Winter Fruit Salad with a Lemon and Poppy Seed Dressing

Even though we have had a fairly mild winter this year . . . I still find myself longing for the salad days of summer . . . there are some days when stodge just doesn't cut the mustard. I want lettuce, and I want it now!



I love fresh salads made with lovely fresh tomatoes and other salad vegetables, but in truth . . . the tomatoes at this time of year are decidedly anemic looking and tasting! There is no salvaging them!!



Instead I choose to use fresh fruit. It adds beautiful colour, texture and flavours to my salad. eating apples and pears . . . the fruits of winter . . . along with some sweetly chewy dried cranberries, little jewels of colour . . .



Tossed together with some lovely cos lettuce . . . crisp and crunchy and slightly bitter . . . just perfect with the sweetness of the fruit . . .



Crunchy salty roasted cashew nuts . . . Creamy sweet nutty emmenthal cheese . . .
And a sweet and sour lemon and poppy seed dressing . . . homemade of course! You get the tartness of the lemon combined with the sweetness of sugar . . . a little bite from some grated onion and the crunch of poppy seeds.



Oh, my . . . this is some good, and does the trick. I am happy . . . for now . . .



*Winter Fruit Salad with a Lemon and Poppy Seed Dressing*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

A perfect blend of crunchy cos lettuce, sweet apples, pears and cranberries, salty cashew nuts and nutty emmenthal cheese, swathed in a tangy lemon and poppy seed dressing. Delicious!

1 pound of cos lettuce hearts, washed, dried and torn into bits
(Romaine lettuce, 16 ounces)
6 ounces emmenthal cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler (Swiss cheese)
150g of roasted salted cashew nuts (1 cup)
75g of sweetened dried cranberries (1/2 cup)
1 large eating apple, washed, cored and thinly sliced
1 large ripe pear, washed, cored and thinly sliced

For the Dressing:
95g of white sugar (1/2 cup)
125ml fresh lemon juice (1/2 cup)
2 tsp finely grated onion
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
150ml of salad oil (2/3 cup)
1 TBS poppy seeds
(This will make more dressing than you need, but you can store it in the refrigerator and
use it for other salads.)

To make the dressing, shake all of the dressing ingredients together in a large jar until emulsified. Set aside.

Toss the lettuce, cheese, nuts, cranberries, apple slices and pear slices together in a bowl. Divide amongst chilled serving plates. Give the dressing a good shake again and drizzle some of the dressing over the salads. Pass remaining dressing so that people can top it up as need be on their own salads.

Berry Punch Schloer and some scrummy Fruity Muffins!

If you're having a bit of a celebration in this country, this fella is sure to show up. Suave, sophisticated, a bit fuzzy, delicious and totally non-alcoholic. Being Mormons, he shows up at all our parties and is always warmly welcomed . . . as well as being the first drink to disappear!!!



The people from Schloer recently sent me a sample to try out, of their new Limited Edition Winter Flavour . . . just in time for the holidays . . . Berry Punch!! Ruby coloured it gives a beautiful nod to traditional English flavours being packed with the flavour of blackberries with a warming hint of spice.



They recommended that it be served over ice and quintessentially English fruits so I thought why not go whole hog and serve it over frozen English autumn berries, which I also happen to keep a load of in the freezer . . . the berries acting as both ice and fruit!

Wow, was it ever wonderful! We both really enjoyed and are sure to pick up a few more bottles to have in the house during the up and coming holidays! Many thanks to the people at Shloer for sending me this tasty treat!



Shloer Limited Edition Berry Punch costs £2.29 per bottle. (Schloer is also available in White Grape, Red Grape, Rose, apple & White Grape, White Grape, Raspberry & Cranberry and White Grape & Elderflower flavours)

Schloer is also on Facebook where you'll find little extra inspiration and a Sunday Cookbook. (I'm thinking that it would make an amazing fruit jelly for the holidays as well!)



This put me in a very fruity moos, and of course . . . knowing me, whilst I had the frozen berries out I had to do something else with them as well . . . and why not!!!



I baked up some lovely fruity muffins. We all love blueberry muffins, but a muffin stogged with a variety of berries just can't be beat!



