Peppermint Bark !

Merry Christmas ! I recently saw some Peppermint Bark but the price was a little out of my price range (£30). So what else do you do on a cold snowy day ? Make your own. Here is what we did.......

You need 2 packs of either dark or milk chocolate, two packs of white chocolate and some peppermint candy canes or similar sweets (how many depends on how much peppermint you like to eat, you can also add more or less chocolate depending on how big the tin is you are going to put it in).Chop up both of your choclates but keep them in separate bowls for now.

Put the chocolate in a bain marie or microwave to melt it. Start with the plain/milk chocolate first as you want this to set in the fridge before you do the white chocolate.

Whilst you are waiting for the chocolate to melt you can get your willing helper to crush the candy canes for you. You need the bits to be quite big and chunky though.

Once you have meted your chocolate your need to put it in a tin lined with either foil or greaseproof paper. It then needs to go into the fridge and you need to start and melt the white chocolate. When the milk/dark chocolate has set in the fridge you need to pour the white chocolate onto the top of the set chocolate. (tip: let the white chocolate cool before you put it on the set chocolate as it will melt it).

When you have put the white chocolate on the top you need to tip the baking sheet to cover the top. Whilst your chocolate is still runny you need to sprinkle the crushed candy canes on the top. Put it into the fridge to allow it to set.

When it is set this is what it will look like. Take it out of the tin and remove the paper/foil. Chop it into bitesize pieces.

(tip: it will be quite hard to cut as it is cold so I would get the strongest member of the family to do this for you.)

Serve.

Yummy yummy yummy !

I would store it in the fridge to keep it fresh and stop it from melting, although I suspect it wont last very long as it is so yummy.

Amish Apple Butter

This is so yummy that you must run into your kitchen, put on your apron and some wonderful music and make some.. The house smells wonderful and although it may take some time it is worth every little bit of the effort.
Peel and core the apples.

6 pounds of apples

1 Cup of apple juice

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

quarter cup cider vinegar

2 cups dark brown sugar

Peel, core and chop the apples. Put them into an ovenproof dish. Add the apple juice and bring to the boil. Simmer and cook until the apples are cooked (about 30 mins)

Press the apples through a strainer into a bowl. Return mixture to the pot adding the cinnamon, vinegar and brown sugar.
Bake in the oven 350' for 3 hours.

Place in clean jar and refrigerate for up to three weeks.

Make it look all pretty.

Nothing says "Home" like

Homemade Pie

I was at work today trying to teach some year 4 children about the Vikings and all I could think about was my need to make "Pie"... Not any pie, Strawberry, Rhubarb and Apple Pie..... As I skipped out of work when I finished I dashed to the supermarket and bought the ingredients, all British I add......

I like to bake with the children but sometimes it is nice to just get on with it on your own. The first thing I do is put on some music and tie on an apron (this is an absolute must). Our Grandmothers would have worn an apron all day and have had different ones for different occasions. Aprons are like a uniform for me, when I one I am ready for my task in hand. I even have an apron that I wear when I am gardening, I will show you another day... I admit that
I am not a feminist and have quite a traditional view when it comes to my home.

Here is my pie just waiting for the pastry crust.

Looking all pretty waiting for cooking
In all its glory straight from the oven.

My house smells wonderful.

YUMMY !!!

Pictures and Ebay Bargains

This is the picture that I bought for hubby's birthday. It comes as a poster type print and we went and bought a frame for it today. It is hanging in the kitchen.


This is my Ebay bargain, I have wanted to have a Monks bench for ages but thought they were far too expensive, so you can imagine my surprise and delight when I managed to get this on Ebay for £27 yes £27... YAY !!!!!! I did have to drive for about two and a half hours to get it and then all the way back again but even with the petrol and time spent o the motorway it was worth it. Again I have this is the kitchen.

Homemade Soup

We try as much as possible to buy some organic food. This does present its challenges as we live on the outside of a city and there is very little Farming community in the area, we have to travel to get to the farm shops. This is not too bad when you are perhaps going once a month and stocking up the freezer but it is not possible to go weekly to get fresh foods. We overcome this by growing our own over the summer months and then having to buy from the ghastly supermarkets. The organic food in the supermarkets it not only over priced it still comes in huge amounts of packaging and is not always the best quality. gggrrrr anyhow yesterday I bought a mixed bag of veggies, picked some leeks from the garden and this is what I came up with.

Roasting the vegetables

Organic Homemade Roasted Vegetable Soup.

YUMMY !!!!!!!