Marie Cookpad

  One thing which I have always loved about the UK is all of the food traditions and superstitions they have surrounding the holidays and holy-days of the year.  Halloween is also known as All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.   Soul Cakes are old English traditional cakes that are usually baked on Halloween. On this day of the year, in years gone past, Children would go 'souling', on this day, singing from house to house for some of these tasty cakes. This was in all likelihood a precursor today's custom of children going  Trick-or-Treating.    In Christian countries, and in the Roman Catholic church, prayers for the souls of the departed are reflected in the 3 day celebration of the commemoration of the departed which begins on the 31st of October, or All Hallow's Eve.   November 1st is known as All Saint's day, a day on which the souls of those who have departed are venerated  . . .    And on the 2nd of November, we have All Souls'

  As a child I was not overly fond of the flavour of pumpkin or winter squash for that matter.  Thankfully as an adult my opinion of such things has changed!  Pumpkin and squash are two of my favourite things!   Especially in the autumn, but then again that makes sense as that is the time of year that these gorgeous vegetables are available.  Or are they a fruit?   I looked it up and Good Housekeeping says that they are fruits.  Fruits are the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of any plant containing seeds.  When you think about it, babies are considered to be the fruit of your womb, so I guess that pumpkins and squashes are indeed fruits.   Fruit, vegetable, whatever  . . .  I don't care.  I just love them both roasted, mashed or baked into sweet bakes such as muffins, cakes, pies, cookies, etc.  They also make fabulous autumn soups.   I think one of the reasons they work so well in baked goods is the naturally affinity they have for the flavours of warm baking spices.    Cinnamon, ging

  My husband is a real meat and potatoes fan.  He could quite happily have meat and potatoes every night of the week and never tire of it!  He especially loves pork chops or sausages!     They have beautiful sausage here in the UK. They have nasty ones as well (think cheap and filled with lots of fillers, pasty textured, blecch).  But I think that is the same anywhere. If you are open to paying a bit more there are loads of beautiful sausages you can buy for your family.    In my opinion a good sausage will contain at least 70% of good quality meat with the remainder being seasonings, fat (you need fat in a good sausage) and rusks or bread crumbs. I have had really low fat sausages and have always found them to be hard and dry.  You need fat in a sausage or why bother to have one!  Fat adds flavour and is a part of what makes them succulent and delicious.   Here in the UK there are literally hundreds of different kinds/flavours of sausage.  Most butchers will have their own speciality

   I've been pretty laid out with my back this past couple of weeks and have not really been cooking anything new for the most part. The pain has been pretty bad, but finally today I feel like I have begun to turn the corner somewhat and so I decided to do a new recipe to share on here. Lemon Splits!    Its okay if you don't know what they are.  I had never heard of them either before I moved here to the UK.  I have always loved Lemon flavoured anything.  Those lemon puff cookies were my favourite when I was growing up.  Buttery lemon flavoured crackers put together with lemon icing. If you are a lemon aficionado you will know exactly the ones I mean!   I discovered these Lemon Splits in the grocery shop about a year or so ago. What they are is plain Welsh Cakes, without the spice and raisins, put together with a layer of lemon curd in the middle.  My goodness but they are some tasty. They don't always have them in the shops however so it is hit and miss as to if you can fi