Edible christmas gifts

Wow in only 6 months time or less I'll be making these again! :p I collected empty glass jars and after scrubbing off the labels we put them in the dishwasher to sterilise them. After filling with chutney I put some of my Christmas napkins over the lids and tied with bakers string. They looked great - I had different shapes and sizes and better then spending £3 on a new fancy glass jar with the gingham lid.

Spicey tomato and apple chutney

By Rachel Allan (http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/573902) and I made this last year but the consistency wasn't as good so I simmered it for an extra hour and the result was perfect. And very popular.

Spiced courgette chutney

 Recommended by Richard Freeman (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6342/spiced-courgette-chutney) and it was really interesting actually! supposedly a summer chutney but worked well with gammon at Christmas.

Homemade fudge
 

Two variations by Sophie Dahl and Hairy bikers. Sophie Dahl's was easy but melted when out of fridge and the Bikers one has a slight gritty texture that people seemed to enjoy? I'm not sure - must try and find the perfect recipe.
















Peanut butter cookies

I've blogged about this before - delish and as it was Christmas I used white chocolate. (http://tanyadoescooking.blogspot.com/2010/09/best-peanut-butter-cookies-ever.html)

Sweet things

Looking through my unpublished food snaps, I realised that 1) I bake A LOT 2) No wonder why I put on weight in the last year and 3) this has been a good couple of months in the McCarthy household with all these cakes. So have decided to put them all in one post.

Date Oat Bars

James's favourite thing I've ever baked apparently - an accolade indeed! the dates tasted like caramel once cooked in water - lovely. A Rachel Allen recipe.

Apple almond cinnamon muffins

A lovely Saturday morning breakfast - must make again. From Nigella's 'Kitchen' book.

Raspberry bakewell

I've made this twice in a few months! Everyone who's tried it loved it. With a pastry bottom, jam and fresh fruit middle then an almond cake sponge on the top this was lovely, fruity and almost a sweet tartness to it (an oxy moron I hear you cry?) no it''s possible, this was lovely, I must try a plum version in autumn with plum jam - that would be amazing! Or maybe a rhubarb and ginger version....

Chocolate beetroot cakes

When I was on my pre-wedding diet I still wanted the occasional treat at the weekend and knowing these weren't unhealthy made me feel better about my diet sin :p Dark chocolate, beetroot and honey instead of sugar - they were great and gluten free so my mother in law could eat them.

Coffee walnut cake

A layered coffee walnut cake! I made this to go with a new 1979 tea set I bought from a charity shop (that I hid from James for a year in my wardrobe - a long story). Why did this cake go out of fashion? It's lovely and I'm not a massive coffee fan but the sweet coffee taste/scent is so lovely. MUST make again or try cupcake versions.

Toffee apple crumble

 











Tanya's thoughts:
Of course this had to be done for a fireworks night dinner! Eaten after a hearty cheesey chilli and the crumble was served with cream and as you can see from the photo - indoor sparklers. I think the excitement was too much as when the sparklers finished (after a very reluctant start) i felt extremely disappointed :p

This was a recipe found in a Brighton magazine about local food. you basically make a dark toffee sauce with dark muscavado sugar, butter and double cream which you pour over the slightly fried apples. Once cooked the sauce becomes a golden rich colour. The crumble mixture also has ground almonds which gave it a rich flavour (as if that was needed). Lovely and gooey.

James's thoughts: 
Very tasty but let down by sharp apples.

Chicken, apple and rosemary pie

Tanya's thoughts:
Have you ever being stuck for a dinner idea and just googled the ingredients you had in the fridge? well this was how i stumbled across this gem of an idea/recipe. I would never have thought these ingredients married together so well. here's the recipe: http://elseachelsea.typepad.com/frolic/chicken-apple-rosemary-pot-pie.html. In fact I can't believe I haven't made this since? I didn't make my own pastry as had some puff pastry that needed to be used up. (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).