Time For Tiffin From Sugarpoke

Who doesn't like a gift through the post , I know I do and great things come in little packages . Happiness lifts I call them ! and it's important to lift people from time to time whether it is for Mother's Day or just because.

Happiness is a requirement of life and just knowing someone cares means the world ! I remember my Nan once gifting their neighbour garlic bread because they didn't like that nasty garlic stuff and thought their globe trotting neighbours would !

Time for Tiffin is part of the gift range is from Sugar Poke this one comes in at £8.99 for the card and the three sweet treats lovingly gift wrapped . It's genius fitting that much happiness through your letter box.

Biscuits for review it's torture I tell you ...

You don't want one ?

Or 2 ?

Or 3 do you ?

Thought not you just carry on munching your carrot sticks then !

I was sent this for review and all opinions are mine because I didn't share the biscuits !

Peanut Muffins

 Ingredients

110g/40z plain flour
110g/40z butter
65g/ 2 1/2 oz caster sugar
2 free range eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tablespoon of peanut hottie powder

Golden syrup squeezy

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together then slowly add the eggs, mix for three minutes. Shift the flour flour into the bowl add the baking powder,  stir to combine, then refrigerate for at least an hour. preferably overnight.

Squeeze some 'squeezey' golden syrup into each muffin case.

Place a spoonful of muffin mixture into each muffin case, filling each to just over half way.

Bake in an oven set at 200c/ 400f / gas 6 for about 20 minutes or until golden on top.

Peanut Hottie is an amazingly delicious and moreish peanut butter flavour instant hot beverage.

Getting your peanut butter fix just became a whole lot easier. Just add boiling water to make Peanut Hottie, at home, at work, on the go, anywhere and everywhere…

• Made with real peanuts
• Caffeine free
• Suitable for vegetarians
• No artificial additives
• No artificial colours
• Under 100 calories per cup
• Delicious

Peanut Hottie  is available from Sainsurys and Waitrose

The recipe is mine I've adapted and I got sent the Peanut Hottie and squeeze Golden syrup. I have not been compensated for this post.

Five Precious Minutes

Five precious minutes oooh how I adore thee !






I've written about this before in about what you can achieve in 5 minutes , it is really more than you think. Usually my 5 precious minutes is ultimately linked to snapping away.

But what if you used that 5 minutes to tidy this ?! crazy I know Kirstie Allsop I'm sure would be spitting out her pom poms  and wagging her finely manicured nails at me. This is method in my madness is what I would like to say but alas no this is the room that every thing gets shifted to " oooh that will be useful and so on "

And every home needs a random Spanish donkey they don't remember buying .. not ..

Thankfully a myriad of affordable storage solutions came to my rescue thanks to  Camouflage Company and it was a utter dream and it was all popped into the bags within five minutes.

And what can 5 minutes of knocking up a quick oil to baste a chicken with achieve , well this .

It was quite simply ...

Ingredients 

Half a squeezed orange

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 table white wine vinegar 

Salt

Pepper 

Preparation time ; well that would be 5 minutes.

Then baste the chicken throughout it's cooking time plus shove an onion up the nether regions of said chicken, the chicken will thank you for it I promise you.

I was kindly send the storage bags to help with my storage and I was not told to write. The recipe is my own not quite sure how the chicken felt buy hay it was tasty . The Spanish donkey is languishing in the bin RIP Pedro Donkey!

Coping just fine .

Ever tried explaing your self and it just doesn't work ?!

I tried that the other day on my blog over some earrings ,I tried explaining that in nutshell that my toys etc were given and then later thrown as a child. To be honest I perhaps was to cryptic.

To be so worried that on the day of your GCSE maths exam your protractor is smashed against the wall. Or that constant arguing leads you to write in the wrong section in your GCSE, or you have to hide a holy bible for constant safety so it doesn't get thrown away. In a bible of Autumn leaves.

It didn't work my explaining .

My explaing of a emotional switch ,my coping mechanism .

I was trying to convey why I was upset about losing my earrings.

I tried showing that one of my coping mechanisms which is the countryside.

Now do you understand ?

No I've not found my earrings but I'm coping why because if you've read this you'll know why !

St Patrick's Day Menu

Irish Smoked Salmon With A Lemon And Poppy Seed Dressing

Responsibly sourced wild salmon which is sseasonally caught in Ireland's finest freshwater rivers. Ideally served with a lemon Poppy seed dressing with a sprinkling of cracked black pepper over the dish.

For the Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing:

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

100g Irish smoked salmon from Carr & Sons

Fresh salad

Preparation time about 5 minutes.

Serves 4

No cooking is required

In a screw top small jar, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, poppy seeds, salt, and pepper. Shake until mixed well.

Set out some fresh salad leaves , place some Irish smoked salmon on top and drizzle with the lemon and poppy seed dressing.

Lamb and Leek Heartwarming Stew

Stew is old as time as itself and nothing says traditional more that a hearty stew with fresh ingredients and the drink of the nation Guinness.

Ingredients
30g/ 1 oz Plain flour
1kg lamb should or necked cubed
3tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion
2 carrots
500g roughly chopped Leeks
550ml/ Guinness

450 ml of Beef stock

Corn flour for thickening stew at the end

I loaf of bread cut into 2 and hollowed out to make bowls for the stew.

The resulting leftover bread can be used for breadcrumbs in other recipes.

You could omit half the leeks and add 2 potatoes about 20 minutes before the end of cooking.

Place the flour in a freezer bag then add the cubes of meat and shake well to coat.


Heat the oil in a large pan and brown the meat on all sides.(Do this in batches as adding too much meat at once makes the meat steam rather than brown.


Heat the oil in the same pan you used for the meat, adding more oil if needed. Once the onion is browned.

Get your slow cooker out and cook for 4 hours on low or place in a casserole dish in a preheated oven for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Add the carrots, leeks,turnip, honey and beef stock and return the meat to the slow cooker or casserole dish.

About 20 minutes before serving add the potato to the stew ( adding them at this point means they keep their shape). Season to taste , with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper before serving.

Sprinkle cornflour in to thicken to personal tastes.

Preparation 15 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves 4

There is plenty left over which can be frozen.

Irish Tea Loaf

There is nothing more welcoming than coming home after a cold day to a hot steaming cup of freshly brewed Irish tea along with a nice slice of Irish Tea Loaf.


Ingredients

330g of mixed fruit
200ml of hot Barry's Irish tea
1 egg
2 Tablespoons of Irish Double Cream
2 Tablespoons of milk or enough  so the mixture feels adequately loose.
50 g Light Brown sugar
Optional Kerry Gold Irish butter from spreading on when the tea loaf is cold.

This is best started this the night before.

All you do is place the fruits and peel in a bowl, then dissolve the sugar in the hot tea ( I was using Barry's Irish tea) and pour this over the fruits. Then cover with a cloth and leave them to soak – as the fruits absorb the tea they become plump and juicy. 

Now whisk the egg and add it to the fruits and after that sift in the flour. Then add 2 tablespoons of double cream and and then the milk till the mixture feels adequately loose.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin ensuring it is level. Place it on a lower shelf in  the centre of the oven, and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes until it feels springy in the centre.

When it comes out of the oven, turn it out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve it cut in thick slices spread generously with butter and although it does keep well in an airtight tin in its liner, it’s also extremely good toasted.

Preparation 12 hours for the soaking of the fruit
Cooking time 1 hour 10 minutes

Oven temperature 170 c
Serves 4 but with plenty left over.

The products I used were sourced from Ocado who kindly gave me a voucher for the ingredients.