As individual puds or one large one everyone loves traditional steamed puds. You can use either metal dariole moulds or deep ramekins dishes, tea cups, or pudding moulds can be used to good effect, too for individual puds.

Two great family favourites for you to try below:

Individual chocolate & hazelnut puddings. You will need (makes 6 individual puds): 100g butter softened (plus extra for greasing), 75g chopped toasted hazelnuts, 4 tblsp maple syrup, 100g plain chocolate broken into pieces, 100g light muscovado sugar, 3 eggs, lightly beaten, 75g self raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cocoa powder, 75g fresh white breadcrumbs.

Grease 6 individual moulds, ramekins or cups as above. mix 3 tablespoons of toasted hazelnuts with the maple syrup then place a teaspoonful of this mixture into the bottom of each mould. Place 75g chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and gradually beat in the eggs. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and fol this in to the mixture. Then stir in the melted chocolate, the remaining chocolate pieces and hazelnuts and then the breadcrumbs. Spoon the mixture in to the moulds until each is 2/3 full, cover the top of the moulds with foil and stand in a steamer or place in a large saucepan. Pour in boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the moulds, cover the pan and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the sponges have risen to the top of the moulds. Remove the foil and the sponge should be firm to touch. Turn out and serve with some extra maple syrup, pouring cream or custard for a delicious dessert.

Grandma’s favourite was always Pear & Almond steamed sponge pudding

You will need (makes one pudding to serve 6): 100g butter softened plus extra for greasing, 2 tblsp raspberry jam, 2 pears peeled cored and chopped, 1 tblsp lemon juice, 100g caster sugar, 3 eggs lightly beaten, 75g self raising flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 50g toasted flaked almonds and 75g fresh white breadcrumbs.

First grease a 1.2 litre pudding bowl and spoon the jam in to the bottom of this. Toss the chopped pears in the lemon juice and put to  one side. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat int he eggs a little at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold into the mixture and then fold in the breadcrumbs, pears and almonds. Cover the pudding bowl with greaseproof paper & foil securing with string and steam in a steamer or large saucepan for 2 hours. Make sure you check regularly to not let the steamer or pan boil dry and top up with water as needed to reach half way up the side of the pudding basin. The pudding should be firm to touch and a skewer inserted should come out clean when cooked. Turn out and serve with cream or custard of your choice.

Tell me your favourite steamed pudding?

Christmas wouldn’t be christmas without mulled wine for your guests and that fabulous smell which mulled wine makes, to most its the smell of christmas.

To make a fabulous mulled wine to serve your festive guests its easy just follow my easy steps below.

You will need: 1 bottle of Red Wine, 1 cup of sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 cloves, pinch of allspice, nutmeg, ginger and mace, juice of an orange and a lemon and sliced oranges and lemons to decorate.

To start with first mix your red wine, spices, cloves and cinnamon sticks together in a pan over a medium heat. Add the sugar and heat thoroughly until the sugar dissolves, but do not allow this to boil. Allow the mixture for stew together for at least 10 minutes. Then strain your mixture and add the orange & lemon juices. Now slowly simmer for about 30 minutes over a low heat and then add your orange & lemon slices and serve hot to your guests. The aromas will fill the house.

One of those party gadgets which you would bring out time and time again has to be the cocktail fountain this fabulous fountain create’s a superb centre piece that your guests and you will love it’s ideal for any party, easy and great fun to use and comes with its own recipe book to get you started. It has a illuminated base and large 7 litre bowl to hold enough cocktails for all to share.

This is one of those gadgets you will get out and use over and over again throughout the year. Whats your favourite cocktail? and don’t forget the non alcholic cocktails for guests too!

What is low in calories, high in fibre and a little goes a very long way!!

Everytime we get together or when we sit down to watch a film it appears!!

Have you got it yet?  Well the answer is POPCORN of course!

