There is nothing better than tucking into a yummy piece of moist Christmas cake on Christmas Eve! Today I’m sharing a few tips to help you ensure that your Christmas cake turns out wonderfully moist and delicious! I was making my Christmas cake the other day and I realised that there are some things I do that are not in the recipe. They’re not vital to the cake making process but they do ensure that my Christmas cake turns out really moist. Most of the things I do are due to the advice … [Read more...]
Food Discovery: Pink Onions!
I don’t know how long they have been around for but I have just discovered sweet pink onions! Perhaps I am just a bit behind everyone else but when I saw them in the supermarket a few weeks ago I was surprised to see them. We use quite a lot of onions in our house; I regularly cook with brown onions and we also use a few red onions. These sweet pink onions were describes as being great for using in sandwiches, salads, stir fries, stews, curries, roasts, and BBQ’s. That sounded very handy to … [Read more...]
Top 3 Ways To Get The Lid Off A Jar When It Is Stuck Fast!
It can be so frustrating when you are in the middle of a recipe or you are about to make a sandwich and you can’t get the lid off a jar of ingredients! It always happens to me when I’m in a hurry or when I’m at a crucial stage of a recipe. One particular time that I hate it happening is when I am making toast because I hate cold toast! It is so annoying when I have just made some toast and then I can’t get the lid off a jar of jam! Over the years I have tried many techniques and gadgets … [Read more...]
How to Store Yeast
Over the last few years I have gone through periods where I bake lots of bread and therefore use a lot of yeast. I will then have periods where I don’t make any bread at all. This combined with the fact that I prefer to buy large packets of yeast means that I need to know the best way to store yeast so that it will last longer. I buy the large packets because the smaller sachets are usually not enough for what I need. Often recipes call for one to two tablespoons of yeast and I find it easier … [Read more...]
Cucumbers: Storage Tips to Keep Them Fresh
Summer is officially over but nobody has told our cucumbers; they are producing better now than they did all summer! It is probably because we had such a hot summer this year. In contrast early autumn has been warm but not too hot so the vegetables are very happy! We love eating fresh cucumbers but sometimes there are a few too many to handle. At the moment we are picking a couple of them every other day! We have had an oversupply of cucumbers other years too and we have found it hard to keep … [Read more...]
4 Ways to Soften Butter Quickly
Today I am discussing 4 ways to soften butter quickly so that something as simple as hard butter doesn’t stop us baking! Sometimes I’m not as organised as I should be and when I start baking I realise that I haven’t taken the butter out of the fridge and then I have to wait for it to soften - it’s so annoying! I usually chop the butter into smaller pieces to try and speed up the softening process but it still takes a while. It is not quite so bad at the moment because the weather is warmer … [Read more...]
Free Printable Freezer Labels
Make the most of your frozen items by ensuring that everything is labelled correctly using these attractive free printable freezer labels. Ever since I bought some adhesive paper to make labels for preserves a couple of months ago I have been wondering how else I can use it. I have been thinking that it will be great for making personalised decorations when my niece and nephew have their birthdays later this year. In the meantime though, I have decided to use it to make some freezer … [Read more...]
Cute Printable Labels for Preserves
We have just recently harvested the last of the beetroot that we planted towards the end of summer and we have managed to preserve a few jars! It is wonderful to know that we can continue enjoying it over the winter. Now that we have tried home grown beetroot we definitely prefer it over the bought canned variety. After putting so much effort into growing and then preserving the beetroot I wanted to make the jars look nice with some fancy printable labels! I had a look online but I could not … [Read more...]