for long length umbrellas. Compact, hand-bag sized rain deflectors are no longer de rigueur. Instead, it is all the rage to carry a crook-handled companion in the style of Edwardian ladies and gents. Here are some of my favourites.The Totes Wood Walker in Plain BlackRaindrops Glitter Spots Umbrella, Bombay Duck Black Shoe Print Umbrella, Manolo Blahnik for

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-11753728856686520572010-12-18T23:50:00.003+00:002011-01-30T15:38:18.584+00:00

I'm redesigning the blog ready for 2011. There are still a few broken links and formatting errors to sort out. Please bear with me.

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10960643.post-54625594697895380342010-04-28T12:57:00.002+00:002010-04-28T13:01:15.734+00:00

Where did the last 5 months go? You have missed out on so much - Christmas, weekends with friends, huge progress on the house renovations, a skiing holiday, my birthday Sunday roast. . .This blog needs a facelift. Coming soon.

Victorianoreply@blogger.com0