Classy cupcakes

Tanya's thoughts:
So next time you have Dorian Green pop in for a cup of tea you know what to serve with it. (Anyone remember birds of a feather?) Yes these cake cases are uber tacky but I think they look gorgeous :p the inner chav in me has unleashed itself obviously. I realise I've only described just the appearence so had better mention the taste. Lovely. Chocolatey and rich. What more do you want?

Friend's thoughts:
Well Andrew ate three so they must be good and Lauren's looking very naughty in this photo so presumably must be a 'naughty but nice' treat. Asked James what he thought of these cakes, to which he responded "I helped make them". That's nice dear.

The Soup Off! Blue Pumpkin VS Roasted Butternut Squash

 

Tanya's thoughts:

I like pumpkin soup, I like butternut squash soup - but which is better? :p Actually this is incredibly easy as we didn't like the pumpkin soup :( I followed Tana Ramsey's recipe for pumpkin soup where you fry then boil the chunks of pumpkin with garlic and rosemary - once it was cooked, blended etc - it only tasted of rosemary :( Very disappointing as it looked exciting (although it wasn't blue inside - obviously that would have made it more exciting!) and the texture was lovely and silky.

I've made this butternut squash soup recipe a few times before - again by Tana Ramsey (didn't even click that both recipes were hers until writing this). And it's lovely. Roasting the squash first just really brings out the sweetness of the vegetable. It's a time consuming soup - well over an hour to make it. But the real winner in all of this was the cheese scones I made as an accompaniment for this soup. I found a recipe online: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8877/cheese-scones and it uses vegetable oil rather than butter to make it healthier. Anyway who cares - they tasted lovely and rose really nicely.

James's thoughts (Well I'll write on his behalf)
He said that the pumpkin soup smelled like weed :/ And he obviously liked the squash soup and scones as took leftovers with him to work. :)

Fancy a bit of crumpet?

Tanya's thoughts:
Firstly - yes homemade crumpets taste amazing and nothing like the store bought ones.
Secondly and regretfully I'm not sure it's worth the effort. I can't believe I of all people would say that when it comes to baking. Basically it starts off with a bread making process which is fine but of course waiting for it to rise etc is time consuming. Then it's fiddly and takes time cooking them all. Yes I only had a couple of crumpet rings that slowed everything down but unless you have 5 frying pans on the go with 5 crumpet rings in each it's always going to take a bit of time. I started making these at a reasonable hour of 9am on a Saturday morning and think we were eating them just after 11am :/ Or later but can't really remember. That traumatic, perhaps I blocked it out :p
Maybe if someone asked me to make these as a dying wish I would consider it. I said consider :p

Easter cakes!

Tanya's thoughts:
Ahem. It's only a few months after Easter? Surely we all remember what we did for Easter?? :/ yes I'm playing catch up on my blog but really wanted to add these in as I had fun making them for a little tea party on the bank holiday Monday after Easter. Classic birds nests and butterfly fairy cakes, where I dyed the butter cream to match the nestle mini eggs. Yes even with food I like to colour co-ordinate.I also emptied some eggs so I could decorate them for the Easter table spread. Aren't they cute?

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).

The best peanut butter cookies ever

(and I don't say that lightly!)

Tanya's thoughts:
Sad as I am, I've tried many different recipes for this but now have found the winning one. I think it was Rachel Allen's? I did add chocolate chunks and then that was it - a miracle was born. Anyway they were delish and have made them several times and it's the one biscuit that everyone has HAD to come back for more. Oh yes, they're that good.

Cheese, coriander, spring onion Quesadillas

Tanya's thoughts:
I've always loved quesadillas and have experimented in the past with these but this is the best recipe for them ever. Such a good combination of flavours and a good vegetarian lunch/dinner. Always good as my mum is a vegetarian. This is another recipe by.....James Oliver (how did you guess?) http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/quesadillas-with-guacamole And this is the one photo I was disappointed with - it doesn't look great but believe me tastes fantastic - have put my photo next to the one that was in Jamie's book - see practically no different?? :p


 









James's verdict:
(I'll ask him later, he's too busy geeking it up :p)