Ruth Ellis

Posts by Tag

Photo A Day

31st December

 

It’s my last daily photo of 2013. I’ve decided I’m not doing it in 2014. Now that I’m working full time, rather than part time, there are far fewer interesti...

30th December

 

A holiday hit of the culinary variety - bacon and stout jam (recipe to follow soon on Makey-Cakey)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: c...

29th December

 

What a pair of cheeky little Princesses!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

28th December

 

Mini-M outside Granny F’s classroom. We went to the swing park, but didn’t realise there as rugby on and it was all a bit mental, so made a strategic parking...

27th December

 

A rare selfie. Although actually not, since I didn’t take it! My sister did, whilst trying to master the automatic smile detection setting on the camera.<...

26th December

 

Boxing Day saw us heading south (only a little bit!) to visit the complete grandparent, aunt and uncle complement for over a few hectic days. There were some...

25th December

 

Christmas Day - at the zoo! Baby koala and big cats being given Christmas Presents (aka dead guinea pigs wrapped up in boxes) were the highlights. But didn’t...

24th December

 

Christmas Eve - bread dough ready to rise over night for Christmas Dinner chelsea buns for our Christmas Day zoo trip.<div class="separator" style="clear:...

23rd December

 

Fail! No photo. Bad weather, bad toddler attitude, general non-festive grumpiness. So let’s gloss over that and have a moment of ‘my hasn’t she grown’ by loo...

22nd December

 

Dressed up and ready to go to dinner for Mr E’s work Christmas do. The worrying thing about this photo is that despite wearing 3 inch heels, I still look tee...

21st December

 

Running an imaginary cafe/campsite in the play area of the Polish shop. Good job, since the queues were epic! Mini-M provided a fair amount of entertainment ...

20th December

 

Party dress on and all ready for the nursery Christmas party and Carol Concert. 

19th December

 

Mini-M with her clipboard, undertaking a survey of the neighbourhood Christmas decorations. Not entirely sure we should be encouraging bureaucratic tendencie...

18th December

 

End of term nursery parcels wrapped and ready to give. Wrapped in Mini-M artwork, since she seems to currently be going for quantity and speed over quality, ...

17th December

 

Mr E went to London for a meeting - this is his flight, on the way home!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

16th December

 

A sock snowman and some Christmas cards to open waiting for Mini-M to arrive home from nursery.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: cent...

15th December

 

Christmas party fun - playing catch the tinsel tail.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

14th December

 

Mini-M dressed herself: jumpsuit, party dress, hi-top trainers, white appliqué cardigan (not visible), fleece and hat. She looks like a Gouranga lady (and ju...

13th December

 

An evening of culture at the Usher Hall - I went with a friend and her Mum to see the RSNO play Brahms with Nicola Benedetti and Leondard Elschenbroich. The ...

12th December

 

North Pole cupcakes - decorated by Mini-M to take along to the Christmas jumper and baking day at Mr E’s work.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; t...

11th December

 

Preparation for the craft activities for the kids Christmas Party on Sunday afternoon… the recipe for Magic Reindeer Food.<div class="separator" style="cl...

10th December

 

We’ve been trying to join in with Advent Challenge 2013 via the Faye Brown Designs blog.Each day in December up until Christmas, there is a different festive...

9th December

 

A tea picnic underneath the Christmas tree to cheer Mini-M up after a tough day at nursery. Very festive, but made slightly weirder by the fact that our Chri...

8th December

 

Two little woodland sprites / squirrels / monkeys in a big old tree.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div...

7th December

 

Fireworks over the town square as part of the Scott’s Selkirk celebrations.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

6th December

 

PJ-ed up at Granny F’s, waiting for Team H to arrive. All very exciting…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

5th December

 

Surprisingly organised for us for once… the first of the Christmas presents wrapped and ready to be delivered during a weekend visit down to the grandparents...

4th December

 

A work training event at the Falkirk Wheel today. A lovely venue - we even got to have our afternoon workshop group in a barge due to a shortage of meeting r...

3rd December

 

Posting pennies in the guide dog collection. Mini-M has given the puppies names and talks to them whenever we go. Last time she managed to win over some elde...

2nd December

 

Christmas presents in progress - shortbread crumble fudge wrapped and labelled<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div&...

1st December

 

A bit of a surprise at the swing park! I’m not sure who was more surprised - the cat or us…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"...

30th November

 

Happy St Andrew’s Day! Mini-M and I baked for the occasion. Saltire cupcakes were iced before 8am - this early morning cake decorating is becoming a worrying...

29th November

 

No photos today - oops! Blaming the stinking cold that is hanging about and filling my head with cotton wool. Time travelling forwards to steal one from the ...

28th November

 

A video today - if technology plays ball. Better than the photo I took of my 'desk' aka laptop and tissue strewn bed, as I worked from home and sneezed and c...

27th November

 

A day of annual leave whilst feeling under the weather with an evil cold meant no ambitious projects tackled, but the tupperware drawer at least slightly tam...

26th November

 

Met a friend after they finished work in town, which meant I was able to have a quick trip to Real Foods which used to me my lunch break distraction several ...

25th November

 

Mini-M squeaky clean with hair dried and brushed after shower time. We reckon she has got Auntie L’s hair - it’s exactly the same colour with the same awesom...

24th November

 

It’s a sad state of affairs when you have to write IoUs to your 3 year old to pay the bus fare…Don’t worry we’re not actually living that skint - just that t...

23rd November

 

Ice skating! No broken bones - phew. There was shameless bribery with sweets to get Mini-M to go back on the ice after a wobbly start (for us all). However, ...

22nd November

 

There was a bake sale at work to raise money for Movember. I contributed a chocolate orange loaf cake - with a glitzy gold moustache on top, to get into the ...

21st November

 

Christmas parties are on the horizon. Still fairly distant (although Mini-M is informing us on a daily basis that it is going to be Christmas soon) but now w...

20th November

 

Experimental Smartprice ketchup caramelised onions. All will become apparent in a future blog post!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: ...

19th November

 

Frosty car park at work - it didn’t defrost all day.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

18th November

 

Mini-M has been telling us - normally as an alternative to going to sleep at the end of the day - that she has a sore tummy. When we ask her how long it has ...

17th November

 

Rocking the shower cap / bath flute combo. The sort of activity you can only really pull off when you’re 3! (The recorder player in me has to point out that ...

16th November

 

At the Queen’s Hall again - twice in less than 12 hours! This time we took Mini-M to watch some of the Edinburgh Light Orchestra rehearsal that Auntie L was ...

15th November

 

They Might Be Giants - at the Queen’s Hall, performing Birdhouse In Your Soul - thank you to Uncle P for babysitting and letting Mr E and myself be there - i...

14th November

 

Sunset - from inside the office. Admittedly the sun sets at about 3:30pm. On the other hand, I was still there at 6 :o(<div class="separator" style="clear...

13th November

 

Nursery notice board at the end of the day - Mini-M napped for 45 mins - win!!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></d...

12th November

 

Day of annual leave for Mr E and myself - day at nursery for Mini-M! A rare occurrence celebrated with a trip to David Bann’s for lunch - this was the vegan ...

11th November

 

At the Lakes Aquarium. Colouring in. Dressed as a lobster. As you do. (Apparently lobster hands make colouring in hard)<div class="separator" style="clear...

10th November

 

Afternoon walk in the sunshine at Kendal castle - short days and long shadows.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div&...

9th November

 

A weekend away with friends in the Lakes - some bedroom floor tower building (in a veritable riot of patterns!) whilst waiting for the rest of the grown ups ...

8th November

 

Taking a trip back in time 2 years to my first foray into daily photos - and a much smaller Mini-M (with giant hands)!<div class="separator" style="clear:...

7th November

 

Forgot to take any photos today - stealing a spare one from 5th November - sun setting over Leith Links<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-ali...

6th November

 

Frost - the mornings are chilly now - even down at sea level in Leith. Unexpected scraping has made me late for work a couple of days recently.<div class=...

5th November

 

Mini-M’s first Sparkler. The firework safety chat at nursery must have been effective. She very quick to lecture us on the need to wear gloves. Indeed you’d ...

4th November

 

Chutney in one pan, yoghurt starter in the other - best not mix the spoons up…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div&...

3rd November

 

Griddle cakes. Oats, almond, prunes, honey, yoghurt, fruit puree - using up little dribs and drabs!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: ...

2nd November

 

I painted Martha’s face. Then she painted mine. That’s what most folk do at 8am on a Sunday morning right…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-...

1st November

 

Starting November badly - in bed in the spare room propped up on pillows to stop my nose getting ridiculously stuffed up. The joys of nursery germs!<div c...

31st October

 

It’s Halloween today. Mini-M and Mr E have had a very spooky day… I came home to a carved pumpkin and a find the ghost game. These were 2 of many adorning ou...

30th October

 

Fitted in a pre-work swim today. Drumbrae Leisure Centre must be the most scenic pool in Edinburgh.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: ...

29th October

 

It’s Granny F!!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

28th October

 

Another day without a decent picture - just some food ones that I want to save for an actual blog post, so here’s another once from the 27th - before the Hal...

27th October

 

All set for the Mummy School Halloween Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

26th October

 

Spontaneous Mum catch-up pub trip once small people were in bed. How rock and roll… 2 drinks and we moved onto cups of tea!<div class="separator" style="c...

25th October

 

Mini-M the detective is watching your every move…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div>

24th October

 

I had an afternoon of annual leave booked to cover Mr E’s jury duty. He was done early, so we went for some kite flying at Longniddry Bents instead.<div c...

23rd October

 

Mr E’s designer labels for his Christmas beer. There was much snipping during the course of the evening.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-al...

22nd October

 

Tuesday nights at 9pm are now virtual film club evenings. Tonight, it was the Joss Whedon version of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ - not that you can tell from th...

21st October

 

Went to ASDA to buy emergency nappies. Space was tight. Whilst getting out of car VERY carefully and gently, touched door of next car with mine. Looked - no ...

20th October

 

Mini-M being a little ambitious with her stone throwing (or indeed lifting) abilities!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&...

19th October

 

Continuing the wedding anniversary jaunt, today started with a long lie, a cooked breakfast, and time to lounge and read books - all three very rare occurren...

18th October

 

Our 5yr wedding anniversary today. We took advantage of some grandparent baby-sitting to have a overnight jaunt up to St Andrews to celebrate / stock up on s...

17th October

 

Park trip (damp and chilly, so no slides, but lots of climbing and roundabout-ing). Apparently Mini-M was very “busy” afterwards… or indeed dizzy!<div cla...

16th October

 

Fitted in a cheeky little post work cinema trip to see Sunshine on Leith. Film was fab, however I can confirm that the post-film weather was most definitely ...

15th October

 

Grapes. This week has seen a lot of grape preserving action - cordial and jelly mainly. Although possibly more like grape toffee in a jar… which might be sur...

14th October

 

Magic tree - reminds me of Christmas stockings aged 7.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

13th October

 

Apple and lemon marmalade, courtesy of Auntie L’s bounteous garden.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

12th October

 

Waiting for the pancakes to be ready to flip. Cue a lot of utensil related questions: “What’s this one for Mummy?” (And in case anyone is feeling some health...

11th October

 

Mini-M and I made some collages after tea.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></div>

10th October

 

Tonight’s achievement - pencil pleats finally pulled in on two of the living room curtains: hemmed and lined too - only 6 and a half years after moving in! N...

9th October

 

No photos today - oops. So here’s one from this time last year - Mini-M the mini-wizard.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...

8th October

 

Strudel guts! Didn’t roll it up properly. In case you’re wondering why it’s brown, it was pear and chocolate strudel.<div class="separator" style="clear: ...

7th October

 

Behaviour over the weekend was good (Mini-M’s behaviour specifically, although I think Mr E and I did OK too) so that meant Peppa Pig was back. To celebrate,...

6th October

 

Safari Park! We had a super day at Blair Drummond with team Head.I have to say that even in the car, I was a bit scared of the lions - they were so close to ...

5th October

 

This is one of those weekends where everything seems to happen at once - so today has been a busy day. All 3 of us were on top of Arthur’s seat by 9:30am, an...

4th October

 

I failed to take any photos today - but Mr E did: he and Mini-M were some of the ‘VIP’ soft play-ers at the opening of the new Portobello gymnastics and Clam...

3rd October

 

An inexplicably bad wrist day meant I had to go see what frozen things the HW student union had in their freezer to get some ice on it, I was hoping for peas...

2nd October

 

Bus commuting after the car failed its MOT and we had to wait for the part to be ordered in. <div></div>

1st October

 

Day off today after a busy few weeks meant I had some flexi time to use. One of my jobs - going to drop off Mini-M’s painting at the new Tumbles Soft Play at...

30th September

 

An almost-fallen-asleep-oops-I’ve-not-taken-a-photo shot of the headboard!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

29th September

 

Afternoon park trip in the sunshine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

28th September

 

A sewing project in progress - to be revealed at a later date!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

27th September

 

No photos today - oops - so one from earlier in the week… a lunchtime wander came up trumps with brambles, which I mixed with pomegranate to make some quirky...

26th September

 

In the absence of having taking photos of anything more interesting - some random but fairly tasty dairy free, gluten free, egg free, nut free, soya free mar...

25th September

 

Today we had flapjack for pudding. With candles in it. Because I couldn’t think of a good reason why not when Mini-M asked for them (the candles that is - th...

24th September

 

The post-tea-trying-to-keep-epic-grumpiness-as-a-result-of-not-having-had-a-nap-at-nursery-at-bay activity involved making some rather weird looking lemur an...

23rd September

 

We had a visit to North Berwick on Sunday in the unexpected sunshine. There was beach picnicking, sandcastle building, paddling in vest and pants (just for M...

22nd September

 

Apple jelly straining became a bit Heath Robinson - involving clothes pegs, pencils and ribbon - and over the course of the evening, the pencil slowly drew a...

21st September

 

Ace day at ‘Septemberfest’ at Broughton High School. Among many other activities, there was multicoloured hula hooping.<div class="separator" style="clear...

20th September

 

Mini-M proudly showing off her yoghurt oat and fruit sundae that she made for pudding, with very little help from Mr E (hence the beautiful presentation - it...

19th September

 

Korean pancakes, as cooked by Mr E.  Yeasted dough filled with chopped nuts and brown sugar - delicious! We’re already mentally concocting some other varieti...

18th September

 

Moonrise / sunset from our front door<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

17th September

 

Mini-M putting her PJs on. At the point that this photo was taken she had her right leg in the left leg hole and her left leg in one of the sleeves. Much as ...

16th September

 

<p dir=ltr>Gone are the evenings of being able to dry washing outside of an evening - feels like autumn has been bypassed tonight! </p><div cl...

15th September

 

A happy place on the sofa - and lovely to catch up with good friends.

14th September

 

<p dir=ltr>Things l never imagined I’d be doing at 8am on a Saturday morning, whilst still in my pjs… making a plaster cast for Mini-M’s doll!</p>...

13th September

 

Penguin!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

12th September

 

Some may call it sacrilege - I call it gingerbread crumble tablet - embracing the sudden autumnal feel.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-ali...

11th September

 

Running the kerb gauntlet during some post-tea cycling round the block, whilst trying to master pedalling. We’re going for the little and often approach and ...

10th September

 

Mini-M having a tired post nursery tantrum under the playmat. I have no idea why or what, but figured that since she couldn’t see me doing it, it was OK to t...

9th September

 

Our questionable horticultural skills have culminated in a crop of micro-potatoes! Micro-potato salad coming up…<div class="separator" style="clear: both;...

8th September

 

Today, after conducting an unscheduled apple / plum / grape raid on Auntie L’s garden (!) we spent the afternoon in Kelso at St James’ Fair catching up with ...

7th September

 

First attempt to get on to the new bike!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

6th September

 

What a look… Dame Edna eat your heart out!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

5th September

 

Mini-M seems to be going through some sort of 1950s housewife role playing phase. There is much ‘cleaning’, ‘washing’ and ‘looking after babies’. This aftern...

4th September

 

More tablet - ready to take to work to sell to raise money for the Borders Exploration Group Malawi 2014 expedition.<div class="separator" style="clear: b...

3rd September

 

Sunrise on Leith - taken looking along Commercial Street at 7am<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div>&...

2nd September

 

<p dir=ltr>A post zumba trip to ASDA - exciting stuff! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

1st September

 

Mini-M playing duplo bungee jumping - it’s been a much discussed topic this weekend as some family were doing a jump today. The little people are waiting in ...

31st August

 

Spot where the family with the small child are seated…! A lovely wedding of some lovely friends - and the sun shone all day.<div class="separator" style="...

30th August

 

Well deserved work drinks - it’s been a bit of a week!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

29th August

 

Sunrise on Leith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

28th August

 

Sometimes, even though it is technically still summer, a hot water bottle is required!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&...

27th August

 

Micro-cauliflower!<div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></di...

26th August

 

Strawberry chia seed jam on toast for breakfast.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

25th August

 

After tea we constructed a cardboard zoo - which was transported animal by animal from the table to the “real zoo” on the playmat on the floor. The antelope ...

24th August

 

Mini-M and a beach snail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

23rd August

 

<p dir=ltr>Relaxing in our hostel after a wet and windy day. We made Martha climb a hill - hopefully that means she’ll sleep later tomorrow than today’...

22nd August

 

<p dir=ltr>A birthday adventure to celebrate Mr E’s 30th - a weekend on Benbecula. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: ...

21st August

 

Mini-M’s packing list… we’re off on an adventure tomorrow!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

20th August

 

Mini-M trying on Mr E’s birthday boxers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

19th August

 

What to do with 2 slightly stale chapatis - shred them and make pea and chapati tortilla. Tasty!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: cen...

18th August

 

The planks ready for the first runners to take the plunge into the Clyde at the Glasgow River Rat Race where we spectated today whilst some of my colleagues ...

17th August

 

Mr E’s 30th Birthday party involved some kilted ukelele playing halfway up Arthur’s Seat.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&g...

16th August

 

Cake decorating in progress for Mr E’s birthday do tomorrow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div></...

15th August

 

Oops! No photos today - so one from my photo-a-day in 2011, of a bald Mini-M crawling and shouting!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: ...

14th August

 

Stuck in traffic on the way home from work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

13th August

 

Cuddle / Headlock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

12th August

 

Bedtime stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

11th August

 

Face painting. I painted Mini-M’s face…. she did the rest and is clearly very very proud of her handiwork!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-...

10th August

 

Mini-M’s first ice cream cone. There have been ice lollies in the past, but nowhere that has previously managed to come up trumps both with a dairy free sorb...

9th August

 

Crazy plant. This photo makes it look like it is growing towards the light (assuming you know our living room layout…) but in fact that’s just because I turn...

8th August

 

Raspberry “cheesecake” with no cheese in sight! A very yummy dessert - worthwhile finally braving dairy free “cream cheese” for.<div class="separator" sty...

7th August

 

Mr E and I had a Fringe day today whilst Mini-M was at nursery. We took in some Dylan Thomas (with horrendous attempts and Welsh accents), some bread making,...

6th August

 

Mini-M helping Mr E stuff newspaper into his wet hillwalking boots from his soggy West Highland Way outing.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text...

5th August

 

Pistachios… may contain traces of nuts. Who’d have thought it.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

4th August

 

A cross section of the biggest red cabbage ever - I took this photo after I’d removed, washed and chopped at least half of the leaves. It was about half a me...

3rd August

 

“Give it up, Give it up, Give it up for the Easy Crew. Solving mysteries in the neighbourhood. Always there to make a bad thing good” Or indeed, as Martha si...

2nd August

 

Tonight’s entertainment possibly involved a Peppa Pig YouTube marathon, in order to keep peace and tranquility in reign, following the departure of Mr E on a...

1st August

 

Getting to grips with scootering (not so much the steering - I was run over seconds later!) - tongue out in concentration.<div class="separator" style="cl...

31st July

 

Impromptu breakfast picnic on the front stairs, in pyjamas, keeping me company whilst I waited for my lift to work to arrive.<div class="separator" style=...

30th July

 

Nursery artwork - a glittery (but of course) spoon butterfly. I think all such artworks should come along with a picture of what it was supposed to look like...

29th July

 

Getting to grips with tiger feet - A lot of lining up, standing with one foot, and eventually a few tentative and largely successful steps were taken!<div...

28th July

 

King Tiso Bear - modelling some of the many new bear (and bunny) clothes we got Mini-M for her birthday (a second hand job lot - eBay rules!).We’ve had about...

27th July

 

The last of the run of summer birthday parties - it’s 1 a week from the end of June to the end of July!There was much bouncing…<div class="separator" styl...

26th July

 

A scorching hot day at the Border Union Show - zonked out in the buggy.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

25th July

 

After almost 11hrs at work (!) a lovely evening was spent catching up with a friend, with good food and good chat - just what was needed. As usual, no photos...

24th July

 

Uncle P kindly babysat so that Mr E and I could go out and have a civilised drink to celebrate my birthday. Cider and ice, pistachio nuts and much circling a...

23rd July

 

Mini-M modelling a birthday present chosen by Grandad A. According to Mini-M it is a "bonnie rugby shirt" at which point she found her own description so fun...

22nd July

 

Mini-M is 3 - craziness!

21st July

 

After spending until 1am decorating Mini-M's hello kitty birthday cake I felt a little haunted when the first round of the pub quiz was cartoon cats!

20th July

 

"Dirty Pirate Popsicles" made as a birthday surprise by Mr E (for me) as well as an awesome treasure hunt around Leith (for Mini-M). The popsicles are defini...

19th July

 

Flamingo drawing fail. This is a fat pink goose / seagull hybrid by the look of it. Not so great for 'pin the feather on the Flamingo'! Hopefully my attempt ...

18th July

 

Mini-M and Mr E made this today!

17th July

 

Feeling weirdly Polish and Christmassy (!) after icing these gingerbread biscuits for birthday party favours in preparation for Mini-M’s 3rd birthday party a...

16th July

 

Mini-M bouncing on the bed with rabbit. Giraffe and mousey are waiting their turns… You know it’s going to be an energetic day with it begins with pre-nurser...

15th July

 

There have been a couple of new additions to our picture wall recently, since whilst clearing our junk out of Mini-M’s new toy cupboard, we found both a box ...

14th July

 

The swanfield street sign on the way home from the pub quiz where a rather depleted Mummy School team (all 2 of us!) managed to defend our honour by not comi...

13th July

 

Pirates ahoy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

12th July

 

Mini-M’s new favourite mode of transport - a double grandparent sedan chair! (Just to clarify, Grandad A is wearing Mini-M’s hat - hot pink isn’t his usual c...

11th July

 

Mini-M dressed as subtly as ever…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

10th July

 

Mini-M's birthday present arrived today. Mr E has "hidden" it under the laundry bin... I suspect she might notice!

9th July

 

Hottest day in a long time today - car thermometer said 31C when I left work - how very un-Scottish!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align:...

8th July

 

This evening mainly involved sorting out piles of paperwork - I found this amongst it - some distracted doodling.<div class="separator" style="clear: both...

7th July

 

A divide and conquer day - Mr E dropped myself and Mini-M at the zoo before hitting IKEA for some bookcases. We figured we should get in another zoo whilst M...

6th July

 

Super sunshiney day - almost all of it spent out enjoying another lovely 3rd birthday party, then chilling out with friends in the park. Did I take any easy-...

5th July

 

Mini-M in full on model pose! Captured accidentally - she was actually concentrating on balancing. Best quote of the day at the park… “Daddy come and catch m...

4th July

 

Mr E doing a beer check - and the prognosis for this batch is a bit dubious!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

3rd July

 

Bento picnic box for tea for Mini-M as the lovely Auntie L did the nursery pick-up to allow some deadlines to be met at work. It was a hit and all eaten up.&...

2nd July

 

Oops - another photo-less day - blaming too many looooooong days at work.So one of the Stockbridge duck race from the 30th (and some very wonky bunches!)<...

1st July

 

Ukelele time! (Bob the Builder, sung loudly, with unrelated chords)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div&...

30th June

 

Mini-M and Mini-H dancing at Stockbridge Market, after watching the duck race get underway.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"...

29th June

 

Birthday party time - a lovely teddy bear’s picnic themed one - Mini-M brought giraffe as her teddy - it had an awesome time too!<div class="separator" st...

28th June

 

Tonight’s post-tea pre-bed activity was birthday card making. Mini-M got so into it that we skipped showering for extra gluing time. I’m sure going to bed wi...

27th June

 

Mr E has been home-brewing with Mr H. With labels and everything!

26th June

 

It’s birthday party season - and so obviously Hello Kitty is involved…!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

25th June

 

Hearty broth you could stand your spoon up in!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

24th June

 

After Mini-M finished her pre-bed shower, she left it like this!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

23rd June

 

We brought the rain home with us from our holidays - it followed us up the UK from the channel - literally! We kept thinking we could see clearer skies up ah...

22nd June

 

A meaty beef bone bargain!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

21st June

 

Getting stuck in to some building at the Legoland Discovery Centre, Manchester. Think Mr E had at least as much fun, if not more, than Mini-M<div class="s...

20th June

 

Hello ducky! (One of a very large number at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><...

19th June

 

Posing for a picture on the return ferry - and looking very like a little Auntie L!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><...

18th June

 

Mini-M intrepidly trying some artichoke. She gave it a good chew, but decided that her considered opinion was ‘Yucky’. Mr E was inclined to agree…<div cla...

17th June

 

Oops - photo fail - this one was taken by Mr E - it’s some very old stones!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

16th June

 

In-caravan crepes - since it would have been a shame to have a crepe-less holiday in France, but obviously all the ones in cafes were cows milk based, so we ...

15th June

 

Dutch ‘Guess Who’ which also has transport, flags and animal boards. (Or rather Wie, Wat, Waar? to give it it’s proper name). The randomness of holidays with...

14th June

 

Giraffe - check, raisins, check - ready to go - for a very slow cycle around Carantec<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&l...

13th June

 

Lush green and sunshiny on Ile Callot - and at 23:41 the rest of the catch-up posts will have to wait until tomorrow.<div class="separator" style="clear: ...

12th June

 

The church in Roscoff during a post-ferry wander in the drizzle! Did I mention that we have a holiday weather jinx? At least this year there wasn’t snow.<...

11th June

 

Mini-M playing at tea shops in our cabin on the night ferry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

10th June

 

Due to some fortuitous magical coincidence, we were staying literally across the road from a vegan pizza shop… needless to say we partook for tea, since such...

9th June

 

We’ve been on holiday - to France and back - so I’m playing catch up!9th June - left home at 3am and hightailed it down the M6 (within legal speed limits of ...

8th June

 

A proper scorcher for the Leith Festival Gala Day. Mini-M had a pony ride!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

7th June

 

Mini-M the monster has discovered how to pull faces<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

6th June

 

Trying out the macro setting on the newly pre-holiday purchased camera.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

5th June

 

Bedtime stories - tonight it was the Spanish picture dictionary. A popular choice with Mini-M but a bit of a nightmare for me and Mr E since there’s no pronu...

4th June

 

5 family, 8 parent, 7 child picnic tea in St Mark's park tonight... But no pictures! My pre-bed hanjie nemesis instead!

3rd June

 

Awful photo - but it's 11pm and still not properly dark - one of the nicest things about June in Scotland.

2nd June

 

Mini-M was the first artistic contributor to the giant bottle top painting at the Meadows Festival - a result of arriving a good 30mins before most things st...

1st June

 

Emergency holiday entertainment sorted. Mr E just loves Postman Pat…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

31st May

 

Some of last night’s rhubarb preserving bounty.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

30th May

 

Last minute post at 4 mins to midnight after a hectic evening dispatching 6kg of rhubarb via chutney, jam, stewing and freezing. Prior to all that though the...

29th May

 

Nothing perks up a rather long and slightly grim day at work than a free cocktail - in this case an apricot and whisky concoction which was included in the t...

28th May

 

SubSea7 shops in ASDA too…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

27th May

 

Stopped on the way home from zumba to capture the sunset over the Forth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><...

26th May

 

Making the most of the weekend sunshine with a drive over to Fife and some beach time. We were aiming for Elie but stopped in Leven instead because the swing...

25th May

 

Mr E running the EMF 10k. (he’s the tall one in the red t-shirt…) The random silver things infront of the lens are bits of Mini-M’s cheerleader pompoms which...

24th May

 

I came home from work today to discover Mini-M and Mr E had been doing face painting. She is a cat, and he is a dog (?!!) just incase it wasn’t immediately a...

23rd May

 

Dr M with a rather relaxed attitude to diagnosing Spotty Mousey!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

22nd May

 

Our fledgling balcony veg garden - which thanks to Mini-M’s love of a) wearing wellies and b) watering things with her teapot, stands a greater chance of sur...

21st May

 

A sunny bus stop in front of Morrison’s on Ferry Road, where I spent almost 20 mins waiting for the bus that was due in 5… but at least it wasn’t raining!<...

20th May

 

Sorting out clothes for the charity shop. A job ticked off the never ending and ever increasing to-do list!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text...

19th May

 

Today really was lovely May weather - once the mist had finally burned off by about 3:30pm! And by that time I had a very scenic field to stand in marshallin...

18th May

 

Lovely May weather… So we had a trip to the soft play at Dynamic Earth - where I took this picture of the soggy Scottish Parliament.<div class="separator"...

17th May

 

Mini-M set the table by herself...

16th May

 

11 bags of dark chocolate swirl tablet bagged and ready to sell at work tomorrow  to raise funds for the BEG Malawi 2014 expedition.<div class="separator"...

15th May

 

Surprised face!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: ce...

14th May

 

New buggy - a £20 gumtree bargain. We decided we'd chanced our luck enough with the "will the wheel fall off on the way to nursery" roulette with the ol...

13th May

 

Some recent Mini-M artwork

12th May

 

Spotty mousie. Eating snipped bits of wool (aka custard). Sitting on a tea towel to keep the carpet clean in case there were spills. All arranged and imagine...

11th May

 

In-car sheltering from the rain snack break at Gorgie city farm. Mini-M named her gingerbread men before eating them. This one was Daddy. We also had Martha ...

10th May

 

Seems we have an arsonist in the neighbourhood. The joys of living in a slightly less than salubrious bit of town :-( This is two of the 3 cars that were bur...

9th May

 

Mr E mid doughnut frying as the dessert part of the Iranian themed meal he cooked. After frying they were dunked in a lemon and honey syrup. Leftovers for br...

8th May

 

Post-tea colouring in table chaos seen through a sophisticated and elegant Winnie the Pooh tumbler.

7th May

 

Dedication to gluing… daisies glued to a piece of paper was the masterpiece that Mini-M proudly brought home today!<div class="separator" style="clear: bo...