Popped in oil or drenched in butter this would virtually cancell out all of the above properties but by using one of the hot air popcorn poppers available this ideal snack is on hand for when ever its needed and in minutes you will have a bucket of tasty popcorn for all to share.

Using a hot air popcorn popper means you can pop corn without the oil and in half the time it takes in a saucepan too.

Turn a handful of corn into a large bowl of scrummy popcorn in less than 3 minutes with the silver Princess 292989 deluxe popcorn maker (shown right)Popcorn is an ideal low-calorie snack, and with the Princess 292989 you can make it at home and enjoy it fresh whenever you feel like it. For a more indulgent treat, a measuring holder is provided for melting butter.

It’s fun to watch and thanks to a simple on-off switch and indicator light, the whole thing is child’s play to use. Children love getting involved in the kitchen and they’ll love making popcorn with this hot air popcorn maker.

Serve your popcorn hot, sprinkle with garlic & herbs, paprika, cinnamon or even sesame seeds for a change. Most just sprinkle with salt or eat plain its everyones favourite. But if you can’t resist the sweet tooth make your own toffee sauce to accompany your popcorn.

Whats your favourite popcorn topping?

Stir frying as mentioned in my previous blog ‘the wok increases sales of Ginger!’ is simple, quick and healthy making it a ideal cooking method in todays busy lifestyles which we all lead. By using minimum oil and cooking quickly the ingredients retain full flavour and their natural goodness and not forgetting less washing up too.

The main skill to wok cookery is in the preparation and this is the part which takes the most time, but you can adopt your recipes to follows the seasons using seasonal vegetables to become even more beneficial to your wallet with less cooking time so less gas or eletricity used, less washing up cuts sown the water meter usage and high nutirional value keeps you immune system and general health in good order throughout the seasons. What more benefits do you need? and whether your vegetarian or only eat fish you can add vegetables, meat, fish, shellfish or just spices or herbs the recipes are endless so lets get cooking!

One of my daughters favourites is Mushroom stirfry with rice. You will need (serves 4): 225g long grain rice, 2 tblsp olive oil, 1 onion chopped, 1 garlic clove crushed, 350g mixed mushrooms, 3 tblsp dry sherry, 2 tblsp worcester sauce, 3 tblsp chopped fresh parsley and seasoning.

Bring a large pan of water to boil and cook the rice as directed then drain and stand on one side. Heat the oil in your wok. Add the onion, garlic and seasoning and stur fry over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir fry for a further 3 minutes, pour in the sherry and worcester sauce and stir fry for about 4 minutes untill the mushrooms are tender. Toss the rice with the mushrooms then remove from the heat stir in the fresh parsley and serve immediately.

How about Sweet & Sour Vegetables ( if you like your meat just add a cooked meat of your choice to this recipe). You will need(serves 2): 1o0g egg noodles, 2 tblsp groundnut oil, 100g shredded white cabbage, 2 shredded leeks, 2 grated carrots, 2 tsp cornflour, 225g pineapple chunks, 2 tblsps dry sherry, 2 tblsp light muscovado sugar, 2 tblsp soy sauce, 1 tblsp tomato ketchup and seasoning.

Place egg noodles in a bowl and pour over boiling water and leave to soak for about 5 minutes. Heat the oil in your wok and add the cabbage, leeks and carrots and stir fry quickly for 2 minutes. Mix together in a bowl the cornflour with all the juice drained from the tin of pineapple chunks, sherry, sugar, soy sauce and tomato ketchup and blend until smooth. Stir the suace in to the wok add the pineapple chunks and mix thoroughly simmer gently for 3 minutes until the sauce thickens then toss in your drained noodles, season and serve immediately.

Over recent years we have seen a increase in ginger imports to the UK. Our ever increasing interest in chinese, indian and other food origins, not forgetting of course the WOK, which is now in most kitchens.  Root ginger is a prime ingredient in many recipes and this has increased its popularity.

