Jubilee Party Ideas

Isn’t 2012 such a fab year?  Between the Olympics, Paralympics and Diamond Jubilee there’s one excuse for a party after the next…..and that suits me just fine.  But beware!  When decorating for the Jubilee there is a fine line between patriotism and looking like you’re hosting a BNP party conference.  For décor here is what I suggest:

Tesco Value Paper Plates £1 for 50 

 Tesco Disposable Table Cloth £1.99

Tesco Value Plastic Cups £0.59 for 25

 Tesco Union Jack Napkins £1.46 for 20

Above:  Tesco Union Jack Bunting £1.24

Below:  Crown Pinata available from Marks & Spencer

With regards to food a buffet is definitely the way to go.  Here are my menu suggestions (Don’t go mad, 3 – 4 savoury items and 1 – 2 sweet options is more than adequate)

Menu ideas

Food

Pork pies

Sausage rolls

Finger sandwiches – fillings cucumber, jam, roast beef & mustard.

Mini Yorkshire Puds filled with roast beef and gravy

Cumberland Sausages on sticks

Selection of British Meats and Cheeses

Sweets

Bakewell tarts

Summer pudding

Spotted dick

Battenberg

Fruit Crumble

Drinks

Pimms

Gin & Tonic

Somerset Cider

Real Ales

Dandelion and Burdock

English Tea

If you really want to show off get some key items like fabulous cake stands or these themed teapots.  Available from www.houseofbath.co.uk

Provide your guests with sweet little party favours as well as doing your bit for charity.

Pack of London Themed Tissues available from the British Heart Foundation costing only £1.

Top Tips

Charity shops are great places for vintage cake stands and mismatched tea sets.

Keep the serving dishes and cups in a neutral colour and only accent with Union Jack Bunting and Napkins.

M&M's have limited edition Red, White and Blue Peanut M&M's available this summer only.  http://www.ocado.com/product/71114011?gclid=CO30zeu5pbACFcwNtAodAzh1XQ

Above all have a great time and don't stress!!  Nothing brings a party down like a dramatic hostess. 

Baptism Party

Well I’m back!!!  Been working on loads of new recipes that I’m soooo excited to share with you.  It will be Gelato and BBQ secrets galore…..yumm!!!

Hopefully you will have read my Christmas party post and know how crazy obsessed I am with planning and throwing great parties.  So, on that note I would like to share some pictures of my daughters recent Baptism.  Some of the food was made by myself and some was bought it.  I’ll share the suppliers I used along the way and eventually get all my recipes up on this blog.

Macaroon and mini fruit tarlets were from Marks & Spencers

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Marks-and-Spencer-Mini-Macaroons/dp/B005OT5I18

http://www.marksandspencer.com/24-Mini-Fresh-Fruit-Tartlets/dp/B00192QCUU?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_1&nodeId=1673640031&sr=1-1&qid=1338284453&pf_rd_r=01VWD2JT86ZNVDWR470N&pf_rd_m=A2BO0OYVBKIQJM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=1673640031&pf_rd_p=215570647&pf_rd_s=related-items-3

I bought all the meats and cheese from Waitrose and garnished with medjoule dates, cherry tomatos, baby leaf salad, grapes, walnuts and morello cherry compote.

I bought these Salmon appetisers from Marks & Spencers

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Lochmuir-Smoked-Salmon-Prawn-Appetisers/dp/B005KD37TS?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_1&nodeId=42966030&sr=1-1&qid=1338281381&pf_rd_r=175612V4D2PSBRYRR32G&pf_rd_m=A2BO0OYVBKIQJM&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_i=0&pf_rd_p=215485807&pf_rd_s=center-3

The cakes came from choccywoccydoodah in Brighton

http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com/product/0354/Marshmallow+Pyramid+cake+in+white+and+dark+chocolate+coating

Oh dear!!  I only turned away for a second.

The professional pics on this post were taken by Chantal Lachance Gibson of Reflections Photography http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Reflections-Photography-by-Chantal-Lachance-Gibson/179432925407046

Please look out for my next post coming VERY soon.  Jubilee party planning!!

Sicilian Almond Biscuits

Sicilian Almond Biscuits

These are AMAZING!  You can’t really buy fresh ones in the UK so I prefer to make my own.  They are so simple and you get a very good yield from a batch.  These are sold by the weight in Sicily and you’ll soon see why.  The large quantity of ground almonds makes this much pricier than your usual biscuit recipe.  I would argue however that they are far superior to any other biscuit and therefore incomparable…..so there.

Prep: 10mins  Cook: 10-15 mins  Yield:  30

500g ground Almonds
6 egg whites
300g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp almond essence
Icing sugar
Glazed cherries or whole almonds

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Whisk egg whites until stiff. To the Egg whites add the Sugar, ground Almonds, Vanilla and Almond essence.  Combine the mixture using your hands and leave to rest for 30mins.

Roll the mixture into 3cm balls, you should get about 30 balls.  Roll them in icing sugar and place on baking trays which have been lined with baking paper.

Press cherries or almonds into the top of the biscuits, this will slightly flatten them.

Bake until they become lightly browned this should take about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack.

The biscuits can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for about 4 – 5 weeks.