Oh so buttery, and fruity and moreishly scrummy with the tang of fresh berries in every bite . . . black and red currants, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries . . . these are soooo delicious!!



You could glaze them if you wished, but I just dust with a bit of icing sugar. These scrummy muffins speak for themselves, they really don't need much in the way of dressing up . . .really!!




*Berry Fruities*
Makes 12 muffins
Printable Recipe

Moist, buttery and chock full of tangy summer fruits!

175g of mixed summer berries (1 2/3 cups)
(fresh or frozen, cutting the larger ones in bits the size of
blueberries)
300g self raising flour (2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
150g of caster sugar (2/3 cup)
100ml of plain yoghurt (1/2 cup)
125ml of milk (1/2 cup)
1 large free range egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
125g butter, melted (a slightly generous half cup)
Icing sugar to dust (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a 12 cup medium muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and sugar together in a large bowl. Beat together the egg, yoghurt, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Add all at once to the dry mixture and mix the two together, combing only to moisten the dry ingredients. It is perfectly ok for the mixture to be lumpy. Fold in the berries. (I like to save out a few to press into the tops.) Spoon into the paper lined muffin cups. Scatter any saved berries over top, pressing down lightly.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Dust with icing sugar and serve.



Cooking in The Cottage today, a Sticky Date Bread Pudding!

Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler

Did I ever tell you about the time I ate so many raspberries that I made myself sick? I was 11 years old and it was a hot August day. We were moving in to a new house. In the meantime we were staying at my Grandfather's house. My father had gone on to meet the furniture truck and was going to come back and get us when the furniture had been off loaded. To make a long story short . . . the truck was late arriving, my mother insisted on not feeding us because "My father was going to be back any minute," and my sister and I were so hungry we gorged ourselves in the next door neighbour's raspberry patch.



So not cool . . . and I so paid for it later on. I always got car sick anyways, but on that day I got really sick . . . I do believe my father was hoovering raspberry seeds out of the carpet in that car for years . . . and it was truly years and years before I could ever bring myself to eat a raspberry and enjoy it again . . .



Thankfully the brain eventually forgets things like this . . . unless you are feeling sick anyways. (For some odd reason when I'm not feeling well, I start to remember everything I've ever eaten when I've been sick in the past!) Anyways, I now love raspberries again and I adore raspberry season.



It's late raspberry season now and it also happens to be pear season . . . I reckon nature has it right and just as strawberries and rhubarb come in to season together and make a beautiful taste marriage . . . I have come to realize that late season raspberries and autumn pears make another beautiful taste marriage . . . especially when you combine them with ginger . . .
OOhh la la! C'est si bon! ♥♥♥



We went to Gordale Nurseries today and picked up two raspberry canes, a tayberry cane, two blueberry bushes and a new pear tree (to replace the one that got fire leaf blight). . . and of course I could not resist going through the gift section. I came across these adorable little cup and saucer sets which have heart shaped saucers! (Even the handle on the cup is heart shaped. They came in pink and red. I had to have the red!) So perfect for autumnal desserts such as this fabulous Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler!!! They seem to set it off perfectly. (I am picturing a Valentines White Chocolate and Ginger mousse in them now, aren't you?)



Anyways, you just have to make this delicious cobbler. It is the perfect autumnal pudding . . . moreishly scrumptious and oh soooo fabulously tasty!! Sweet and sticky fruit topped with a buttery gingery biscuit topping. What's not to like???



Resistance is totally futile. Trust me on this.



*Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

A delicious combination that will have them coming back for seconds!

1 TBS butter to butter the pan

For the filling:
3/5 ounces granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
2 TBs plus 1 tsp cornflour
pinch of fine seasalt
4 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
9 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries (2 cups)
1 TBS cold butter, cut into small bits

For the topping:
8 3/4 ounces of plain flour (1 3/4 cup)
4 TBS granulated sugar, divided
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine seasalt
10 TBS cold butter, cut into small bits (5 ounces)
2 ounces candied ginger, chopped (1/3 cup)
5.5 fluid ounces, plus 1 TBS cold buttermilk

To serve:
Pouring Cream, Custard or Vanilla Bean Ice cream

First make the topping. Whisk the flour, 3 TBs of the sugar, the baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter, and toss to eavenly coat. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you get crumbs the size of peas. Stir in the candied ginger, then pour in the 5.5 fluid ounces of buttermilk, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough should be crumbly with visible pieces of butter. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 9 inch deep dish pie pan. Set aside.

