Happy Christmas!

Hot, hot, hot.........Ginger, lemon and honey

Sorry to keep harping on about cold cures but there seems to be a lot of it about in our house at the moment-I have a fierce sore throat so have made this amazing soothing drink-it's utterly delicious-it warms your mouth, your throat -well everything really.


Take a big nobble of fresh ginger wash then roughly slice-put into a pan with 1 pint of water boil then simmer for 20 mins-with the lid on or you end up with a very small amount ! Turn off the heat and add half the juice of 1 lemon, strain then add a good glug of honey to taste.

It will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

Bath herb soup...NOT for drinking!

For a gorgeous hydrating bath to sooth that dry wintry skin why not try making a herb bath soup!


Place a handful of fresh herbs from the garden in a pan - I'm going to use-rosemary, thyme, oregano and bay. Cover with water and add 1-2 tablespoons of cider vinegar. Cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes then strain and pour into your bath.


Enjoy x

Something I'd been meaning to do for years...

.. I've always fancied foraging for mushrooms and have loads of great books on the matter. I'm really bad at identifying them and wouldn't dream of trusting myself to pick anything edible. So I found a mushroom foraging day with the Dean Heritage centre. It was a little weird-a few passionate old guys with baskets turned up and of we went, all 30 of us through the woods. Bit bizarre but once we got into it it was great fun. We didn't really find anything that exciting or indeed that edible but  I do feel slightly more knowledgeable about funghi now than I did-still don't trust my identifying skills though so will sadly still be buying tastless specimens from the shops!

The latest hangover cure...

I read in the paper yesterday about a new hangover cure - it's main ingredient is a bit of a surprise and not to everyone's taste - the sprout. Italian chef Felice Tocchini has developed a delicious smoothie using sprouts, orange juice, carrots, ginger and cinnamon.


I think I'll stick to having them steamed gently served up with a roast ....love them.


By the way if you have any alternative hangover cures please leave a comment - thanks

rosehip cold cure

My poor  boy has a horrid cough and this is a great natural way for getting rid of those nasty toxins:


Its  amazing that a single rosehip has 20 times more vitamin C than an orange.


To  make rosehip tea:


take 2-3 washed hips, top and tail them then leave them to soak overnight. 
Fill a pan with 1 pint of water and bring to the boil. 
Add hips and simmer for 30 minutes. 
Strain the mixture into a cup and a little honey to sweeten. 
Drink the tea throughout the day.


Now the challenge is to make him drink it!!!

Spicy stuffing with lunch at Cranford

What could be more wonderful after a great night out with friends on Saturday than a good old roast dinner on Sunday with the kids? 


We're having a chicken with all the usual veg plus a great stuffing recipe made up by Dean. Beautiful Kate has done all the prepping. Its cooking nicely in the oven as we speak. It smells so good my mouth is watering and my tummy rumbling. So here it is a stuffing with a bit of a kick.

Serves 6.    Put all the following into a large bowl with a glug of boiling water   4 slices of white or wholemeal bread made into breadcrumbs 3 medium onions finely chopped (in a blender it takes seconds). 5 good sausages. Any will do. You need to to remove the skin. I just slash with a knife and pull of the skin. A hand full of sage leaves from the garden. Finely chopped Half a teaspoon of curry powder Half a teaspoon of Paprika Seasoning - a good pinch of sea salt   Squidge is all up with your hands and make into 6 big balls.   Place on a greased baking tray or a cup cake tray and put in oven 180C for 40 - 50 mins until nice and crispy.   Great with chicken Sorry if there are any typos I've had a glass of mulled wine-We've just put the Christmas tree up so feeling a bit christmassy