Deck your plate with all things yummy!

I do love this time of year, the last few weeks to Christmas and New Year. It is were you start to wind down, make plans to meet up with friends and family before the year is out, avoid embarrassing yourself at the office party and working out goals you like to achieve for the coming year. But to be honest I am more concerned with how warm can I get my house! And what I'm I going to eat! With my friends and family of course.

December is all about the food, Mince pies (mmm! My weakness), ginger bread, my interpretation of my Aunts fruit cake, crispy roast potatoes, honey parsnips, roast chicken (I don’t like turkey) stuffing, gravy…. I think you get what I’m trying to say? As I’m trying to keep to a spelt or gluten free alternative diet, there are many things I will make myself. So it's time to roll up my sleeves and in embrace the festive gluttony. Bring it on!

Bye for now!

PB x

I like the way you Moo!

Every time this advert comes on, it always makes me laugh, and slightly confused. As I am not sure I would be busting a move while you make me into gravy for your dinner? However a cow doing the running man gets me every time!

Bye for now!
PB x

Cinema Mix

Hi All

When I was child, I loved going to the cinema, the excitement hit me at the door, buying your treats, the Pearl & Dean intro and not forgetting the adverts. My favorite was Butterkist, Butterkist ra ra ra, Butterkist ra, ra, ra, ra! Hmm! Got slightly carried away there? Anyhoo. So I know what it is like when you go to the cinema with more than one other person especially those under the age of 16, they never want to share a large box of popcorn, they all want something different but want some of everyone else’s, huh?. By the time you pay for everything at the counter your thinking of how to take out a consolidated loan!


So after a recent trip to see Harry Potter with my nieces, I came up with a solution to all my problems. PB’s Cinema Mix! All you need is a pack of popcorn, jelly beans, and M&M’s you can use what type you like. I used three, chocolate, crispy and peanut.

Put your popcorn in a large bowl and add the sweets and lightly mix together if you mix too much then the heavy sweets will sink to the bottom. You can share in front of a home movie or make up individual paper bags to take the cinema (hopefully you don't go to one where they search your bag, for food which isn't theirs) I think I will take this to see the new Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell Movie Crazy, Stupid, Love, click the link and check out the trailer.

Bye for now!

PBx

A week of Cupcakes

Hi All

As some of you know it is National Cupcake Week, this week! And you can never have to many reasons to enjoy cupcakes now, can you? So in honour of this very special week I thought I rework a classic poem:

Monday's cupcake ends up all over your face.

Tuesday's cupcake is gone without a trace.

Wednesday's cupcake makes you go Whoa!

Thursday's cupcake is far, but you will go.

Friday's cupcakes are for giving????

Saturday you have cupcakes, because you work hard for a living!

And the cupcakes that are baked on a sabbath day, is the most moreish and scrummy and make you lick your fingers all day!

Bye for now!

PBx

Bread & Butter Pudding

Hi All

I have been obsessing about make this for ageeees! But as it is wheat based and I never can eat just a little bit of it I really needed to make this when I had guest coming over. Oh well no guest came, so I went ahead and made it anyway, PB’s Banana Hard do Bread & Butter pudding.




I used to love Hard do bread when I was young, it is a Jamaica bread which is slightly heavier and sweeter than English style bread. I'd love to cut extra thick slices toasted with lots of butter and a thin layer of jam, mmmm!

Ingredients

Large eggs x3
Whole milk 600ml
Evaporated milk 1x400g can
Single cream 250ml
Caster sugar 200g
Light brown sugar x2 tbsp.
Nutmeg ½ tsp.
Mixed spice ½ tsp.
Ground Cinnamon pinch
Hard do bread 1 few days old, hand cut slices
Large bananas x3
Vanilla flavouring x2 tsp.
Unsalted butter as needed to butter dish and bread

I normally use natural vanilla extract, or vanilla pods in my cooking, but as this is a Jamaican dish from my childhood, I had to use the vanilla I grew up with and loved as a child.

Yeah I know it says Culinary Flavoring, Artificial Vanilla which is something I normally stay away from, but it just had to be done.

Method

Make the custard first. Whisk the milk, evaporated milk, caster sugar, eggs spices and vanilla in a pan over a low heat. Warm the mixture gently, lightly whisking constantly so the mixture slightly thickens, and doesn’t get any lumps. Add the cream and keep on whisking for another 5 minutes or when it is thick enough to leave a light film of custard on the back of a wooden spoon. Take the pan off the fire, and leave to one side until needed.

Preheat the oven 180C/gas 4, butter a large ovenproof serving dish, and leave to one side until needed.

Cut generous slices of bread, and then cut in half. Butter both sides and layer the bottom of dish with them, take one banana, peel and slice lengthways and layer over the bread, ladle over some the custard mixture and then sprinkle one tbsp. of brown sugar.

Add another layer of butter bread and press down in the dish. Peel the other banana and put lengthways slices over the bread. Ladle the rest of the custard mixture all over the bread making sure the bread is well soaked. Leave to sit for 10 minutes for the bread to absorb the custard. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top and put in the oven and leave for 30-40 minutes, or until it has risen and is nice and brown.

Serve with a big dollop of ice-cream and enjoy!

Bye for now!
PBX

Did you turn it off and on again?

Hi All

Technology appears to be the Bain of my life! If it is not my laptop then it’s my camera or both, so once again my lack of presence on here is due to technology trying to ruin my life!! Okay maybe a tad over dramatic? But I come from the school of plug it in, switch it on and that is all I need to do! So apologies, apologies, I will have something food related in a mo!

Bye for now
PBx

Let me at him!

Hi All

I spent most part of this weekend feeling sleep deprived. And oh how I wished it was due to a night out on the tiles, getting somewhat merry to the wee hours. Then I wouldn’t have minded sluggishly pulling myself through the next day with a slight nervous twitch in my left eye! No it was due to a big fly! Although it wasn’t big by Jeff Goldblum standards, it was big enough to make a loud enough buzz that I couldn’t sleep, which prompted me out of my bed trying to coax it out through the window, or catch it in a glass. After the forth effort back and forth from my bed and realising that the fly did not leave graciously through the window. I turned into a large version of Scrappy Doo, slapping wildly around my bedroom with a slipper and muttering get out or die! Remember I was extremely tired!

By 3am the battle was won! I felt a little bad for splatting the fly however in my heart I do believe it was on it last wings? There are some lessons to be learned:

1) Turning into Scrappy Doo it never a good look!
2) Don’t leave your window open all day when it is summer!
3) Invest in some fly paper!

I am sure these are valuable lessons for you all to take you through the rest of this week?

Bye for now!

PBX