6th May

 

For the first time in 2.5yrs I had cereal with real milk for breakfast! I don't pretend to understand what black magic goes into its creation but I seem to b...

5th May

 

Oops took picture but forgot to.post it yesterday... Brunch with some lovely friends before they headed back to Oz.

4th May

 

Playing with elephant in the sun before dancing class.

3rd May

 

Mini-M conquers her fear of the vacuum cleaner and discovers a new game... Dropping things (oats in this case) on the floor and hoovering them up. Following ...

2nd May

 

Mini-M the Hairdresser drying Mr E's hair with a mini jumbo jet (a tad more powerful than most hairdryers!). He was being styled with rabbit hair apparently ...

1st May

 

Making some photo albums for printing tonight

30th April

 

If only I'd caught the smile a second before... Mini-M trying out the necklace I'd been wearing when I got home from work.

29th April

 

Another 'Oops I've gone to bed and forgotten to take a picture' day. So here is Mr E's light and portable bed time reading! At page 487 and finally passed ha...

28th April

 

Tandem sliding during a rather chilly post-tea park trip!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="sep...

27th April

 

Setting of to get the bus (one of 5 we took this morning!) to the theatre to see "Spot's Birthday Party". It was lovely and the small people were captivated ...

26th April

 

This week has been disproportionately long. An early night with a book is required to offset...!

25th April

 

Stumbled across an unexpected book sale on my lunchtime wander at Heriot watt university. £2.20 got me a 'no sharp knives required' kids cook book, a ve...

24th April

 

A flexi day today to take Mini-M to a hospital check up in the morning, then for a little while in the afternoon, I pretended I was a cat and curled up in th...

23rd April

 

This evening's activity - taking in the waistband on a variety of Mini-m's trousers to avoid repeating the situation on Saturday when she announced halfway a...

22nd April

 

Another photo of tea - this time eggs cooked inside bagels which went with the turnip and leek soup from yesterday's photo.

21st April

 

From 7am to 4pm today was spent helping at the BEG Malawi 2014 selection day and did I take any interesting pictures - no! Did I even take any boring picture...

20th April

 

Bedtime stories in the big chair at Granny S's

19th April

 

Hungry hippos - family fun - after an unexpected afternoon trip to the sick kids (thankfully all's well after a rather dramatic tumble by Mini-M) it was a mu...

18th April

 

Mini-M's artwork. This is of Sarah from 'Sarah and duck' which is a kids tv programme. She very carefully explained it all: the smaller 'circle' on the right...

17th April

 

A lunchtime wander to look at the demolition on some of the older Heriot watt university halls of residence. They are being pulled down fairly quickly and dr...

16th April

 

Sunshine in Leith - an some big boats in at the docks popping up above the buildings. If you look closely you can probably see some stray wheelie bins too - ...

15th April

 

Recycling - finally sorted through the contents if my desk from changing job back in January!

14th April

 

Today there was sunshine! (And rain but we're glossing over that). So today's photo was taken in proper daylight - a rarity so far this year. Mini-M is fasci...

13th April

 

Team pudding making - Mini-M was chief apricot chopper which she did whilst telling us about all the other things she had chopped and nursery to make fruit s...

12th April

 

Lining up the in-shower bath flute orchestra...

11th April

 

Mini-M doing some puzzles - or at least trying to write 'M's in all the boxes. Think kakuro will be beyond her for a good while yet!

10th April

 

Kev and Jono’s Leith Pale Ale - a homebrewing success story! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

9th April

 

Took the photo yesterday - entirely forgot to post it. Oops. Lemon and coconut ice cream defrosting very slowly and testing my patience!

8th April

 

An uninspiring 'Oh dear I'm already in bed' photo today. I blogged. That and spent near on 12hrs working! Now it's bedtime...

7th April

 

Wedding stickering enthusiasm ( imagine the monkey noises to accompany the sticker!). A lovely day all round. Mini-M M bravely tried and discovered she likes...

6th April

 

Brunch (aka toddler lunch) at uncle P’s - sausage butties all round :-) we gained a toddler for the morning whilst the newest member of Team H put in an appe...

5th April

 

White chocolate buttercream roses - wedding cake tier 3 finished - and by 9:45pm so no late night cake decorating required - phew!

4th April

 

A quality freebie with the CBeebies magazine! Good purchase by Mr E!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

3rd April

 

Sooking the SoyWhip out of a brandy snap!

2nd April

 

One wedding cake tier marzipanned and one collage by Mini-M. Time for bed!

1st April

 

No April Fools pictures - just some little roasted plums and yoghurt that we had for pudding.

31st March

 

Easter Sunday has been a busy day starting with brunch with friends at Teuchters Landing (bacon buttie for me, bacon and haggis buttie for Mr E and porridge ...

30th March

 

Engrossed in the lobby library.

29th March

 

Oops! I took so many photos yesterday they ended up getting a whole blog post to themselves - and I forgot to post any here... So here's yesterday's picture ...

28th March

 

Mini-M turning on her new lamp. This photo took about 10 attempts because each time I clicked, she turned the light off. But we got there eventually!

27th March

 

Not that this photo illustrates it very well... But it's snowing again!

26th March

 

Oh dear - the clothes tree is getting precarious... I see some Easter weekend tidying on the horizon!

25th March

 

A photo of shame tonight - I skipped zumba-ing and swapped it for sitting knitting on the sofa wrapped up in a tartan picnic rug like an old person! The thou...

24th March

 

Snow at Fountains Abbey - picturesque but very cold! We managed to convince ourselves that tramping about in the snow most definitely burned off the cooked b...

23rd March

 

Catching up in our B & B in Northallerton - a bottle of wine, snacks, an extra duvet and a giant TV to watch Grand Designs on - the new 'going out'!

22nd March

 

This is what happens when I'm left unsupervised for an evening - I seem to have accidentally dyed my hair purple!

21st March

 

Mini-M feeling a little bit poorly and having snuggly stories with Mr E.

20th March

 

Post dinner stickering - tonight it seemed to be Dress the Gaucho. In the end Mini-M decided the horse might have cold legs and so it ended up wearing trouse...

19th March

 

Geeky blogger excitement - I got sent some samples to review - well not strictly review since I already know they are awesome - but to do some creative bakin...

18th March

 

A little bedtime reading!

17th March

 

Our best rounds ever for the Mummy School pub quiz team!

16th March

 

Today Mr E and assorted other friends and family members were running in the Deerstalker adventure race. The rest of us were there to cheer them on. Here's M...

15th March

 

Mini-M adopting a rather laid back lounging position whilst waiting for tea!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

14th March

 

This evening was spent making Scottish style mashed potato macaroons which should provide a pre or post race sugar boost for the deerstalker runners on Satur...

13th March

 

New glasses! Chosen with Mini-M's assistance...

12th March

 

This week is really plumbing new depths of photo taking. Tonight we have the 'I have just got warm in bed I'm not getting out again' shot. Will try to do bet...

11th March

 

Early-ish bed with hot water bottle and book after a day featuring far too much driving about in crazy snow. Took 90 minutes to go 9 miles this morning - a n...

10th March

 

Among other things, today we ended up at the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championship. Mini-M liked the piping and enthusiastically clapped her hands, stamped...

9th March

 

Today was the mummy school Christmas party - a mere three months later than originally planned. There was a secret Santa and Mini-M was given some awesome ch...

8th March

 

I'm on flexi today and went for an eye test. Mini-M was my frame fashion advisor and loved trying them on too!

7th March

 

This afternoon Mini-M and Mr E baked chocolate orange loaf cake. Here's the head chef getting stuck in! She was adamant this was the recipe she wanted to mak...

6th March

 

Today's lunchtime walk was to the canal for some damp misty fresh air.

5th March

 

Today was a team workshop day - our meeting room was in a conservatory and the sun shone, so despite the fact we were indoors and discussing work, it felt a ...

4th March

 

Pre-bedtime swanee whistle playing whilst cuddling John the bear and singing along to What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor.

3rd March

 

A motivational masterpiece ahead of the Deerstalker race in a couple of weekends time. The creative genius of 3 toddlers and copious amounts of fabric paint ...

2nd March

 

4 Malawi themed cakes made during the leader selection weekend for the next Borders Exploration Group trip which is (surprise surprise) going to Malawi in 20...

1st March

 

Mini-M appropriated my hi-tops. I think they complete the look quite well!

28th February

 

"The grannies on the bus all knit knit knit". Apparently Martha wants to learn to knit. I've suggested we could try sewing first. Next stop John Lewis for th...

27th February

 

A face drawn in the bathroom mirror condensation by Mini-M. It has eyes, a nose and a mouth! Her favoured drawing mediums for accuracy seem to be steamy mirr...

26th February

 

"Daddy do you fit in the box?" Not really...

25th February

 

Not even an emergency can of Irn Bru picked up my mid-afternoon energy levels after Mini-M getting up for the day at 03:20am on Sunday morning then 05:20am o...

24th February

 

Mini-M filling in her first customer comment card 'Dear Cafe Nero, your apple juice was nice but why do you offer to make porridge with soya milk if the oat ...

23rd February

 

Strategic indoor craft activity at Alnwick Garden between snow showers!

22nd February

 

In the Masons Arms in Rennington near Alnwick after a long day - is 7:45pm too early for bed?!

21st February

 

Mini-M's toddler toes sporting some rainbow felt tip pen "nail polish" (at her request). Gladly it washed off an hour or so later in the shower!

20th February

 

Today's photo is for Mr E's benefit to prove that there is indeed a pond with ducks, swans etc at Heriot Watt Uni campus. I know it exists - it's on my lunch...

19th February

 

Today's nursery artwork takes finger painting to a new level - I give you Mini-M's dismembered arm print. She is very proud of it and it has pride of place o...

18th February

 

Sunshine at stirling station. I was waiting for a train home after some work meetings - such a sunshiney day today but frost again tonight.

17th February

 

Just finished the week 3 assignment of the online Coursera nutrition course I'm doing. This week has been all about diabetes - next week it's cancer. Informa...

16th February

 

Weeee! Blurry fun playing on the swing in Granny and Grandad E’s garden during a weekend trip down to Hawick.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; te...

15th February

 

Friday night entertainment - watching cdza videos on YouTube with the folks!

14th February

 

Mini-M was determined to dry her hair tonight all by herself. Problem is she can hardly lift the hairdryer! Here she is in full two-handed leaning backwards ...

12th February

 

Too late to still be up when the alarm is set for 06:20am - but on the plus side we now have our summer holiday booked - Brittany here we come!

11th February

 

I won! I never win competitions - admittedly that's probably more due to the fact that I rarely enter them than a run of bad luck, but I entered one and won ...

10th February

 

We don't often cook a Sunday roast but we did today, with a middle Eastern flavour: slow cooked lamb with pomegranate molasses, beet balls, almond and pomegr...

9th February

 

Forward rolls in action. Mini-M can almost do it on her own but needs a helping hand with the final tipping over!

8th February

 

Playing with a stick on fish eye lens for my phone camera

7th February

 

Tonight after tea we had the biggest grapes I have ever seen! Good find Mr E!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </di...

6th February

 

Sunrise over the Pentlands from Riccarton park and ride.

5th February

 

Tonight there's no snow but this morning when I opened the curtains there was a moderate coating of white and some early morning ice scraping was required be...

4th February

 

Mini-M's first time playing with the big lego (or indeed the small lego...). Mr E had fun too!

3rd February

 

Sofa tent - 3 toddlers and one lightsabre!

2nd February

 

Stamping on icy puddles at Harlaw Reservoir

1st February

 

Holiday planning to counteract the miserable weather lack of daylight and general doldrummy-ness of the back end of this week. Roll on spring!

31st January

 

I didn't take a picture today. I didn't even manage a month without slipping up! Oh well - a spare photo from the day before instead of Princes Street in the...

30th January

 

Today's picture is of the pressure cooker which is currently de-pressurising on the hob. And what's inside? Azerbaijan lamb stew for tomorrow night's tea.

29th January

 

A fancy wall on the edge of the Heriot Watt University campus, just off the A71. The sort of wall that is unlikely to be specced in any modern boundary fenci...

28th January

 

Mini-M and Mr E both engrossed with the robot story cards.

27th January

 

I have seasonally confused rhubarb! I hope it survives the rest of winter since it's still only January...

26th January

 

Mini-M helping with some baking after my cold finally started to clear a little bit and I started to feel a bit more enthusiasm for doing things!

25th January

 

Happy Burns Night! I hope you had haggis for your tea - we did - yum! Today's picture isn't of haggis. It's of some rather obstructive parking encountered on...

24th January

 

Mini-M and Mr E proudly displaying the Selkirk Bannock they baked this afternoon. Nothing beats walking into the house after work being greeted with the smel...

23rd January

 

Now I'm the poorly one! I sniffed and sneezed my way through work today and am hoping I can do the same tomorrow! Right now I can't help thinking I should be...

22nd January

 

Rubbish photo day today - picture taken from the bus on the way home. Burton’s biscuit factory in Sighthill - the source of the amazing sweet biscuity smell ...

21st January

 

The selection of books chosen for me by Mr E and Mini-M when they went on a poorly peoples’ trip to the library earlier today. They both have a vicious snott...

20th January

 

Mini-M's been poorly today. It's been a day of slumping on the sofa with Jemima Puddleduck for cuddles, watching CBeebies repeats on iPlayer. Thankfully by t...

19th January

 

"When I'm a little bit bigger Mummy I coming back and choosing this one" Really.....?

17th January

 

This sums up my evening - not eating burgers but doing puzzles, watching tv, web browsing and eating toast. Brain dead tonight after an unpleasantly epic dri...

16th January

 

Red sky in the morning (and -6C on the car thermometer) shepherds' warning. This is the sunrise from my work car park.

15th January

 

1st day at new job today - then epic toddler tantrums when I got home. It’s been a recurring theme recently (the tantrums, not starting new jobs every day!),...

14th January

 

Today was a 1-day lull between jobs and I spent it catching up on odd jobs with a little bit of guiltily doing nothing too! Here’s a view of Leith docks from...

13th January

 

Reading the ikea instructions during construction of the new bed.

12th January

 

A very lovely and indulgent lunch at Prestonfield House - complete with pheasants strutting around outside! Thankyou wonderful babysitters for making it poss...

11th January

 

Playing in the park in questionably suitable weather - but that’s what wellies and puddle suits are for, right?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; ...

10th January

 

My leaving cake at work. Going to miss everyone but new challenges ahead at SEPA <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <...

9th January

 

St Andrew’s square at twilight.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

8th January

 

Tree silhouettes on a lunchtime wander

7th January

 

Because nothing says 7th January like Christmas pudding!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

6th January

 

Bedtime story - “Katie Morag And The Big Boy Cousins”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

5th January

 

This morning I cleared my desk! 5.5yrs of accumulated junk and now I need to find space at home for all my old uni textbooks - i foresee some shelf rearrangi...

4th January

 

I’m bad at To-Do lists. Mr E is a To-Do list king. In 2013 I’m trying to do better! So I’ve made a list of 20 housework-y tasks to complete by the end of Jan...

3rd January

 

Bed shopping in IKEA - Mini-M trying her soon-to-be big girl bed for size. She’s not quite got the whole pillow thing sorted yet…<div class="separator" st...

2nd January

 

Mini-M sneaking a sprinkle after decorating some Mr Tumble inspired cupcakes.

1st January

 

Trying out the new elbow and knee pads on the birthday bike which, 6 months later finally fits! Good job we were on the sand as the helmet is going to offer ...

Back to top ↑

recipes

Plain on the outside…

 

Since it is/was Chocolate Cake day today, I thought I’d better bake one!Here’s a white chocolate and apricot loaf, which I’m taking with me to a work meeting...

Something Sweet to Say Thank You

 

I’t’s Mini-M’s last day at pre-school tomorrow. (Gulp!).Since this is a a baking blog, I’ll spare you the “how did she grow up so quickly, where has my baby ...

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

October Daring Cooks Challenge: Bitterballen

 

Two consecutive junk food posts in a row. Jeeps! Once upon a time I posted healthy recipes.We still eat a lot of really good healthy food, just that time is ...

Junk food salad

 

Not really a recipe, however too successful and discovery not to share!Junk food. We all know it’s bad for us. We still all want to eat it far more often tha...

Scones on a Stick!

 

I’ve just spent the past hour watching the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.The contestants have shown great skill, precision and patience with their...

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Homebrew Everything Cookies

 

For part of Mr E’s Christmas present, I made him a Pinterest board of beer related recipes. (It’s here, if anyone is interested!). Don’t worry, that’s not al...

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

An edible Valentine

 

It’s Valentines day on Friday. We have a card covered in glitter and all things red and hearty home from nursery to prove it.In case you’ve not had such a su...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Maple Bacon and Stout Jam

 

This year we’ve made a LOT of jam. I say we, since Mr E was fully involved in the jam making process - be it sterilising, stirring, boiling, labelling, peeli...

Move over Nigella & Delia!

 

There’s a new TV chef in town. OK that’s possibly a slight exaggeration, but give Mini-M a few years…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

2013 - My favourite posts

 

Looking through my archives, it seems I wrote 100 posts last year. Goodness knows how many spelling mistakes they contain, or incomplete sentences that don’t...

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

3 Minute Mulled Plums

 

Jings - we’re into double figures of December already, and my last post was 9 days ago, about dumped mattresses which really doesn’t seem particularly festiv...

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Uber Cookie

 

This is a no-frills post!Recipe with very little chat, since I’ve got a BIG backlog of photos and scraps of paper with ingredients written on them. Some have...

Bake in a Bag - toddler style

 

Mini-M is super keen to bake and cook, which is probably not that surprising since Mr E and I both spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes, trying...

Murtabak - Random Recipes #34

 

Time to squeeze in a quick pre-bed blog post, to attempt to create some sense of accomplishment for the evening, otherwise all I’ve done is bail from going t...

Local (& Late!) Random Recipes #33

 

For this month’s Random Recipes challenge, our host, Dom at Belleau Kitchen, exhorted us to use a local ingredient in our random culinary creations. He also ...

Halloween Mummy Pie

 

Not so much a recipe, but a set of instructions to make a bandaged-mummy-style pie. If Halloween on the horizon isn’t a good excuse for such pastry shenaniga...

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Chard & Pecan Pesto - Pasta Please!

 

We were the lucky recipients of a big bunch of chard and another of kale when my folks visited a couple of weekends ago.Since we’ve not had our veg box, we’v...

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

Geek Stats Cooking: Albania

 

I’m slowly (OK ridiculously slowly) working my way around the parts of the world I’ve not had any blog visitors form, according to Google Analytics stats, an...

Mini-M Makes: Chicken pops

 

I’m trying to catch up on some back-blogging and these photos were next on my hit list: Mini-M making some chicken bites on sticks (aka chicken pops). I seem...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

A Pictorial Pasta Please Guest Post

 

I’m hosting the Pasta Please challenge this month. It is organised by Tinned Tomatoes, and each month a different blogger chooses a theme and curates the rou...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

No-Cook Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

 

Update - in the time that it took me to write this post which admittedly is 24hrs, someone else has posted first, so any residual feelings of hosting / fi...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

A New Tradition

 

We’ve started a new tradition - although just a small scale, Saturday teatime, chez Makey-Cakey tradition.Unsurprisingly it involves cake. Sponge pudding to ...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Chocolate Orange Nakd Scones

 

I’m continuing my foray into the realms of ‘things you can bake with Nakd bars’ after being sent some to try by Natural Balance Foods.So far we’ve had…Baked ...

Make it snappy!

 

A wee while ago, whilst enjoying a catch-up weekend with good friends (in the not so glamorous, but still rather lovely surroundings of Northallerton!) whils...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

Baked Plums with Nakd Ginger Crumble

 

Time for another recipe featuring one of the Natural Balance Nakd bar varieties I was sent to try.This time I oped for the Gingerbread bar. It is amazing as ...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Random Recipes: Tangerines and Tea!

 

It’s time to blog March’s Random Recipes challenge. The event as always is hosted at Belleau Kitchen, and the theme this month was Cuttings, Memories and Cli...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

Hybrid Valentines Pancakes

 

I’m combining both of this week’s significant celebrations into one. Although I’m not sure exactly what to call it - Shrove Valentines? Valentines Cake Day?&...

Embutido - Filipino Gala Pie!

 

Mr E is on a mission to eat food from 30 different countries in the year before he turns 30. We seem to have been covering Spain and Poland repeatedly, and s...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Aruba

 

I’m back on my culinary tour of some of the lesser visited countries in the world - more specifically I’m trying to cook something from every country that I’...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Hungry Caterpillar Food

 

I’ve now made ‘Hungry Caterpillar Food’ twice for Mini-M. I’m trying not to do it too often, since it is a bit of a faff. She loves it, but I don’t want it t...

Tutti Frutti Tiffin

 

This post should really have a sub-heading along the lines of ‘using up all the little drops of dried fruit lurking a the back of the cupboard in one easy re...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Random Recipes # 21 - Store Cupboard Raiding

 

I’m getting off the mark early this month with my Random Recipe entry. We’ve been challenged to rummage blindly in our store cupboards, emerge triumphant wit...

Quick & Dirty Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cake

 

Last week, Dom at Belleau Kitchen posted sophisticated and delicious looking Pumpkin Cake with Chestnut Cream and Almond Meringue Topping.I had a tin of pump...

Identity Crisis Bread

 

Today I baked, and I’m feeling rather proud of the result, which is why it’s jumping the posting queue and making its appearance tonight, rather than languis...

Orange Carrot Jelly

 

This post will be brief - hoping to squeeze it in before Mini-M’s nap finished and we head out for some birthday party fun this afternoon. Quite probably the...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Lovely Lychees

 

I have a feeling that lychees are the Marmite of the fruit world - you either love them or are completely freaked out by their slimy eye-ball-ish texture. Wi...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Father’s Day Cake a la Mini-M

 

Sunday was Father’s Day. (As an aside, you would not believe the internal debate I have just had about that apostrophe. And I’m pretty sure it is still wrong...

Breakfast Club - Fairtrade

 

I'm writing this at high speed, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall the wrong side of the posting deadline for this month's Breakfast Club challenge. When t...

Random Recipes Birthday Cake

 

This month is the 2nd anniversary of Belleau Kitchen, the fantastic, stylish and culinarily (is that a word?) inspiring blog that hosts the monthly Random Re...

When the sun shines, it’s time to picnic!

 

We’re having a warm snap. Not often something that can be said in Scotland, and particularly not in March. But for the past three days, it has been glorious....

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

No Croutons Required - Spicy!

 

This Month’s No Croutons Required theme is spicy - we were tasked with cooking up a spicy vegetarian soup or salad, and since it’s is our lovely host Lisa’s ...

Al Fresco Birthday Cake

 

“Oh” said Mr E, coming into the kitchen “I didn’t realise you were planning on making birthday cake”“Well, I wasn’t” I said “But the grapes in the fruit dish...

Mini-M Makes… Tropical Pirate Muffins

 

Right now Mini-M is into mixing, so I thought some muffin making might prove popular. It did, and it also lead to the discovery of possibly an even more fun ...

Fruity Clafoutis

 

Here’s another creation that is normally fairly dairy intense, which I’ve de-dairied. I was going to type ‘so that we could enjoy it’ but that’s not strictly...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

February Breakfast Club - Ziploc Omlette

 

Since today is the 28th February, and it’s been a hectic month, I’ve been a bit slack with my blogging, and leaving all my challenges to the last minute. I’v...

Big fat flying saucer pie

 

Time to share another weird and wonderful recipe corruption…This time I started off with a recipe for Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie from the BBC GoodFood online...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Bursting with Black Eyed Beans

 

January’s No Croutons Required challenge was to make a vegetarian soup or salad using black eyed beans.Yet again, I missed the blog posting deadline - going ...

Popeye would be proud…

 

Last night I made banana muffins. With hidden spinach in them. Just that spinach is very, very green, so it was definitely not visually hidden. It was, howev...

Porridge Fudge - but in a good way!

 

Yep - you did indeed read the title correctly. I have filled a previously undiscovered gap in the breakfast/confectionery crossover genre.Think of a bowl of ...

Cake doesn’t have to be fancy…

 

… sometimes simple cake just hits the spot.This cake did just that!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Almond s...

Frozen to fantastic in 10 minutes!

 

Mini-M is enjoying soup at the moment. And dipping things in it. She’s a fan of dipping pretty much anything, into anything else, if I’m being honest. Tonigh...

Upside Down Pear and Chocolate Cake

 

Pears and chocolate are a delicious combination, and therefore it’s not surprise that this cake tasted fantastic. Rich dark and chocolaty with a fruity edge ...

Chocolate Mousse with a Secret Ingredient

 

Chocolate mousse is delicious - a fact that is pretty much universally accepted.<div>Dairy free chocolate mousse that doesn’t taste of soya is pretty h...

Gingerbread Tablet - tastes like Christmas!

 

What does one do when faced with a full and unopened carton of single cream, and real butter in the fridge needing used up, when still unable to eat dairy?&l...

Christmas Playdough

 

Whilst I was researching my edible gifts article for the Daring Kitchen, I came across this Fall Spiced Play Dough recipe at Creating Nirvana Today. Yes, I k...

Polish Style Meatballs with Buckwheat

 

Or Zrazy z Kasza Hreczana to give it it’s Polish name.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Whichever language yo...

Super Spicy Squash & Split-pea Soup

 

Now that I’ve got all that alliteration out of my system, here is a recipe for a really delicious soup I accidentally invented a few weeks back, when we got ...

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

 

I’ll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate ‘butter’ icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaste...

Mini-M Makes… Scones and Collages

 

It has been an action packed afternoon here - Mini-M and I ventured into the kitchen for her first ever baking, and then later did her first cutting and stic...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Simply Soup-er Hearty Leek and Bacon Soup

 

A quick post of a very quick and easy recipe. Perfect for cold wintry weather, and quick enough to make post-work. And of course dairy free. Mini-M even trie...

The Pink Whisk Challenge: Apples for October

 

The other night I was watching TV and it was a ‘where are they now’ run down of last year’s competitors in the Great British Bake Off. That prompted me to st...

Magnificent Mackerel

 

My folks were on holiday last week, down in Staithes on the North East coast of England. There was an award winning fish monger nearby, and Mum brought us qu...

Seedy Slice

 

If you are expecting a post about nightclubs with sticky floors, dark alleyways and strippers, then you are likely to be very disappointed - sorry!<div>...

White Chocolate Fudge

 

This is quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever made - which isn’t really that surprising since it is basically sugar, with white chocolate in it!<d...

Pomegranate & Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I love pomegranates. They remind me of being a kid, and wintry evenings, and sticky fingers, and total absorption in picking out all the little bits (which I...

Cold Chip Fritttata

 

I am as big a fan as the next person of that Scottish delicacy of chips and brown sauce, wrapped up in brown paper from the chippie. But you always, always, ...

A Proliferation of Pancakes

 

Mini-M is currently a bit anti-food. It tends to be thrown across the room before it even goes in her mouth, and there are often sudden tears for not apparen...

Eggy Bread Fruit Cake

 

If you are looking for a weekend breakfast treat, but prefer something sweet to the fry-up variety, then this might just fit the bill!It’s quick and easy, pr...

Overnight Home-Cured Bacon Chops a la Hugh

 

As if I don’t have enough recipes in my cookbook and recipe cutting stash, I also get cookbooks out of the library. I’m sure Mr E probably wishes I didn’t be...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

Baby Baked Apples

 

Mini-M is desperate to feed herself at the moment, so I’ve been trying to make things that are teeny-fingers-friendly.A few weeks ago I got a copy of the Riv...

Scrummy Scotch Broth

 

Here’s another soup recipe from the variety I made for September’s Daring Cook’s Challenge. The post would have been truly epic if I’d included them all, so ...

Something fishy going on… Cullen Skink

 

So as you may be aware from my previous post, September’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge was to make stock, soup and consomme.We eat loads of soup - usually of the ...

Finally something Mini-M will eat!

 

I cannot tell a lie - it has started to feel a bit personal! For the past couple of months now, Mini-M has been pretty much refusing to eat anything I have c...

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Baking with Biscuits!

 

I’m have a not very secret love for recipe books: the slightly buckled shelves on our bookcase are a testament to that! As well as being a bit of a sucker...

Vegetarian Scotch Eggs!

 

I'm going for the quadruple - one more blog post tonight before I toddle off to bed. Last week I was looking for a recipe to use some lovely East Coast veg...

Damplums!

 

A month or so back we got some slightly unidentified fruit in our veg box from East Coast Organics. They looked a bit like damsons, but were too early in the...

Savoury Cheese Flapjacks

 

A quick recipe post, to share a surprising recent flapjack success. I picked up 'The Mornflake Oat Cuisine' recipe book in a discount bookshop for 99p, becau...

Crushed Pineapple Crumble

 

The other night after having soup for dinner, we decided that we wanted pudding, and it had to be something properly pudding-y rather than an ice lolly or a ...

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Daring Cooks June 2011: Potato Salad

 

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. Th...

Golden Snitch Cake Truffles

 

Last Saturday I went to Brownie camp! Most of the voluntary youth stuff I’m involved in is with teenagers, so spending the day with a bunch of 7-10yr olds ...

Strawberry Marzipan Galettes

 

I think that these are my current favourite culinary discovery. Which is a bit weird, since normally I don't even like marzipan! But in these, I very much do...

Peace & Love Sandwiches

 

I'm having unintentional vegan moments at the moment, since Mini-M and I still can't have any dairy. And web browsing for suitable recipes means I end up on ...

Birthday Cakes x 3

 

It's been a bit of a birthday-cakey couple of weeks. Two almost approximately on time (well in the correct month at least...) and one very belatedly from Jan...

Pi Day & Pie Week - Lentil & Veg Filo Pi(e)

 

Last week was Pie Week, so I made some pie - seemed rude not to really. And today is Pi Day (well it is if you write your dates American stylee, as it's 3.14...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches - Almost!

 

So a long time ago (well a year or so at least!) my better half and I went out for dinner to a at-that-point-not-long-opened-but-now-quite-well-established ...

More than Mashed Banana - Baby Cuisine

 

As I'm posting this, I have a feeling it's appeal will be extremely limited to the handful of folk that normally keep an eye on this blog. Sorry peeps! It's ...

Almond Milk & Almond Cake

 

Since I can't have dairy at the moment, and don't like soya milk that much (small understatement) I've been looking for alternative milk substitutes. My favo...

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Mango Salsa with a Secret Ingredient

 

It's been a busy weekend in the kitchen this weekend. And for once I remembered to take photos of at most of the results, which will hopefully keep me bloggi...

