Crumbly Raspberry Oat Slices

Moments before I om, nom, nom...

Sort of a do-it-yourself cereal bar, without all the stabilisers and hydrogenated this and that. Any soft fruit can be used here, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, whatever is your favourite. You could also add some chopped nuts if that's what takes your fancy. If you're using fresh fruits pop them into the freezer before you start, I like to break the frozen raspberries apart with my fingers so I have a fruit crumble, it gives me a much more even layer.

So when we moved here 6 months ago we loved this house so much and we had pretty great plans for how we were going to use the rooms and sort things out and re-decorate a bit. Fast forward to the present and I'm still unemployed (read: broke!) and once we'd unpacked we pretty much gave up on decorating, at all.

Work in progress...

Wasn't too impressed with yesterday's muffins...though that didn't stop me eating them...but am re-working the recipe this morning. Will arrange a taste testing and should that go well I'll share the new recipe with you all.

Also have to pick up the ingredients for the other breakfast muffin idea I had and work out how I'm going to make them. Am so super excited about this recipe...watch this space...

In other news in the kitchen...

Maple Bacon Breakfast Muffins

For the last month or so I've been dying to make these muffins but every time I tried to I'd find I was out of maple syrup, or had no muffin cases, or something else would go awry. Finally today I made them, and they were so worth the wait. They've also given me an idea for another type of breakfast muffin...oh well, there goes the weekend!

Green Duck Salad

I normally prefer meat well-done but having tried this cooked medium I have to say I really wouldn't cook it any other way now. Give it a try yourself, the meat is meltingly tender.

Things Our Cats Have Taught Me #2

Snoozing in a sunbeam is so much more fun when it's inside on warm carpet rather than outside on a cold patio. It is also a perfectly acceptable way to spend an afternoon.

Things Our Cats Have Taught Me #1

Just because you're big doesn't mean you're in charge.

It's finally Spring!

Oh joy to my heart, the days are getting longer, and the sun has remembered where I live.

Cream of Chicken Soup

One of the best uses for the left over bits of your chicken carcass. The uneaten meat goes into the soup, and the bones make the stock for next weeks soup, genius!

Turkish Lamb Stew

It sounds a bit odd doesn't it? PRUNES and RAISINS in STEW?? With ALMONDS? It's amazing, I suggest you make it and try it today!

Pineapple upside-down cake

I had never had pineapple upside-down cake until I made this one. You need to be fairly sure that you'll eat something when you're making about 2kgs of it but I figured it had sugar, butter, booze...what's not to like! As it turns out it is delicious, and one I'll certainly be making again. I had no rum when making this so I used whiskey and it was still yum. The Big Guy describes it as being "like an Irishman having a Caribbean orgy in my mouth". It really is that good!