Lavender and Honey Cakes

Lavender and Honey Cupcakes made from locally produced ingredients.

I am one lucky girl. Now I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but I have so much to be grateful for and today I’m going to share them with you. Last weekend my parents threw me a party to celebrate getting a distinction in the LPC and my new job.

I’m thankful not just for the party with copious amount of Champagne, but for the opportunities and support they gave me growing up so that I could get to where I am today and reach my full potential.

I’m also grateful for where I live surrounded by friends, family and the countryside!

Wandering through Hitchin Lavender Fields, Ickleford

For the party I decided to make cakes and I’m lucky enough to live somewhere where I can easily source local ingredients. Just a short drive away we have lavender fields, pick your own fruit farms and local honey producers. I wanted to make the most of all of these things before we move to

London and our only green space becomes an inner city allotment.

With two jars of local honey in the cupboard, I already knew that honey cakes would be on the menu but I wanted to add a twist.

Mr KG (another person I’m incredibly thankful for having n my life after 8 and a half years together)  and I decided to spend our Saturday walking through the local lavender fields spotting bumblebees and butterflies amongst the flowers. They opened for the first time this year and for just £4 per adult – with kids going free – you can pick as much of their 15 varieties of lavender as you like! They even give you a bag to carry it home in and scissors to do the cutting.

Floral fancies - Lavender infused Honey Cakes

They don’t just make their money by letting locals come and cut their own. The lavender is also used in a number of food and beauty products which you can buy in their barn shop. They also produce essential oils (which I may have to stock up on!)

After browsing around the barn I came across their lavender honey and it suddenly occurred to me that lavender and honey cakes were the twist I was looking for! We’d seen in the hours we’d spent wandering the fields just how much the bumble bees loved the lavender so I was sure that my family would love the cakes too.

[BBQ Recipe] Honey and Mustard Glazed Chicken

Honey and Mustard Glazed Chicken on the BBQ

The English summer weather is unpredictable to say the least. As I’m writing this, we’ve have torrential rain, glorious sunshine, and a lot of cloud cover over the space of just 7 days.

It’s no surprise that the English folk react so crazily when the cloud breaks and we finally get to see a bit of the sun.

When the sun comes out to play where I live the smell of BBQ’s begins to fill the air. And I must admit my family are no different.

The beauty of a BBQ is that you can cook almost anything on it. This summer I’ve already shown you sizzling summer prawns, char grilled tuna, as well as barbequed courgette and bulgur wheat salad. This particular weekend however we didn’t have any special food in.

Key ingredients for Honey and Mustard Glazed Chicken

The sun had come as a bit of a shock. The weather man had been saying for days we should expect the hottest weekend yet, but Saturday came and went and it remained overcast though a little warmer than usual. With the clouds overhead we assumed there was no point getting the BBQ out, but by Sunday afternoon the sun was shining brightly and it was time for me to raid the cupboards!

We’d got chicken breasts in the fridge that we intended to use later in the week so this was where my inspiration started. I butterflied the breast, making the surface area larger and the fillet thinner so it would cook quicker on the BBQ.

I didn’t just want grilled chicken for dinner though. I wanted to jazz it up a bit!

Out of the cupboard came mustard, honey, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, pepper and garlic – and so my honey and mustard glazed chicken was born!

[Greek Gods] Honey and Strawberry Baklava with Pistachios

Q. What happens when Greek Gods meet the Kitchen Goddess (in training!) blog?

A. A modern twist on a Greek classic with honey and strawberry yogurt, filo pastry and pistachios.

Those of you who know the Foodies100 website may well be aware of the competition currently being run by GreekGods.

The idea was to make a love-inspired dessert fit for Aphrodite using some of the company’s own Greek Style yogurt.

I chose honey and strawberry flavour (after all, what’s more romantic than a red heart shaped fruit?) and decided to update the Greek classic Baklava and bring it into the 21^st Century!

Each piece of filo pastry stacked on top of the next shows the layers of your love for the partner – each piece representing another thing you love about them. And what better way to say your love makes me “nuts” then with a good helping of pistachios!

This recipe is also super simple. It’s the perfect recipe for any Greek God (or Goddess) wanting to cook their partner a romantic dinner without spending all of their time in the kitchen. After all, the time you save on cooking, you can use for romancing.

Here’s my recipe!

Warm Salad Series: Fresh Fig Salad with Cured Ham and Mozarella

“Fresh figs 3 for £1,” how do you walk past a market stall with a sign like that? I certainly couldn’t!

The first day that I attended law school I noticed a fruit market just on the corner by the tube station. They sell allsorts from big fruit salads for just £1 which are perfect for lunch, to other fresh seasonal fruits – like figs!

Every morning the stall is already set up with lots of customers grabbing something to eat on their way to work, and it’s only taken me a week to be swept up by the stalls popularity. This may have been my first purchase, but I know it won’t be my last.

I’ve only eaten figs a few times (always in restaurants) and I have never cooked with them myself, so it was a pretty bold move to buy some. However, with my warm salad series underway I knew I could muddle something together.

Blackberry Sticky Buns

Health warning: these are just a little bit naughty and shockingly addictive!

‘Sticky buns’ – not normally a phrase that gets me all excited; cinnamon whirls, and Danish pastries, have never been my thing but when we got our first punnet of late summer blackberries I just wanted to encase them in a sticky dough cover them in sugary goodness and gobble them up for breakfast, lunch and pudding.

Now I understand why people love sticky buns so much! They just ooze naughtiness, their cute swirls and playful, and when they’re filled with fruit you can almost convince yourself all that sugar’s ok because one of your five a day balances it out.

They’re super versatile too. The night I made them we had one each nice and warm, straight from the oven. The next morning I gobbled one while getting ready for work, and soon found myself packing one for work! If you made them dainty enough, I bet they’d work for afternoon tea with friends too.

I may just replace all food substances with these delicious blackberry sticky buns now! That’s a balanced diet right?!

The best thing about these though is that they seem to be fool proof. The dough is simple and quick to make (minus rising time of course) and getting messy is just part of the fun! If you’ve not made a mess, you’re not doing it right that’s my motto.

So if you’re a fan of the cinnamon whirl, or a Danish pastry or two, I recommend you have a blackberry sticky bun, and see if you’re converted over to my side!

Hot Chilli Bangers with Caramelised Onions

Halloweens been and gone and Bonfire night is just round the corner so that can only mean one thing - the clocks have gone back, and the cold dark nights are drawing in!!!

The sweet and spicy marinade on these sausages will keep you warm and put a spring in your step, even when its dark and dingy outside!

If you're on a budget, why not serve these in hot dog buns on fireworks night to keep friends and family warm!

Pricing (based on Asda's own brand unless otherwise specified):

Sausages 21p, Onion 8p, Honey 10p, Tomato Puree 5p, Chilli 1p, Garlic 2p, Water FREE!

Total per serving =  47p

Asian style salmon with cucumber and red onion dipping sauce and warm pak choy salad

This is a lovely fresh and vibrant healthy fish recipe. It’s perfect for eating al fresco in the summer sunshine!

For roughly 350 calories, you can enjoy it guilt free! I recommend flaking the succulent salmon and dipping in the cucumber and onion dipping sauce, or munching it with the warm pak choi salad! There are some many delicious flavours you won’t believe that it’s healthy!

Chop sticks are a must – a bowl of sticky rice is optional!