Secret Cappuccino Cupcakes

 

Yesterday morning Mini-M decided she wanted to have an early nap, and was snoozing again by 9am. Not that I was complaining - I used the unexpected opportuni...

A Proliferation of Parsnips

 

Parsnips... a veg that up until recently I would have sworn I hated, mainly because I think they taste of soap. And to be honest, if you just give me some co...

Greggs Eat Your Heart Out (Lentil Pasties)

 

Can’t believe it’s almost a month since I last posted - it only seems like a few days! I really wanted to get a normal post in before the next Daring Bakers ...

Soup-er!

 

We’ve started getting an organic fruit and veg box delivered weekly from East Coast Organics, as we were getting sick of the rubbish choice and quality at ou...

Easy Peasy Cheesy

 

I made this recipe a wee while ago when friends came round for dinner, and the praise it received seemed totally disproportionate to the the effort involved ...

Sticky Crispie Goodness

 

Well life has been getting in the way of updating again - it’s been a hectic spell of Borders Exploration Group meetings, training and Duke of Edinburgh’s Aw...

Healthy Brownies

 

Chocolate brownies are amazing, but sadly not one of life’s superfoods :o(So I decided to try to make ‘healthy’ brownies, which were both a success and failu...

Salad Series Part 2 - Plum Salsa

 

OK - well this one had an identifiable source of inspiration - here at the Zested blog. But my big problem with salsa is that it always has coriander in it, ...

Sweetie Sushi

 

I have a really good friend who is a Brownie guider (Hi Em if you’re reading!). And she asked me if I’d come along and do something makey or cakey with her B...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Back to top ↑

dairy free

Spooky Snacks

 

It’s Halloween (almost).And I’ve remembered in time (just) that I made lots of Halloween themed food last year, which I never shared.We had a whole day where...

2015 Sweet Roundup

 

Following on from the savoury roundup, and without further ado, here’s a sweet 2015 retrospective - all dairy free as usual.<table align="center" cellpadd...

2015 Savoury Roundup

 

It’s 2016. A new year, and a resolution to strike a better work life balance than 2015, part of which means I might hopefully manage a few more blog posts. W...

A Towering Tall Tale: Cake Fest Edinburgh

 

What did you get up to at the weekend? Making two replica high-rise tower blocks from cake? What? You didn’t? That must just have been me then (and my lovely...

The Daring Bakers’ December 2014 Challenge

 

Oh goodness. Somehow it seems I’ve not written a blog post since October. And Christmas has somehow come and gone too! 2014 has hurtled past at an alarming r...

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

October Daring Cooks Challenge: Bitterballen

 

Two consecutive junk food posts in a row. Jeeps! Once upon a time I posted healthy recipes.We still eat a lot of really good healthy food, just that time is ...

Junk food salad

 

Not really a recipe, however too successful and discovery not to share!Junk food. We all know it’s bad for us. We still all want to eat it far more often tha...

Scones on a Stick!

 

I’ve just spent the past hour watching the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.The contestants have shown great skill, precision and patience with their...

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Belated Birthday Cake

 

Back to the blogging and catching up on last night’s Bake Off on iPlayer, since instead of watching it yesterday, I was in the pub discussing cake - more spe...

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Homebrew Everything Cookies

 

For part of Mr E’s Christmas present, I made him a Pinterest board of beer related recipes. (It’s here, if anyone is interested!). Don’t worry, that’s not al...

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

An edible Valentine

 

It’s Valentines day on Friday. We have a card covered in glitter and all things red and hearty home from nursery to prove it.In case you’ve not had such a su...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Daring Bakers January 2014 - Baumkuchen

 

A very quick post - it’s getting late, another early weekday morning beckons tomorrow, and I’ve realised at the last minute yet again that it’s Daring Bakers...

Maple Bacon and Stout Jam

 

This year we’ve made a LOT of jam. I say we, since Mr E was fully involved in the jam making process - be it sterilising, stirring, boiling, labelling, peeli...

Move over Nigella & Delia!

 

There’s a new TV chef in town. OK that’s possibly a slight exaggeration, but give Mini-M a few years…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

2013 - My favourite posts

 

Looking through my archives, it seems I wrote 100 posts last year. Goodness knows how many spelling mistakes they contain, or incomplete sentences that don’t...

3 Minute Mulled Plums

 

Jings - we’re into double figures of December already, and my last post was 9 days ago, about dumped mattresses which really doesn’t seem particularly festiv...

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Uber Cookie

 

This is a no-frills post!Recipe with very little chat, since I’ve got a BIG backlog of photos and scraps of paper with ingredients written on them. Some have...

Bake in a Bag - toddler style

 

Mini-M is super keen to bake and cook, which is probably not that surprising since Mr E and I both spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes, trying...

Murtabak - Random Recipes #34

 

Time to squeeze in a quick pre-bed blog post, to attempt to create some sense of accomplishment for the evening, otherwise all I’ve done is bail from going t...

Local (& Late!) Random Recipes #33

 

For this month’s Random Recipes challenge, our host, Dom at Belleau Kitchen, exhorted us to use a local ingredient in our random culinary creations. He also ...

Halloween Mummy Pie

 

Not so much a recipe, but a set of instructions to make a bandaged-mummy-style pie. If Halloween on the horizon isn’t a good excuse for such pastry shenaniga...

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

Chard & Pecan Pesto - Pasta Please!

 

We were the lucky recipients of a big bunch of chard and another of kale when my folks visited a couple of weekends ago.Since we’ve not had our veg box, we’v...

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Geek Stats Cooking: Albania

 

I’m slowly (OK ridiculously slowly) working my way around the parts of the world I’ve not had any blog visitors form, according to Google Analytics stats, an...

Mini-M Makes: Chicken pops

 

I’m trying to catch up on some back-blogging and these photos were next on my hit list: Mini-M making some chicken bites on sticks (aka chicken pops). I seem...

Oops - no yeast!

 

It’s the official end of the Edinburgh Festival today - and that’s including the arty posh bit, and not just the crazy Fringe.To say August has been a busy m...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

Pasta Please Cheeseless Wonders Roundup

 

This month I was hosting the Pasta Please challenge. It’s organised by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, and my chosen theme this month was ‘Cheeseless Wonders’ - scan...

A Pictorial Pasta Please Guest Post

 

I’m hosting the Pasta Please challenge this month. It is organised by Tinned Tomatoes, and each month a different blogger chooses a theme and curates the rou...

French Macaroons - my nemesis no more!

 

It’s that time again - Daring Bakers’ posting time.This month, in a “celebration” of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us ...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

No-Cook Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

 

Update - in the time that it took me to write this post which admittedly is 24hrs, someone else has posted first, so any residual feelings of hosting / fi...

Pasta Please - Cheeseless Wonders!

 

It’s my lucky turn to be hosting this month’s Pasta Please challenge. It is organised and expertly marshalled by Tinned Tomatoes, who sorts out a different b...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

A New Tradition

 

We’ve started a new tradition - although just a small scale, Saturday teatime, chez Makey-Cakey tradition.Unsurprisingly it involves cake. Sponge pudding to ...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Chocolate Orange Nakd Scones

 

I’m continuing my foray into the realms of ‘things you can bake with Nakd bars’ after being sent some to try by Natural Balance Foods.So far we’ve had…Baked ...

Make it snappy!

 

A wee while ago, whilst enjoying a catch-up weekend with good friends (in the not so glamorous, but still rather lovely surroundings of Northallerton!) whils...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

Baked Plums with Nakd Ginger Crumble

 

Time for another recipe featuring one of the Natural Balance Nakd bar varieties I was sent to try.This time I oped for the Gingerbread bar. It is amazing as ...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Random Recipes: Tangerines and Tea!

 

It’s time to blog March’s Random Recipes challenge. The event as always is hosted at Belleau Kitchen, and the theme this month was Cuttings, Memories and Cli...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Azerbaijan (ish)

 

Time for another offering under the ‘countries of the world I’ve not had blog visitors from’ heading.This one is from Azerbaijan, although we no doubt spoile...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

A Week of Dinners in Makey-Cakey-Land

 

I decided I’d take a picture of every dinner we ate over the course of a week. I’m now feeling slightly ashamed to post this, because it was definitely an ab...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

Hybrid Valentines Pancakes

 

I’m combining both of this week’s significant celebrations into one. Although I’m not sure exactly what to call it - Shrove Valentines? Valentines Cake Day?&...

Party Eggs a la Mini-M

 

When I got in from work today, I was greeted at the door by a very excited Mini-M, clutching a half shelled boiled egg, telling me she was making dinner, and...

Embutido - Filipino Gala Pie!

 

Mr E is on a mission to eat food from 30 different countries in the year before he turns 30. We seem to have been covering Spain and Poland repeatedly, and s...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Aruba

 

I’m back on my culinary tour of some of the lesser visited countries in the world - more specifically I’m trying to cook something from every country that I’...

Looking back: Sweet Treats from our veg box

 

Sad times - today I had to cancel our veg box because someone local to our house stole half of the fruit and our eggs last week, and most likely our eggs th...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Hungry Caterpillar Food

 

I’ve now made ‘Hungry Caterpillar Food’ twice for Mini-M. I’m trying not to do it too often, since it is a bit of a faff. She loves it, but I don’t want it t...

Tutti Frutti Tiffin

 

This post should really have a sub-heading along the lines of ‘using up all the little drops of dried fruit lurking a the back of the cupboard in one easy re...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Random Recipes # 21 - Store Cupboard Raiding

 

I’m getting off the mark early this month with my Random Recipe entry. We’ve been challenged to rummage blindly in our store cupboards, emerge triumphant wit...

Quick & Dirty Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cake

 

Last week, Dom at Belleau Kitchen posted sophisticated and delicious looking Pumpkin Cake with Chestnut Cream and Almond Meringue Topping.I had a tin of pump...

Identity Crisis Bread

 

Today I baked, and I’m feeling rather proud of the result, which is why it’s jumping the posting queue and making its appearance tonight, rather than languis...

Orange Carrot Jelly

 

This post will be brief - hoping to squeeze it in before Mini-M’s nap finished and we head out for some birthday party fun this afternoon. Quite probably the...

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Lovely Lychees

 

I have a feeling that lychees are the Marmite of the fruit world - you either love them or are completely freaked out by their slimy eye-ball-ish texture. Wi...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Daring Bakers’ June 2012: Battenberg

 

This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was a very British affair!Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenber...

Father’s Day Cake a la Mini-M

 

Sunday was Father’s Day. (As an aside, you would not believe the internal debate I have just had about that apostrophe. And I’m pretty sure it is still wrong...

Daring Cooks’ June 2012: Cannelloni

 

It’s Daring Cooks’ time again…Manu from Manu’s Menu was our Daring Cooks lovely June hostess and has challenged us to make traditional Italian cannelloni fro...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Breakfast Club - Fairtrade

 

I'm writing this at high speed, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall the wrong side of the posting deadline for this month's Breakfast Club challenge. When t...

3 for 4 for 5

 

Three for four for five - nope I’ve not got mixed up with the words of a kids nursery rhyme, and this post isn’t about Mini-M’s counting (although on that su...

Tea Time Treats - Floral and Fabulous!

 

Tea Time Treats is a monthly themed baking challenge hosted alternately by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and Kate at What Kate Baked. This month, it’s being ...

Random Recipes Birthday Cake

 

This month is the 2nd anniversary of Belleau Kitchen, the fantastic, stylish and culinarily (is that a word?) inspiring blog that hosts the monthly Random Re...

Easter Baking - Simnel Slice

 

This year, my day on the cake rota at work, and Easter have come in quick succession, and so I baked some Simnel Slice that is great for sharing.I used a BBC...

Breakfast Club March 2012 Roundup

 

Well it gives me great pleasure to be able to post the deliciously dairy free recipe roundup, cooked up by talented and adventurous Breakfast Club participan...

When the sun shines, it’s time to picnic!

 

We’re having a warm snap. Not often something that can be said in Scotland, and particularly not in March. But for the past three days, it has been glorious....

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

No Croutons Required - Spicy!

 

This Month’s No Croutons Required theme is spicy - we were tasked with cooking up a spicy vegetarian soup or salad, and since it’s is our lovely host Lisa’s ...

Al Fresco Birthday Cake

 

“Oh” said Mr E, coming into the kitchen “I didn’t realise you were planning on making birthday cake”“Well, I wasn’t” I said “But the grapes in the fruit dish...

Mini-M Makes… Tropical Pirate Muffins

 

Right now Mini-M is into mixing, so I thought some muffin making might prove popular. It did, and it also lead to the discovery of possibly an even more fun ...

Fruity Clafoutis

 

Here’s another creation that is normally fairly dairy intense, which I’ve de-dairied. I was going to type ‘so that we could enjoy it’ but that’s not strictly...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

February Breakfast Club - Ziploc Omlette

 

Since today is the 28th February, and it’s been a hectic month, I’ve been a bit slack with my blogging, and leaving all my challenges to the last minute. I’v...

Happy Pancake Day!

 

It’s pancake day, which is generally a happy occasion, and doubly so because I have a laptop again. Woop!To celebrate, I made a Hungarian style layered panca...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Bursting with Black Eyed Beans

 

January’s No Croutons Required challenge was to make a vegetarian soup or salad using black eyed beans.Yet again, I missed the blog posting deadline - going ...

Porridge Fudge - but in a good way!

 

Yep - you did indeed read the title correctly. I have filled a previously undiscovered gap in the breakfast/confectionery crossover genre.Think of a bowl of ...

Cake doesn’t have to be fancy…

 

… sometimes simple cake just hits the spot.This cake did just that!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Almond s...

Frozen to fantastic in 10 minutes!

 

Mini-M is enjoying soup at the moment. And dipping things in it. She’s a fan of dipping pretty much anything, into anything else, if I’m being honest. Tonigh...

Upside Down Pear and Chocolate Cake

 

Pears and chocolate are a delicious combination, and therefore it’s not surprise that this cake tasted fantastic. Rich dark and chocolaty with a fruity edge ...

Geeky Stats Cooking: Georgia

 

So, I’m onto my second country of many many still to go on my weird and wonderful culinary world tour. If you’re not sure what on earth I’m talking about, th...

Random Recipes 12 - New Year, New Book!

 

This month’s Random Recipe challenge was to cook something randomly selected from our newest cook book. A great idea - thanks for yet another ingenious chall...

Chocolate Mousse with a Secret Ingredient

 

Chocolate mousse is delicious - a fact that is pretty much universally accepted.<div>Dairy free chocolate mousse that doesn’t taste of soya is pretty h...

Breakfast Club 17: Banana Bready Bread

 

Now that I’m officially on holiday, I am catching up on a blogging backlog, still in my PJs whilst Mini-M is having a morning nap. Of course, she will probab...

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

 

I’ll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate ‘butter’ icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaste...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Simply Soup-er Hearty Leek and Bacon Soup

 

A quick post of a very quick and easy recipe. Perfect for cold wintry weather, and quick enough to make post-work. And of course dairy free. Mini-M even trie...

Seedy Slice

 

If you are expecting a post about nightclubs with sticky floors, dark alleyways and strippers, then you are likely to be very disappointed - sorry!<div>...

Pomegranate & Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I love pomegranates. They remind me of being a kid, and wintry evenings, and sticky fingers, and total absorption in picking out all the little bits (which I...

A Proliferation of Pancakes

 

Mini-M is currently a bit anti-food. It tends to be thrown across the room before it even goes in her mouth, and there are often sudden tears for not apparen...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

Baby Baked Apples

 

Mini-M is desperate to feed herself at the moment, so I’ve been trying to make things that are teeny-fingers-friendly.A few weeks ago I got a copy of the Riv...

Finally something Mini-M will eat!

 

I cannot tell a lie - it has started to feel a bit personal! For the past couple of months now, Mini-M has been pretty much refusing to eat anything I have c...

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Surprising dairy free sweet treats!

 

Carrying on my epic blog posting evening, I thought I'd zap up a little list of some surprising dairy free sweet treats you can find in regular shops in the ...

Crushed Pineapple Crumble

 

The other night after having soup for dinner, we decided that we wanted pudding, and it had to be something properly pudding-y rather than an ice lolly or a ...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Pi Day & Pie Week - Lentil & Veg Filo Pi(e)

 

Last week was Pie Week, so I made some pie - seemed rude not to really. And today is Pi Day (well it is if you write your dates American stylee, as it's 3.14...

More than Mashed Banana - Baby Cuisine

 

As I'm posting this, I have a feeling it's appeal will be extremely limited to the handful of folk that normally keep an eye on this blog. Sorry peeps! It's ...

Almond Milk & Almond Cake

 

Since I can't have dairy at the moment, and don't like soya milk that much (small understatement) I've been looking for alternative milk substitutes. My favo...

Chocolate Olive Oil Torte

 

The lengths I will go to for a chocolatey, cakey hit are reasonably extreme, it turns out, and well into the realms of experimental baking! Most bought dairy...

Crostata: November Daring Bakers

 

Can’t believe it’s Daring Bakers’ posting time again - it’s flown by with crazy speed and donuts seem a distant memory…The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ chall...

Greggs Eat Your Heart Out (Lentil Pasties)

 

Can’t believe it’s almost a month since I last posted - it only seems like a few days! I really wanted to get a normal post in before the next Daring Bakers ...

Back to top ↑

sweet

More Cakes for a good cause

 

In March last year I posted a roundup of the first few cakes I had made since starting to volunteer for Free Cakes For Kids.They are a community based charit...

Plain on the outside…

 

Since it is/was Chocolate Cake day today, I thought I’d better bake one!Here’s a white chocolate and apricot loaf, which I’m taking with me to a work meeting...

2015 Sweet Roundup

 

Following on from the savoury roundup, and without further ado, here’s a sweet 2015 retrospective - all dairy free as usual.<table align="center" cellpadd...

Something Sweet to Say Thank You

 

I’t’s Mini-M’s last day at pre-school tomorrow. (Gulp!).Since this is a a baking blog, I’ll spare you the “how did she grow up so quickly, where has my baby ...

A Towering Tall Tale: Cake Fest Edinburgh

 

What did you get up to at the weekend? Making two replica high-rise tower blocks from cake? What? You didn’t? That must just have been me then (and my lovely...

Cakes for a good cause

 

Since my hot date tonight is of the water bottle and lemsip variety, I thought I’d use the opportunity to post a roundup of the cakes I’ve made so far since ...

The Daring Bakers’ December 2014 Challenge

 

Oh goodness. Somehow it seems I’ve not written a blog post since October. And Christmas has somehow come and gone too! 2014 has hurtled past at an alarming r...

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Scones on a Stick!

 

I’ve just spent the past hour watching the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.The contestants have shown great skill, precision and patience with their...

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Belated Birthday Cake

 

Back to the blogging and catching up on last night’s Bake Off on iPlayer, since instead of watching it yesterday, I was in the pub discussing cake - more spe...

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Homebrew Everything Cookies

 

For part of Mr E’s Christmas present, I made him a Pinterest board of beer related recipes. (It’s here, if anyone is interested!). Don’t worry, that’s not al...

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

An edible Valentine

 

It’s Valentines day on Friday. We have a card covered in glitter and all things red and hearty home from nursery to prove it.In case you’ve not had such a su...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Daring Bakers January 2014 - Baumkuchen

 

A very quick post - it’s getting late, another early weekday morning beckons tomorrow, and I’ve realised at the last minute yet again that it’s Daring Bakers...

Move over Nigella & Delia!

 

There’s a new TV chef in town. OK that’s possibly a slight exaggeration, but give Mini-M a few years…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

2013 - My favourite posts

 

Looking through my archives, it seems I wrote 100 posts last year. Goodness knows how many spelling mistakes they contain, or incomplete sentences that don’t...

2013’s Most Viewed Posts

 

So basically it seems that despite 400+ blog posts since starting in January 2009, there are only a handful that anyone is interested in - and that despite a...

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

3 Minute Mulled Plums

 

Jings - we’re into double figures of December already, and my last post was 9 days ago, about dumped mattresses which really doesn’t seem particularly festiv...

Another instalment of Recipe-less wonders

 

I’m on holiday today - woop woop! I’m starting it off by dying my hair which has been overdue for about a month and is so grey that Mini-M asked me in a very...

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Uber Cookie

 

This is a no-frills post!Recipe with very little chat, since I’ve got a BIG backlog of photos and scraps of paper with ingredients written on them. Some have...

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

French Macaroons - my nemesis no more!

 

It’s that time again - Daring Bakers’ posting time.This month, in a “celebration” of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us ...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

A New Tradition

 

We’ve started a new tradition - although just a small scale, Saturday teatime, chez Makey-Cakey tradition.Unsurprisingly it involves cake. Sponge pudding to ...

Another installment of recipe-less photos!

 

I’ve been sorting through my iPhoto library again and have another selection of bakes and makes that I’ve cooked, taken pictures of, not blogged at the time ...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Chocolate Orange Nakd Scones

 

I’m continuing my foray into the realms of ‘things you can bake with Nakd bars’ after being sent some to try by Natural Balance Foods.So far we’ve had…Baked ...

Make it snappy!

 

A wee while ago, whilst enjoying a catch-up weekend with good friends (in the not so glamorous, but still rather lovely surroundings of Northallerton!) whils...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

Baked Plums with Nakd Ginger Crumble

 

Time for another recipe featuring one of the Natural Balance Nakd bar varieties I was sent to try.This time I oped for the Gingerbread bar. It is amazing as ...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Random Recipes: Tangerines and Tea!

 

It’s time to blog March’s Random Recipes challenge. The event as always is hosted at Belleau Kitchen, and the theme this month was Cuttings, Memories and Cli...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

Hybrid Valentines Pancakes

 

I’m combining both of this week’s significant celebrations into one. Although I’m not sure exactly what to call it - Shrove Valentines? Valentines Cake Day?&...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Aruba

 

I’m back on my culinary tour of some of the lesser visited countries in the world - more specifically I’m trying to cook something from every country that I’...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

Seasonal Surprise Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy December everyone!Back on the 1st of October I announced I’d be organising another Surprise Ingredient Swap - this time with a vaguely seasonal theme.B...

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Tutti Frutti Tiffin

 

This post should really have a sub-heading along the lines of ‘using up all the little drops of dried fruit lurking a the back of the cupboard in one easy re...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Cupcake Cuteness for a Good Cause

 

The week before last, I gave a cupcake decorating workshop for Bethany Trust service users.It was a lovely event, with a really good turnout. I went armed wi...

Quick & Dirty Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cake

 

Last week, Dom at Belleau Kitchen posted sophisticated and delicious looking Pumpkin Cake with Chestnut Cream and Almond Meringue Topping.I had a tin of pump...

Identity Crisis Bread

 

Today I baked, and I’m feeling rather proud of the result, which is why it’s jumping the posting queue and making its appearance tonight, rather than languis...

Orange Carrot Jelly

 

This post will be brief - hoping to squeeze it in before Mini-M’s nap finished and we head out for some birthday party fun this afternoon. Quite probably the...

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

“My having Kitty pirate cake” Oh really?

 

Mini-M turned 2 a couple of weeks ago.The weeks running up to her birthday are well and truly party season, as lots of her friends in very quick succession, ...

Lovely Lychees

 

I have a feeling that lychees are the Marmite of the fruit world - you either love them or are completely freaked out by their slimy eye-ball-ish texture. Wi...

Secret Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me (and Mini-M yesterday!) happy birthday to me!Yes, another year older and this year a number ...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Bitesize Bakes Swap - Sent and Received!

 

I think that sending and receiving letters (or parcels) is such a lovely thing. Excepting, of course, the queueing for 20 mins in the post office with an imp...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Daring Bakers’ June 2012: Battenberg

 

This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was a very British affair!Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenber...

Father’s Day Cake a la Mini-M

 

Sunday was Father’s Day. (As an aside, you would not believe the internal debate I have just had about that apostrophe. And I’m pretty sure it is still wrong...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Breakfast Club - Fairtrade

 

I'm writing this at high speed, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall the wrong side of the posting deadline for this month's Breakfast Club challenge. When t...

3 for 4 for 5

 

Three for four for five - nope I’ve not got mixed up with the words of a kids nursery rhyme, and this post isn’t about Mini-M’s counting (although on that su...

Tea Time Treats - Floral and Fabulous!

 

Tea Time Treats is a monthly themed baking challenge hosted alternately by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and Kate at What Kate Baked. This month, it’s being ...

Rainbow Hearts

 

Back in mid-April I was really pleased to be able to make a cake for my lovely very-soon-to-be-sister-in-law.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; te...

Random Recipes Birthday Cake

 

This month is the 2nd anniversary of Belleau Kitchen, the fantastic, stylish and culinarily (is that a word?) inspiring blog that hosts the monthly Random Re...

Easter Baking - Simnel Slice

 

This year, my day on the cake rota at work, and Easter have come in quick succession, and so I baked some Simnel Slice that is great for sharing.I used a BBC...

Going, Going, Gone! A Post of Epic Cakeyness

 

I’m feeling a little bit caked out. Or more specifically icing-ed out. Not eating it, just making it.You see last Sunday my sister and I - the lovely Auntie ...

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

Al Fresco Birthday Cake

 

“Oh” said Mr E, coming into the kitchen “I didn’t realise you were planning on making birthday cake”“Well, I wasn’t” I said “But the grapes in the fruit dish...

A Tale of Two Mueslis

 

Last weekend we all got together to celebrate Uncle P and Auntie L’s birthdays.Mini-M spent a happy half hour sprinkling the kitchen floor with oats and rais...

Mini-M Makes… Tropical Pirate Muffins

 

Right now Mini-M is into mixing, so I thought some muffin making might prove popular. It did, and it also lead to the discovery of possibly an even more fun ...

Fruity Clafoutis

 

Here’s another creation that is normally fairly dairy intense, which I’ve de-dairied. I was going to type ‘so that we could enjoy it’ but that’s not strictly...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

Happy Pancake Day!

 

It’s pancake day, which is generally a happy occasion, and doubly so because I have a laptop again. Woop!To celebrate, I made a Hungarian style layered panca...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Popeye would be proud…

 

Last night I made banana muffins. With hidden spinach in them. Just that spinach is very, very green, so it was definitely not visually hidden. It was, howev...

Porridge Fudge - but in a good way!

 

Yep - you did indeed read the title correctly. I have filled a previously undiscovered gap in the breakfast/confectionery crossover genre.Think of a bowl of ...

Cake doesn’t have to be fancy…

 

… sometimes simple cake just hits the spot.This cake did just that!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Almond s...

Upside Down Pear and Chocolate Cake

 

Pears and chocolate are a delicious combination, and therefore it’s not surprise that this cake tasted fantastic. Rich dark and chocolaty with a fruity edge ...

Chocolate Mousse with a Secret Ingredient

 

Chocolate mousse is delicious - a fact that is pretty much universally accepted.<div>Dairy free chocolate mousse that doesn’t taste of soya is pretty h...

Sugar and spice and… gingerbread!

 

Not many words, and no recipe. Just some photos of the IKEA gingerbread house I finally got round to decorating.I had planned to do it pre-Christmas instead ...

Gingerbread Tablet - tastes like Christmas!

 

What does one do when faced with a full and unopened carton of single cream, and real butter in the fridge needing used up, when still unable to eat dairy?&l...

Breakfast Club 17: Banana Bready Bread

 

Now that I’m officially on holiday, I am catching up on a blogging backlog, still in my PJs whilst Mini-M is having a morning nap. Of course, she will probab...

Ninja-bread men!

 

I have to start this post with a shocking confession…Almost a year ago, the lovely Miss M gave me some very funky biscuit cutters. For the first couple of mo...

St Nicholas’ Day Biscuits

 

Today is St Nicholas’ Day, and yesterday Mini-M, Mr E and I decorated gingerbread biscuits.<div></div><div>Or more accurately, Mr E and I d...

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

 

I’ll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate ‘butter’ icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaste...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

The Pink Whisk Challenge: Apples for October

 

The other night I was watching TV and it was a ‘where are they now’ run down of last year’s competitors in the Great British Bake Off. That prompted me to st...

Seedy Slice

 

If you are expecting a post about nightclubs with sticky floors, dark alleyways and strippers, then you are likely to be very disappointed - sorry!<div>...

White Chocolate Fudge

 

This is quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever made - which isn’t really that surprising since it is basically sugar, with white chocolate in it!<d...

Pomegranate & Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I love pomegranates. They remind me of being a kid, and wintry evenings, and sticky fingers, and total absorption in picking out all the little bits (which I...

Eggy Bread Fruit Cake

 

If you are looking for a weekend breakfast treat, but prefer something sweet to the fry-up variety, then this might just fit the bill!It’s quick and easy, pr...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

My First Cakepops

 

Cakepops.In Scotland we don’t have pops, we have lollies. Cakelollies doesn’t quite have the same ring to it! It’s probably for the best therefore, that Cake...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Baking with Biscuits!

 

I’m have a not very secret love for recipe books: the slightly buckled shelves on our bookcase are a testament to that! As well as being a bit of a sucker...

Damplums!

 

A month or so back we got some slightly unidentified fruit in our veg box from East Coast Organics. They looked a bit like damsons, but were too early in the...

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Golden Snitch Cake Truffles

 

Last Saturday I went to Brownie camp! Most of the voluntary youth stuff I’m involved in is with teenagers, so spending the day with a bunch of 7-10yr olds ...

Strawberry Marzipan Galettes

 

I think that these are my current favourite culinary discovery. Which is a bit weird, since normally I don't even like marzipan! But in these, I very much do...

Birthday Cakes x 3

 

It's been a bit of a birthday-cakey couple of weeks. Two almost approximately on time (well in the correct month at least...) and one very belatedly from Jan...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches - Almost!

 

So a long time ago (well a year or so at least!) my better half and I went out for dinner to a at-that-point-not-long-opened-but-now-quite-well-established ...

More than Mashed Banana - Baby Cuisine

 

As I'm posting this, I have a feeling it's appeal will be extremely limited to the handful of folk that normally keep an eye on this blog. Sorry peeps! It's ...

Almond Milk & Almond Cake

 

Since I can't have dairy at the moment, and don't like soya milk that much (small understatement) I've been looking for alternative milk substitutes. My favo...

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Secret Cappuccino Cupcakes

 

Yesterday morning Mini-M decided she wanted to have an early nap, and was snoozing again by 9am. Not that I was complaining - I used the unexpected opportuni...

Chocolate Olive Oil Torte

 

The lengths I will go to for a chocolatey, cakey hit are reasonably extreme, it turns out, and well into the realms of experimental baking! Most bought dairy...

Crostata: November Daring Bakers

 

Can’t believe it’s Daring Bakers’ posting time again - it’s flown by with crazy speed and donuts seem a distant memory…The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ chall...

