Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
cooking up a storm at the edge of the world
My Norwegian mother-in-law’s go-to cookie recipe! I have a confession to make. I haven’t cooked a single thing except for porridge for the kids’ breakfast for nearly three weeks! My mother-in-law had been visiting from Norway for a fortnight, and I’d taken on some extra shifts at work for holiday cover, which meant, to my …
A quick, summery salad dressing made with the Zyliss Easy Pull Food Processor. I love playing with new kitchen gadgets, I really do, so when Zyliss approached me some time ago and asked if I would like to test out their brand new Easy Pull Food Processor I jumped at the chance. Their new manual Zyliss …
This deliciously crunchy, buttery oatcakes recipe is made in true Cape Breton style. Serve with plenty of butter, cheese, or jam and a cup of hot tea to dunk! Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Difficulty: Easy Traditional Cape Breton recipes ‘The Scots’, observed G. Bisset-Smith in 1907, ‘are a notoriously migratory people’. …
Because sometimes you just have to. I detest food waste. I really do. Back in February this year I made my husband a batch of experimental brownies as a welcome home treat after his adventures in India. The brownies were awful – truly awful. I’d put far too much cocoa powder in it, skewing the …
In collaboration with Green Giant. Challenge #1 – Green Giant Minions Challenge The brand new Minions movie hits cinemas on June 26th and to celebrate, Green Giant is challenging bloggers to create the ultimate Minion-inspired summer snack. Green Giant Sweetcorn is a perfect ingredient for family mealtimes: kids love the delicious, naturally sweet flavour, and …
Fresh strawberries and home grown rhubarb can be very versatile! Well you’ve gone and done it. You’ve used up a glut of strawberries (known, these days, as buying a whole lot of them at the supermarket on special offer because they’re on their best before date), and you’ve ransacked the freezer for the remains of …
A commissioned recipe for Redmond. Slow cookers are awesome. That’s a given. You plonk your food in, go away and do your thing for the next few hours, and then return to a delicious home cooked meal. The thing is with a slow cooker is that when cooking meat, you often need to sear the …
Authentic flavours at your fingertips! Go on. Go check the expiry dates of the spices on your spice rack. If you’ve got some cardamom pods there, how long ago did they go out of date? No really – go check! I thought I used cardamom pods regularly. Clearly I don’t. February 2010!
A recipe commissioned by Redmond. As a food blogger I am regularly approached by a wide variety of food related companies looking for honest opinions about their products or services. I love these challenges – trying out new things is something I really enjoy, so when Redmond contacted me last year asking if I’d …
In collaboration with Alpen Swiss Muesli. Are you a breakfast skipper? I am. I try not to be. I know I shouldn’t be, what with breakfast being the most important meal of the day, but I just can’t bear to eat anything for the first few hours after getting up. I’m just not hungry! Saying …
Recipe from 150 Fast & Simple Recipes by Parragon Books. There are times when carbohydrates are required. How about carbohydrates… with bacon… tossed in more crispy carbohydrates! Eee! This spaghetti with bacon and crispy breadcrumbs, ready in less than half an hour, was one of the many recipes which caught my eye from Parragon’s …
A grain-free pancake recipe packed with protein! We’re pancake fiends in this house. With three growing children I can stand at the cooker making a batch and they’re devoured within seconds of coming out of the pan. I can barely keep up! Regular readers will know I’m one for trying new things, so when my …
Our House of Spice – an authenic Indian masala curry spice blend with a medium spiced tomato and onion sauce. I absolutely love spicy food; not too spicy that you can’t taste the flavours in the dish, but spicy enough to get those taste buds going and warm up the cockles on a cold, windy …
Around the world in 50 fun, healthy, creative recipes the whole family can cook together. As the mother of three noodle-obsessed children I was delighted when I received the email from the Quarto book publishers announcing the soon-to-be-released-in-the-UK cookery book Noodle Kids. Developed by award-winning American chef Jonathan Sawyer this book boasts 50 recipes that the …
aka: what to do with all those ignored vegetables at the bottom of the fridge! Let’s talk Lego! My husband, bless his cotton socks, doesn’t do a lot of cooking. He can peer into a full refrigerator and not come up with a single idea for dinner. Shelves of vibrant vegetables get ignored in favour …
Post commissioned by Galloway Cheddar – the family’s favourite Scottish cheddar! Cheese on toast has to be one of the best comfort foods. Ooey gooey creamy melted hot cheese on crispy toast with a soft, fluffy interior – there is definitely a time and place when this meal is required. Grilled cheese sandwiches were a regular …
All the flavour and nearly half the calories! I love a hearty, creamy bowl of soup, me. Especially when the winds are howling outside and you want something warm and comforting. Alas, most creamy soup recipes use a ridiculous amount of double cream – something I just can’t afford to eat right now while I’m trying …
100% plant power! I absolutely love weight lifting. Lifting heavy weights is not something I ever thought would interest me when I was younger, when my active trim self never had to pass a moment’s thought about the food I put into my mouth. I stayed slim naturally. Age, growing three babies, laziness and a …
Packed with the flavour of lycopene rich tomatoes and slow roasted garlic. Nothing beats the humble tomato. Packed full of lycopene, its antioxidant properties and health benefits are well documented. Plus, a bowl of steaming hot tomato soup is the perfect comfort food, wouldn’t you agree? Especially when accompanied by a gorgeous, oozing, freshly made …
Icy cold peppermint candy cane flavoured milkshake – Santa’s favourite! Sometimes an idea just strikes. You’re sitting there, minding your own business and then wham! Discworld author Terry Pratchett reckoned that ideas are hurtling through space and time in little self contained units until bam, they hit a sentient being. Sometimes this being is a …