Apparently though ginger is a boost for general health and a cure for some specific ailments. Ginger can lower blood pressure & cholesterol, stimulate our circulation and calm digestive disorders according to research. Ginger has been used for years to relieve nausea for example and can help with morning sickness and motion sickness.

You can make your own ginger tea by grating a sugar cube size piece of root ginger into a mug of hot water and sweeten with honey to taste, one of the best winter warmers on a chilly day!

Superb for any oriental style cooking and stir frying, the Le Creuset Cast Iron Wok & Glass Lid has an elegant design and flat base for maximum heat efficiency which can be used on a variety of hobs. Also perfect for braising, steaming and poaching I use my wok for all sorts, they are extremely versatile.

Le Cruset enamelled cast iron wok has two handles, a glass lid and flat base.

With its classic rounded interior which is ideal for stir frying, its cast iron provide stability and ensures the wok will not easily move while stirring (which oftens happens with cheaper versions of the wok so one hand ends up holding the wok and you are unable to stir fry the ingredients properly.  This wok is ideal for sitr frying, braising, steaming and poaching. Supplied with a glass lid so you can keep a eye on your ingredients while keeping the cooker top clean and provided with two side handles too. Its flat base enables ease of use on all heat sources and is dishwasher safe and 36cm diameter a ideal size for any family sized recipe. The best bit is its comes with a lifetime guarantee and if your quick is also on special offer so hurry.

So this wok will last you a lifetime and still look good! A wok is a kitchen essential in my book and my wok is used often if not daily.

Right you have your flan tins and baking beads at the ready and if you well oraganised you already have some pastry cases made and frozen ready. So lets look at a range of recipes to use these pastry cases them.

One very wicked dessert and a firm favourite with my clan is my Bitter Chocolate Mousse Tart.  This is a seriously, rich dessert so you will find a small piece is all you need to serve, unless you have a serious chocolate lover amoungst you, that is!

You will need: 1 pastry case baked blind, 300g bitter chocolate in pieces (dark works best), 200g butter cut into pieces, 2 eggs, 4 egg yolks, 75g caster sugar.

Place your chocolate and butter in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water and leave to melt, while this is melting whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar with a electric whisk for about 5  minutes until mixture is pale and thick and has doubled in size. Now gently pour in your melted chocolate and butter and fold in gently. Pour this mixture into your pastry case (which you have placed in a baking tin) and bake at 200c/400f/gas 6 for 8 to 10 minutes or until set (dont worry if not completely set this will as it cools). Remove the tart from your tin place on a serving plate dust with cocoa or icing sugar and serve with cool creme fraiche.

Now chrsitmas wouldn’t be christmas without mincemeat tart so heres our Crumbly Mincemeat Tart for you to try over the festive season.

You will need: 1 pastry case baked blind, 225g of mincemeat or your choice or homemade, 100g fresh cranberries (roughly chopped), 100g plain flour, 50g butter diced, 50g caster sugar, 50g flaked or chopped toasted hazelnuts, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and icing sugar to dust and serve.

Mix together your mincemeat and cranberries and spoon into your cooked pastry case. Then sift the flour into a bowl and using your finger tips rub in the butter to until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in your sugar (you can use demerara sugar if you wish), hazelnuts and cinnamon. Now Spinkle your crumble mix over the mincemeat and bake at 200c/400f/gas 6 for about 25 minutes until base crisp and the crumble topping is golden.  Dust with icing sugar and cut into wedges and serve hot or cold with brandy butter, custard or cream delicious all ways!

Homemade Quiche Lorraine a firm favourite. You will need: 1 pastry case baked blind, 100g bacon, 1 medium sized onion, 15g butter, 2 eggs, 125ml single cream, 5ml mixed herbs and 100g of strong mature cheddar.

