Lauren Gemmell

Wholewheat Hot Cross Buns

On 8th March 2010

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It’s a long time till Good Friday, but these are too good to wait for! I have a special love of fruit bread, especially those spiced with cinnamon, so hot cross buns have always been a favourite of mine.

The supermarkets have been selling Hot Cross Buns since after Valentines Day, but I am yet to buy a single one. I made a promise to try to make more things myself. At Christmas I refused to buy mince pies and instead made my own – and I would never buy them again now. Why should it be any different for Hot Cross Buns?

Slow Cooked Beef Bourguignon

By lauren

On 6th March 2010

In Dinner, Slow Cooking

One of the problems when you are first trying a new slow cooker recipe is the anticipation. You have picked from hundreds of recipes online or in cook books, you have hunted out all the ingredients, entrusted them to the large pot and placed the lid on top. Yet at this point you have to wait, often for 8 hours.

If I am in the unfortunate position to be home while I am slow cooking, I’ll spend too much time peering through the condensation.

An ongoing internal dialogue as to whether I should lift up the lid, only for a moment, just to check.

They say lifting the lid on a slow cooker adds 30 minutes to the cooking time, I say lifting the lid on a slow-cooker is tantamount to opening Christmas presents and resealing before putting them back under the tree.

It ruins the surprise.

When you do eventually lift the lid off it can all to easily be a disappointment after being built up for so long. This recipe, however, will be no disappointment.

No Knead Bread – Fresh from the Oven

By lauren

On 28th February 2010

In Bread

Wow I am really not getting any better at the Fresh from the Oven challenge, am I? I wake up on reveal day (at noon, guess I am still getting over the jetlag) having had the intention of getting up and having the bread in the oven by that time.

This months challenge was brought to us from Claire at Things We Make. She chose a No Knead bread, which is cooked in a Dutch Oven, so in my case my new Le Creuset Casserole dish.

Slow Cooked Chicken Pilaf with Sun-dried Tomatoes

By lauren

On 28th February 2010

In Dinner, Slow Cooking

Being on holiday is wonderful, your bed gets made for you, there is no cleaning to do, and you don’t have to make your own meals. Unfortunately I kind of enjoy making my own food!

After a week when the only vegetables I saw were between a burger and a bun it was necessary to get some vegetables and healthy food into me. Lunch today was a large salad, not unlike this Tomato and Red Pepper Salad, the crisp fresh lettuce leaves were a world away from the pale limp ones I found inside any burger.

Atlanta

By lauren

On 27th February 2010

In Breakfast, Recipes

I am finally home, and after almost a week away there is only one thing I want. A home cooked meal, and maybe if you’ll give me a second option – some sleep!

Atlanta was wonderful and I met so many great people, including Nancy a fellow food blogger from The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. As some of you may know I am an almost anonymous blogger, so it was lovely to meet another food blogger – to be able to talk about what we do.

Celeriac Mash

By lauren

On 23rd February 2010

In Recipes

This week posts may be few and far between, I am on holiday! No this isn’t a pre-recorded message, but I have found myself with enough free time to pull this recipe from my “To Be Blogged” pile.

Sweet and Sour Pancakes

By lauren

On 15th February 2010

In Dinner

What happens if you cross Chinese New Year with Pancake Day? Well you get these Chinese inspired savoury pancakes.

Valentines Macarons

By lauren

On 13th February 2010

In Cakes and Desserts

I don’t think my Valentine really likes Macarons, so I almost didn’t make this months MacTweets challenge. But I relented.

I went for a simple almond macaron, but piped them as a heart shape…

Which wasn’t particularly difficult. They weren’t the flattest macraons, but they did have feet.

Carrot Cake Muffins

By lauren

On 9th February 2010

In Cakes and Desserts, Muffins

Sometimes life gives you too many carrots and a muffin craving.

Fennel, Orange and Pecan Quinoa Salad

By lauren

On 4th February 2010

In Recipes

In January most people start to detox a little after all the Christmas indulgences, I say most people because I did not. I ate my way through all the chocolate and cakes, and then bought or made more. While it was amazing at the time I am starting to notice the negative impacts of all my fun and relaxing.

So here we go. First step a healthy lunch for tomorrow at work.

When I thought about healthy eating I thought salad – but lettuce leaves are boring, or pasta but it’s a bit carb-elicious, then Quinoa came to mind. Quinoa is a great source of protein so it is especially good for vegans and vegetarians (although I am obviously neither).

Food, Fitness, and Technology

Page 14 of 25

Wholewheat Hot Cross Buns

Slow Cooked Beef Bourguignon

No Knead Bread – Fresh from the Oven

Slow Cooked Chicken Pilaf with Sun-dried Tomatoes

Atlanta

Celeriac Mash

Sweet and Sour Pancakes

Valentines Macarons

Carrot Cake Muffins

Fennel, Orange and Pecan Quinoa Salad

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