Daring Bakers - Lets go Nuts for Donuts

 

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for he...

Daring Bakers - Sugar Cookies

 

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on ...

Darink Bakers November Challenge - Cannoli

 

So, I’m getting off to a bad start for this month’s Daring Bakers challenge - I’ve just realised this was supposed to be posted yesterday - oops! Better late...

Vampire Fairy Cakes

 

It’s Halloween today - how do I know this? Because at the centre where I was teaching my music classes this morning there were kids in fancy dress - vampires...

Sticky Crispie Goodness

 

Well life has been getting in the way of updating again - it’s been a hectic spell of Borders Exploration Group meetings, training and Duke of Edinburgh’s Aw...

Healthy Brownies

 

Chocolate brownies are amazing, but sadly not one of life’s superfoods :o(So I decided to try to make ‘healthy’ brownies, which were both a success and failu...

Lekvar - Hungarian Style Fruit Butter

 

Well due to general hectic-ness, I’ve not posted anything for ages. But I’m back :o) The other week as I was tidying out some kitchen cupboards, I came acros...

Sweetie Sushi

 

I have a really good friend who is a Brownie guider (Hi Em if you’re reading!). And she asked me if I’d come along and do something makey or cakey with her B...

Biszkopt z Galaretka - or Polish Jelly Cake

 

A few years ago I spent the summer working in an office in Warsaw, and during that time, every arrival, departure or celebratory occasion in the office was c...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Well Its Been Overwhelmingly Cakey

 

Well it’s been overwhelmingly cakey things that I’ve been posted about so far. That will change soon, once my latest craft experiment is finished - almost th...

Super Cakey Sunday

 

After a pretty manic couple of weeks at work, it was great to have a weekend to chill out and get round to doing some of the things I’ve been wanting to do f...

Chocolate Truffle Baileys Cake

 

Just a quick post of a cake I made for my brother’s girlfriend’s welcome back to edinburgh party.<div>It is the most ridiculously chocolately concoctio...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

More cakey goodness

 

Well… I was having another trawl through my photos looking for a specific couple of cakes that I am particularly proud of. Unfortunately they are proving elu...

Got to start somewhere…

 

... and after much internal debating, I thought I'd kick off with some photos of cakes I've made over the past few years! Baking, Cake-ing and Making occupy ...

Back to top ↑

cakey

More Cakes for a good cause

 

In March last year I posted a roundup of the first few cakes I had made since starting to volunteer for Free Cakes For Kids.They are a community based charit...

Plain on the outside…

 

Since it is/was Chocolate Cake day today, I thought I’d better bake one!Here’s a white chocolate and apricot loaf, which I’m taking with me to a work meeting...

2015 Sweet Roundup

 

Following on from the savoury roundup, and without further ado, here’s a sweet 2015 retrospective - all dairy free as usual.<table align="center" cellpadd...

Something Sweet to Say Thank You

 

I’t’s Mini-M’s last day at pre-school tomorrow. (Gulp!).Since this is a a baking blog, I’ll spare you the “how did she grow up so quickly, where has my baby ...

A Towering Tall Tale: Cake Fest Edinburgh

 

What did you get up to at the weekend? Making two replica high-rise tower blocks from cake? What? You didn’t? That must just have been me then (and my lovely...

Cakes for a good cause

 

Since my hot date tonight is of the water bottle and lemsip variety, I thought I’d use the opportunity to post a roundup of the cakes I’ve made so far since ...

The Daring Bakers’ December 2014 Challenge

 

Oh goodness. Somehow it seems I’ve not written a blog post since October. And Christmas has somehow come and gone too! 2014 has hurtled past at an alarming r...

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Scones on a Stick!

 

I’ve just spent the past hour watching the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.The contestants have shown great skill, precision and patience with their...

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Belated Birthday Cake

 

Back to the blogging and catching up on last night’s Bake Off on iPlayer, since instead of watching it yesterday, I was in the pub discussing cake - more spe...

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Daring Bakers January 2014 - Baumkuchen

 

A very quick post - it’s getting late, another early weekday morning beckons tomorrow, and I’ve realised at the last minute yet again that it’s Daring Bakers...

Not exactly less is more!

 

Mini-M is, unsurprisingly, keen to bake and decorate cakes. Although I’m obviously completely biased, I think for a 3 year old she’s pretty good in the kitch...

2013’s Most Viewed Posts

 

So basically it seems that despite 400+ blog posts since starting in January 2009, there are only a handful that anyone is interested in - and that despite a...

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Uber Cookie

 

This is a no-frills post!Recipe with very little chat, since I’ve got a BIG backlog of photos and scraps of paper with ingredients written on them. Some have...

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

French Macaroons - my nemesis no more!

 

It’s that time again - Daring Bakers’ posting time.This month, in a “celebration” of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us ...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

A New Tradition

 

We’ve started a new tradition - although just a small scale, Saturday teatime, chez Makey-Cakey tradition.Unsurprisingly it involves cake. Sponge pudding to ...

Another installment of recipe-less photos!

 

I’ve been sorting through my iPhoto library again and have another selection of bakes and makes that I’ve cooked, taken pictures of, not blogged at the time ...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Make it snappy!

 

A wee while ago, whilst enjoying a catch-up weekend with good friends (in the not so glamorous, but still rather lovely surroundings of Northallerton!) whils...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

Hybrid Valentines Pancakes

 

I’m combining both of this week’s significant celebrations into one. Although I’m not sure exactly what to call it - Shrove Valentines? Valentines Cake Day?&...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Aruba

 

I’m back on my culinary tour of some of the lesser visited countries in the world - more specifically I’m trying to cook something from every country that I’...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

Seasonal Surprise Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy December everyone!Back on the 1st of October I announced I’d be organising another Surprise Ingredient Swap - this time with a vaguely seasonal theme.B...

Cake roundup!

 

I posted a recipe roundup a week or so back, of all the things I’ve made over the past 6 months and forgotten the recipes of, thus will never make blog posts...

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Cupcake Cuteness for a Good Cause

 

The week before last, I gave a cupcake decorating workshop for Bethany Trust service users.It was a lovely event, with a really good turnout. I went armed wi...

Quick & Dirty Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cake

 

Last week, Dom at Belleau Kitchen posted sophisticated and delicious looking Pumpkin Cake with Chestnut Cream and Almond Meringue Topping.I had a tin of pump...

Identity Crisis Bread

 

Today I baked, and I’m feeling rather proud of the result, which is why it’s jumping the posting queue and making its appearance tonight, rather than languis...

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

“My having Kitty pirate cake” Oh really?

 

Mini-M turned 2 a couple of weeks ago.The weeks running up to her birthday are well and truly party season, as lots of her friends in very quick succession, ...

Lovely Lychees

 

I have a feeling that lychees are the Marmite of the fruit world - you either love them or are completely freaked out by their slimy eye-ball-ish texture. Wi...

Secret Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me (and Mini-M yesterday!) happy birthday to me!Yes, another year older and this year a number ...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Bitesize Bakes Swap - Sent and Received!

 

I think that sending and receiving letters (or parcels) is such a lovely thing. Excepting, of course, the queueing for 20 mins in the post office with an imp...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Daring Bakers’ June 2012: Battenberg

 

This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was a very British affair!Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenber...

Father’s Day Cake a la Mini-M

 

Sunday was Father’s Day. (As an aside, you would not believe the internal debate I have just had about that apostrophe. And I’m pretty sure it is still wrong...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Tea Time Treats - Floral and Fabulous!

 

Tea Time Treats is a monthly themed baking challenge hosted alternately by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and Kate at What Kate Baked. This month, it’s being ...

Rainbow Hearts

 

Back in mid-April I was really pleased to be able to make a cake for my lovely very-soon-to-be-sister-in-law.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; te...

Surprising…

 

Anyone fancy taking part in a Makey-Cakey Birthday Surprise Ingredient Swap?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-contai...

Random Recipes Birthday Cake

 

This month is the 2nd anniversary of Belleau Kitchen, the fantastic, stylish and culinarily (is that a word?) inspiring blog that hosts the monthly Random Re...

Easter Baking - Simnel Slice

 

This year, my day on the cake rota at work, and Easter have come in quick succession, and so I baked some Simnel Slice that is great for sharing.I used a BBC...

Going, Going, Gone! A Post of Epic Cakeyness

 

I’m feeling a little bit caked out. Or more specifically icing-ed out. Not eating it, just making it.You see last Sunday my sister and I - the lovely Auntie ...

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

Al Fresco Birthday Cake

 

“Oh” said Mr E, coming into the kitchen “I didn’t realise you were planning on making birthday cake”“Well, I wasn’t” I said “But the grapes in the fruit dish...

Mini-M Makes… Tropical Pirate Muffins

 

Right now Mini-M is into mixing, so I thought some muffin making might prove popular. It did, and it also lead to the discovery of possibly an even more fun ...

Happy Pancake Day!

 

It’s pancake day, which is generally a happy occasion, and doubly so because I have a laptop again. Woop!To celebrate, I made a Hungarian style layered panca...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Popeye would be proud…

 

Last night I made banana muffins. With hidden spinach in them. Just that spinach is very, very green, so it was definitely not visually hidden. It was, howev...

Cake doesn’t have to be fancy…

 

… sometimes simple cake just hits the spot.This cake did just that!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Almond s...

Upside Down Pear and Chocolate Cake

 

Pears and chocolate are a delicious combination, and therefore it’s not surprise that this cake tasted fantastic. Rich dark and chocolaty with a fruity edge ...

Sugar and spice and… gingerbread!

 

Not many words, and no recipe. Just some photos of the IKEA gingerbread house I finally got round to decorating.I had planned to do it pre-Christmas instead ...

Ninja-bread men!

 

I have to start this post with a shocking confession…Almost a year ago, the lovely Miss M gave me some very funky biscuit cutters. For the first couple of mo...

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

 

I’ll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate ‘butter’ icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaste...

Seedy Slice

 

If you are expecting a post about nightclubs with sticky floors, dark alleyways and strippers, then you are likely to be very disappointed - sorry!<div>...

Pomegranate & Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I love pomegranates. They remind me of being a kid, and wintry evenings, and sticky fingers, and total absorption in picking out all the little bits (which I...

A Proliferation of Pancakes

 

Mini-M is currently a bit anti-food. It tends to be thrown across the room before it even goes in her mouth, and there are often sudden tears for not apparen...

Eggy Bread Fruit Cake

 

If you are looking for a weekend breakfast treat, but prefer something sweet to the fry-up variety, then this might just fit the bill!It’s quick and easy, pr...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Baking with Biscuits!

 

I’m have a not very secret love for recipe books: the slightly buckled shelves on our bookcase are a testament to that! As well as being a bit of a sucker...

Damplums!

 

A month or so back we got some slightly unidentified fruit in our veg box from East Coast Organics. They looked a bit like damsons, but were too early in the...

Savoury Cheese Flapjacks

 

A quick recipe post, to share a surprising recent flapjack success. I picked up 'The Mornflake Oat Cuisine' recipe book in a discount bookshop for 99p, becau...

Happy Birthday “Tutu” you!

 

So Mini-M turned 1 yesterday - the past year has gone past at breakneck speed, yet been one of the longest ever too. Both Mr E and I were busy in the run up...

Crushed Pineapple Crumble

 

The other night after having soup for dinner, we decided that we wanted pudding, and it had to be something properly pudding-y rather than an ice lolly or a ...

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Golden Snitch Cake Truffles

 

Last Saturday I went to Brownie camp! Most of the voluntary youth stuff I’m involved in is with teenagers, so spending the day with a bunch of 7-10yr olds ...

Strawberry Marzipan Galettes

 

I think that these are my current favourite culinary discovery. Which is a bit weird, since normally I don't even like marzipan! But in these, I very much do...

Birthday Cakes x 3

 

It's been a bit of a birthday-cakey couple of weeks. Two almost approximately on time (well in the correct month at least...) and one very belatedly from Jan...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches - Almost!

 

So a long time ago (well a year or so at least!) my better half and I went out for dinner to a at-that-point-not-long-opened-but-now-quite-well-established ...

Almond Milk & Almond Cake

 

Since I can't have dairy at the moment, and don't like soya milk that much (small understatement) I've been looking for alternative milk substitutes. My favo...

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Secret Cappuccino Cupcakes

 

Yesterday morning Mini-M decided she wanted to have an early nap, and was snoozing again by 9am. Not that I was complaining - I used the unexpected opportuni...

Christmas Baking

 

So, this festive season was full of baking and general kitchen happiness, which was a lot of fun in the making, and tasty in the eating. Pictures were duly t...

Chocolate Olive Oil Torte

 

The lengths I will go to for a chocolatey, cakey hit are reasonably extreme, it turns out, and well into the realms of experimental baking! Most bought dairy...

Crostata: November Daring Bakers

 

Can’t believe it’s Daring Bakers’ posting time again - it’s flown by with crazy speed and donuts seem a distant memory…The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ chall...

Greggs Eat Your Heart Out (Lentil Pasties)

 

Can’t believe it’s almost a month since I last posted - it only seems like a few days! I really wanted to get a normal post in before the next Daring Bakers ...

Daring Bakers - Lets go Nuts for Donuts

 

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for he...

Daring Bakers - Sugar Cookies

 

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on ...

One handed blogging and baby winding!

 

So baby Martha is here and has turned our world upside down - but in a beautiful, cuddly, wonderful sort of way (admittedly with frequent bouts of crying, si...

Darink Bakers November Challenge - Cannoli

 

So, I’m getting off to a bad start for this month’s Daring Bakers challenge - I’ve just realised this was supposed to be posted yesterday - oops! Better late...

Vampire Fairy Cakes

 

It’s Halloween today - how do I know this? Because at the centre where I was teaching my music classes this morning there were kids in fancy dress - vampires...

Sticky Crispie Goodness

 

Well life has been getting in the way of updating again - it’s been a hectic spell of Borders Exploration Group meetings, training and Duke of Edinburgh’s Aw...

Healthy Brownies

 

Chocolate brownies are amazing, but sadly not one of life’s superfoods :o(So I decided to try to make ‘healthy’ brownies, which were both a success and failu...

Sweetie Sushi

 

I have a really good friend who is a Brownie guider (Hi Em if you’re reading!). And she asked me if I’d come along and do something makey or cakey with her B...

Cake Heaven in Brighton

 

At the weekend just past, I had a lovely time down in Brighton catching up with friends from uni who have left the frozen wastes of Scotland and are now base...

Biszkopt z Galaretka - or Polish Jelly Cake

 

A few years ago I spent the summer working in an office in Warsaw, and during that time, every arrival, departure or celebratory occasion in the office was c...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches

 

a.k.a restaurant review of Treacle, Broughton Street, Edinburgh Well… I guess this is the first guest post on Ruth’s blog. I’m Jono, Ruth’s other half, and I...

Wedding Cakes and Table Decorations

 

Well, despite the fact that I made a whole load of baking, cooking and general kitchen chaos over the Easter weekend (including cucumber and radish pickles, ...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Well Its Been Overwhelmingly Cakey

 

Well it’s been overwhelmingly cakey things that I’ve been posted about so far. That will change soon, once my latest craft experiment is finished - almost th...

Super Cakey Sunday

 

After a pretty manic couple of weeks at work, it was great to have a weekend to chill out and get round to doing some of the things I’ve been wanting to do f...

Chocolate Truffle Baileys Cake

 

Just a quick post of a cake I made for my brother’s girlfriend’s welcome back to edinburgh party.<div>It is the most ridiculously chocolately concoctio...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

More cakey goodness

 

Well… I was having another trawl through my photos looking for a specific couple of cakes that I am particularly proud of. Unfortunately they are proving elu...

Got to start somewhere…

 

... and after much internal debating, I thought I'd kick off with some photos of cakes I've made over the past few years! Baking, Cake-ing and Making occupy ...

Back to top ↑

savoury

2015 Savoury Roundup

 

It’s 2016. A new year, and a resolution to strike a better work life balance than 2015, part of which means I might hopefully manage a few more blog posts. W...

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

October Daring Cooks Challenge: Bitterballen

 

Two consecutive junk food posts in a row. Jeeps! Once upon a time I posted healthy recipes.We still eat a lot of really good healthy food, just that time is ...

Junk food salad

 

Not really a recipe, however too successful and discovery not to share!Junk food. We all know it’s bad for us. We still all want to eat it far more often tha...

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Maple Bacon and Stout Jam

 

This year we’ve made a LOT of jam. I say we, since Mr E was fully involved in the jam making process - be it sterilising, stirring, boiling, labelling, peeli...

2013 - My favourite posts

 

Looking through my archives, it seems I wrote 100 posts last year. Goodness knows how many spelling mistakes they contain, or incomplete sentences that don’t...

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

Another instalment of Recipe-less wonders

 

I’m on holiday today - woop woop! I’m starting it off by dying my hair which has been overdue for about a month and is so grey that Mini-M asked me in a very...

Bake in a Bag - toddler style

 

Mini-M is super keen to bake and cook, which is probably not that surprising since Mr E and I both spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes, trying...

Murtabak - Random Recipes #34

 

Time to squeeze in a quick pre-bed blog post, to attempt to create some sense of accomplishment for the evening, otherwise all I’ve done is bail from going t...

Local (& Late!) Random Recipes #33

 

For this month’s Random Recipes challenge, our host, Dom at Belleau Kitchen, exhorted us to use a local ingredient in our random culinary creations. He also ...

Halloween Mummy Pie

 

Not so much a recipe, but a set of instructions to make a bandaged-mummy-style pie. If Halloween on the horizon isn’t a good excuse for such pastry shenaniga...

Chard & Pecan Pesto - Pasta Please!

 

We were the lucky recipients of a big bunch of chard and another of kale when my folks visited a couple of weekends ago.Since we’ve not had our veg box, we’v...

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

Geek Stats Cooking: Albania

 

I’m slowly (OK ridiculously slowly) working my way around the parts of the world I’ve not had any blog visitors form, according to Google Analytics stats, an...

Mini-M Makes: Chicken pops

 

I’m trying to catch up on some back-blogging and these photos were next on my hit list: Mini-M making some chicken bites on sticks (aka chicken pops). I seem...

Pasta Please Cheeseless Wonders Roundup

 

This month I was hosting the Pasta Please challenge. It’s organised by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, and my chosen theme this month was ‘Cheeseless Wonders’ - scan...

A Pictorial Pasta Please Guest Post

 

I’m hosting the Pasta Please challenge this month. It is organised by Tinned Tomatoes, and each month a different blogger chooses a theme and curates the rou...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

No-Cook Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

 

Update - in the time that it took me to write this post which admittedly is 24hrs, someone else has posted first, so any residual feelings of hosting / fi...

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

Random Recipes #28: Bread

 

The theme for May’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as every at Belleau Kitchen is bread.My Dad makes awesome bread. (In fact Mini-M regularly requests “Gra...

Another installment of recipe-less photos!

 

I’ve been sorting through my iPhoto library again and have another selection of bakes and makes that I’ve cooked, taken pictures of, not blogged at the time ...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Azerbaijan (ish)

 

Time for another offering under the ‘countries of the world I’ve not had blog visitors from’ heading.This one is from Azerbaijan, although we no doubt spoile...

A Week of Dinners in Makey-Cakey-Land

 

I decided I’d take a picture of every dinner we ate over the course of a week. I’m now feeling slightly ashamed to post this, because it was definitely an ab...

Daring Bakers - Going Crackers

 

Before reading any further I warn you this is a bit of a disaster post. Firstly, it is 3 minutes to 11 at night, and I have to get up in too few hours for wo...

Party Eggs a la Mini-M

 

When I got in from work today, I was greeted at the door by a very excited Mini-M, clutching a half shelled boiled egg, telling me she was making dinner, and...

Embutido - Filipino Gala Pie!

 

Mr E is on a mission to eat food from 30 different countries in the year before he turns 30. We seem to have been covering Spain and Poland repeatedly, and s...

Hungry Caterpillar Food

 

I’ve now made ‘Hungry Caterpillar Food’ twice for Mini-M. I’m trying not to do it too often, since it is a bit of a faff. She loves it, but I don’t want it t...

Random Recipes # 21 - Store Cupboard Raiding

 

I’m getting off the mark early this month with my Random Recipe entry. We’ve been challenged to rummage blindly in our store cupboards, emerge triumphant wit...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

What do woodland creatures taste like?!

 

Squirrels and rabbits feature largely in our life currently. They make regular appearances in many of Mini-M’s story books. We look for them when we’re out w...

Daring Cooks’ June 2012: Cannelloni

 

It’s Daring Cooks’ time again…Manu from Manu’s Menu was our Daring Cooks lovely June hostess and has challenged us to make traditional Italian cannelloni fro...

3 for 4 for 5

 

Three for four for five - nope I’ve not got mixed up with the words of a kids nursery rhyme, and this post isn’t about Mini-M’s counting (although on that su...

What to do with that jar of artichokes…

 

You know, the ones that are lurking in the back of your cupboard that either a) were given to you as a gift, most likely part of hamper or deli selection b) ...

When the sun shines, it’s time to picnic!

 

We’re having a warm snap. Not often something that can be said in Scotland, and particularly not in March. But for the past three days, it has been glorious....

No Croutons Required - Spicy!

 

This Month’s No Croutons Required theme is spicy - we were tasked with cooking up a spicy vegetarian soup or salad, and since it’s is our lovely host Lisa’s ...

February Breakfast Club - Ziploc Omlette

 

Since today is the 28th February, and it’s been a hectic month, I’ve been a bit slack with my blogging, and leaving all my challenges to the last minute. I’v...

Happy 1st Birthday Random Recipes!

 

This month, the Random Recipes challenge, hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen turns 1! Happy Birthday! I can only hope there is as much cake for its first birth...

Big fat flying saucer pie

 

Time to share another weird and wonderful recipe corruption…This time I started off with a recipe for Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie from the BBC GoodFood online...

Bursting with Black Eyed Beans

 

January’s No Croutons Required challenge was to make a vegetarian soup or salad using black eyed beans.Yet again, I missed the blog posting deadline - going ...

Frozen to fantastic in 10 minutes!

 

Mini-M is enjoying soup at the moment. And dipping things in it. She’s a fan of dipping pretty much anything, into anything else, if I’m being honest. Tonigh...

Geeky Stats Cooking: Georgia

 

So, I’m onto my second country of many many still to go on my weird and wonderful culinary world tour. If you’re not sure what on earth I’m talking about, th...

Random Recipes 12 - New Year, New Book!

 

This month’s Random Recipe challenge was to cook something randomly selected from our newest cook book. A great idea - thanks for yet another ingenious chall...

Polish Style Meatballs with Buckwheat

 

Or Zrazy z Kasza Hreczana to give it it’s Polish name.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Whichever language yo...

Super Spicy Squash & Split-pea Soup

 

Now that I’ve got all that alliteration out of my system, here is a recipe for a really delicious soup I accidentally invented a few weeks back, when we got ...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Simply Soup-er Hearty Leek and Bacon Soup

 

A quick post of a very quick and easy recipe. Perfect for cold wintry weather, and quick enough to make post-work. And of course dairy free. Mini-M even trie...

Magnificent Mackerel

 

My folks were on holiday last week, down in Staithes on the North East coast of England. There was an award winning fish monger nearby, and Mum brought us qu...

Cold Chip Fritttata

 

I am as big a fan as the next person of that Scottish delicacy of chips and brown sauce, wrapped up in brown paper from the chippie. But you always, always, ...

Overnight Home-Cured Bacon Chops a la Hugh

 

As if I don’t have enough recipes in my cookbook and recipe cutting stash, I also get cookbooks out of the library. I’m sure Mr E probably wishes I didn’t be...

Scrummy Scotch Broth

 

Here’s another soup recipe from the variety I made for September’s Daring Cook’s Challenge. The post would have been truly epic if I’d included them all, so ...

Something fishy going on… Cullen Skink

 

So as you may be aware from my previous post, September’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge was to make stock, soup and consomme.We eat loads of soup - usually of the ...

Peace & Love Sandwiches

 

I'm having unintentional vegan moments at the moment, since Mini-M and I still can't have any dairy. And web browsing for suitable recipes means I end up on ...

Pi Day & Pie Week - Lentil & Veg Filo Pi(e)

 

Last week was Pie Week, so I made some pie - seemed rude not to really. And today is Pi Day (well it is if you write your dates American stylee, as it's 3.14...

More than Mashed Banana - Baby Cuisine

 

As I'm posting this, I have a feeling it's appeal will be extremely limited to the handful of folk that normally keep an eye on this blog. Sorry peeps! It's ...

Mango Salsa with a Secret Ingredient

 

It's been a busy weekend in the kitchen this weekend. And for once I remembered to take photos of at most of the results, which will hopefully keep me bloggi...

A Proliferation of Parsnips

 

Parsnips... a veg that up until recently I would have sworn I hated, mainly because I think they taste of soap. And to be honest, if you just give me some co...

Greggs Eat Your Heart Out (Lentil Pasties)

 

Can’t believe it’s almost a month since I last posted - it only seems like a few days! I really wanted to get a normal post in before the next Daring Bakers ...

Soup-er!

 

We’ve started getting an organic fruit and veg box delivered weekly from East Coast Organics, as we were getting sick of the rubbish choice and quality at ou...

Easy Peasy Cheesy

 

I made this recipe a wee while ago when friends came round for dinner, and the praise it received seemed totally disproportionate to the the effort involved ...

Salad Series Part 2 - Plum Salsa

 

OK - well this one had an identifiable source of inspiration - here at the Zested blog. But my big problem with salsa is that it always has coriander in it, ...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Back to top ↑

chocolate

Plain on the outside…

 

Since it is/was Chocolate Cake day today, I thought I’d better bake one!Here’s a white chocolate and apricot loaf, which I’m taking with me to a work meeting...

Something Sweet to Say Thank You

 

I’t’s Mini-M’s last day at pre-school tomorrow. (Gulp!).Since this is a a baking blog, I’ll spare you the “how did she grow up so quickly, where has my baby ...

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Homebrew Everything Cookies

 

For part of Mr E’s Christmas present, I made him a Pinterest board of beer related recipes. (It’s here, if anyone is interested!). Don’t worry, that’s not al...

Daring Bakers January 2014 - Baumkuchen

 

A very quick post - it’s getting late, another early weekday morning beckons tomorrow, and I’ve realised at the last minute yet again that it’s Daring Bakers...

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

French Macaroons - my nemesis no more!

 

It’s that time again - Daring Bakers’ posting time.This month, in a “celebration” of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us ...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Tutti Frutti Tiffin

 

This post should really have a sub-heading along the lines of ‘using up all the little drops of dried fruit lurking a the back of the cupboard in one easy re...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Upside Down Pear and Chocolate Cake

 

Pears and chocolate are a delicious combination, and therefore it’s not surprise that this cake tasted fantastic. Rich dark and chocolaty with a fruity edge ...

Chocolate Mousse with a Secret Ingredient

 

Chocolate mousse is delicious - a fact that is pretty much universally accepted.<div>Dairy free chocolate mousse that doesn’t taste of soya is pretty h...

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

 

I’ll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate ‘butter’ icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaste...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

White Chocolate Fudge

 

This is quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever made - which isn’t really that surprising since it is basically sugar, with white chocolate in it!<d...

Pomegranate & Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I love pomegranates. They remind me of being a kid, and wintry evenings, and sticky fingers, and total absorption in picking out all the little bits (which I...

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

My First Cakepops

 

Cakepops.In Scotland we don’t have pops, we have lollies. Cakelollies doesn’t quite have the same ring to it! It’s probably for the best therefore, that Cake...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Baking with Biscuits!

 

I’m have a not very secret love for recipe books: the slightly buckled shelves on our bookcase are a testament to that! As well as being a bit of a sucker...

Birthday Cakes x 3

 

It's been a bit of a birthday-cakey couple of weeks. Two almost approximately on time (well in the correct month at least...) and one very belatedly from Jan...

Almond Milk & Almond Cake

 

Since I can't have dairy at the moment, and don't like soya milk that much (small understatement) I've been looking for alternative milk substitutes. My favo...

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Secret Cappuccino Cupcakes

 

Yesterday morning Mini-M decided she wanted to have an early nap, and was snoozing again by 9am. Not that I was complaining - I used the unexpected opportuni...

Christmas Baking

 

So, this festive season was full of baking and general kitchen happiness, which was a lot of fun in the making, and tasty in the eating. Pictures were duly t...

Chocolate Olive Oil Torte

 

The lengths I will go to for a chocolatey, cakey hit are reasonably extreme, it turns out, and well into the realms of experimental baking! Most bought dairy...

Crostata: November Daring Bakers

 

Can’t believe it’s Daring Bakers’ posting time again - it’s flown by with crazy speed and donuts seem a distant memory…The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ chall...

Healthy Brownies

 

Chocolate brownies are amazing, but sadly not one of life’s superfoods :o(So I decided to try to make ‘healthy’ brownies, which were both a success and failu...

Lekvar - Hungarian Style Fruit Butter

 

Well due to general hectic-ness, I’ve not posted anything for ages. But I’m back :o) The other week as I was tidying out some kitchen cupboards, I came acros...

Cake Heaven in Brighton

 

At the weekend just past, I had a lovely time down in Brighton catching up with friends from uni who have left the frozen wastes of Scotland and are now base...

Super Cakey Sunday

 

After a pretty manic couple of weeks at work, it was great to have a weekend to chill out and get round to doing some of the things I’ve been wanting to do f...

Chocolate Truffle Baileys Cake

 

Just a quick post of a cake I made for my brother’s girlfriend’s welcome back to edinburgh party.<div>It is the most ridiculously chocolately concoctio...

More cakey goodness

 

Well… I was having another trawl through my photos looking for a specific couple of cakes that I am particularly proud of. Unfortunately they are proving elu...

Back to top ↑

Photo-a-Day

Mr E’s Photo-A-Day Roundup Months 5.5 & 6

 

I’m ridiculously behind on posting Mr E’s photo-a-day roundups.So without further ado, here is the second half of May, and all of June!Week 1Featuring eating...

Mr E’s Photo A Day Roundup Month 3

 

A little late, since we’re heading rapidly for the middle of April, but here’s a roundup of Mr E’s photo-a-day pictures from March.<div></div><...

Mr E’s Photo-a-Day: January Roundup

 

Last year, I took a photo every day, and posted a weekly roundup. Although it was fun, I didn’t want the photographic pressure of doing it for another year -...

A Picture A Day: Week 52

 

It’s hard to believe that this is my last daily photo roundup post. I’ve gone a whole year taking a picture every day, and looking back, I think I’ve managed...

A Picture A Day: Week 51

 

Well today has been an epic blogging day - this is post number 3, plus one last night!And it’s also my second last daily photo post - I can’t believe I’ve ac...