Place your pastry case into a tin. Chop the bacon and finely slice the onion. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the bacon and onions for about 7 minutes until golden brown in colour. Beat the eggs and creme together and add seasoning. Place bacon, onion into the base of your pastry case. Grate the cheese and spinkle on top of the bacon and onion then pour the egg mixture into the pastry case. Bake at 180c/360f for about 30 minutes. You can try your own variety of Quiche with mushrooms, or brocolli and cheese for example.

I will blog about nibbles including small savoury tartlets so you can bake some small pastry cases too, all to help you through the busy festive season.

Top quality ingredients and the right equipment are essential for good cooking. Flan tins come in all shapes and sizes and you are going to need a selection to produce some great tasting flans in. Take this john lewis fluted edge round flan tin (on the left), this is a rigid tin. However, as we talked about in my previous blogs on baking, why not use a flexible baking tin?, like the mastard flexible tart tin (on the right). These flexible bake ware are very versatile and make it easy to get your creation out of the tin and presented for your guests.

Some people prefer one to the other, but which ever your prefer make sure you have an array of shapes (round, rectangle, square and oblong) to meet all your cooking needs for the future, as there uses are endless.

You are also going to need your ceramic baking beans like these from John lewis you can use them over and over again. These are a must for baking pastry cases and flan cases blind.

You can also get loose base flan and tart tins too as a alternative to the other tins we have mentioned.

To make blind pastry cases which have endless applications in the kitchen and don’t forget you can make a variety of shapes and sizes and freeze them so you have them at the ready for unexpected guests.  So. simply make your pastry, whether its sweet or savoury. Roll out your pastry and place it in the tin most suitable for the recipe you are cooking. Then place a piece of greased proof paper on top of the pastry before placing your ceramic baking beans on top of this on the inside of your pastry case.  This will help to stop the pastry blistering, shrinking or rising, to give you a perfect home made pastry case.

Check out my next blog for some great recipe ideas, to use your new formed skill in preparing pastry or flan cases. 

If you asked some of my guests including my son what he loves most, I know the first thing they would say is ‘homemade icecream’.  My favourite icecream maker would have to be the gaggia gelateria ice cream maker. Its great how you can simply switch it on and literally 30 minutes later you have superb homemade icecream. The results are  professional, no one would realise it was homemade from looking at the resulting icecream, until they taste it.

There is a warning though, ‘once tried you will never want mass produced ice cream again!’

The Gaggia Ice Cream Maker - Geletiera Model 74500N has a self-refrigerating bowl which is easy cleaning and a additional bowl with the machine. This ice cream maker makes 2 pints of ice cream each time.

Its so easy to make a great dessert for everyday or for a dinner party. What a line to say, you made the ice cream yourself! To be honest its great to have around during the festive season. If you have a guest who dosen’t like christmas pudding or mince pies, well you can just make them feel that extra special with home made ice cream and as for kids parties it perfect.

Here is one of our favourite ice cream recipes

Homemade Chocolate Chips Ice Cream

You will need -
250ml pint milk, 250ml double cream, 75g sugar, 125g plain chocolate (grated)

Place your milk and sugar into a saucepan and heat gently, dissolving the sugar. Place the milk to one side to cool and when cold, stir in the cream.  Then simply transfer the mixture into your ice cream maker to freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions BUT remember to add the grated chocolate as the ice cream begins to thicken.

Let me know your favourite ice cream flavour is? the varieties you can make are endless.

I hear over and over again, ‘whats for tea?’, and then from the kitchen I hear, ‘there is only a pack of minced beef and some veg in here’. Well there are an array of wonders you can cook quickly and cheaply for a great family meal with this most versatile of ingredient. Giving you not only great value, but a perfect midweek or weekend supper.