Rub the sugar, cornflour and salt (for the filling) together in a large bowl. Add the pears and lemon juice. Toss until evenly coated. Gently fold in the raspberries. Transfer to the prepared pan. Dot with the 1 TBS of butter.

Turn the dough for the topping out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press together into a 9 inch circle. Place carefully on top of the fruit. Brush with the 1 TBS of buttermilk and sprinkle with the remaining 1 TBS of sugar.

Bake in the bottom third of the oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the juices are bubbly and thick. Allow to cool for half an hour before serving. Serve with pouring cream, custard or ice cream. Delicious!



I'm playing with Croissants, Chocolate and Preserves over in the Cottage today with Chocolate and Fruit Filled Croissants! There are also some lovely pictures of our trip the other day to Betws-y-coed in Wales.

Autumn Berry & Almond Cake

What a lovely week we have had weatherwise. I have so enjoyed all the sunshine and warmth. A true Indian Summer week, the likes of which I have never experienced over here before. It's been a real treat! We've been out and about most days, which is also a real treat!



Almost as much of a treat as this tasty cake that I baked up yesterday afternoon! I had some berries in the fridge that I had bought the other day and wanted to use up . . . and decided a tasty cake was the best way to do it!



We love almonds and we love berries . . . the two together are heavenly. Especially when combined in a cake which is blissfully moist and buttery . . . and yet light at the same time . . . and absolutely stogged full of sweet/tart berries.



I chose to use blackberries and raspberries this time, but either one is lovely on their own, as are blueberries, or even all three together. Currants are also very nice. I love the crunch of the flaked almonds on top . . . it adds a wonderful texture.



You could have this with cream of course! We had it plain . . . but I may have another piece later on with some cream . . . and why not! Life is for living! (And I did rather do a lot of walking today!)



*Autumn Berry & Almond Cake*
Makes one 9 inch cake
Printable Recipe

A real family favourite. You can use any berries you have in any combination you like, alone or a mixture. I love to use raspberries and blackberries.

140g ground almonds (1 2/3 cups)
140g butter (2/3 cup)
140g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
140g self raising flour (1 1/4 cups)
2 large free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g of berries, fresh or frozen and defrosted (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 TBS flaked almonds
Sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch deep. loose bottomed cake tin and line the bottom with paper.

Cream together the butter, ground almonds, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until evenly mixed together. Spread half of the mixture into the prepared tin. Top with the berries. Dollop the remaining half of the batter over top and roughly spread it out as best as you can. (I wet my fingers and use them. This seems to work best) Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar and cut into wedges to serve.



Over in The Cottage today you will find some tasty Chili Chocolate Strawberries. Tres, tres . . . scrummy!

The World's Best Crumble

As soon as this month's Delicious Magazine (October 2011)slid through my mail box onto my front hall floor, and I saw it's cover, I just knew I had to make this recipe!







Calling something the "World's Best Crumble" is quite a bold statement to make and I have to say that the cover certainly had a very scrummy looking crumble on it! (I have to say that Delicious is one of my favourite three cooking mags over here, right up there with Good Food and Sainsbury's.)







They are declaring the 24th of September as "Share The Love" day, and suggest that to be a part of it we all bake two apple crumbles instead of one, keep one to eat and then pass the other on to someone you don't know, someone you wish you knew better, or someone who needs cheering up! Not a problem for me, as I am always sharing MY baking love with someone!







I baked this delicious crumble today and divided it amongst two containers, with just enough in each for Todd and I to enjoy two servings each of it's deliciousness and for a friend in need and her carer to share some of it's deliciousness as well.







This crumble is pretty amazing to be sure, but . . . you know how it is . . . I just had to make some revisions, and I am declaring them, here and now, even better than the original! I added more spice to the fruit. Their version called only for cloves and ginger. I added some cinnamon and nutmeg. They also had chopped skin on almonds in the crumble topping . . . I think the flavour of buttery toasty oats cannot be beat, and so I substituted the nuts with oats.