A Picture A Day: Week 50

 

It’s been a bit of a week of lurgy here, mainly for Mini-M who has been feeling very poorly, with a snotty nose, hacking cough, gunky eyes, temperatures, shi...

A Picture A Day: Week 49

 

I can’t quite believe how quickly this week has zoomed past, and indeed the whole second half of this year. In fact, I’m sure it’s actually only mid-August. ...

A Picture A Day: Week 48

 

I’m late yet again, I know! Another busy weekend and a few other projects meant I was spending my blogging time doing other things - some lovely things thoug...

A Picture A Day: Week 47 plus 1

 

A quick post because it’s getting late, and I’m hopeful that I can write this and still be in bed by midnight (my computer informs me that it’s currently 23:...

A Picture A Day: Week 46

 

Posting this week’s photos a day early, since tomorrow morning we’re heading off away for a long weekend, and wont be back until Tuesday. Tomorrow’s photo wi...

A Picture A Day: Week 45

 

Ug - another week where I’ve not managed any more blog posts, and it’s photo time again.It’s been a week with lots of fun, a fair amount of chaos (as usual),...

A Picture A Day: Week 44

 

Since it’s 10:44pm by my computer clock, and I’m feeling sleepy, here are this weeks photos, minus the preamble! Several of them stolen from other people thi...

A Picture A Day: Week 43

 

Well, it has been another busy week. But there’s nothing new there! I think when folk ask how life is, I should stop saying hectic, because that implies some...

A Picture A Day: Week 42

 

We’ve both been on holiday this week (woop!) but have both had Mini-M’s cold (yuck!) so we’ve been living quietly and not doing anything too adventurous.So h...

A Picture A Day: Week 41

 

A day late, but here are last week’s pictures. And I have to confess, I forgot one day! But that’s OK - I had an extra one from the day after to fill in the ...

A Picture A Day: Week 40

 

Late again this week - a horrible migraine kept me away from the computer for a couple of days.But I’m fixed now, and catching up, so here are last week’s pi...

A Picture A Day: Week 39

 

Friday again! It’s been a lovely sunny and hot week - very un-autumnal, but it does feel like a small compensation for some of the disgustingness of the “sum...

A Picture A Day: Week 38

 

Another week - and a much more successful one from a photography point of view!Saturday 17th SeptemberStreet lights and sunset taken from our balcony<div ...

A Picture A Day: Week 37

 

This week I have been pretty bad at taking photos. I have taken photos every day, but several days they were food pics that are destined for other blog posts...

A Picture A Day: Week 36

 

This week both Mr E and I were on holiday - cue general illness, domestic chaos and a lot less holidaying than originally planned.Saturday 3rd SeptemberGetti...

A picture A Day: Week 35

 

A quick post whilst our film downloads.... tonight we are watching Gnomeo and Juliet - it satisfied the criteria of being non-violent, a comedy, starring som...

A picture A Day: Week 34 - Very belatedly!

 

Late again! Without further waffle, here are last week's photos. Saturday 20th August Railings and sunshine on Johnston Terrace taken on the post-farmers-m...

A picture A Day: Week 33

 

A day late, but that is becoming the norm... here are last week's pictures! Saturday 13th August Not sure this is one of the serving suggestions on the Dai...

A picture A Day: Week 32

 

So here are this week's photos... it's been a busy week! Saturday 6th August Mini-M reorganising my wallet for me (obviously the football is essential in t...

A Picture A Day: Week 31

 

A day late, as usual, here are my photos for this week. Saturday 30th July Mini-M's chubby little toes in the sand for the first time at Portobello beach. ...

A Picture A Day: Week 30

 

It's been a sunshiney week this week, hectic but lots of fun. We seem to have survived Mini-M's immunisation boosters relatively unscathed, and of course, sp...

A Picture A Day: Week 29

 

Writing this quite late on the 22nd July, which means it is Mini-M's birthday (- and very almost mine)! She features rather heavily in this week's pictures -...

A Picture A Day: Week 28

 

Posting my pictures on time this week. Looking through my iPhoto has made me realise I've got a pretty long blogging queue, of some tasty kitchen experiments...

A Picture A Day: Week 26 and Week 27

 

A fortnight's worth of pictures to post today. I've been taking them, but forgot to blog last week, due to quick getaway to head down south for a wedding. I ...

A Picture A Day: Week 25

 

This week's photos - not much preamble, since it's 23:12 on Friday night, and I'm sleepy! Saturday 18th June Mini-M's current favourite activity is unpackin...

A Picture A Day: Week 24

 

I can't believe it's less than a week since we came back from the Netherlands - seems like a lot longer! It's been a good week tho - with some nice surprises...

A Picture A Day: Week 23

 

Picture posting is late this week, as we've been away in the Netherlands on holiday, and only got back yesterday. Therefore there's a striking similarity wit...

A Picture A Day: Week 22

 

This week it's a full 7 days of Mini-M pictures - turns out I didn't take photos of much else! So here she is... Saturday 28th May Mini-M still in her pyja...

A Picture A Day: Week 21

 

It's a double blog posting night tonight, since it's both Friday, so time for the weekly photo roundup, and the 27th, which is Daring Bakers day. Since I've ...

A Picture A Day: Week 20

 

No pictures of Mini-M in this week's selection - and quite a high quotient of random things in the house. Not sure how that happened... will have to make up ...

A Picture A Day: Week 19

 

Very late posting this week! Last week was a very fun wedding cake making and decorating marathon, which meant not much time for blogging, followed by going ...

A Picture A Day: Week 18

 

A couple of days late in posting this week, but better that than never as the saying goes! Here are this week's pictures: Saturday 30th April Mini-M & M...

A Picture A Day: Week 17

 

Another busy week, with lots of lovely sunshine and bank holidays! So far I've been back at work for 3 weeks, and 2 of them have had Friday bank holidays, so...

A Picture A Day: Week 16

 

Here's this weeks pictures. It's been another hectic one - most of them seem to be! We seem to have a great skill at filling all of our available time with '...

A Picture A Day: Week 15

 

This week has been a bit of a momentous one - I went back to work! Only part time, and so did my better half, so we can juggle child care with, a little bit ...

A Picture A Day: Week 14

 

Posting late this week due to an epic but ultimately awesome weekend! Saturday 2nd April Sunset on the A68 driving back to Edinburgh after a trip down to Ha...

A Picture A Day: Week 13

 

Another week has flown by, and my photo taking has been a bit less than inspired - sorry folks! Glad it's Friday night though - phew. Saturday 26th MarchThey...

A Picture A Day: Week 12

 

Another sleep deprived week this week, and last night in particular, due to the emergence of tooth no. 1 for Mini-M. So without further ado, here are this we...

A Picture A Day: Week 11

 

A bit late on the picture posting this week, due to illness, general chaos, and heading home to visit the parentals on Friday without my laptop. So here is l...

A Picture A Day: Week 10

 

Keeping the preamble to a minimum today as lack of sleep means it's likely to be garbage! 4 feeds during the night for Mini-M last night. It had better just ...

A Picture A Day: Week 9

 

Posting fast, as Mini-M was sleeping whilst I uploaded the photos, but is very much now awake - kicking my legs quite viciously and chewing her rabbit, lying...

A Picture A Day: Week 8

 

Posting a day late due to a hectic Friday, and since it's quarter past 11 on Saturday night, and my eyes are getting very sleepy, it'll be a swift one! Satu...

A Picture A Day: Week 7

 

Can't believe it's Friday again, and I've managed 7 weeks of daily photos without giving up - and it's becoming second nature, so things are looking likely f...

A Picture A Day: Week 6

 

A bit of an improvement in the weather this week has hopefully meant a bit of improvement in the photo taking! It has been a long week - not in a dragging on...

A Picture A Day: Week 5

 

It's been a miserable, rainy and windy week, which means photo taking has by and large been an indoor activity. So this week's offerings sadly lack sunsets, ...

A Picture A Day: Week 4

 

This week has been a bad week photographically speaking - I'm confessing to two cheats. One because I forgot to take a picture on Monday, and took an extra o...

A Picture A Day: Week 3

 

Week three, and the photos continue - am secretly quite impressed with myself that I have not given up yet, and not cheated (apart from the 8-into-1 panorami...

A Picture A Day: Week 2

 

Hmmm - so much for my plan of posting again this week before installment 2 of my daily photos. Best laid plans and all that. It's been a busy week, back to t...

Back to top ↑

Daring Bakers

The Daring Bakers’ December 2014 Challenge

 

Oh goodness. Somehow it seems I’ve not written a blog post since October. And Christmas has somehow come and gone too! 2014 has hurtled past at an alarming r...

Daring Bakers January 2014 - Baumkuchen

 

A very quick post - it’s getting late, another early weekday morning beckons tomorrow, and I’ve realised at the last minute yet again that it’s Daring Bakers...

French Macaroons - my nemesis no more!

 

It’s that time again - Daring Bakers’ posting time.This month, in a “celebration” of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us ...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

Daring Bakers - Going Crackers

 

Before reading any further I warn you this is a bit of a disaster post. Firstly, it is 3 minutes to 11 at night, and I have to get up in too few hours for wo...

Daring Bakers’ June 2012: Battenberg

 

This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was a very British affair!Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenber...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Crostata: November Daring Bakers

 

Can’t believe it’s Daring Bakers’ posting time again - it’s flown by with crazy speed and donuts seem a distant memory…The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ chall...

Daring Bakers - Lets go Nuts for Donuts

 

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for he...

Daring Bakers - Sugar Cookies

 

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on ...

Darink Bakers November Challenge - Cannoli

 

So, I’m getting off to a bad start for this month’s Daring Bakers challenge - I’ve just realised this was supposed to be posted yesterday - oops! Better late...

Back to top ↑

almond

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Daring Bakers January 2014 - Baumkuchen

 

A very quick post - it’s getting late, another early weekday morning beckons tomorrow, and I’ve realised at the last minute yet again that it’s Daring Bakers...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

French Macaroons - my nemesis no more!

 

It’s that time again - Daring Bakers’ posting time.This month, in a “celebration” of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us ...

No-Cook Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

 

Update - in the time that it took me to write this post which admittedly is 24hrs, someone else has posted first, so any residual feelings of hosting / fi...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Hybrid Valentines Pancakes

 

I’m combining both of this week’s significant celebrations into one. Although I’m not sure exactly what to call it - Shrove Valentines? Valentines Cake Day?&...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Identity Crisis Bread

 

Today I baked, and I’m feeling rather proud of the result, which is why it’s jumping the posting queue and making its appearance tonight, rather than languis...

Daring Bakers’ June 2012: Battenberg

 

This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was a very British affair!Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenber...

Al Fresco Birthday Cake

 

“Oh” said Mr E, coming into the kitchen “I didn’t realise you were planning on making birthday cake”“Well, I wasn’t” I said “But the grapes in the fruit dish...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

Happy Pancake Day!

 

It’s pancake day, which is generally a happy occasion, and doubly so because I have a laptop again. Woop!To celebrate, I made a Hungarian style layered panca...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Cake doesn’t have to be fancy…

 

… sometimes simple cake just hits the spot.This cake did just that!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Almond s...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Almond Milk & Almond Cake

 

Since I can't have dairy at the moment, and don't like soya milk that much (small understatement) I've been looking for alternative milk substitutes. My favo...

Back to top ↑

Daring Cooks

October Daring Cooks Challenge: Bitterballen

 

Two consecutive junk food posts in a row. Jeeps! Once upon a time I posted healthy recipes.We still eat a lot of really good healthy food, just that time is ...

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Daring Cooks’ June 2012: Cannelloni

 

It’s Daring Cooks’ time again…Manu from Manu’s Menu was our Daring Cooks lovely June hostess and has challenged us to make traditional Italian cannelloni fro...

Scrummy Scotch Broth

 

Here’s another soup recipe from the variety I made for September’s Daring Cook’s Challenge. The post would have been truly epic if I’d included them all, so ...

Something fishy going on… Cullen Skink

 

So as you may be aware from my previous post, September’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge was to make stock, soup and consomme.We eat loads of soup - usually of the ...

Daring Cooks June 2011: Potato Salad

 

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. Th...

Back to top ↑

Random Recipes

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Murtabak - Random Recipes #34

 

Time to squeeze in a quick pre-bed blog post, to attempt to create some sense of accomplishment for the evening, otherwise all I’ve done is bail from going t...

Local (& Late!) Random Recipes #33

 

For this month’s Random Recipes challenge, our host, Dom at Belleau Kitchen, exhorted us to use a local ingredient in our random culinary creations. He also ...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

Random Recipes #28: Bread

 

The theme for May’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as every at Belleau Kitchen is bread.My Dad makes awesome bread. (In fact Mini-M regularly requests “Gra...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Random Recipes: Tangerines and Tea!

 

It’s time to blog March’s Random Recipes challenge. The event as always is hosted at Belleau Kitchen, and the theme this month was Cuttings, Memories and Cli...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Random Recipes # 21 - Store Cupboard Raiding

 

I’m getting off the mark early this month with my Random Recipe entry. We’ve been challenged to rummage blindly in our store cupboards, emerge triumphant wit...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Random Recipes Birthday Cake

 

This month is the 2nd anniversary of Belleau Kitchen, the fantastic, stylish and culinarily (is that a word?) inspiring blog that hosts the monthly Random Re...

Happy 1st Birthday Random Recipes!

 

This month, the Random Recipes challenge, hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen turns 1! Happy Birthday! I can only hope there is as much cake for its first birth...

Random Recipes 12 - New Year, New Book!

 

This month’s Random Recipe challenge was to cook something randomly selected from our newest cook book. A great idea - thanks for yet another ingenious chall...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

Back to top ↑

icing

More Cakes for a good cause

 

In March last year I posted a roundup of the first few cakes I had made since starting to volunteer for Free Cakes For Kids.They are a community based charit...

A Towering Tall Tale: Cake Fest Edinburgh

 

What did you get up to at the weekend? Making two replica high-rise tower blocks from cake? What? You didn’t? That must just have been me then (and my lovely...

Cakes for a good cause

 

Since my hot date tonight is of the water bottle and lemsip variety, I thought I’d use the opportunity to post a roundup of the cakes I’ve made so far since ...

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Belated Birthday Cake

 

Back to the blogging and catching up on last night’s Bake Off on iPlayer, since instead of watching it yesterday, I was in the pub discussing cake - more spe...

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Not exactly less is more!

 

Mini-M is, unsurprisingly, keen to bake and decorate cakes. Although I’m obviously completely biased, I think for a 3 year old she’s pretty good in the kitch...

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

Cake roundup!

 

I posted a recipe roundup a week or so back, of all the things I’ve made over the past 6 months and forgotten the recipes of, thus will never make blog posts...

Cupcake Cuteness for a Good Cause

 

The week before last, I gave a cupcake decorating workshop for Bethany Trust service users.It was a lovely event, with a really good turnout. I went armed wi...

“My having Kitty pirate cake” Oh really?

 

Mini-M turned 2 a couple of weeks ago.The weeks running up to her birthday are well and truly party season, as lots of her friends in very quick succession, ...

Lovely Lychees

 

I have a feeling that lychees are the Marmite of the fruit world - you either love them or are completely freaked out by their slimy eye-ball-ish texture. Wi...

Rainbow Hearts

 

Back in mid-April I was really pleased to be able to make a cake for my lovely very-soon-to-be-sister-in-law.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; te...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Super Cakey Sunday

 

After a pretty manic couple of weeks at work, it was great to have a weekend to chill out and get round to doing some of the things I’ve been wanting to do f...

More cakey goodness

 

Well… I was having another trawl through my photos looking for a specific couple of cakes that I am particularly proud of. Unfortunately they are proving elu...

Got to start somewhere…

 

... and after much internal debating, I thought I'd kick off with some photos of cakes I've made over the past few years! Baking, Cake-ing and Making occupy ...

Back to top ↑

Makey

Family Clay Time

 

I am writing this grumpily whilst feeling sorry for myself with a horrible cold. I’m tired, but every time I lie down my head gets so stuffed up, I end up si...

It’s been a very handmade Christmas

 

Amongst the Christmas gifts that we have given and received this year, there have been some beautiful handmade goodies (both edible and non-edible). I though...

Clothing and Curtains

 

I’m feeling a little Maria Von Trapp as I write this - I’m fairly sure she used the dining room curtains to rustle up some rather natty outfits for the Von T...

Sewing for toddlers…

 

Mini-M decided a while back that she wanted to knit - she has received lovely knits from a whole host of family since she was tiny, and indeed now sometimes ...

Tonight I carved a melon…

 

A rock and roll Saturday evening chez Makey-Cakey tonight…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I carved a waterm...

Welcome to Martha Town

 

2 hrs, 1 piece of IKEA kitchen unit, bought for £1 from the bargain corner, and 4 sharpies.Welcome to Martha Town!Hopefully it will soon be inhabited by Play...

Shoe upgrade

 

It’s summer and that means plimsolls, trainers and sandals. (With frequent interludes of wellies since we do live in Scotland after all!)<div class="separ...

Crash, Bang, Craft!

 

On Tuesday I was upstairs when suddenly I heard a big clatter. My immediate panic was that it was the start of our bookcase collapsing - we covered the end w...

It’s Been A Masochistic Week…

 

… or so it would seem, on reflection! But a fun one.Tonight, I spent the evening with the Edinburgh Cake Ladies at Mimi’s Bakehouse, sharing and comparing so...

Needles and Pins

 

It seems like a looooooooong time ago that I made this felt needle case for a “Mummy School” graduation present. In reality it was only 3 months - it’s just ...

Christmas Playdough

 

Whilst I was researching my edible gifts article for the Daring Kitchen, I came across this Fall Spiced Play Dough recipe at Creating Nirvana Today. Yes, I k...

Christmas Card Chaos

 

Last week, Mini-M and I tried to make a Christmas card for Mr E.I’m really pleased with how it turned out - but it belies the chaos that went into making it!...

DIY Wellies with eyes!

 

Yesterday was a horrible wet, windy day, and although we did get out, most of it was spent inside.Windy weather tends to make Mini-M a bit rampage-y and her ...

Recycled IKEA Catalogue Wall Art

 

Question… is it wrong to steal your child’s toys to turn them into living room art?Answer… probably, but it’s too late now! Plus I only stole the boring ones...

Wallpaper Wildlife Silhouettes

 

A year or so ago, we put up some patterned wall paper on one wall in our living room. Whilst choosing the paper, we ended up with a bunch of samples, and aft...

Birthday Baprons

 

A few months back, I put up a post of a bib I'd made for Mini-M. It was made using the pattern and tutorial at craftiness is not optional. Since this summe...

Happy Birthday “Tutu” you!

 

So Mini-M turned 1 yesterday - the past year has gone past at breakneck speed, yet been one of the longest ever too. Both Mr E and I were busy in the run up...

Monogrammed Muslins - and my 100th Post!

 

Life has been hectic and the last time I blogged was the end of June - can't believe it's now a full week through July too. Thought it was time for a crafty ...

Sometimes when Mini-M wont sleep…

 

... we give in, and let her stay up a while longer, and let her entertain herself for a while. Tonight was one of those nights in question. 7pm and she was b...

A bib Mini-M can’t remove!

 

It is an unfortunate fact of life that Mini-M doesn't really like bibs - in fact she's getting quite nimble fingered at whipping them off. This bib removing ...

Wax Crayon Donuts

 

It's 4am, and right now Mini-M is 'self-settling' in her cot on the other side of the room whilst I supervise. In actual fact she is grumping to herself and ...

Thing-A-Day 2011: Kirigami Hearts

 

A post today that is high on the picture count and low on the word count. I'm participating in the Thing-A-Day 2011 challenge. It's described as its organis...

Baby Workwear!

 

For once this is a makey rather than a cakey post. Believe it or not, I do make quite a lot of stuff - most often, my husband will probably vouch for, I make...

Banana Art!

 

Well, here is what greeted me when I looked in my lunch bag today…It is indeed BananaMan… of a sort! And it was drawn using a Sharpie by my husband this morn...

Red Bead Bracelet

 

Due to recurring pantsness at remembering to take photos of the things I’ve been cooking (peach and almond tart, more bread and sesame coconut and mango mues...

Wedding Cakes and Table Decorations

 

Well, despite the fact that I made a whole load of baking, cooking and general kitchen chaos over the Easter weekend (including cucumber and radish pickles, ...

Butterfly Table

 

Enough of the cakes - I thought it was time to post some making.I had an old folding Ikea table in the spare room that had seen better days! Its top was cove...

DIY Weddingness - Part I

 

A couple of months ago, I got married, and it was a fantastic, DIY-style day. When we started planning the event, my husband and I discovered that there were...

Back to top ↑

roundup

More Cakes for a good cause

 

In March last year I posted a roundup of the first few cakes I had made since starting to volunteer for Free Cakes For Kids.They are a community based charit...

2015 Sweet Roundup

 

Following on from the savoury roundup, and without further ado, here’s a sweet 2015 retrospective - all dairy free as usual.<table align="center" cellpadd...

2015 Savoury Roundup

 

It’s 2016. A new year, and a resolution to strike a better work life balance than 2015, part of which means I might hopefully manage a few more blog posts. W...

2013 - My favourite posts

 

Looking through my archives, it seems I wrote 100 posts last year. Goodness knows how many spelling mistakes they contain, or incomplete sentences that don’t...

2013’s Most Viewed Posts

 

So basically it seems that despite 400+ blog posts since starting in January 2009, there are only a handful that anyone is interested in - and that despite a...

It’s been a very handmade Christmas

 

Amongst the Christmas gifts that we have given and received this year, there have been some beautiful handmade goodies (both edible and non-edible). I though...

Advent Challenge 2013 - Toddler Crafts

 

We’ve been trying to join in the Advent Challenge being run by Faye Brown Designs. For each day in December, there’s a festive theme and everyone is invited ...

Another instalment of Recipe-less wonders

 

I’m on holiday today - woop woop! I’m starting it off by dying my hair which has been overdue for about a month and is so grey that Mini-M asked me in a very...

Some recent dinners chez Makey-Cakey

 

Life is busy. Sometimes as a result food, and dinners in particular suffer and end up veering frequently into repeated pasta and tomato sauce territory. <...

Pasta Please Cheeseless Wonders Roundup

 

This month I was hosting the Pasta Please challenge. It’s organised by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, and my chosen theme this month was ‘Cheeseless Wonders’ - scan...

Another installment of recipe-less photos!

 

I’ve been sorting through my iPhoto library again and have another selection of bakes and makes that I’ve cooked, taken pictures of, not blogged at the time ...

Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

I shall start this post with a slap on my own blogging knuckles - I’m two days later than I said I’d be at posting this, after realising at almost-bedtime th...

A Week of Dinners in Makey-Cakey-Land

 

I decided I’d take a picture of every dinner we ate over the course of a week. I’m now feeling slightly ashamed to post this, because it was definitely an ab...

Looking back: Sweet Treats from our veg box

 

Sad times - today I had to cancel our veg box because someone local to our house stole half of the fruit and our eggs last week, and most likely our eggs th...

Great Grapes

 

We had snow today! Completely unrelated to the main subject of the post but nevertheless, snow! Enough to go sledging - even at sea level in Leith! So we did...

2012 Favourite Posts

 

Well, I thought I might as well jump on the New Year blogging bandwagon, and post a 2012 retrospective. Particularly since I’m laid up on the sofa having got...

Seasonal Surprise Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy December everyone!Back on the 1st of October I announced I’d be organising another Surprise Ingredient Swap - this time with a vaguely seasonal theme.B...

Introducing my Birthday Box

 

Yes, before anyone points it out to me, I know that my birthday was in July. We are now in November. That means I’m pretty much four whole months late in pos...

Secret Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me (and Mini-M yesterday!) happy birthday to me!Yes, another year older and this year a number ...

3 for 4 for 5

 

Three for four for five - nope I’ve not got mixed up with the words of a kids nursery rhyme, and this post isn’t about Mini-M’s counting (although on that su...

Breakfast Club March 2012 Roundup

 

Well it gives me great pleasure to be able to post the deliciously dairy free recipe roundup, cooked up by talented and adventurous Breakfast Club participan...

Back to top ↑

celebration cakes

More Cakes for a good cause

 

In March last year I posted a roundup of the first few cakes I had made since starting to volunteer for Free Cakes For Kids.They are a community based charit...

A Towering Tall Tale: Cake Fest Edinburgh

 

What did you get up to at the weekend? Making two replica high-rise tower blocks from cake? What? You didn’t? That must just have been me then (and my lovely...

Cakes for a good cause

 

Since my hot date tonight is of the water bottle and lemsip variety, I thought I’d use the opportunity to post a roundup of the cakes I’ve made so far since ...

Belated Birthday Cake

 

Back to the blogging and catching up on last night’s Bake Off on iPlayer, since instead of watching it yesterday, I was in the pub discussing cake - more spe...

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

Cake roundup!

 

I posted a recipe roundup a week or so back, of all the things I’ve made over the past 6 months and forgotten the recipes of, thus will never make blog posts...

“My having Kitty pirate cake” Oh really?

 

Mini-M turned 2 a couple of weeks ago.The weeks running up to her birthday are well and truly party season, as lots of her friends in very quick succession, ...

Father’s Day Cake a la Mini-M

 

Sunday was Father’s Day. (As an aside, you would not believe the internal debate I have just had about that apostrophe. And I’m pretty sure it is still wrong...

Rainbow Hearts

 

Back in mid-April I was really pleased to be able to make a cake for my lovely very-soon-to-be-sister-in-law.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; te...

Going, Going, Gone! A Post of Epic Cakeyness

 

I’m feeling a little bit caked out. Or more specifically icing-ed out. Not eating it, just making it.You see last Sunday my sister and I - the lovely Auntie ...

Al Fresco Birthday Cake

 

“Oh” said Mr E, coming into the kitchen “I didn’t realise you were planning on making birthday cake”“Well, I wasn’t” I said “But the grapes in the fruit dish...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Sugar and spice and… gingerbread!

 

Not many words, and no recipe. Just some photos of the IKEA gingerbread house I finally got round to decorating.I had planned to do it pre-Christmas instead ...

Christmas Baking

 

So, this festive season was full of baking and general kitchen happiness, which was a lot of fun in the making, and tasty in the eating. Pictures were duly t...

Super Cakey Sunday

 

After a pretty manic couple of weeks at work, it was great to have a weekend to chill out and get round to doing some of the things I’ve been wanting to do f...

More cakey goodness

 

Well… I was having another trawl through my photos looking for a specific couple of cakes that I am particularly proud of. Unfortunately they are proving elu...

Got to start somewhere…

 

... and after much internal debating, I thought I'd kick off with some photos of cakes I've made over the past few years! Baking, Cake-ing and Making occupy ...

Back to top ↑

coconut

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Make it snappy!

 

A wee while ago, whilst enjoying a catch-up weekend with good friends (in the not so glamorous, but still rather lovely surroundings of Northallerton!) whils...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Mini-M Makes… Tropical Pirate Muffins

 

Right now Mini-M is into mixing, so I thought some muffin making might prove popular. It did, and it also lead to the discovery of possibly an even more fun ...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Baking with Biscuits!

 

I’m have a not very secret love for recipe books: the slightly buckled shelves on our bookcase are a testament to that! As well as being a bit of a sucker...

Damplums!

 

A month or so back we got some slightly unidentified fruit in our veg box from East Coast Organics. They looked a bit like damsons, but were too early in the...

Back to top ↑

Mini-M Makes

At 8am on Sunday morning…

 

...when most of the world was asleep,  or the world without small children at least, we were making a rainbow palace and listening to French reggae. T...

Stained-Glass Your Living Room!

 

Want a multicoloured, immensely satisfying way to entertain a toddler, yourself, and bathe your living room in a rainbow glow? What’s not to like really ther...

Move over Nigella & Delia!

 

There’s a new TV chef in town. OK that’s possibly a slight exaggeration, but give Mini-M a few years…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"...

Not exactly less is more!

 

Mini-M is, unsurprisingly, keen to bake and decorate cakes. Although I’m obviously completely biased, I think for a 3 year old she’s pretty good in the kitch...

Family Clay Time

 

I am writing this grumpily whilst feeling sorry for myself with a horrible cold. I’m tired, but every time I lie down my head gets so stuffed up, I end up si...

Christmas Decoration Survey

 

A quick blog post, whilst I should probably be doing other more festive things! Or useful thing. Or a combination of both.Holidays are finally here - woop. I...

Advent Challenge 2013 - Toddler Crafts

 

We’ve been trying to join in the Advent Challenge being run by Faye Brown Designs. For each day in December, there’s a festive theme and everyone is invited ...

Bake in a Bag - toddler style

 

Mini-M is super keen to bake and cook, which is probably not that surprising since Mr E and I both spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes, trying...

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Part-time parent guilt: Activity Bags

 

I’ve been working full time again for almost a year - it has certainly passed at quite a pace. And sometimes I feel like I’m a bit of a part-time Mum. <di...

Mini-M Makes: Chicken pops

 

I’m trying to catch up on some back-blogging and these photos were next on my hit list: Mini-M making some chicken bites on sticks (aka chicken pops). I seem...

Oops - no yeast!

 

It’s the official end of the Edinburgh Festival today - and that’s including the arty posh bit, and not just the crazy Fringe.To say August has been a busy m...

A New Tradition

 

We’ve started a new tradition - although just a small scale, Saturday teatime, chez Makey-Cakey tradition.Unsurprisingly it involves cake. Sponge pudding to ...

Sewing for toddlers…

 

Mini-M decided a while back that she wanted to knit - she has received lovely knits from a whole host of family since she was tiny, and indeed now sometimes ...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

A day in the life…

 

I was going to write a post about marbling Easter Eggs since it was one of today’s many activities. However although it was a lot of fun, we didn’t quite get...

Party Eggs a la Mini-M

 

When I got in from work today, I was greeted at the door by a very excited Mini-M, clutching a half shelled boiled egg, telling me she was making dinner, and...

Rainbow Hedgehogs!

 

Today, Mini-M and I made Rainbow Matchstick Plasticene Hedgehogs.It was great fun for both of us, and she was captivated for ages. We played with them for ab...

Father’s Day Cake a la Mini-M

 

Sunday was Father’s Day. (As an aside, you would not believe the internal debate I have just had about that apostrophe. And I’m pretty sure it is still wrong...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Mini-M Makes… Tropical Pirate Muffins

 

Right now Mini-M is into mixing, so I thought some muffin making might prove popular. It did, and it also lead to the discovery of possibly an even more fun ...

Christmas Playdough

 

Whilst I was researching my edible gifts article for the Daring Kitchen, I came across this Fall Spiced Play Dough recipe at Creating Nirvana Today. Yes, I k...

