Drop Scone Tuesday is upon us!

I absolutely love pancakes. A day where you just have to have pancakes is my dream come true. For about six months we had pancakes every Sunday morning with apple sliced or grated into the batter. Like this lovely recipe. I love adding fruit to the batter as it makes them 'healthy' and then you can drench them in glorious maple syrup. But for the past few months whilst I've been writing and baking up the book there has been nothing but cake in the house. We have lost our appetite for sugar. It's a sad day when you realise that no, you don't feel remotely like having cake or biscuits with your cup of tea. I had to make a new house rule: Nobody is to leave empty handed. If someone calls, give them cake. So the run up to lent and the symbolic pancake making has never been so apt. I am giving up sugar! Hurray! But first I must eat loads of drop scones.

Mexican Recipes

 The Mexican L&F dinner was lovely! Massive thanks as usual to my brilliant sisters who were decked out like Mexican ladies with flowers in their hair and beautiful mexican dresses. We started the night with Tequila Spritzers. It was basically a big jug of margarita mix (cointreau, tequila & lots of fresh lime juice). A shot of this was poured into each glass & then topped up with lemonade. Very drinkable and I'd imagine a real winner for summer barbeques!

Loaves&Fishes Love Mexican Food!

Thanks so much for all of the brilliant name suggestions for my book! I really loved reading through them and will let ye know as soon as we've decided on the best title. Thanks a million!x

Now back to the business at hand: The Loaves & Fishes menu for next weekend. The loose theme will be Mexican so feel free to dust off your ponchos! I've resisted the temptation to make a huge pinata but there's a few days to go yet so you never know! Nothing on the menu will be crazy hot and loaded with chilli. It'll all be lovely and full of fresh lime,coriander and my favourite secret ingredient in the kitchen: Cacao!

Black bean Sopa Azteca 

Guacamole, Salsa, Torilla chips and other lovely bits & pieces

Chilli con cacao, Green Rice and homemade cornbread

Citrus Tart

Homemade Chilli chocolate truffles

Tea & Coffee

Help me name my book please! x

So my lovelies I have exciting news! Eeek! I know.

I've been writing a book. All about Baking. For the past few months there have been four tier black forest gateaus,Banoffee Cake, Coffee Cakes, millions of muffins, tons of tarts and some gorgeous breads rising in the hot press! The whole house smells amazing and hopefully masks the fact that I've been neglecting the hoovering! The publishers, Gill & McMillan contacted me about the blog and would I like to do a book etc. so I decided on Baking as being what The Book would be about. But we simply cannot come up with a name! So I'd love if you would let me know what you think. Hopefully from reading the blog you know what the style of the book will be: gorgeous photos, approachable recipes and lots of beautiful baked stuff! Here are the suggestions so far. Please let me know any comments you have and let me know which one you think is best!

1. Baking Power

2. Bake it Easy (Lorriane Pascal kind of beat me to it with her new book 'Baking made Easy'.Doh!)

3. Bake, Eat, Love

4. Sweet Dreams

5. Flour Power

And if you can think up a completely different name do let me know too,The book will be out in the Autumn so the sooner the better!
Thanks a million!
Lilly x

The L&F Aftermath: alot of Rambling & Recipes!

I have brilliant excuses for being so late in posting recipes from this months Loaves&Fishes Supper! They really are great. After 'the big clean up' on Sunday morning we made a massive brunch. Ate loads and then packed up all of our worldly goods (saucepans, favourite knives, 1 chi-russell, 1 jack russell and laptop).All set for the drive home. But when we drove through the 1st toll bridge at Portlaoise smoke started billowing from the engine and a loud knocking came from the glove compartment. That's what happens when your engine overheats apparently. So I had to pull over, call the AA who insisted on calling me MRS Higgins and hope for the best.

My sister Rosie was with me too and her two dogs were, in fairness, so good! They did go ballistic when the AA man did eventually show up and they were in 'miniature dog protective mode'. So we all piled into Michaels van with the lights flashing and the car on the back of the thing.We chatted about yorkshire puddings, Brian Cowen, tourism in Portlaoise and the downturn in the construction industry. We were beeped at going through two different roundabouts as Michael was taking his time. No-one rushing this guy. We were towed to Portlaoise train station where the ticket man charged me €88 euro and told me to get on the train that pulled up at platform 2, which we did. Only to find ourselves in Limerick an hour later. Some other poor boy (James) also was told the train was headed to Cork. I kicked up a fuss.The train men said there had to have been announcements because the train is a machine?!

The January Loaves&Fishes Menu

It really is so hard to decide on a menu; But finally we have, after much cooking and eating. At the last supper all of the guests agreed on one thing: The portions were waaay massive man. So either everyone must be really really hungry or I have to try and control myself and acknowledge that not everyone will have spent the day out tilling fields and pulling calves. So here she is: This weekends January Blues Busting Menu.

Potato, herb & leek soup

Salad with goats cheese toast

Beef & Chorizo Stew with Root Mash & Horseradish Yorkshire Puddings

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cakes

Mendiants and homemade cookies

Tea & Coffee

So it all sounds basic enough but the devils in the detail! The root mash is an Ottolenghi recipe and would make an amazing maincourse just on it's own, I love it. It'll be a lovely eveningl and I can't wait to get started on it. I'll post some recipes on here after the event. One last word: The Sticky toffee puddings things are gorrrrrrrrrgeous. They're what cold whipped cream was made for!

Lilly x

Haaaappy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hurray! 2011 is upon us. I have to say I am one of those people that can't sleep in the run up to Christmas.I just LOVE it. Images of sugar plums really do dance in my head. I lie awake planning to get more brown sugar and cinnamon after work. Then make the gingerbread dough. Then make mincemeat and pot it etc. Then Christmas comes and goes and I'm left with a fridge empty but for a jar of rum butter to remind me of all the gorgeous things we ate and the glorious sitting around with nothing to do and nowhere to go.  I do suffer from the January Blues and often start to make Valentine themed biscuits pretty quickly! The New Year always seems so full of potential, a whole year to do whatever we want with it!