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mini cherry bakewells.


i know emily, change the record and stop talking about bakewell tarts. a few weeks ago i posted a bakewell tart macaron recipe with cherry jam from my mackay's delivery, so with my jar of raspberry i made these for my nephew's 1st birthday party. as much as i love bakewell tart inspired recipes, you can't quite beat the classic.


a weekend in whitby.


okay so i only went to whitby for the day, but what's a blog title without alliteration right? off we went on saturday morning for a northern road trip to whitby, a stay in scarborough and a sunday spent pottering about in york. the weather was kind and it was a lovely bank holiday weekend with lots of fun (and food!) to be had.


the dial, burton on trent.


nestled between burton on trent high street and the town's cinema and leisure complex is not the obvious place that you'd find a place like the dial. straight through the doors, you're met with a clean and sleek colour palette, contemporary seating and a well stocked bar of sprits, wines and beers from near and far. 


don't be mistaken, burton is very close to my heart and was the nearest town to where i grew up. however there was a stylish and modern vibe to the place which felt more city chic than small brewery town in the midlands.



roast vegetable & four cheese ravioli bake.


what can i say? i love pasta. i think a lot of people avoid pasta dishes as they immediately think about the carbs. however in my opinion, if you have pasta with lots of rich vegetables and proteins then it can be a quick and easy way to make a healthy and colourful square meal. 

when i saw that foodies 100 were collaborating with giovanni rana in a food challenge where you can win a pasta masterclass, i knew i'd have to enter. if you read my blog you'll know i love to experiment with pasta

so incorporating the giovanni delicato cheese ravioli into a layered up vegetarian lasagne, i created a ravoli bake, or perhaps a ravagne? with the four cheeses ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, gorgonzola, pecorino romano along with roasted vegetables in this recipe, you get two of your five a day whilst indulging in the cheesy ravioli layers.

feast foodies festival 2014 at battersea park.


last weekend i headed over to london once more for a few foodie filled days with my old school pal grace. on the saturday, this involved checking out the feast foodies festival at battersea park. the weather was kind and the sun shone as we had a lovely walk across the river from south kensington tube station. we also managed to enter at the totally wrong end of the park, but that didn't seem to matter since it was sunny. besides, i needed the exercise.


stem ginger florentines.


florentines are one of my favourite things from our local bakery birds, which has been around since i can remember. if i'd been on the great british bake off, i would have been pretty confident at what one looked like with the amount i've gobbled down. yes even the signature zig zags in the chocolate. 


however, i hadn't the first idea about how to create one. actually not only is this the first i've baked florentines, but it's the first time i've baked along with gbbo. so i looked up a classic french florentine recipe from delia herself (if mary is the queen of baking then delia is the princess, right?) and set about the challenge.




king prawn gyoza.


I've been loving trying out my dumpling folding skills lately, most recently with a fragrant steamed tofu potsticker recipe. Although I use the word skills lightly as I've still got so much to learn. Just like sushi and dim sum, I love little bites such as Japanese gyoza because you can eat as many or as little as you like. I made these as a starter between three, before having a vegetarian katsu curry with sticky rice for our main. 

foodies meet at barceloneta, leicester.


last week, myself and four other midlands food bloggers headed over to barceloneta in the clarendon park area of leicester for a foodie meet up. queens road in particular is a lovely area of leicester, home to a handful of independent shops, delis, cafes and your usual charity shops as well as a few specialising in books and records. 

barceloneta is a spanish restaurant which is part of a independent trio of businesses on the road; bar dos hermanos, barceloneta and the salvador deli. welcomed with a friendly smile to the beautifully decorated tapas restaurant, little did they know five food bloggers had just stepped into the door...

bakewell tart macarons.

Bakewell Tart Macaron
Bakewell Tart Macarons

one of my all time favourite desserts has to be bakewell tart. so since i'd recently been on a macaron cookery course and the lovely people at mackays sent me a selection of their new conserve to try, it only make sense to make my favourite little cherry topped delight into meringue form. i present to you... bakewell tart macarons.

softleys, market bosworth.

King Scallops with Bacon and Black Pudding
Cherry Sponge

in the historic town of market bosworth, softleys restaurant can be found within a charming grade II listed building in the market place centre. with fresh daily deliveries from local butchers, grocers and fishmongers, it really is the perfect setting to enjoy british produce in surroundings which ooze the local character. 

fragrant tofu guotie.


guotie, also known as potstickers, are a north chinese dim sum delicacy, which can be served as street food or in restaurants alike. when i read on the foodies 100 that cauldron foods were hosting a cookery challenge to celebrate the annual british street food awards, i couldn't wait to create a vegetarian street food inspired recipe. known for their tofu, falafels and veggie sausages, you can be as creative as you like with their products. 

since i love trying my hand at dim sum, i thought i'd use the skills i learnt on the school of wok chinese cookery class to create my street food style interpretation of guotie, with cauldron's original tofu. 



peanut butter cookie brownies.


Yippie it's friday! Why not celebrate by making these indulgent peanut butter cookie brownies? These are made with a rich and nutty chocolate brownie base and peanut cookie dough topping. Gooey, crunchy and just a bit naughty.