Christmas Card Chaos

 

Last week, Mini-M and I tried to make a Christmas card for Mr E.I’m really pleased with how it turned out - but it belies the chaos that went into making it!...

St Nicholas’ Day Biscuits

 

Today is St Nicholas’ Day, and yesterday Mini-M, Mr E and I decorated gingerbread biscuits.<div></div><div>Or more accurately, Mr E and I d...

Mini-M Makes… Scones and Collages

 

It has been an action packed afternoon here - Mini-M and I ventured into the kitchen for her first ever baking, and then later did her first cutting and stic...

Back to top ↑

veg box

Looking back: Sweet Treats from our veg box

 

Sad times - today I had to cancel our veg box because someone local to our house stole half of the fruit and our eggs last week, and most likely our eggs th...

When the sun shines, it’s time to picnic!

 

We’re having a warm snap. Not often something that can be said in Scotland, and particularly not in March. But for the past three days, it has been glorious....

Happy 1st Birthday Random Recipes!

 

This month, the Random Recipes challenge, hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen turns 1! Happy Birthday! I can only hope there is as much cake for its first birth...

Popeye would be proud…

 

Last night I made banana muffins. With hidden spinach in them. Just that spinach is very, very green, so it was definitely not visually hidden. It was, howev...

Super Spicy Squash & Split-pea Soup

 

Now that I’ve got all that alliteration out of my system, here is a recipe for a really delicious soup I accidentally invented a few weeks back, when we got ...

Baby Baked Apples

 

Mini-M is desperate to feed herself at the moment, so I’ve been trying to make things that are teeny-fingers-friendly.A few weeks ago I got a copy of the Riv...

Vegetarian Scotch Eggs!

 

I'm going for the quadruple - one more blog post tonight before I toddle off to bed. Last week I was looking for a recipe to use some lovely East Coast veg...

Damplums!

 

A month or so back we got some slightly unidentified fruit in our veg box from East Coast Organics. They looked a bit like damsons, but were too early in the...

Daring Cooks June 2011: Potato Salad

 

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. Th...

Peace & Love Sandwiches

 

I'm having unintentional vegan moments at the moment, since Mini-M and I still can't have any dairy. And web browsing for suitable recipes means I end up on ...

Pi Day & Pie Week - Lentil & Veg Filo Pi(e)

 

Last week was Pie Week, so I made some pie - seemed rude not to really. And today is Pi Day (well it is if you write your dates American stylee, as it's 3.14...

More than Mashed Banana - Baby Cuisine

 

As I'm posting this, I have a feeling it's appeal will be extremely limited to the handful of folk that normally keep an eye on this blog. Sorry peeps! It's ...

Mango Salsa with a Secret Ingredient

 

It's been a busy weekend in the kitchen this weekend. And for once I remembered to take photos of at most of the results, which will hopefully keep me bloggi...

A Proliferation of Parsnips

 

Parsnips... a veg that up until recently I would have sworn I hated, mainly because I think they taste of soap. And to be honest, if you just give me some co...

Greggs Eat Your Heart Out (Lentil Pasties)

 

Can’t believe it’s almost a month since I last posted - it only seems like a few days! I really wanted to get a normal post in before the next Daring Bakers ...

Soup-er!

 

We’ve started getting an organic fruit and veg box delivered weekly from East Coast Organics, as we were getting sick of the rubbish choice and quality at ou...

Back to top ↑

nut

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

Homebrew Everything Cookies

 

For part of Mr E’s Christmas present, I made him a Pinterest board of beer related recipes. (It’s here, if anyone is interested!). Don’t worry, that’s not al...

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

Chard & Pecan Pesto - Pasta Please!

 

We were the lucky recipients of a big bunch of chard and another of kale when my folks visited a couple of weekends ago.Since we’ve not had our veg box, we’v...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

Geeky Stats Cooking: Georgia

 

So, I’m onto my second country of many many still to go on my weird and wonderful culinary world tour. If you’re not sure what on earth I’m talking about, th...

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

 

I’ll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate ‘butter’ icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaste...

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Back to top ↑

oat

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

A Tale of Two Mueslis

 

Last weekend we all got together to celebrate Uncle P and Auntie L’s birthdays.Mini-M spent a happy half hour sprinkling the kitchen floor with oats and rais...

Fruity Clafoutis

 

Here’s another creation that is normally fairly dairy intense, which I’ve de-dairied. I was going to type ‘so that we could enjoy it’ but that’s not strictly...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

Porridge Fudge - but in a good way!

 

Yep - you did indeed read the title correctly. I have filled a previously undiscovered gap in the breakfast/confectionery crossover genre.Think of a bowl of ...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

Savoury Cheese Flapjacks

 

A quick recipe post, to share a surprising recent flapjack success. I picked up 'The Mornflake Oat Cuisine' recipe book in a discount bookshop for 99p, becau...

Back to top ↑

pudding

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

3 Minute Mulled Plums

 

Jings - we’re into double figures of December already, and my last post was 9 days ago, about dumped mattresses which really doesn’t seem particularly festiv...

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

A New Tradition

 

We’ve started a new tradition - although just a small scale, Saturday teatime, chez Makey-Cakey tradition.Unsurprisingly it involves cake. Sponge pudding to ...

Make it snappy!

 

A wee while ago, whilst enjoying a catch-up weekend with good friends (in the not so glamorous, but still rather lovely surroundings of Northallerton!) whils...

Baked Plums with Nakd Ginger Crumble

 

Time for another recipe featuring one of the Natural Balance Nakd bar varieties I was sent to try.This time I oped for the Gingerbread bar. It is amazing as ...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Random Recipes: Tangerines and Tea!

 

It’s time to blog March’s Random Recipes challenge. The event as always is hosted at Belleau Kitchen, and the theme this month was Cuttings, Memories and Cli...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Fruity Clafoutis

 

Here’s another creation that is normally fairly dairy intense, which I’ve de-dairied. I was going to type ‘so that we could enjoy it’ but that’s not strictly...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Back to top ↑

biscuits

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Homebrew Everything Cookies

 

For part of Mr E’s Christmas present, I made him a Pinterest board of beer related recipes. (It’s here, if anyone is interested!). Don’t worry, that’s not al...

An edible Valentine

 

It’s Valentines day on Friday. We have a card covered in glitter and all things red and hearty home from nursery to prove it.In case you’ve not had such a su...

Move over Nigella & Delia!

 

There’s a new TV chef in town. OK that’s possibly a slight exaggeration, but give Mini-M a few years…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"...

Uber Cookie

 

This is a no-frills post!Recipe with very little chat, since I’ve got a BIG backlog of photos and scraps of paper with ingredients written on them. Some have...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

Ninja-bread men!

 

I have to start this post with a shocking confession…Almost a year ago, the lovely Miss M gave me some very funky biscuit cutters. For the first couple of mo...

St Nicholas’ Day Biscuits

 

Today is St Nicholas’ Day, and yesterday Mini-M, Mr E and I decorated gingerbread biscuits.<div></div><div>Or more accurately, Mr E and I d...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

Baking with Biscuits!

 

I’m have a not very secret love for recipe books: the slightly buckled shelves on our bookcase are a testament to that! As well as being a bit of a sucker...

One handed blogging and baby winding!

 

So baby Martha is here and has turned our world upside down - but in a beautiful, cuddly, wonderful sort of way (admittedly with frequent bouts of crying, si...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

Back to top ↑

Oatly

Uber Cookie

 

This is a no-frills post!Recipe with very little chat, since I’ve got a BIG backlog of photos and scraps of paper with ingredients written on them. Some have...

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

Geek Stats Cooking: Albania

 

I’m slowly (OK ridiculously slowly) working my way around the parts of the world I’ve not had any blog visitors form, according to Google Analytics stats, an...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Fruity Clafoutis

 

Here’s another creation that is normally fairly dairy intense, which I’ve de-dairied. I was going to type ‘so that we could enjoy it’ but that’s not strictly...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Porridge Fudge - but in a good way!

 

Yep - you did indeed read the title correctly. I have filled a previously undiscovered gap in the breakfast/confectionery crossover genre.Think of a bowl of ...

Cold Chip Fritttata

 

I am as big a fan as the next person of that Scottish delicacy of chips and brown sauce, wrapped up in brown paper from the chippie. But you always, always, ...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches - Almost!

 

So a long time ago (well a year or so at least!) my better half and I went out for dinner to a at-that-point-not-long-opened-but-now-quite-well-established ...

Back to top ↑

vegetarian

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

October Daring Cooks Challenge: Bitterballen

 

Two consecutive junk food posts in a row. Jeeps! Once upon a time I posted healthy recipes.We still eat a lot of really good healthy food, just that time is ...

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

3 for 4 for 5

 

Three for four for five - nope I’ve not got mixed up with the words of a kids nursery rhyme, and this post isn’t about Mini-M’s counting (although on that su...

What to do with that jar of artichokes…

 

You know, the ones that are lurking in the back of your cupboard that either a) were given to you as a gift, most likely part of hamper or deli selection b) ...

No Croutons Required - Spicy!

 

This Month’s No Croutons Required theme is spicy - we were tasked with cooking up a spicy vegetarian soup or salad, and since it’s is our lovely host Lisa’s ...

Geeky Stats Cooking: Georgia

 

So, I’m onto my second country of many many still to go on my weird and wonderful culinary world tour. If you’re not sure what on earth I’m talking about, th...

Random Recipes 12 - New Year, New Book!

 

This month’s Random Recipe challenge was to cook something randomly selected from our newest cook book. A great idea - thanks for yet another ingenious chall...

Super Spicy Squash & Split-pea Soup

 

Now that I’ve got all that alliteration out of my system, here is a recipe for a really delicious soup I accidentally invented a few weeks back, when we got ...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Vegetarian Scotch Eggs!

 

I'm going for the quadruple - one more blog post tonight before I toddle off to bed. Last week I was looking for a recipe to use some lovely East Coast veg...

Back to top ↑

bread

Oops - no yeast!

 

It’s the official end of the Edinburgh Festival today - and that’s including the arty posh bit, and not just the crazy Fringe.To say August has been a busy m...

Random Recipes #28: Bread

 

The theme for May’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as every at Belleau Kitchen is bread.My Dad makes awesome bread. (In fact Mini-M regularly requests “Gra...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Identity Crisis Bread

 

Today I baked, and I’m feeling rather proud of the result, which is why it’s jumping the posting queue and making its appearance tonight, rather than languis...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Breakfast Club 17: Banana Bready Bread

 

Now that I’m officially on holiday, I am catching up on a blogging backlog, still in my PJs whilst Mini-M is having a morning nap. Of course, she will probab...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Back to top ↑

gluten free

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Back to top ↑

soup

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

Geek Stats Cooking: Albania

 

I’m slowly (OK ridiculously slowly) working my way around the parts of the world I’ve not had any blog visitors form, according to Google Analytics stats, an...

No Croutons Required - Spicy!

 

This Month’s No Croutons Required theme is spicy - we were tasked with cooking up a spicy vegetarian soup or salad, and since it’s is our lovely host Lisa’s ...

Frozen to fantastic in 10 minutes!

 

Mini-M is enjoying soup at the moment. And dipping things in it. She’s a fan of dipping pretty much anything, into anything else, if I’m being honest. Tonigh...

Super Spicy Squash & Split-pea Soup

 

Now that I’ve got all that alliteration out of my system, here is a recipe for a really delicious soup I accidentally invented a few weeks back, when we got ...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Simply Soup-er Hearty Leek and Bacon Soup

 

A quick post of a very quick and easy recipe. Perfect for cold wintry weather, and quick enough to make post-work. And of course dairy free. Mini-M even trie...

Scrummy Scotch Broth

 

Here’s another soup recipe from the variety I made for September’s Daring Cook’s Challenge. The post would have been truly epic if I’d included them all, so ...

Something fishy going on… Cullen Skink

 

So as you may be aware from my previous post, September’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge was to make stock, soup and consomme.We eat loads of soup - usually of the ...

Soup-er!

 

We’ve started getting an organic fruit and veg box delivered weekly from East Coast Organics, as we were getting sick of the rubbish choice and quality at ou...

Back to top ↑

peanut butter

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

An edible Valentine

 

It’s Valentines day on Friday. We have a card covered in glitter and all things red and hearty home from nursery to prove it.In case you’ve not had such a su...

Move over Nigella & Delia!

 

There’s a new TV chef in town. OK that’s possibly a slight exaggeration, but give Mini-M a few years…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"...

Uber Cookie

 

This is a no-frills post!Recipe with very little chat, since I’ve got a BIG backlog of photos and scraps of paper with ingredients written on them. Some have...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Birthday Cakes x 3

 

It's been a bit of a birthday-cakey couple of weeks. Two almost approximately on time (well in the correct month at least...) and one very belatedly from Jan...

Back to top ↑

jam

Plain on the outside…

 

Since it is/was Chocolate Cake day today, I thought I’d better bake one!Here’s a white chocolate and apricot loaf, which I’m taking with me to a work meeting...

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Scones on a Stick!

 

I’ve just spent the past hour watching the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.The contestants have shown great skill, precision and patience with their...

Maple Bacon and Stout Jam

 

This year we’ve made a LOT of jam. I say we, since Mr E was fully involved in the jam making process - be it sterilising, stirring, boiling, labelling, peeli...

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Cake doesn’t have to be fancy…

 

… sometimes simple cake just hits the spot.This cake did just that!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Almond s...

The Pink Whisk Challenge: Apples for October

 

The other night I was watching TV and it was a ‘where are they now’ run down of last year’s competitors in the Great British Bake Off. That prompted me to st...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches - Almost!

 

So a long time ago (well a year or so at least!) my better half and I went out for dinner to a at-that-point-not-long-opened-but-now-quite-well-established ...

Lekvar - Hungarian Style Fruit Butter

 

Well due to general hectic-ness, I’ve not posted anything for ages. But I’m back :o) The other week as I was tidying out some kitchen cupboards, I came acros...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches

 

a.k.a restaurant review of Treacle, Broughton Street, Edinburgh Well… I guess this is the first guest post on Ruth’s blog. I’m Jono, Ruth’s other half, and I...

Back to top ↑

honey

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

3 Minute Mulled Plums

 

Jings - we’re into double figures of December already, and my last post was 9 days ago, about dumped mattresses which really doesn’t seem particularly festiv...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Random Recipes: Honey Biscuits

 

Whilst browsing blog-land the other night, I stumbled across the Random Recipe Challenge, hosted by Belleau Kitchen.September’s challenge is magazine cutting...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Easy Peasy Cheesy

 

I made this recipe a wee while ago when friends came round for dinner, and the praise it received seemed totally disproportionate to the the effort involved ...

Back to top ↑

breakfast

Random recipes - from my phone!

 

<p dir=ltr>I’ve been a bit silent on the blogging front - my computer is poorly - so I’m writing this post from my phone!  Please excuse a) brevity b) ...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Breakfast Club March 2012 Roundup

 

Well it gives me great pleasure to be able to post the deliciously dairy free recipe roundup, cooked up by talented and adventurous Breakfast Club participan...

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

A Tale of Two Mueslis

 

Last weekend we all got together to celebrate Uncle P and Auntie L’s birthdays.Mini-M spent a happy half hour sprinkling the kitchen floor with oats and rais...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

February Breakfast Club - Ziploc Omlette

 

Since today is the 28th February, and it’s been a hectic month, I’ve been a bit slack with my blogging, and leaving all my challenges to the last minute. I’v...

Eggy Bread Fruit Cake

 

If you are looking for a weekend breakfast treat, but prefer something sweet to the fry-up variety, then this might just fit the bill!It’s quick and easy, pr...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

Back to top ↑

toddler food

Bake in a Bag - toddler style

 

Mini-M is super keen to bake and cook, which is probably not that surprising since Mr E and I both spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes, trying...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

Hungry Caterpillar Food

 

I’ve now made ‘Hungry Caterpillar Food’ twice for Mini-M. I’m trying not to do it too often, since it is a bit of a faff. She loves it, but I don’t want it t...

Orange Carrot Jelly

 

This post will be brief - hoping to squeeze it in before Mini-M’s nap finished and we head out for some birthday party fun this afternoon. Quite probably the...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

Popeye would be proud…

 

Last night I made banana muffins. With hidden spinach in them. Just that spinach is very, very green, so it was definitely not visually hidden. It was, howev...

Seedy Slice

 

If you are expecting a post about nightclubs with sticky floors, dark alleyways and strippers, then you are likely to be very disappointed - sorry!<div>...

A Proliferation of Pancakes

 

Mini-M is currently a bit anti-food. It tends to be thrown across the room before it even goes in her mouth, and there are often sudden tears for not apparen...

Back to top ↑

bananas

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Breakfast Club - Fairtrade

 

I'm writing this at high speed, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall the wrong side of the posting deadline for this month's Breakfast Club challenge. When t...

Popeye would be proud…

 

Last night I made banana muffins. With hidden spinach in them. Just that spinach is very, very green, so it was definitely not visually hidden. It was, howev...

Breakfast Club 17: Banana Bready Bread

 

Now that I’m officially on holiday, I am catching up on a blogging backlog, still in my PJs whilst Mini-M is having a morning nap. Of course, she will probab...

Chocolate Hippy Biscuits

 

In my googling for Dairy-free baking recipes over the past year, I have bookmarked a ridiculous number of recipes. Some Dairy-free. Some not. Some for baking...

Banana Art!

 

Well, here is what greeted me when I looked in my lunch bag today…It is indeed BananaMan… of a sort! And it was drawn using a Sharpie by my husband this morn...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

Back to top ↑

traybake

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Tutti Frutti Tiffin

 

This post should really have a sub-heading along the lines of ‘using up all the little drops of dried fruit lurking a the back of the cupboard in one easy re...

Breakfast Club - Fairtrade

 

I'm writing this at high speed, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall the wrong side of the posting deadline for this month's Breakfast Club challenge. When t...

Seedy Slice

 

If you are expecting a post about nightclubs with sticky floors, dark alleyways and strippers, then you are likely to be very disappointed - sorry!<div>...

Baking with Biscuits!

 

I’m have a not very secret love for recipe books: the slightly buckled shelves on our bookcase are a testament to that! As well as being a bit of a sucker...

Sticky Crispie Goodness

 

Well life has been getting in the way of updating again - it’s been a hectic spell of Borders Exploration Group meetings, training and Duke of Edinburgh’s Aw...

Back to top ↑

date

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

Back to top ↑

pancakes

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

Murtabak - Random Recipes #34

 

Time to squeeze in a quick pre-bed blog post, to attempt to create some sense of accomplishment for the evening, otherwise all I’ve done is bail from going t...

Hybrid Valentines Pancakes

 

I’m combining both of this week’s significant celebrations into one. Although I’m not sure exactly what to call it - Shrove Valentines? Valentines Cake Day?&...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Aruba

 

I’m back on my culinary tour of some of the lesser visited countries in the world - more specifically I’m trying to cook something from every country that I’...

Coconut and Honey Pancakes

 

A quick post, since this isn’t the one I was planning to write and it sneaking in there - jumping the queue because I made these this evening for after tea, ...

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Random Recipes 17: The Middle

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge, hosted as ever over at the lovely Belleau Kitchen, was The Middle - following on from last month’s First and Last.We w...

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

Happy Pancake Day!

 

It’s pancake day, which is generally a happy occasion, and doubly so because I have a laptop again. Woop!To celebrate, I made a Hungarian style layered panca...

A Proliferation of Pancakes

 

Mini-M is currently a bit anti-food. It tends to be thrown across the room before it even goes in her mouth, and there are often sudden tears for not apparen...

Finally something Mini-M will eat!

 

I cannot tell a lie - it has started to feel a bit personal! For the past couple of months now, Mini-M has been pretty much refusing to eat anything I have c...

Back to top ↑

Swap

Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

I shall start this post with a slap on my own blogging knuckles - I’m two days later than I said I’d be at posting this, after realising at almost-bedtime th...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

Spring Surprise!

 

The days are (admittedly slowly) starting to lengthen and it feels a little less like we’re stuck in eternal darkness. If you’re not living in Scotland, you ...

Seasonal Surprise Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy December everyone!Back on the 1st of October I announced I’d be organising another Surprise Ingredient Swap - this time with a vaguely seasonal theme.B...

Surprisingly Seasonal

 

Just a quick post to say that we’re up and running with the Seasonal Surprise Ingredient Swap.14 baking enthusiasts will soon be receiving surprise ingredien...

Seasonal Surprise Ingredient Swap

 

I think it’s time for another surprise ingredient swap!<div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-cont...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Secret Ingredient Swap Roundup

 

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me (and Mini-M yesterday!) happy birthday to me!Yes, another year older and this year a number ...

Bitesize Bakes Swap - Sent and Received!

 

I think that sending and receiving letters (or parcels) is such a lovely thing. Excepting, of course, the queueing for 20 mins in the post office with an imp...

Surprising…

 

Anyone fancy taking part in a Makey-Cakey Birthday Surprise Ingredient Swap?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-contai...

Back to top ↑

salad

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

Junk food salad

 

Not really a recipe, however too successful and discovery not to share!Junk food. We all know it’s bad for us. We still all want to eat it far more often tha...

When the sun shines, it’s time to picnic!

 

We’re having a warm snap. Not often something that can be said in Scotland, and particularly not in March. But for the past three days, it has been glorious....

Geeky Stats Cooking: Georgia

 

So, I’m onto my second country of many many still to go on my weird and wonderful culinary world tour. If you’re not sure what on earth I’m talking about, th...

Mango Salsa with a Secret Ingredient

 

It's been a busy weekend in the kitchen this weekend. And for once I remembered to take photos of at most of the results, which will hopefully keep me bloggi...

Salad Series Part 2 - Plum Salsa

 

OK - well this one had an identifiable source of inspiration - here at the Zested blog. But my big problem with salsa is that it always has coriander in it, ...

Back to top ↑

Baby

Christmas Playdough

 

Whilst I was researching my edible gifts article for the Daring Kitchen, I came across this Fall Spiced Play Dough recipe at Creating Nirvana Today. Yes, I k...

DIY Wellies with eyes!

 

Yesterday was a horrible wet, windy day, and although we did get out, most of it was spent inside.Windy weather tends to make Mini-M a bit rampage-y and her ...

Wallpaper Wildlife Silhouettes

 

A year or so ago, we put up some patterned wall paper on one wall in our living room. Whilst choosing the paper, we ended up with a bunch of samples, and aft...

Birthday Baprons

 

A few months back, I put up a post of a bib I'd made for Mini-M. It was made using the pattern and tutorial at craftiness is not optional. Since this summe...

Happy Birthday “Tutu” you!

 

So Mini-M turned 1 yesterday - the past year has gone past at breakneck speed, yet been one of the longest ever too. Both Mr E and I were busy in the run up...

Monogrammed Muslins - and my 100th Post!

 

Life has been hectic and the last time I blogged was the end of June - can't believe it's now a full week through July too. Thought it was time for a crafty ...

Sometimes when Mini-M wont sleep…

 

... we give in, and let her stay up a while longer, and let her entertain herself for a while. Tonight was one of those nights in question. 7pm and she was b...

A bib Mini-M can’t remove!

 

It is an unfortunate fact of life that Mini-M doesn't really like bibs - in fact she's getting quite nimble fingered at whipping them off. This bib removing ...

More than Mashed Banana - Baby Cuisine

 

As I'm posting this, I have a feeling it's appeal will be extremely limited to the handful of folk that normally keep an eye on this blog. Sorry peeps! It's ...

Baby Workwear!

 

For once this is a makey rather than a cakey post. Believe it or not, I do make quite a lot of stuff - most often, my husband will probably vouch for, I make...

Back to top ↑

kid craft

At 8am on Sunday morning…

 

...when most of the world was asleep,  or the world without small children at least, we were making a rainbow palace and listening to French reggae. T...

Mini-M’s Meerkat

 

A few days ago I got to work and discovered Mini-M’s Meerkat in my handbag. I have to confess it wasn’t actually a massive surprise, since in that super unsu...

Stained-Glass Your Living Room!

 

Want a multicoloured, immensely satisfying way to entertain a toddler, yourself, and bathe your living room in a rainbow glow? What’s not to like really ther...

Family Clay Time

 

I am writing this grumpily whilst feeling sorry for myself with a horrible cold. I’m tired, but every time I lie down my head gets so stuffed up, I end up si...

Christmas Decoration Survey

 

A quick blog post, whilst I should probably be doing other more festive things! Or useful thing. Or a combination of both.Holidays are finally here - woop. I...

Advent Challenge 2013 - Toddler Crafts

 

We’ve been trying to join in the Advent Challenge being run by Faye Brown Designs. For each day in December, there’s a festive theme and everyone is invited ...

Activity Bags: Gumdrop Construction

 

Last week (and a little bit) I posted about some Activity Bags I’d made up during a day off to help Mr E entertain Mini-M, and assuage a little bit of my par...

Part-time parent guilt: Activity Bags

 

I’ve been working full time again for almost a year - it has certainly passed at quite a pace. And sometimes I feel like I’m a bit of a part-time Mum. <di...

Sewing for toddlers…

 

Mini-M decided a while back that she wanted to knit - she has received lovely knits from a whole host of family since she was tiny, and indeed now sometimes ...

A day in the life…

 

I was going to write a post about marbling Easter Eggs since it was one of today’s many activities. However although it was a lot of fun, we didn’t quite get...

Rainbow Hedgehogs!

 

Today, Mini-M and I made Rainbow Matchstick Plasticene Hedgehogs.It was great fun for both of us, and she was captivated for ages. We played with them for ab...

Mini-M Makes… Scones and Collages

 

It has been an action packed afternoon here - Mini-M and I ventured into the kitchen for her first ever baking, and then later did her first cutting and stic...

Back to top ↑

marshmallow

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Sticky Crispie Goodness

 

Well life has been getting in the way of updating again - it’s been a hectic spell of Borders Exploration Group meetings, training and Duke of Edinburgh’s Aw...

Sweetie Sushi

 

I have a really good friend who is a Brownie guider (Hi Em if you’re reading!). And she asked me if I’d come along and do something makey or cakey with her B...

Chocolate Truffle Baileys Cake

 

Just a quick post of a cake I made for my brother’s girlfriend’s welcome back to edinburgh party.<div>It is the most ridiculously chocolately concoctio...

Back to top ↑

pasta

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

A Pictorial Pasta Please Guest Post

 

I’m hosting the Pasta Please challenge this month. It is organised by Tinned Tomatoes, and each month a different blogger chooses a theme and curates the rou...

No-Cook Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

 

Update - in the time that it took me to write this post which admittedly is 24hrs, someone else has posted first, so any residual feelings of hosting / fi...

Daring Cooks’ June 2012: Cannelloni

 

It’s Daring Cooks’ time again…Manu from Manu’s Menu was our Daring Cooks lovely June hostess and has challenged us to make traditional Italian cannelloni fro...

When the sun shines, it’s time to picnic!

 

We’re having a warm snap. Not often something that can be said in Scotland, and particularly not in March. But for the past three days, it has been glorious....

Random Recipes 12 - New Year, New Book!

 

This month’s Random Recipe challenge was to cook something randomly selected from our newest cook book. A great idea - thanks for yet another ingenious chall...

Simply Soup-er Hearty Leek and Bacon Soup

 

A quick post of a very quick and easy recipe. Perfect for cold wintry weather, and quick enough to make post-work. And of course dairy free. Mini-M even trie...

Some recent pies…

 

...seems I've made a few pies this June. And even taken photos (although not admittedly very good ones)! So here they are. First up - puff pastry filled wit...

Back to top ↑

pastry

Halloween Mummy Pie

 

Not so much a recipe, but a set of instructions to make a bandaged-mummy-style pie. If Halloween on the horizon isn’t a good excuse for such pastry shenaniga...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

Big fat flying saucer pie

 

Time to share another weird and wonderful recipe corruption…This time I started off with a recipe for Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie from the BBC GoodFood online...

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Back to top ↑

papercraft

At 8am on Sunday morning…

 

...when most of the world was asleep,  or the world without small children at least, we were making a rainbow palace and listening to French reggae. T...

Stained-Glass Your Living Room!

 

Want a multicoloured, immensely satisfying way to entertain a toddler, yourself, and bathe your living room in a rainbow glow? What’s not to like really ther...

Christmas Card Chaos

 

Last week, Mini-M and I tried to make a Christmas card for Mr E.I’m really pleased with how it turned out - but it belies the chaos that went into making it!...

Mini-M Makes… Scones and Collages

 

It has been an action packed afternoon here - Mini-M and I ventured into the kitchen for her first ever baking, and then later did her first cutting and stic...

Recycled IKEA Catalogue Wall Art

 

Question… is it wrong to steal your child’s toys to turn them into living room art?Answer… probably, but it’s too late now! Plus I only stole the boring ones...

Wallpaper Wildlife Silhouettes

 

A year or so ago, we put up some patterned wall paper on one wall in our living room. Whilst choosing the paper, we ended up with a bunch of samples, and aft...

Thing-A-Day 2011: Kirigami Hearts

 

A post today that is high on the picture count and low on the word count. I'm participating in the Thing-A-Day 2011 challenge. It's described as its organis...

Wedding Cakes and Table Decorations

 

Well, despite the fact that I made a whole load of baking, cooking and general kitchen chaos over the Easter weekend (including cucumber and radish pickles, ...

Butterfly Table

 

Enough of the cakes - I thought it was time to post some making.I had an old folding Ikea table in the spare room that had seen better days! Its top was cove...

DIY Weddingness - Part I

 

A couple of months ago, I got married, and it was a fantastic, DIY-style day. When we started planning the event, my husband and I discovered that there were...

Back to top ↑

fish

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

Magnificent Mackerel

 

My folks were on holiday last week, down in Staithes on the North East coast of England. There was an award winning fish monger nearby, and Mum brought us qu...

Something fishy going on… Cullen Skink

 

So as you may be aware from my previous post, September’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge was to make stock, soup and consomme.We eat loads of soup - usually of the ...

Back to top ↑

pie

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

Halloween Mummy Pie

 

Not so much a recipe, but a set of instructions to make a bandaged-mummy-style pie. If Halloween on the horizon isn’t a good excuse for such pastry shenaniga...

Nutty Savoury Oat Slice

 

I’m feeling pretty virtuous about this post - it was our dinner tonight and it was really good. Admittedly it was possibly slightly crunchier than intended, ...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

Big fat flying saucer pie

 

Time to share another weird and wonderful recipe corruption…This time I started off with a recipe for Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie from the BBC GoodFood online...

Some recent pies…

 

...seems I've made a few pies this June. And even taken photos (although not admittedly very good ones)! So here they are. First up - puff pastry filled wit...

