Marie Cookpad

  "Its so comforting to have a piece of cake, just one small slice" ~Mary Berry I'm with Mary Berry on cake.  A house without some cake in it is just a house. Comfort = Home. Cake in a house makes it a home! And this is a really, really LOVELY cake!    The recipe is adapted  from one in the Nigel Slater cookbook entitled The Kitchen Diaries ll.  If you have been reading me for any length of time you will know I have a healthy respect for Nigel Slater and his cookery.    I've not really done much of his sweet baking however, mainly just his savoury cooking.  I wanted to make some use of the thyme in our garden however, while it was still lovely and usably fresh. It would have been really nice had I used it while it was flowering, but hindsight is always 20/20.  I was a little bit nervous using a baking recipe from Nigel however  . . .   Lemon and thyme are a marriage made in heaven.  The two are just meant to be together, ...

  No doubt quite a few of you will be entertaining this weekend. Last weekend we had our August Bank Holiday weekend and I know that this weekend in North America it is what is known as the Labour Day Long Weekend, Summer's last hurrah before the busy-ness of Autumn sets in.  Schools will be going back next week, Summer holidays are over.  This is the weekend to throw one last Summer blast!  This Garden Herb Dip is perfect for any get-togethers you might be planning!   I always come home with an empty container. It is a simple make and tastes delicious and I don't know anyone who doesn't love vegetables or crackers and chips with a tasty dip!   I am betting you have everything in your house right now to make it also . . .  cream cheese, thick plain yogurt, mayonnaise, a bit of Dijon mustard and a splash of hot sauce, along with some chopped spring onions (scallions), chives and seasonings.   Simple ingredients whisked together with fabulous result...

  Late summer is one of my favourite times of the year.  You get lovely days with cool nights, and our gardens are overflowing with lovely fruit and veg.  This recipe I am sharing today is a perfect way to use up some of the garden glut!    I don't think it is an accident that fresh tomatoes and corn are ripening at the same time. These two vegetables go wonderfully together!   This recipe includes both sweet corn kernels and ripe summer tomatoes, mixed together with crisp green bell peppers and beautiful garden basil.   Its not a pie in the way that you would recognise a pie . . .  there is no crust really, just two layers of streaky bacon and dry bread crumbs that kind of form a crust if that makes sense. BACON!!  Yes, with corn and tomatoes?  Count me in!   I used pulverized KrispRolls for the crumbs.  Whole grain and really crisp, they were perfect for this use. I try to get as many whole grains into us as I can. Todd reall...

  If there is anything I like more than a roast on the first day, it is the wonderful things you can do with the leftovers. Be it chicken, turkey, beef, lamb or pork, I am a master at making the leftovers taste fresh and new and delicious!  Nobody in my house has ever said, Leftovers?  YUCK!  In fact they have always loved them, and I say that not to brag, but as a fact.   This recipe I am sharing today is a simple and easy version of Roast Beef Hash, with the exception being that there is no frying involved. None at all.    Chopped onion, potato and beef are simply combined with some tinned evaporated milk, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning and parsley flakes, poured into a buttered dish, and topped with some buttered cracker crumbs prior to baking.    That is it in its very basic rendition  . . .  of course you can amp it up a bit with the addition of some garlic powder and herbs. I would suggest thyme and marjoram and maybe some ro...