Yumm, these won't last long so make sure you have a secret stash :)

Baby it's cold outside

It appears the mild winter is as distant a memory as our New Year Resolutions.  The first cold snap of 2012 is upon us.  As the temperature plummets don’t despair because as the old adage goes….every cloud has a silver lining.  Freezing cold weather brings with it the desire to cook delicious, soul pleasing comfort food.  It is futile to resist the lure of a sticky toffee pudding or beef stew with dumplings, the seductive mistress will always get her way.  On such days my vice is undoubtedly Mushroom Risotto.  Its luscious texture and alluring aroma satisfy all the senses.  Clinging to your bones as you consume it, it warms your core unlike any other food….in my humble opinion. 

Mushroom Risotto

Prep:  10mins  Cook:  30mins   Serves: 4

Ingredients

50g Dried Porcini Mushrooms

200g Chestnut Mushrooms – or any type you like
1 medium Onion
1 large clove Garlic crushed
Zest and Juice of a Lemon
200ml White wine
400g Risotto Rice
1 ¼  litres  Veg Boullion Stock
75g Parmezan cheese
6tbsp Parsley
Salt/Pepper
Olive Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method

Steep the Porcini Mushrooms in 200mls of hand-hot water and allow to plump up, this should take around 20mins.  Set aside for later.  Slice the Chestnut Mushrooms and sauté on a high heat in 1 tbsp of Olive Oil. 

Once browned, set the mushrooms aside for later. 

Finely chop the onion and sauté in 3tbsps of Olive oil over a medium heat until translucent.  Add the crushed Garlic, grated Lemon zest and juice and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Add the wine, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

And now the rice….

Add the rice to the pan and mix well with the other ingredients.  Cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until the rice grains begin to become translucent around the edges. 

At this stage you can start to add the stock to the rice.  Add the stock a ladel-full at a time and gently stir until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next ladel-full. 

 Make sure the stock is simmering when you add it.  The best way to do this is to keep a pot of simmering stock on the stove whilst you are cooking the Risotto.

Once you have adding about 4 ladel-fulls of stock turn your attention briefly back to the Porcini Muchrooms.  Remove them from the water and squeeze out any excess water.  Roughly chop them and add to the Risotto along with the liquid they were steeped in, also add the Chestnut mushrooms. 

Gently stir until the liquid is absorbed then return to adding the stock a ladel-ful at a time.  At this stage you can remove the Garlic.  Once all the liquid has been added stir in the Chopped Parsley and Parmezan. 

Now check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Garnish with a generous shaving of parmesan and a drizzle of Olive Oil.

Spend time over stirring your Risotto.  It’s extremely therapeutic and allows you the time to dream about the summer to come.

Just like Mamma used to make.

I started this blog so that I could share my family recipes with the world.  I hope you have enjoyed what I have shared so far however today I am sharing my most secret and delicious recipe.  With this recipe you can create all number of different dishes from Parmigiana to Pasta Fagioli.  My Nonna would kill me but hear we go….

Pomodoro Sauce – The Baronello family recipe

(Tomato Pasta Sauce)

Ingredients

6 cans chopped tomatoes

3 cloves of Garlic

100g (large bunch) fresh Basil

Olive Oil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method

In a large bowl process the chopped tomatoes through a Food Mill.  Set aside to be used later.

In a large, heavy based Saucepan heat 3 tbsps of Olive Oil.  Peal and crush the Garlic, add to the Saucepan.  Cook over a low-med heat for 2 minutes.  Do not let the Garlic burn as it will taint the sauce and taste bitter. 

Add the tomatoes, basil and 2 tsps of salt and gently warm until it reaches a gentle simmer.  Note:  Just use the Basil leaves and place them in the sauce whole, do not chop them.

After about 15 minutes check for seasoning and adjust accordingly.  If the tomatoes seem a little tart then add a heaped tsp of Sugar.

Finish by drizzling some Extra virgin Olive Oil over the sauce. 

(I served this with meatballs)

This quantity will serve 8 people so I tend to freeze half and use half.

Such a simple and cheap dish, classic Cucina Povera.

Affogato

No matter what the season or menu, Affogato is the perfect dessert.  Made up of Ice-cream and an Espresso, even the least accomplished cook can create a fabulous treat.  For the Ice-cream I prefer to make my own.  My preferred Vanilla recipe is in my “Christmas Day Dessert” post.  I also add sugar to the Espresso before dousing the Ice-cream.  Enjoy!!

Brown paper packages tied up with string

Imagine the scene.  Lying in bed, snug as a bug, the kids have slept in (woo hoo) and I have nothing I need to get up for…..bliss!  Alas, I must suddenly leave the embrace of my duvet.  No, I don’t have to answer natures call……there is an intruding knock on the door.  Naturally I fly immediately into an unreasonable rage, grab my dressing gown and stomp down the stairs to confront the offending person who dared to spoil my serenity.  Granted last nights mascara smudged across my face may take away from the seriousness of my tone and body language.  Nonetheless, I march on.  Thankfully before I reach the door it dawns on me, I am expecting a delivery.  Not just any delivery, not the delivery of tv or celeb mag or video game or anything else designed purely to sour the soul.  I am expecting a delivery of my favourite things from the fabulous on-line deli Nife is Life www.nifeislife.com.  I first discovered this deli at their shop on Amazon in my pursuit of my best loved pop Chinotto.  I was delighted to discover they also stocked a variety of my preferred brand of Pasta, De Cecco.  I would recommend a look around their shop on the website, it’s a culinary Aladin’s Cave.  So that is why brown paper packages tied up with string are now one of my favourite things.