Pi Day & Pie Week - Lentil & Veg Filo Pi(e)

 

Last week was Pie Week, so I made some pie - seemed rude not to really. And today is Pi Day (well it is if you write your dates American stylee, as it's 3.14...

Christmas Baking

 

So, this festive season was full of baking and general kitchen happiness, which was a lot of fun in the making, and tasty in the eating. Pictures were duly t...

Back to top ↑

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club - Fairtrade

 

I'm writing this at high speed, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall the wrong side of the posting deadline for this month's Breakfast Club challenge. When t...

Breakfast Club March 2012 Roundup

 

Well it gives me great pleasure to be able to post the deliciously dairy free recipe roundup, cooked up by talented and adventurous Breakfast Club participan...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

February Breakfast Club - Ziploc Omlette

 

Since today is the 28th February, and it’s been a hectic month, I’ve been a bit slack with my blogging, and leaving all my challenges to the last minute. I’v...

Breakfast Club 17: Banana Bready Bread

 

Now that I’m officially on holiday, I am catching up on a blogging backlog, still in my PJs whilst Mini-M is having a morning nap. Of course, she will probab...

Breakfast Club: Jammy Baked Porridge

 

For a whole now I’ve been aware of the ‘Breakfast Club’ blogging group. Their tag-line is ‘Because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast ...

Back to top ↑

Nakd Bars

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

Chocolate Orange Nakd Scones

 

I’m continuing my foray into the realms of ‘things you can bake with Nakd bars’ after being sent some to try by Natural Balance Foods.So far we’ve had…Baked ...

Baked Plums with Nakd Ginger Crumble

 

Time for another recipe featuring one of the Natural Balance Nakd bar varieties I was sent to try.This time I oped for the Gingerbread bar. It is amazing as ...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

Back to top ↑

cupcakes

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

Cupcake Cuteness for a Good Cause

 

The week before last, I gave a cupcake decorating workshop for Bethany Trust service users.It was a lovely event, with a really good turnout. I went armed wi...

Lovely Lychees

 

I have a feeling that lychees are the Marmite of the fruit world - you either love them or are completely freaked out by their slimy eye-ball-ish texture. Wi...

Pomegranate & Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I love pomegranates. They remind me of being a kid, and wintry evenings, and sticky fingers, and total absorption in picking out all the little bits (which I...

Damplums!

 

A month or so back we got some slightly unidentified fruit in our veg box from East Coast Organics. They looked a bit like damsons, but were too early in the...

Vampire Fairy Cakes

 

It’s Halloween today - how do I know this? Because at the centre where I was teaching my music classes this morning there were kids in fancy dress - vampires...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

Back to top ↑

tart

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Strawberry Marzipan Galettes

 

I think that these are my current favourite culinary discovery. Which is a bit weird, since normally I don't even like marzipan! But in these, I very much do...

Crostata: November Daring Bakers

 

Can’t believe it’s Daring Bakers’ posting time again - it’s flown by with crazy speed and donuts seem a distant memory…The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ chall...

Back to top ↑

apples

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

How to turn 1 apple into dessert for 3…

 

I feel I should qualify that rather ambitious sounding title with a slight caveat: if you are short of apples but have a relatively well stocked store cupboa...

The Pink Whisk Challenge: Apples for October

 

The other night I was watching TV and it was a ‘where are they now’ run down of last year’s competitors in the Great British Bake Off. That prompted me to st...

Baby Baked Apples

 

Mini-M is desperate to feed herself at the moment, so I’ve been trying to make things that are teeny-fingers-friendly.A few weeks ago I got a copy of the Riv...

Back to top ↑

muffins

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Random Recipes 27: Number Generator Muffins

 

The theme of this month’s Random Recipes Challenge, dreamed up and hosted by Belleau Kitchen, was to use a random number generator to come up with the cook b...

Mini-M Makes… Tropical Pirate Muffins

 

Right now Mini-M is into mixing, so I thought some muffin making might prove popular. It did, and it also lead to the discovery of possibly an even more fun ...

Popeye would be proud…

 

Last night I made banana muffins. With hidden spinach in them. Just that spinach is very, very green, so it was definitely not visually hidden. It was, howev...

Back to top ↑

Geeky Stats

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Geek Stats Cooking: Albania

 

I’m slowly (OK ridiculously slowly) working my way around the parts of the world I’ve not had any blog visitors form, according to Google Analytics stats, an...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Azerbaijan (ish)

 

Time for another offering under the ‘countries of the world I’ve not had blog visitors from’ heading.This one is from Azerbaijan, although we no doubt spoile...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Aruba

 

I’m back on my culinary tour of some of the lesser visited countries in the world - more specifically I’m trying to cook something from every country that I’...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Geeky Stats Cooking: Georgia

 

So, I’m onto my second country of many many still to go on my weird and wonderful culinary world tour. If you’re not sure what on earth I’m talking about, th...

Back to top ↑

Tea Time Treats

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Spring Bling!

 

It’s time to write up my Spring Surprise Ingredient Swap entry post - a whole week before my self imposed posting deadline - phew! As the swap instigator, it...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

Golden Syrup and Chocolate Snow Dragon Cake

 

I’m squeezing in a blog post this evening - possibly at the expense of writing Christmas cards - but I’m sure the world won’t end if some people end up getti...

Tea Time Treats - Floral and Fabulous!

 

Tea Time Treats is a monthly themed baking challenge hosted alternately by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and Kate at What Kate Baked. This month, it’s being ...

Easter Baking - Simnel Slice

 

This year, my day on the cake rota at work, and Easter have come in quick succession, and so I baked some Simnel Slice that is great for sharing.I used a BBC...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Back to top ↑

lemon

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

Back to top ↑

Polish

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

Local (& Late!) Random Recipes #33

 

For this month’s Random Recipes challenge, our host, Dom at Belleau Kitchen, exhorted us to use a local ingredient in our random culinary creations. He also ...

Random Recipes # 21 - Store Cupboard Raiding

 

I’m getting off the mark early this month with my Random Recipe entry. We’ve been challenged to rummage blindly in our store cupboards, emerge triumphant wit...

Polish Style Meatballs with Buckwheat

 

Or Zrazy z Kasza Hreczana to give it it’s Polish name.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Whichever language yo...

Biszkopt z Galaretka - or Polish Jelly Cake

 

A few years ago I spent the summer working in an office in Warsaw, and during that time, every arrival, departure or celebratory occasion in the office was c...

Back to top ↑

brownies

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Healthy Brownies

 

Chocolate brownies are amazing, but sadly not one of life’s superfoods :o(So I decided to try to make ‘healthy’ brownies, which were both a success and failu...

Back to top ↑

baby food

Mini-M Makes… Scones and Collages

 

It has been an action packed afternoon here - Mini-M and I ventured into the kitchen for her first ever baking, and then later did her first cutting and stic...

Baby Baked Apples

 

Mini-M is desperate to feed herself at the moment, so I’ve been trying to make things that are teeny-fingers-friendly.A few weeks ago I got a copy of the Riv...

Finally something Mini-M will eat!

 

I cannot tell a lie - it has started to feel a bit personal! For the past couple of months now, Mini-M has been pretty much refusing to eat anything I have c...

More than Mashed Banana - Baby Cuisine

 

As I'm posting this, I have a feeling it's appeal will be extremely limited to the handful of folk that normally keep an eye on this blog. Sorry peeps! It's ...

Back to top ↑

Sewing

Spread Your Wings…

 

A little while ago we were very kindly given a big bag of felt by a relative, and a soon as I saw the colours - greens, greys, browns and blues, I thought pe...

Clothing and Curtains

 

I’m feeling a little Maria Von Trapp as I write this - I’m fairly sure she used the dining room curtains to rustle up some rather natty outfits for the Von T...

Sewing for toddlers…

 

Mini-M decided a while back that she wanted to knit - she has received lovely knits from a whole host of family since she was tiny, and indeed now sometimes ...

Needles and Pins

 

It seems like a looooooooong time ago that I made this felt needle case for a “Mummy School” graduation present. In reality it was only 3 months - it’s just ...

Birthday Baprons

 

A few months back, I put up a post of a bib I'd made for Mini-M. It was made using the pattern and tutorial at craftiness is not optional. Since this summe...

Happy Birthday “Tutu” you!

 

So Mini-M turned 1 yesterday - the past year has gone past at breakneck speed, yet been one of the longest ever too. Both Mr E and I were busy in the run up...

Monogrammed Muslins - and my 100th Post!

 

Life has been hectic and the last time I blogged was the end of June - can't believe it's now a full week through July too. Thought it was time for a crafty ...

A bib Mini-M can’t remove!

 

It is an unfortunate fact of life that Mini-M doesn't really like bibs - in fact she's getting quite nimble fingered at whipping them off. This bib removing ...

Back to top ↑

potato

Big fat flying saucer pie

 

Time to share another weird and wonderful recipe corruption…This time I started off with a recipe for Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie from the BBC GoodFood online...

Geeky Stats Cooking: Georgia

 

So, I’m onto my second country of many many still to go on my weird and wonderful culinary world tour. If you’re not sure what on earth I’m talking about, th...

Cold Chip Fritttata

 

I am as big a fan as the next person of that Scottish delicacy of chips and brown sauce, wrapped up in brown paper from the chippie. But you always, always, ...

Back to top ↑

No Croutons Required

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

What to do with that jar of artichokes…

 

You know, the ones that are lurking in the back of your cupboard that either a) were given to you as a gift, most likely part of hamper or deli selection b) ...

No Croutons Required - Spicy!

 

This Month’s No Croutons Required theme is spicy - we were tasked with cooking up a spicy vegetarian soup or salad, and since it’s is our lovely host Lisa’s ...

Bursting with Black Eyed Beans

 

January’s No Croutons Required challenge was to make a vegetarian soup or salad using black eyed beans.Yet again, I missed the blog posting deadline - going ...

No Croutons Required: Festive Photos

 

No Croutons Required is usually a monthly vegetarian soup or salad challenge, but for December hosted by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes we’ve been asked to sh...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Back to top ↑

blueberry

Celery Rose Cake Stamping

 

I have no idea how best to describe this post. Well, actually I do - and it’s the title I’ve chosen: Celery Rose Cake Stamping, but I can’t help feeling that...

Blueberry Honey Pies

 

After reading the title of this post - Blueberry Honey Pies - I can’t help thinking that it sounds like the name of a Carebear, or My Little Pony, however it...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Identity Crisis Bread

 

Today I baked, and I’m feeling rather proud of the result, which is why it’s jumping the posting queue and making its appearance tonight, rather than languis...

Fruity Clafoutis

 

Here’s another creation that is normally fairly dairy intense, which I’ve de-dairied. I was going to type ‘so that we could enjoy it’ but that’s not strictly...

Back to top ↑

marzipan

Daring Bakers’ June 2012: Battenberg

 

This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was a very British affair!Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenber...

Easter Baking - Simnel Slice

 

This year, my day on the cake rota at work, and Easter have come in quick succession, and so I baked some Simnel Slice that is great for sharing.I used a BBC...

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Strawberry Marzipan Galettes

 

I think that these are my current favourite culinary discovery. Which is a bit weird, since normally I don't even like marzipan! But in these, I very much do...

More cakey goodness

 

Well… I was having another trawl through my photos looking for a specific couple of cakes that I am particularly proud of. Unfortunately they are proving elu...

Back to top ↑

orange

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Cake for breakfast - Orange Pecan Muffins

 

It’s muffin time. Well technically, it’s almond milk hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of Cointreau time, after a week at work that has left me reeling slight...

Random Recipes: Tangerines and Tea!

 

It’s time to blog March’s Random Recipes challenge. The event as always is hosted at Belleau Kitchen, and the theme this month was Cuttings, Memories and Cli...

At opposite ends of the cupcake spectrum…

 

I made two batches of cupcakes at the weekend. One was a very child friendly blueberry, orange and yoghurt variety. The other was a slightly more grown up at...

Cake Heaven in Brighton

 

At the weekend just past, I had a lovely time down in Brighton catching up with friends from uni who have left the frozen wastes of Scotland and are now base...

Back to top ↑

pear

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Upside Down Pear and Chocolate Cake

 

Pears and chocolate are a delicious combination, and therefore it’s not surprise that this cake tasted fantastic. Rich dark and chocolaty with a fruity edge ...

The Pink Whisk Challenge: Apples for October

 

The other night I was watching TV and it was a ‘where are they now’ run down of last year’s competitors in the Great British Bake Off. That prompted me to st...

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Lekvar - Hungarian Style Fruit Butter

 

Well due to general hectic-ness, I’ve not posted anything for ages. But I’m back :o) The other week as I was tidying out some kitchen cupboards, I came acros...

Back to top ↑

bacon

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

Maple Bacon and Stout Jam

 

This year we’ve made a LOT of jam. I say we, since Mr E was fully involved in the jam making process - be it sterilising, stirring, boiling, labelling, peeli...

Simply Soup-er Hearty Leek and Bacon Soup

 

A quick post of a very quick and easy recipe. Perfect for cold wintry weather, and quick enough to make post-work. And of course dairy free. Mini-M even trie...

Overnight Home-Cured Bacon Chops a la Hugh

 

As if I don’t have enough recipes in my cookbook and recipe cutting stash, I also get cookbooks out of the library. I’m sure Mr E probably wishes I didn’t be...

Back to top ↑

quinoa

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Daring Bakers - Going Crackers

 

Before reading any further I warn you this is a bit of a disaster post. Firstly, it is 3 minutes to 11 at night, and I have to get up in too few hours for wo...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Breakfast Club - Fairtrade

 

I'm writing this at high speed, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall the wrong side of the posting deadline for this month's Breakfast Club challenge. When t...

Breakfast Club March 2012 - Counting Calcium

 

So this month, I’m hosting the Breakfast Club challenge. It is organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, and if you’re ever short of an inspirational breakfa...

Back to top ↑

Mr E

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

Mr E’s Photo-A-Day Roundup Months 5.5 & 6

 

I’m ridiculously behind on posting Mr E’s photo-a-day roundups.So without further ado, here is the second half of May, and all of June!Week 1Featuring eating...

Mr E’s Photo Catch Up (sort of!)

 

As you may know, last year I took a photo every day and documented them here on Makey-Cakey. This year Mr E is doing the same thing, and I am very sporadical...

Mr E’s Photo A Day Roundup - Month 4

 

Well, I’m running almost 3 months late with this post! Following on from my Photo-A-Day challenge in 2011, Mr E took over the mantle for 2012, and I planned ...

Mr E’s Photo A Day Roundup Month 3

 

A little late, since we’re heading rapidly for the middle of April, but here’s a roundup of Mr E’s photo-a-day pictures from March.<div></div><...

Mr E’s Photo-A-Day: February Roundup

 

February seems to have whizzed past at lightning speed. Mr E has been diligently taking photos throughout, so following on from January’s round up, I thought...

Mr E’s Photo-a-Day: January Roundup

 

Last year, I took a photo every day, and posted a weekly roundup. Although it was fun, I didn’t want the photographic pressure of doing it for another year -...

Back to top ↑

Mini-M

Mini-M’s Snapshot: Week 7

 

A rather early morning walk in Holyrood Park to Saint Anthony’s Chapel. A tactic of morning desperation to try to get Mini-M to have a long lie - but even th...

Mini-M’s Snapshot Week 6

 

We’re only a few weeks in to 2014, and already I think we’re a bit confused with the weeks / dates. Oops. To be honest, I’ve no idea how it’s the middle of F...

Mini-M’s Snapshot Week 5

 

Unintentionally kaleidoscopic photo of Playmobil pirate parts on the carpet. Or what happens when you swing the camera about wildly whilst taking pictures. O...

Mini-M’s Snapshot Week 4

 

Sunshine :o) Much excitement because the outdoor grass sculpture at the Gallery of Modern Art wasn’t closed due to high winds this time. Happy days. A small ...

Mini-M’s Snapshot Week 3

 

We had a grandparent visiting weekend down in the Borders. Displaying some geographical confusion, according to Mini-M, this is apparently Granny F’s “whole ...

Mini-M’s Snapshot Week 2

 

I have a feeling that there may be a recurring theme in Mini-M’s photos - staged scenes with her toys.This one is a Peppa Pig / Lego combo. That’s a surefire...

Mini-M’s Snapshot Week 1

 

Mini-M is in charge of the photo cataloguing this year. She’s got our old camera, and we’re aiming for 1 picture for each week.<div></div><div...

Back to top ↑

christmas

It’s been a very handmade Christmas

 

Amongst the Christmas gifts that we have given and received this year, there have been some beautiful handmade goodies (both edible and non-edible). I though...

Christmas Baking

 

So, this festive season was full of baking and general kitchen happiness, which was a lot of fun in the making, and tasty in the eating. Pictures were duly t...

Got to start somewhere…

 

... and after much internal debating, I thought I'd kick off with some photos of cakes I've made over the past few years! Baking, Cake-ing and Making occupy ...

Back to top ↑

deep fried

October Daring Cooks Challenge: Bitterballen

 

Two consecutive junk food posts in a row. Jeeps! Once upon a time I posted healthy recipes.We still eat a lot of really good healthy food, just that time is ...

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Daring Bakers - Lets go Nuts for Donuts

 

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for he...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches

 

a.k.a restaurant review of Treacle, Broughton Street, Edinburgh Well… I guess this is the first guest post on Ruth’s blog. I’m Jono, Ruth’s other half, and I...

Back to top ↑

strawberry

Strawberry Tart in 10

 

Strawberries, chocolate and marshmallows turned into the fastest tart ever in only 10 minutes.<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: ...

Lovely Lychees

 

I have a feeling that lychees are the Marmite of the fruit world - you either love them or are completely freaked out by their slimy eye-ball-ish texture. Wi...

Strawberry Marzipan Galettes

 

I think that these are my current favourite culinary discovery. Which is a bit weird, since normally I don't even like marzipan! But in these, I very much do...

Biszkopt z Galaretka - or Polish Jelly Cake

 

A few years ago I spent the summer working in an office in Warsaw, and during that time, every arrival, departure or celebratory occasion in the office was c...

Back to top ↑

cheese

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

Big fat flying saucer pie

 

Time to share another weird and wonderful recipe corruption…This time I started off with a recipe for Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie from the BBC GoodFood online...

Savoury Cheese Flapjacks

 

A quick recipe post, to share a surprising recent flapjack success. I picked up 'The Mornflake Oat Cuisine' recipe book in a discount bookshop for 99p, becau...

Easy Peasy Cheesy

 

I made this recipe a wee while ago when friends came round for dinner, and the praise it received seemed totally disproportionate to the the effort involved ...

Back to top ↑

scones

Scones on a Stick!

 

I’ve just spent the past hour watching the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.The contestants have shown great skill, precision and patience with their...

Chocolate Orange Nakd Scones

 

I’m continuing my foray into the realms of ‘things you can bake with Nakd bars’ after being sent some to try by Natural Balance Foods.So far we’ve had…Baked ...

Mini-M Makes… Scones and Collages

 

It has been an action packed afternoon here - Mini-M and I ventured into the kitchen for her first ever baking, and then later did her first cutting and stic...

Back to top ↑

dip

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

What to do with that jar of artichokes…

 

You know, the ones that are lurking in the back of your cupboard that either a) were given to you as a gift, most likely part of hamper or deli selection b) ...

Bursting with Black Eyed Beans

 

January’s No Croutons Required challenge was to make a vegetarian soup or salad using black eyed beans.Yet again, I missed the blog posting deadline - going ...

Magnificent Mackerel

 

My folks were on holiday last week, down in Staithes on the North East coast of England. There was an award winning fish monger nearby, and Mum brought us qu...

Finally something Mini-M will eat!

 

I cannot tell a lie - it has started to feel a bit personal! For the past couple of months now, Mini-M has been pretty much refusing to eat anything I have c...

Back to top ↑

seeds

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Seedy Slice

 

If you are expecting a post about nightclubs with sticky floors, dark alleyways and strippers, then you are likely to be very disappointed - sorry!<div>...

Back to top ↑

recycled

At 8am on Sunday morning…

 

...when most of the world was asleep,  or the world without small children at least, we were making a rainbow palace and listening to French reggae. T...

Recycled IKEA Catalogue Wall Art

 

Question… is it wrong to steal your child’s toys to turn them into living room art?Answer… probably, but it’s too late now! Plus I only stole the boring ones...

Wedding Cakes and Table Decorations

 

Well, despite the fact that I made a whole load of baking, cooking and general kitchen chaos over the Easter weekend (including cucumber and radish pickles, ...

Butterfly Table

 

Enough of the cakes - I thought it was time to post some making.I had an old folding Ikea table in the spare room that had seen better days! Its top was cove...

DIY Weddingness - Part I

 

A couple of months ago, I got married, and it was a fantastic, DIY-style day. When we started planning the event, my husband and I discovered that there were...

Back to top ↑

cake truffles

My First Cakepops

 

Cakepops.In Scotland we don’t have pops, we have lollies. Cakelollies doesn’t quite have the same ring to it! It’s probably for the best therefore, that Cake...

Golden Snitch Cake Truffles

 

Last Saturday I went to Brownie camp! Most of the voluntary youth stuff I’m involved in is with teenagers, so spending the day with a bunch of 7-10yr olds ...

Birthday Cakes x 3

 

It's been a bit of a birthday-cakey couple of weeks. Two almost approximately on time (well in the correct month at least...) and one very belatedly from Jan...

More cakey goodness

 

Well… I was having another trawl through my photos looking for a specific couple of cakes that I am particularly proud of. Unfortunately they are proving elu...

Back to top ↑

cherries

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

Back to top ↑

truffle

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

 

I’ll let you into a secret. These truffles started life as an attempt at dairy free chocolate ‘butter’ icing. On that front, they were an unmitigated disaste...

Chocolate Truffle Baileys Cake

 

Just a quick post of a cake I made for my brother’s girlfriend’s welcome back to edinburgh party.<div>It is the most ridiculously chocolately concoctio...

Back to top ↑

wedding cake

Wedding Cakes and Table Decorations

 

Well, despite the fact that I made a whole load of baking, cooking and general kitchen chaos over the Easter weekend (including cucumber and radish pickles, ...

Back to top ↑

review

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

York Food Festival Trail

 

A few weeks back (well about 6, but as long as it’s still in single figures I’m calling it a few) I spent a lovely, warm, sunny day haring around York doing ...

A Meal Out With Mini-M

 

A couple of weekends back, we had a Mac store mission to undertake, meaning a day trip to Glasgow to pick up our old laptop which had been in for some surger...

Cake Heaven in Brighton

 

At the weekend just past, I had a lovely time down in Brighton catching up with friends from uni who have left the frozen wastes of Scotland and are now base...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches

 

a.k.a restaurant review of Treacle, Broughton Street, Edinburgh Well… I guess this is the first guest post on Ruth’s blog. I’m Jono, Ruth’s other half, and I...

Back to top ↑

plum

3 Minute Mulled Plums

 

Jings - we’re into double figures of December already, and my last post was 9 days ago, about dumped mattresses which really doesn’t seem particularly festiv...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Baked Plums with Nakd Ginger Crumble

 

Time for another recipe featuring one of the Natural Balance Nakd bar varieties I was sent to try.This time I oped for the Gingerbread bar. It is amazing as ...

Damplums!

 

A month or so back we got some slightly unidentified fruit in our veg box from East Coast Organics. They looked a bit like damsons, but were too early in the...

Salad Series Part 2 - Plum Salsa

 

OK - well this one had an identifiable source of inspiration - here at the Zested blog. But my big problem with salsa is that it always has coriander in it, ...

Back to top ↑

clothes

Spread Your Wings…

 

A little while ago we were very kindly given a big bag of felt by a relative, and a soon as I saw the colours - greens, greys, browns and blues, I thought pe...

Clothing and Curtains

 

I’m feeling a little Maria Von Trapp as I write this - I’m fairly sure she used the dining room curtains to rustle up some rather natty outfits for the Von T...

Shoe upgrade

 

It’s summer and that means plimsolls, trainers and sandals. (With frequent interludes of wellies since we do live in Scotland after all!)<div class="separ...

It’s Been A Masochistic Week…

 

… or so it would seem, on reflection! But a fun one.Tonight, I spent the evening with the Edinburgh Cake Ladies at Mimi’s Bakehouse, sharing and comparing so...

Baby Workwear!

 

For once this is a makey rather than a cakey post. Believe it or not, I do make quite a lot of stuff - most often, my husband will probably vouch for, I make...

Back to top ↑

yeast

Breakfast Club 17: Banana Bready Bread

 

Now that I’m officially on holiday, I am catching up on a blogging backlog, still in my PJs whilst Mini-M is having a morning nap. Of course, she will probab...

Back to top ↑

pineapple

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Back to top ↑

lamb

Murtabak - Random Recipes #34

 

Time to squeeze in a quick pre-bed blog post, to attempt to create some sense of accomplishment for the evening, otherwise all I’ve done is bail from going t...

Geeky Stats Cooking - Azerbaijan (ish)

 

Time for another offering under the ‘countries of the world I’ve not had blog visitors from’ heading.This one is from Azerbaijan, although we no doubt spoile...

A Week of Dinners in Makey-Cakey-Land

 

I decided I’d take a picture of every dinner we ate over the course of a week. I’m now feeling slightly ashamed to post this, because it was definitely an ab...

Scrummy Scotch Broth

 

Here’s another soup recipe from the variety I made for September’s Daring Cook’s Challenge. The post would have been truly epic if I’d included them all, so ...

Back to top ↑

Scottish

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Something fishy going on… Cullen Skink

 

So as you may be aware from my previous post, September’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge was to make stock, soup and consomme.We eat loads of soup - usually of the ...

Back to top ↑

carrot

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

Guilt Free Carrot Cake Power Bites

 

In the fantastic ‘We Should Cocoa’ Sugar Free Chocolate Roundup last week, these Post-workout Protein Bites from Elizabeth’s Kitchen caught my eye. Admittedl...

Back to top ↑

fudge

Something Sweet to Say Thank You

 

I’t’s Mini-M’s last day at pre-school tomorrow. (Gulp!).Since this is a a baking blog, I’ll spare you the “how did she grow up so quickly, where has my baby ...

An edible Valentine

 

It’s Valentines day on Friday. We have a card covered in glitter and all things red and hearty home from nursery to prove it.In case you’ve not had such a su...

Porridge Fudge - but in a good way!

 

Yep - you did indeed read the title correctly. I have filled a previously undiscovered gap in the breakfast/confectionery crossover genre.Think of a bowl of ...

White Chocolate Fudge

 

This is quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever made - which isn’t really that surprising since it is basically sugar, with white chocolate in it!<d...

Back to top ↑

beans

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Random Recipes # 21 - Store Cupboard Raiding

 

I’m getting off the mark early this month with my Random Recipe entry. We’ve been challenged to rummage blindly in our store cupboards, emerge triumphant wit...

Back to top ↑

chicken

Junk food salad

 

Not really a recipe, however too successful and discovery not to share!Junk food. We all know it’s bad for us. We still all want to eat it far more often tha...

Mini-M Makes: Chicken pops

 

I’m trying to catch up on some back-blogging and these photos were next on my hit list: Mini-M making some chicken bites on sticks (aka chicken pops). I seem...

Back to top ↑

sesame

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

5 Seed Slice

 

I’m getting back up to speed with blogging after a crazy little while with too many other things going on to leave any spare time, and it’s good to be able t...

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Poorly Pikelets

 

Last week I had the lurgy, of the stuffed up head, weird wobbly falling over balance, poppy ears and wheezy chest variety. Yuck. (Better now though thank goo...

Back to top ↑

Pasta Please

Chard & Pecan Pesto - Pasta Please!

 

We were the lucky recipients of a big bunch of chard and another of kale when my folks visited a couple of weekends ago.Since we’ve not had our veg box, we’v...

Pasta Please Cheeseless Wonders Roundup

 

This month I was hosting the Pasta Please challenge. It’s organised by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, and my chosen theme this month was ‘Cheeseless Wonders’ - scan...

A Pictorial Pasta Please Guest Post

 

I’m hosting the Pasta Please challenge this month. It is organised by Tinned Tomatoes, and each month a different blogger chooses a theme and curates the rou...

No-Cook Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

 

Update - in the time that it took me to write this post which admittedly is 24hrs, someone else has posted first, so any residual feelings of hosting / fi...

Pasta Please - Cheeseless Wonders!

 

It’s my lucky turn to be hosting this month’s Pasta Please challenge. It is organised and expertly marshalled by Tinned Tomatoes, who sorts out a different b...

Back to top ↑

ginger

The Daring Bakers’ December 2014 Challenge

 

Oh goodness. Somehow it seems I’ve not written a blog post since October. And Christmas has somehow come and gone too! 2014 has hurtled past at an alarming r...

Lekvar - Hungarian Style Fruit Butter

 

Well due to general hectic-ness, I’ve not posted anything for ages. But I’m back :o) The other week as I was tidying out some kitchen cupboards, I came acros...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

Back to top ↑

beer

Homebrew Everything Cookies

 

For part of Mr E’s Christmas present, I made him a Pinterest board of beer related recipes. (It’s here, if anyone is interested!). Don’t worry, that’s not al...

Maple Bacon and Stout Jam

 

This year we’ve made a LOT of jam. I say we, since Mr E was fully involved in the jam making process - be it sterilising, stirring, boiling, labelling, peeli...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Back to top ↑

poppyseed

Almond Poppyseed and Lemon Loaf

 

Another recipe without too much pre-amble to help me get through my blogging queue… I made this for a colleague’s last day at work and it went down well with...

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Back to top ↑

cheesecake

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Cake Heaven in Brighton

 

At the weekend just past, I had a lovely time down in Brighton catching up with friends from uni who have left the frozen wastes of Scotland and are now base...

Back to top ↑

Halloween

Spooky Snacks

 

It’s Halloween (almost).And I’ve remembered in time (just) that I made lots of Halloween themed food last year, which I never shared.We had a whole day where...

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Halloween Mummy Pie

 

Not so much a recipe, but a set of instructions to make a bandaged-mummy-style pie. If Halloween on the horizon isn’t a good excuse for such pastry shenaniga...

Vampire Fairy Cakes

 

It’s Halloween today - how do I know this? Because at the centre where I was teaching my music classes this morning there were kids in fancy dress - vampires...

Back to top ↑

meringue

A super-value feast

 

15th December. Just writing the date has made me realise that I’ve still got rather a lot of Christmas cards to write and post, not to mention a birthday pre...

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

Tea Time Treats - Floral and Fabulous!

 

Tea Time Treats is a monthly themed baking challenge hosted alternately by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and Kate at What Kate Baked. This month, it’s being ...