Oh my, this was deliciously scrummy! (no pun intended!) The tartness of the fruit, all spicy and slightly sweet . . . the colour . . . ruby and deep purple . . . the moreishly tasty pockets of marzipan which melts down into all that ruby tart/sweet goodness . . . and that buttery oaty crumble topping . . . G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!!







If you only make one crumble this autumn (and you really should) let it be this one. Seriously. It is the world's best!







*The World's Best Crumble*

Serves 6 to 8

Printable Recipe



According to Delicious Magazine, this is the World's Best Crumble. I changed a few things. I added more spice to the fruit and I substituted the skin on almonds in the topping for rolled oats. My changes will be reflected in brackets.

All in all though, I would say this is one very scrummy crumble!



3 Bramley apples (large cooking apples)

2 eating apples (they suggest Cox, but I used Discovery

as that's what we have on our tree)

the juice of one lemon

200g blackberries (about a heaped cup ful)

4 to 5 whole cloves

1/2 tsp ground ginger (I didn't use the whole cloves. I used a pinch of ground cloves, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ground ginger)

100g demerara sugar (1/2 cup)

200g marzipan (about 1/2 lb crumbled)



For the topping:

200g chilled butter, diced (about 7 ounces)

250g plain flour (2 1/2 cups)

50g demerara sugar (1/4 cup)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

the grated zest of two unwaxed lemons

75g skin on almonds, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

( I used 100g or 1 cup of rolled oats instead of the almonds)



To serve:

pouring cream

warm Custard

or Ice Cream



Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Peel, core and dice all of the apples. Place into a large baking dish. (1.6 litre or 2 quarts) Squeeze the lemon juice over all. Stir together the sugar and spices. Stir into the apples and then gently fold in the blackberries. Set on a baking sheet.



Measure the flour into a large bowl. Whisk in the cinnamon. Rub in the butter to make a coarse crumbly mixture. Stir in the sugar, almonds (oats) and lemon zest. Set aside.



Chop up the marzipan and sprinkle evenly over top of the fruit. Crumble the flour mixture evenly over top.



Bake for 45 minutes, until the topping is golden and the fruit is juicy, tender and bubbling. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes to cool, then spoon out into serving dishes and serve warm with pouring cream or custard. (or ice cream!)









A simple supper of Creamed Peas on Toast over in The Cottage today.

Spiced Summer Berry Compote

One of my favourite things about late summer is the abundance of summer berries . . .

There's still the odd strawberry hanging about, but in truth they're mostly gone by now, but the shop shelves are now filled with beautiful Scottish and British Raspberries . . .







Lovely Blackberries from Kent . . . the hedgerows are beginning to fill up with them as well . . .

Beautiful plump Blueberries from Devon . . .







Oh such a lovely lot of berries . . . sweet and delicious and perfect for light desserts and sauces.

Beautiful desserts such as this spiced berry compote. Delicious in it's own right . . .







but equally as scrummy spooned warm over vanilla ice cream . . . the warm juices trickling down the cool vanilla mountain and mingling with it's sweet milkyness . . .







Or served cold in a bowl and topped with a dollop of softly whipped cream . . . perfect foil for it's heady richness and beautiful colours . . .

or . . . and this is the creme de la creme . . . spooned onto the bottom of a buttery fruit scone and topped with tasty dollop of Clotted Cream a la creme tea!







And . . . why not! mmm . . . mmm . . . mmm . . .







*Spiced Summer Berry Compote*

Serves 6

Printable Recipe



Rich and heady. Beautifully coloured. Simple. Perfect with some cold ice cream, vanilla of course!



400g of fruit (a generous pound) blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, loganberries, tayberries etc.

(I use about half blueberries)

4 TBS caster sugar

3 TBS spiced berry squash drink mix, undiluted (can use a fruit flavoured liqueur such as framboise)



Put half of the berries (blueberries) into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Sprinkle with the sugar and the berry squash drink mix. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer just to the point where the berries seem about to burst. Remove from the heat. Stir in the raspberries, blackberries and any other fruit you are using.



Serve warm in glasses or small bowls, or spooned over ice cream.



Delicious also spooned between fruited scones along with a nice dollop of clotted cream. The ultimate in a cream tea!