Just atart to think of a few meals you could make with minced beef, and before you know it, you will have a list like-

• Chilli Con Carne, (you can make this dish as hot or mild as you like by adding or reducing the amount of chilli to this dish and one more thing Chilli Con Carne tastes even better the next day!)
• Savoury Minced Beef, (why not take a homemade or ready prepared yorkshire pudding and fill it with minced beef and chunky vegetables, (Grandad’s favourite)
• Spicy beef Pizza, (again make your own pizza bases or get in some ready prepared for timesaving. The kids will love this one)
• Bolognese, (everyones favourite, but my tip is to make double the sauce and freeze it. That way you can use it in a endless variety of ways, such as by adding chilli and kidney beans to make a quick Chilli supper when time is short.)
• Quarter Pounder burgers, (check out my previous blog ‘man size burger to satisfy your man’)

The list is endless with mousakka, good old cottage pie, meatballs and many more.

Traditional cottage pie is a firm family favourite, Whats your family favourite?

Here is one of ours - Mum’s Cottage pie

You will need 2 tblsps vegetable oil, 2 medium onions peeled and chopped, 1 large carrot peeled and chopped, 3 celery sticks chopped, 500g minced beef, 1 tsp worcester sauce, 1 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tlbsp parsley chopped, 900g potatoes peeled and cut in to chunks, 50g butter, 2 medium leeks sliced and 50g mature cheddar cheese grated.

Now, heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook for about 5 mins until softened. Add the celery and carrot and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the minced beef stir and cook until browned. Next add in the worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup, parsley, stock and seasoning. Then cover turn the heat down and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. While the meat is cooking preheat your oven to 200 o C/400 o F/ gas mark 6.  Start cooking your potatoes placing them in to a large saucepan of boiling salted water. Cover and boil for 15 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. While the meat and potatoes are cooking, heat half the butter in another pan and saute the leeks for about 5 minutes. When your potatoes are done drain and return to the pan adding the rest of the butter and combine and mash thoroughly with your potato masher add the sauted leeks and stir. Spoon the meat into a large ovenproof dish and top with your potato & leek mash. Sprinkle with the cheese and cook in your oven for about 25 minutes until the top is golden brown and serve.

This is comfort food at its best during the colder months and made from fresh great value at around £1.30 per serving.

Apparently a rise in global prices and disease in British bees is pushing up the cost of honey. Have you noticed the increased prices of Honey? We have honey in our porridge daily and we like to use local honey. We were told, all being hayfever sufferers, that eatting locally produced honey can help hayfever symptons. I know its not hay fever season, but it did actually help, so this is one for you to remember for next year, if you are a hay fever sufferer.

Local honey is perhaps something we have all taken for granted. As more and more now when we are out shopping especially in the supermarkets, most of you will find that most of the honey is from europe. You will have to go to a good deli or farm shop to find a locally produced honey, but well worth it!

British bee keepers could be forced to raise the prices further because of declining bee numbers. Other countries have had things happen also to lower the honey supply too; with poor weather, planting of bio fuels in the pastures and unexplained colony collapses called ‘CCD’ (colony collapse disorder).

According to the honey association 25% of british bee colonies were wiped out last summer.

Some companies have found their own solutions like Fortnum & Mason who have built hives for 200,000 italian honeybees on the roof of their piccadily building.  Some bee keepers believe pollution is a major contributory factor, along with bad weather, insecticides and other diseases like Varroa. Varroa is caused by mites which have become resistance to treatments and are spreading fatal viruses to the bees.

In a normal winter a bee keeper can loose 5-10% apparently, but figures show last year we lost 15% and this year we are seeing 30% loss.

This is having a dramatic effect and alot of beekeepers are giving up this traditional of British roles.

Hundreds of bee keepers marched to downing street on 5th november 2008, as 2 billion british bees have gone missing. They are looking for assistance from the British Government in their fight against the consequences of the modern world on their roles as Bee Keepers. Take a look here for further information British Beekeepers Association

My family love honey and I use it endlessly in cooking, with its great antioxidant properties, superb sweetner, besides being used in endless sauces, marinates etc it would be a great loss to us all to loose our british bee industry.

Whats your favourite honey recipe? and whats your views on the loss of British Bees? Do you think the British Government should assist our British bee keepers? I know I would want them too!