Back to top ↑

Crumble

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Super-Crumble

 

We had crumble after tea on Friday night at Mini’M’s request. I have to confess I was a little confused at first, as the conversation went a little like this...

Crushed Pineapple Crumble

 

The other night after having soup for dinner, we decided that we wanted pudding, and it had to be something properly pudding-y rather than an ice lolly or a ...

Back to top ↑

waste not want not

Cold Chip Fritttata

 

I am as big a fan as the next person of that Scottish delicacy of chips and brown sauce, wrapped up in brown paper from the chippie. But you always, always, ...

Wallpaper Wildlife Silhouettes

 

A year or so ago, we put up some patterned wall paper on one wall in our living room. Whilst choosing the paper, we ended up with a bunch of samples, and aft...

Back to top ↑

raspberry

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

Introducing the Anti-Cheesecake

 

I’m not sure that’s really a very flattering name for what is a really tasty dessert, however it is how I misheard Mr E describe it, and it’s stuck in my hea...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Back to top ↑

Camping

Scones on a Stick!

 

I’ve just spent the past hour watching the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.The contestants have shown great skill, precision and patience with their...

Bake it in the bonfire!

 

I’m trying out some new technology tonight to allow me to write blog posts without typing - I’m spending a lot of keyboard time at work at the moment, which ...

Back in Blog-Land after a Highland Fling

 

I’m back, after a fantastic if very chilly three weeks touring round the North of Scotland with Mr E and Mini-M.I have to confess, we had a lot more indoor n...

Back to top ↑

sausage

Random Recipes # 21 - Store Cupboard Raiding

 

I’m getting off the mark early this month with my Random Recipe entry. We’ve been challenged to rummage blindly in our store cupboards, emerge triumphant wit...

Back to top ↑

salmon

Bake in a Bag - toddler style

 

Mini-M is super keen to bake and cook, which is probably not that surprising since Mr E and I both spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes, trying...

A Pictorial Pasta Please Guest Post

 

I’m hosting the Pasta Please challenge this month. It is organised by Tinned Tomatoes, and each month a different blogger chooses a theme and curates the rou...

Back to top ↑

cereal

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

Move over Nigella & Delia!

 

There’s a new TV chef in town. OK that’s possibly a slight exaggeration, but give Mini-M a few years…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"...

Fruity Chocolate Cornflake Crispies

 

Can someone please remind the weather what season it is? We’re 3 days off July, and whilst not expecting tropical sunshine (it is Scotland after all) I’d lik...

Cheerio Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch

 

I’m stealing Mini-M’s food again for kitchen experimentation purposes. It’s happened in the past, when I’ve purloined pots of fruit puree to chuck into cakes...

Back to top ↑

eggs

Random Recipes #40 - Bacon and Egg Pie

 

I shall start this post by noting that it is a very good thing that I am far better at managing deadlines at work, than I am with blog challenges.I’m writing...

A day in the life…

 

I was going to write a post about marbling Easter Eggs since it was one of today’s many activities. However although it was a lot of fun, we didn’t quite get...

Back to top ↑

donuts

Wax Crayon Donuts

 

It's 4am, and right now Mini-M is 'self-settling' in her cot on the other side of the room whilst I supervise. In actual fact she is grumping to herself and ...

Daring Bakers - Lets go Nuts for Donuts

 

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for he...

Red for Red R and Upside down Doughnut Buns!

 

Well, somehow despite my enthusiasm for the concept of writing a blog of all my making and caking exploits, life has got in the way a bit! Given how hectic t...

Back to top ↑

toffee

Well Its Been Overwhelmingly Cakey

 

Well it’s been overwhelmingly cakey things that I’ve been posted about so far. That will change soon, once my latest craft experiment is finished - almost th...

Back to top ↑

booze

Chocolate Truffle Baileys Cake

 

Just a quick post of a cake I made for my brother’s girlfriend’s welcome back to edinburgh party.<div>It is the most ridiculously chocolately concoctio...

Back to top ↑

charity

Cakes for a good cause

 

Since my hot date tonight is of the water bottle and lemsip variety, I thought I’d use the opportunity to post a roundup of the cakes I’ve made so far since ...

Well Its Been Overwhelmingly Cakey

 

Well it’s been overwhelmingly cakey things that I’ve been posted about so far. That will change soon, once my latest craft experiment is finished - almost th...

Back to top ↑

jelly

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Biszkopt z Galaretka - or Polish Jelly Cake

 

A few years ago I spent the summer working in an office in Warsaw, and during that time, every arrival, departure or celebratory occasion in the office was c...

Back to top ↑

strawberries

Strawberry good!

 

Last weekend, when the weather wasn’t quite as monsoon-like as today, we hit the road early and were at Craigie’s Farm outside Edinburgh early. 12 mins after...

Cake Heaven in Brighton

 

At the weekend just past, I had a lovely time down in Brighton catching up with friends from uni who have left the frozen wastes of Scotland and are now base...

Back to top ↑

rhubarb

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, Nakd Style

 

It may be almost April, but it’s most definitely still winter outside - although by all intents, we’ve so far got off very lightly in Edinburgh, with very li...

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb…

 

I can’t help thinking the title of this post is probably an accurate classification of the general waffle and nonsense I usually end up writing in here! But ...

Cake Heaven in Brighton

 

At the weekend just past, I had a lovely time down in Brighton catching up with friends from uni who have left the frozen wastes of Scotland and are now base...

Back to top ↑

haggis

Back to top ↑

olive oil

No-Cook Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

 

Update - in the time that it took me to write this post which admittedly is 24hrs, someone else has posted first, so any residual feelings of hosting / fi...

Chocolate Olive Oil Torte

 

The lengths I will go to for a chocolatey, cakey hit are reasonably extreme, it turns out, and well into the realms of experimental baking! Most bought dairy...

Back to top ↑

caraway

Local (& Late!) Random Recipes #33

 

For this month’s Random Recipes challenge, our host, Dom at Belleau Kitchen, exhorted us to use a local ingredient in our random culinary creations. He also ...

Random Recipes Birthday Cake

 

This month is the 2nd anniversary of Belleau Kitchen, the fantastic, stylish and culinarily (is that a word?) inspiring blog that hosts the monthly Random Re...

Back to top ↑

filo

Pear & Marzipan Phyllo Crisp

 

Whilst blogging my Daring Bakers Baklava yesterday, I realised that I had another phyllo pastry creation in my 'waiting to be blogged' folder: Pear & Mar...

Daring Bakers June 2011: Team Baklava!

 

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then ...

Pi Day & Pie Week - Lentil & Veg Filo Pi(e)

 

Last week was Pie Week, so I made some pie - seemed rude not to really. And today is Pi Day (well it is if you write your dates American stylee, as it's 3.14...

Back to top ↑

tablet

An edible Valentine

 

It’s Valentines day on Friday. We have a card covered in glitter and all things red and hearty home from nursery to prove it.In case you’ve not had such a su...

Gingerbread Tablet - tastes like Christmas!

 

What does one do when faced with a full and unopened carton of single cream, and real butter in the fridge needing used up, when still unable to eat dairy?&l...

Daring Bakers August 2011: Candylicious!

 

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mav...

Back to top ↑

borders exploration group

Going, Going, Gone! A Post of Epic Cakeyness

 

I’m feeling a little bit caked out. Or more specifically icing-ed out. Not eating it, just making it.You see last Sunday my sister and I - the lovely Auntie ...

My First Cakepops

 

Cakepops.In Scotland we don’t have pops, we have lollies. Cakelollies doesn’t quite have the same ring to it! It’s probably for the best therefore, that Cake...

Back to top ↑

chickpea

Finally something Mini-M will eat!

 

I cannot tell a lie - it has started to feel a bit personal! For the past couple of months now, Mini-M has been pretty much refusing to eat anything I have c...

Back to top ↑

crackers

Daring Bakers - Going Crackers

 

Before reading any further I warn you this is a bit of a disaster post. Firstly, it is 3 minutes to 11 at night, and I have to get up in too few hours for wo...

Back to top ↑

Pink Whisk

The Pink Whisk Challenge: Apples for October

 

The other night I was watching TV and it was a ‘where are they now’ run down of last year’s competitors in the Great British Bake Off. That prompted me to st...

Back to top ↑

lentils

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

No Croutons Required - Spicy!

 

This Month’s No Croutons Required theme is spicy - we were tasked with cooking up a spicy vegetarian soup or salad, and since it’s is our lovely host Lisa’s ...

Radom Recipes does No Croutons Required

 

Since I’m not quite nodding off on the sofa yet, I’m going for some more Friday evening blogging.This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a joint venture.Do...

Back to top ↑

gingerbread

Gingerbread Tablet - tastes like Christmas!

 

What does one do when faced with a full and unopened carton of single cream, and real butter in the fridge needing used up, when still unable to eat dairy?&l...

Ninja-bread men!

 

I have to start this post with a shocking confession…Almost a year ago, the lovely Miss M gave me some very funky biscuit cutters. For the first couple of mo...

St Nicholas’ Day Biscuits

 

Today is St Nicholas’ Day, and yesterday Mini-M, Mr E and I decorated gingerbread biscuits.<div></div><div>Or more accurately, Mr E and I d...

Back to top ↑

white chocolate

Plain on the outside…

 

Since it is/was Chocolate Cake day today, I thought I’d better bake one!Here’s a white chocolate and apricot loaf, which I’m taking with me to a work meeting...

Teatime Treats gets all Romantic

 

Blog posts have been thin on the ground this month, as February is also Thing-A-Day month. Last year I cut a Kirigami heart each day. This year I’m making so...

Back to top ↑

avocado

Back to top ↑

yoghurt

Back to top ↑

picnic

Spooky Snacks

 

It’s Halloween (almost).And I’ve remembered in time (just) that I made lots of Halloween themed food last year, which I never shared.We had a whole day where...

Back to top ↑

Kitchen

Back in Blog-Land after a Highland Fling

 

I’m back, after a fantastic if very chilly three weeks touring round the North of Scotland with Mr E and Mini-M.I have to confess, we had a lot more indoor n...

Back to top ↑

chilli

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Long Overdue Surprise Ingredient Swap Recipe

 

This post is late. Almost 3 weeks late. For my own blog event challenge. I should rap my own knuckles and ground myself for a week. Or alternatively I could ...

Back to top ↑

Spanish

The Christmas Present that Keeps Giving

 

I explained in this post here that for Christmas Mr E promised me a different culinary and cultural evening each month, with a savoury and sweet culinary off...

Random Recipes #24 Torrijas

 

This month’s Random Recipes challenge was a) not soup and b) not phallic looking which was a nice change - phew! It’s been an odd couple of  months on the ch...

Back to top ↑

fig

Back to top ↑

mint

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

After Eight Slice

 

It was my turn on the cake rota at work a few weeks back, and here’s one of the things I made: After Eight Slice. (I also made some pear and hazelnut muffins...

Back to top ↑

We Should Cocoa

Mr E’s Birthday cake

 

Within a month, we have all three of our family birthdays, so from mid-July to mid-August I’m generally slightly preoccupied with birthday cakes!<div clas...

Last-Day-At-Work Truffles

 

After over 5.5 years tomorrow is my last day in my current job - and after a quick Fri/Mon long weekend, I start my new one on Tuesday. So 2013 is kicking of...

Back to top ↑

mango

Back to top ↑

custard

Toddler Trifle Tart

 

Tonight it has been the Great British Bake Off Final - a nail biting finish, and what a monumental final challenge - 6 hrs to make and ice a 3 tier wedding c...

Back to top ↑

drink

Cranachan Cake

 

I used to have a food blog. I cooked stuff. I took (bad) photos. I wrote blog posts.That process doesn’t seem to be working so well at the moment!I still coo...

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

Back to top ↑

Leith

A Towering Tall Tale: Cake Fest Edinburgh

 

What did you get up to at the weekend? Making two replica high-rise tower blocks from cake? What? You didn’t? That must just have been me then (and my lovely...

What started as a walk to feed the ducks…

 

What started as a walk to feed the ducks this morning very quickly turned into a catalogue of all the dumped rubbish in our neighbourhood. It’s not the most ...

Back to top ↑

flowers

Sometimes when Mini-M wont sleep…

 

... we give in, and let her stay up a while longer, and let her entertain herself for a while. Tonight was one of those nights in question. 7pm and she was b...

DIY Weddingness - Part I

 

A couple of months ago, I got married, and it was a fantastic, DIY-style day. When we started planning the event, my husband and I discovered that there were...

Back to top ↑

wedding

DIY Weddingness - Part I

 

A couple of months ago, I got married, and it was a fantastic, DIY-style day. When we started planning the event, my husband and I discovered that there were...

Back to top ↑

pretzel

Junk food salad

 

Not really a recipe, however too successful and discovery not to share!Junk food. We all know it’s bad for us. We still all want to eat it far more often tha...

Back to top ↑

shortbread

Friday Night Baking Frenzy

 

For some reason after work on Friday I was feeling riduculously full of energy and inspiration - even after a trip to ASDA!So I started off trying out a reci...

Back to top ↑

edinburgh

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Deep Fried Jam Sandwiches

 

a.k.a restaurant review of Treacle, Broughton Street, Edinburgh Well… I guess this is the first guest post on Ruth’s blog. I’m Jono, Ruth’s other half, and I...

Back to top ↑

Sharpie

Welcome to Martha Town

 

2 hrs, 1 piece of IKEA kitchen unit, bought for £1 from the bargain corner, and 4 sharpies.Welcome to Martha Town!Hopefully it will soon be inhabited by Play...

Banana Art!

 

Well, here is what greeted me when I looked in my lunch bag today…It is indeed BananaMan… of a sort! And it was drawn using a Sharpie by my husband this morn...

Back to top ↑

feta

Some recent pies…

 

...seems I've made a few pies this June. And even taken photos (although not admittedly very good ones)! So here they are. First up - puff pastry filled wit...

Easy Peasy Cheesy

 

I made this recipe a wee while ago when friends came round for dinner, and the praise it received seemed totally disproportionate to the the effort involved ...

Back to top ↑

parsnip

A Proliferation of Parsnips

 

Parsnips... a veg that up until recently I would have sworn I hated, mainly because I think they taste of soap. And to be honest, if you just give me some co...

Back to top ↑

foraging

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Back to top ↑

bramble

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Back to top ↑

geekery

Tonight I carved a melon…

 

A rock and roll Saturday evening chez Makey-Cakey tonight…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I carved a waterm...

Searching…

 

Well, I should be blogging my picture a day photos, but to be honest, I don’t currently have the energy to creep upstairs (Mini-M is asleep), get the camera ...

Back to top ↑

cola

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

Back to top ↑

cordial

3 Minute Mulled Plums

 

Jings - we’re into double figures of December already, and my last post was 9 days ago, about dumped mattresses which really doesn’t seem particularly festiv...

Back to top ↑

Asian

Back to top ↑

cider

The Pink Whisk Challenge: Apples for October

 

The other night I was watching TV and it was a ‘where are they now’ run down of last year’s competitors in the Great British Bake Off. That prompted me to st...

Back to top ↑

leek

Big fat flying saucer pie

 

Time to share another weird and wonderful recipe corruption…This time I started off with a recipe for Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie from the BBC GoodFood online...

Simply Soup-er Hearty Leek and Bacon Soup

 

A quick post of a very quick and easy recipe. Perfect for cold wintry weather, and quick enough to make post-work. And of course dairy free. Mini-M even trie...

Back to top ↑

tea

Random Recipes: Tangerines and Tea!

 

It’s time to blog March’s Random Recipes challenge. The event as always is hosted at Belleau Kitchen, and the theme this month was Cuttings, Memories and Cli...

Back to top ↑

beef

Polish Style Meatballs with Buckwheat

 

Or Zrazy z Kasza Hreczana to give it it’s Polish name.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Whichever language yo...

Back to top ↑

brussels sprouts

Back to top ↑

treacle

The Daring Bakers’ December 2014 Challenge

 

Oh goodness. Somehow it seems I’ve not written a blog post since October. And Christmas has somehow come and gone too! 2014 has hurtled past at an alarming r...

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Back to top ↑

noodles

Bake in a Bag - toddler style

 

Mini-M is super keen to bake and cook, which is probably not that surprising since Mr E and I both spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes, trying...

Back to top ↑

syrup

Tutti Frutti Tiffin

 

This post should really have a sub-heading along the lines of ‘using up all the little drops of dried fruit lurking a the back of the cupboard in one easy re...

Back to top ↑

book food

Hungry Caterpillar Food

 

I’ve now made ‘Hungry Caterpillar Food’ twice for Mini-M. I’m trying not to do it too often, since it is a bit of a faff. She loves it, but I don’t want it t...

Back to top ↑

guest

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Back to top ↑

meatloaf

Embutido - Filipino Gala Pie!

 

Mr E is on a mission to eat food from 30 different countries in the year before he turns 30. We seem to have been covering Spain and Poland repeatedly, and s...

Back to top ↑

chutney

Maple Bacon and Stout Jam

 

This year we’ve made a LOT of jam. I say we, since Mr E was fully involved in the jam making process - be it sterilising, stirring, boiling, labelling, peeli...

Embutido - Filipino Gala Pie!

 

Mr E is on a mission to eat food from 30 different countries in the year before he turns 30. We seem to have been covering Spain and Poland repeatedly, and s...

Back to top ↑

Mr E's culinary culture tour

The Christmas Present that Keeps Giving

 

I explained in this post here that for Christmas Mr E promised me a different culinary and cultural evening each month, with a savoury and sweet culinary off...

Back to top ↑

ice cream

Homemade Chocolate Arctic Roll

 

Time for another blog post - and then bed!That is pretty much the extent of my motivation this evening, and it’s taking mind over matter to make myself write...

Pimp My Nakd Bar!

 

Chez Makey-Cakey, it’s fairly safe to say that we heart Nakd bars. They don’t have dairy in them - win. They do have lots of nuts which are great for calcium...

Back to top ↑

polenta

Daring Cooks: En Croute!

 

Whilst I was typing the post title, my choice of punctuation made me think of a little line of chefs being shouted at by a bossy head chef, and all brandishi...

Back to top ↑

Treat Petite

Franken-Biscuits and Vampire Cupcakes

 

It’s Halloween on Friday.And for once I’ve managed to make something seasonal at least a few days in advance - wonders behold. On the other hand, I reversed ...

Back to top ↑

dried fruit

Spooky Snacks

 

It’s Halloween (almost).And I’ve remembered in time (just) that I made lots of Halloween themed food last year, which I never shared.We had a whole day where...

Upgrade your Crispie Slice

 

I’m taking advantage of being stuffed up with a cold to catch up on some overdue blog posts - so onto the second for this evening - which should magically ap...

Back to top ↑

hair pins

DIY Weddingness - Part I

 

A couple of months ago, I got married, and it was a fantastic, DIY-style day. When we started planning the event, my husband and I discovered that there were...

Back to top ↑

stars

Super Cakey Sunday

 

After a pretty manic couple of weeks at work, it was great to have a weekend to chill out and get round to doing some of the things I’ve been wanting to do f...

Back to top ↑

furnishing

Butterfly Table

 

Enough of the cakes - I thought it was time to post some making.I had an old folding Ikea table in the spare room that had seen better days! Its top was cove...

Back to top ↑

jewellery

Red Bead Bracelet

 

Due to recurring pantsness at remembering to take photos of the things I’ve been cooking (peach and almond tart, more bread and sesame coconut and mango mues...

Back to top ↑

summer

Biszkopt z Galaretka - or Polish Jelly Cake

 

A few years ago I spent the summer working in an office in Warsaw, and during that time, every arrival, departure or celebratory occasion in the office was c...

Back to top ↑

sushi

Sweetie Sushi

 

I have a really good friend who is a Brownie guider (Hi Em if you’re reading!). And she asked me if I’d come along and do something makey or cakey with her B...

Back to top ↑

hungarian

Lekvar - Hungarian Style Fruit Butter

 

Well due to general hectic-ness, I’ve not posted anything for ages. But I’m back :o) The other week as I was tidying out some kitchen cupboards, I came acros...

Back to top ↑

prune

Lekvar - Hungarian Style Fruit Butter

 

Well due to general hectic-ness, I’ve not posted anything for ages. But I’m back :o) The other week as I was tidying out some kitchen cupboards, I came acros...

Back to top ↑

fennel

Back to top ↑

Vampire

Vampire Fairy Cakes

 

It’s Halloween today - how do I know this? Because at the centre where I was teaching my music classes this morning there were kids in fancy dress - vampires...

Back to top ↑

quiche

One handed blogging and baby winding!

 

So baby Martha is here and has turned our world upside down - but in a beautiful, cuddly, wonderful sort of way (admittedly with frequent bouts of crying, si...

Back to top ↑

nutella

Better late than never: World Nutella Day

 

Saturday 5th February was World Nutella Day. Which made me both happy and sad. Happy that such a concept existed. Sad that I couldn't eat Nutella. But I deci...

Back to top ↑

crayon

Wax Crayon Donuts

 

It's 4am, and right now Mini-M is 'self-settling' in her cot on the other side of the room whilst I supervise. In actual fact she is grumping to herself and ...

Back to top ↑

Harry Potter

Golden Snitch Cake Truffles

 

Last Saturday I went to Brownie camp! Most of the voluntary youth stuff I’m involved in is with teenagers, so spending the day with a bunch of 7-10yr olds ...

Back to top ↑

giraffe

Back to top ↑

cranberry

CCC Cake: Cranberry Chocolate and Cola

 

I love finding unexpected supermarket bargains - particularly stuff that is marked down for quick sale with no apparent reason.Like this jar of wholeberry cr...

Back to top ↑

goats milk

Something fishy going on… Cullen Skink

 

So as you may be aware from my previous post, September’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge was to make stock, soup and consomme.We eat loads of soup - usually of the ...

Back to top ↑

barley

Scrummy Scotch Broth

 

Here’s another soup recipe from the variety I made for September’s Daring Cook’s Challenge. The post would have been truly epic if I’d included them all, so ...

Back to top ↑

cumin

Back to top ↑

vanilla

Back to top ↑

pomegranate

Pomegranate & Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I love pomegranates. They remind me of being a kid, and wintry evenings, and sticky fingers, and total absorption in picking out all the little bits (which I...

Back to top ↑

pate

Magnificent Mackerel

 

My folks were on holiday last week, down in Staithes on the North East coast of England. There was an award winning fish monger nearby, and Mum brought us qu...

Back to top ↑

mackerel

Magnificent Mackerel

 

My folks were on holiday last week, down in Staithes on the North East coast of England. There was an award winning fish monger nearby, and Mum brought us qu...

Back to top ↑

tofu

Back to top ↑

superfood

Back to top ↑

freezer

Frozen to fantastic in 10 minutes!

 

Mini-M is enjoying soup at the moment. And dipping things in it. She’s a fan of dipping pretty much anything, into anything else, if I’m being honest. Tonigh...

Back to top ↑

suet

Geeky Stats Cooking: The Isle of Man

 

It’s been a lovely weekend, with loads of fantastic company and fun. Mini-M is now asleep (at long last!), tea has been eaten (noodles with tofu, green peppe...

Back to top ↑

herb

Back to top ↑

lavender

Back to top ↑

craziness

It’s Been A Masochistic Week…

 

… or so it would seem, on reflection! But a fun one.Tonight, I spent the evening with the Edinburgh Cake Ladies at Mimi’s Bakehouse, sharing and comparing so...

Back to top ↑

budget

3 for 4 for 5

 

Three for four for five - nope I’ve not got mixed up with the words of a kids nursery rhyme, and this post isn’t about Mini-M’s counting (although on that su...

Back to top ↑

rabbit

What do woodland creatures taste like?!

 

Squirrels and rabbits feature largely in our life currently. They make regular appearances in many of Mini-M’s story books. We look for them when we’re out w...

Back to top ↑

squirrel

What do woodland creatures taste like?!

 

Squirrels and rabbits feature largely in our life currently. They make regular appearances in many of Mini-M’s story books. We look for them when we’re out w...

Back to top ↑

patchwork

Shoe upgrade

 

It’s summer and that means plimsolls, trainers and sandals. (With frequent interludes of wellies since we do live in Scotland after all!)<div class="separ...

Back to top ↑

shoes

Shoe upgrade

 

It’s summer and that means plimsolls, trainers and sandals. (With frequent interludes of wellies since we do live in Scotland after all!)<div class="separ...

Back to top ↑

pizza

Take 1 Bag of Cornmeal…

 

I’m writing this blog post in a state of semi-disgruntlement (is that a word? Probably not, but I think it should be.) as we seem to have lost our TV recepti...

Back to top ↑

gin

Potato Cake - with a difference!

 

When someone says potato cake to you, you probably mentally conjure up a rosti, or a fishcake, or a tattie scone. Something savoury anyway and not really all...

Back to top ↑

drawing

Welcome to Martha Town

 

2 hrs, 1 piece of IKEA kitchen unit, bought for £1 from the bargain corner, and 4 sharpies.Welcome to Martha Town!Hopefully it will soon be inhabited by Play...

Back to top ↑

Matchsticks

Rainbow Hedgehogs!

 

Today, Mini-M and I made Rainbow Matchstick Plasticene Hedgehogs.It was great fun for both of us, and she was captivated for ages. We played with them for ab...

Back to top ↑

Plasticene

Rainbow Hedgehogs!

 

Today, Mini-M and I made Rainbow Matchstick Plasticene Hedgehogs.It was great fun for both of us, and she was captivated for ages. We played with them for ab...

Back to top ↑

festival

York Food Festival Trail

 

A few weeks back (well about 6, but as long as it’s still in single figures I’m calling it a few) I spent a lovely, warm, sunny day haring around York doing ...

Back to top ↑

Birthday Box

Introducing my Birthday Box

 

Yes, before anyone points it out to me, I know that my birthday was in July. We are now in November. That means I’m pretty much four whole months late in pos...

Back to top ↑

melon

Back to top ↑

Roast

Back to top ↑

Pork

Back to top ↑

grape

Great Grapes

 

We had snow today! Completely unrelated to the main subject of the post but nevertheless, snow! Enough to go sledging - even at sea level in Leith! So we did...

Back to top ↑

turkey

Embutido - Filipino Gala Pie!

 

Mr E is on a mission to eat food from 30 different countries in the year before he turns 30. We seem to have been covering Spain and Poland repeatedly, and s...

Back to top ↑

knitting

Back to top ↑

buttons

Sewing for toddlers…

 

Mini-M decided a while back that she wanted to knit - she has received lovely knits from a whole host of family since she was tiny, and indeed now sometimes ...

Back to top ↑

Pantry Party

Back to top ↑

burger

Guest Bean Burgers

 

I have a rather ambitious pre-holiday blogging to-do list,  and since it’s now raining outside after a few days of glorious sunshine, tonight seemed a good e...

Back to top ↑

meatballs

Back to top ↑

elderflower

Back to top ↑

Hello Kitty

Mini-M’s 3rd Birthday Cake - Rainbow Kitty

 

A few weeks ago it was Mini-M’s 3rd birthday. How time flies!An birthdays mean birthday parties and birthday cake. Last year Mini-M requested “Kitty Pirate C...

Back to top ↑

workshop

Tempting Truffles

 

Time has gotten the better of me this week - I had good intentions that this would be Monday’s post - but somehow it’s Friday already!On Sunday last week, I ...

Back to top ↑

mushroom

Stale Bread (and mushroom) Soup

 

Stale Bread Soup. Doesn’t sound very appealing, but tastes lovely when you add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onion into the mix.It tastes like a Pot Noodle - but ...

Back to top ↑

chard

Chard & Pecan Pesto - Pasta Please!

 

We were the lucky recipients of a big bunch of chard and another of kale when my folks visited a couple of weekends ago.Since we’ve not had our veg box, we’v...

Back to top ↑

pesto

Chard & Pecan Pesto - Pasta Please!

 

We were the lucky recipients of a big bunch of chard and another of kale when my folks visited a couple of weekends ago.Since we’ve not had our veg box, we’v...

Back to top ↑

costumes

Spread Your Wings…

 

A little while ago we were very kindly given a big bag of felt by a relative, and a soon as I saw the colours - greens, greys, browns and blues, I thought pe...

Back to top ↑

cabbage

Local (& Late!) Random Recipes #33

 

For this month’s Random Recipes challenge, our host, Dom at Belleau Kitchen, exhorted us to use a local ingredient in our random culinary creations. He also ...

Back to top ↑

rant

What started as a walk to feed the ducks…

 

What started as a walk to feed the ducks this morning very quickly turned into a catalogue of all the dumped rubbish in our neighbourhood. It’s not the most ...

Back to top ↑

responsibility

What started as a walk to feed the ducks…

 

What started as a walk to feed the ducks this morning very quickly turned into a catalogue of all the dumped rubbish in our neighbourhood. It’s not the most ...

Back to top ↑

chia

A guilt free treat to start 2014

 

We’re on day 2 of 2014, I go back to work tomorrow, and I’m fighting the festive cold. I’ve dosed up on manuka honey and clementines this evening, then headi...

Back to top ↑

clay

Family Clay Time

 

I am writing this grumpily whilst feeling sorry for myself with a horrible cold. I’m tired, but every time I lie down my head gets so stuffed up, I end up si...

Back to top ↑

cashew

Are pancakes a staple food?

 

They pretty much are in ours.Mini-M is a big pancake fan. In fact they were one for her first favourite foods, which I exploited by chucking a whole load of ...

Back to top ↑

prawn

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Back to top ↑

stew

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Back to top ↑

kale

Geeky Stats Cooking - Cameroon

 

I am very, very slowly working my way around the culinary globe, cooking recipes from each of the countries that I’ve not had a blog visitor from (according ...

Back to top ↑

Irn Bru

Back to top ↑

lego

Back to top ↑

rapeseed oil

Dip your chips!

 

This is a quick-turnaround post of what we had for our dinner tonight, before I forget the recipe! (Excuse the poorly lit phone photo - it’s October in Scotl...

Back to top ↑

porridge

Back to top ↑

v

Back to top ↑

epic

A Towering Tall Tale: Cake Fest Edinburgh

 

What did you get up to at the weekend? Making two replica high-rise tower blocks from cake? What? You didn’t? That must just have been me then (and my lovely...

Back to top ↑

Thoughts

Not cake

 

Sporadically I blog about cake - sometimes about veg.<div>However this evening I’ve been thinking about statistics, and specifically death rates.</d...

Back to top ↑

Statistics

Not cake

 

Sporadically I blog about cake - sometimes about veg.<div>However this evening I’ve been thinking about statistics, and specifically death rates.</d...

Back to top ↑

faking

Back to top ↑