Days out and Bread Pudding

We took advantage of the warm sunny weather on Saturday morning and decided to take a trip with our Mitzie in tow to Llangollen in Wales. Llangollen (pronounced Clang-gock-lyn) is one of my very favourite places on earth to visit. It has a rough rustic beauty that is quite breathtaking to say the least. With more sun than Cornwall and less rain than the Lake District, it is no wonder that this beautiful little gateway to Wales is one of the most popular Welsh destinations in the North West.



It hosts the the famous International Music Eisteddfod where singers and dancers congregate from every corner of the earth each year amongst a multitude of other activites . . . but we go just to walk around and take in it's beauty.

As we are going up to Cumbria for a week in September and bringing Mitzie with us, we thought it would be a good experience for her to come along with us today, and she didn't mind a bit. It is probably less than an hour's drive from us here in Chester and is always very busy and we thought it would get her used to being around crowds and to travelling in the car for more than just to the dog groomers and the vets!



We always like to take a nice walk along the river in Llangollen. It is so pretty and filled with mini white water rapids, flat rocks you can walk on and lots of birds and other wildlife. Our friend Colin swears he saw a Kingfisher there last summer when we took him and Jo (his wife) there, but . . . he was the only one.



Mitzie enjoyed it very much, even if her nose was to the ground for most of the time. (she is such a sniffer!) She didn't even bother to chase the ducks, which I was happy about. I have come to realize that she is a bit timid of other animals, especially cats and large birds and of course dogs that are larger than herself. I don't think the sheep in Cumbria will be a problem.



WE always like to visit the old railway platform. There is an old Steam Engine there and you can take a trip on the old Steam Railway if you want.



Today there was a 1960's event going on with lots of old cars and vehicles, people dressed up in pschcadelic clothing and all sorts.



The classic cars were beautiful.



And there were quite a few of them. I was particularly fond of this old Mini. One of my first cars ever was an old green Austin Mini Station Wagon, that I never really did learn to drive properly . . . but I had a lot of good laughs in it anyways, with it slipping out of gear, etc.



Of course we must stop for refreshments when we are there. This is our favourite tearoom. It's very quaint inside, and of course you can also choose to sit outside on a nice day, as we did today. It's so pretty. We feasted on



Cheese on Toast on Brown Bread



And Todd enjoyed some Bara Brith, which is a traditional Welsh Teabread, and really scrummy.



Mitzie just enjoyed laying next to our table and watching all the people having fun. She did also get to enjoy the odd crumb which fell her way. I think she charmed a lot of people today, which was nice. I would hate to have an obnoxious dog.



When we got home I surprised Todd with another treat that I picked up for him while we were there. A good old fashioned Bread Pudding, which would differ quite about from some people's ideas of bread pudding. This is a very old recipe which was originally devised to help to use up the stale bread way back in the day. Todd's mum apparently made wonderful bread puddings . . . all stodgy and spicy and chock full of fruit and spices. Todd has very fond memories of his mum's puddings, so he was well pleased when I set this little gem down in front of him today. (The recipe is from the National Trust Complete Traditional Recipe Book, by Sarah Edington, another gem!)



*Bread Pudding*
Serves 6

A thrifty recipe devised by old bakeries to use up yesterday's bread. You can create your own mix of dried fruit. (candied peel, crystallized ginger, chopped prunes and dates, candied cherries, chopped dried apricots, sultanas, currants etc.)

425ml of milk (1 1/2 cups)
150ml of cold strong tea (1/2 cup)
4 ounces butter, melted (1/2 cup)
1 TBS mixed spice**
3 large free range eggs, beaten
350g of mixed dried fruit (3/4 pound)
450g of fresh bread crumbs (1 pound)


Combine the milk, tea, melted butter, beaten eggs, mixed spice and dried fruit. Combine together well. Stir in the breadcrumbs and leave to soak for an your or overnight if you wish.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 by 11 (2 inch deep) pan and line with baking paper. Butter the baking paper. Spread the soaked mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Cool and serve cut into squares.

And if you so fancy it, here's a look of a short film I took of some fit kayakers that came down the river whilst I was standing there enjoying . . .



And another short film of Todd and Mitzie down on the rocks. If yoy listen very carefully you can hear the water, so nice to listen to.