If your catering for children then this old favourite always goes down a treat literally. Its something everyone can have fun with, certainly with a little imagionation and some great cookie shape cutters you can use this recipe throughout the year and produce christmas, easter biscuits as well as animal farm biscuits for example to go with a animal farm theme birthday party.

So lets get cooking whether its with the children or not. For your gingerbreadmen you are going to need:50g butter, 3 tblsp golden syrup, 75g castor sugar, 250g self raising flour, pinch of salt, 3 tsp ground ginger, glasce cherries and currants for decoration and milk for glazing.

First place the butter syrup and sugar in a small saucepan and heat slowly until sugar has dissolved. sift together the dry ingredients then make a well in the middle and pour in the warm melted mixture and beat until smooth. Roll out the mixture on a lightly floured surface while still warm and cut into figures using a cutter or homemade template. Make buttons eyes and a mouth from currants and glace cherries. Other decorations can be used depending on who they are for. Then brush with a little milk and bake on a greased baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes or until the biscuits are firm and lightly golden. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Cooks Note - Uncooked dough can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 months and these biscuits will keep in a air tight tin if they last the day out once made!

See my previous blog Piping bags to use with your cooking as you could pipe faces, clothes etc on to each gingerbreadman too. See the cutters and christmass biscuit ideas in my previous blog christmas hanging biscuits also. Plus other great biscuit recipes in my blog taking the biscuit.

Sometimes while partying through the summer and lighter nights after eating all those nibbly bits from your barbecue, your simply looking for a simple dessert to satisfy both those savoury and sweet tooths amoungst all of your guests.

Recently, while gathering friends and family were busy munching away at my homemade burgers, my friend Claire disappeared to my freezer to find out what homemade icecreams I had on the go. I tell you there are no secrets in my house. Followed closely by Mel the 2 of them emerged from my garage with wide beamed smiles.

One icecream variety each, before chaos persued in my kitchen. But hey, in my house thats normal, and we always end up in the kitchen! Funny that, all these rooms in my house and suddenly all your guests try to fit in one room!

Anyway, Claire having a savoury tooth loves my pistachio nut icecream and after finding the biggest spoon she could lay her hands on; both Emma and Claire dug in to the icecream to make themselves a big bowl full. Before they disappeared up my garden with bowl in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, before they ate all their icecream and started on the cheese and fruit.

However, Mel has a sweet tooth and she had my vanilla and honey homemade icecream, which by now everyone was having a taste of. So I decided, lets make some sweet fruity kebabs and serve them with this delicious sweet icecream.

Brilliant, just like “can’t cook won’t cook”, everyone wanted a go. So preheating the grill so some people could use the barbecue and the others my grill & griddle, we set about making our kebabs. Your going to need for my sweet fruity kebabs - 75ml freshly squeezed orange juice, 15ml honey, 30ml water, 16 strawberries, 1/2 mango peeled, stoned and cut into 8 pieces, 1/2 pineapple, peeled, cut into 16 pieces, 1 banana peeled and cut into 8 pieces and of course a tub of icecream (whether thats homemade or from your local farm shop).

First preheat the grill as I had above, then slowly bring the water, orange juice and honey to the boil, stirring until the honey is dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Meanwhile thread the fruits alternately on to 8 wooden skewers. Place onto a grill rack or barbecue and cook the kebabs for about 8 minutes, basting them occasionally with the honey syrup. Once golden serve the cooked fruity kebabs with a scoop of your favourite ice cream and drizzle with any extra syrup. A dish to delight any sweet tooth, trust me and loads of fun to do!

Never the less to say, I spend nearly an hour making batches of kebabs and syrup for everyone, before joining the rest of them now all under the glowing lanterns in my garden where all was in full swing with a great game of pictionary, (while a bit tipsy) in teams which was hilarious! and while I am thinking about Jacob you owe me a meerkat statue!!! Nothing can beat a great night of good food, good company, great friends and family and loads of memories!

What games do you get up to at your barbecues, and whats your favourite party dishes? Check out my blog the big dipper for some more party gadgets. Why not have a look at some of my ice cream recipes in my blog dark, delcious chocolate icecream and homemade icecream in a flash plus many more too.

Muffins are a real family favourite and I love to make muffins with strawberries throughout the summer. These delicious easy, fruity muffins are a perfect summer treat for a picnic, garden party or just to enjoy with a cup of tea alfresco.

I like to serve my muffins slightly warm and they are at there best eaten the day they are made but I have to say I never ahave any left to put in a airtight tin for another day.

For my Strawberry and Cream muffins you are going to need: 250g self raising flour, 150g caster sugar, rind of 1 orange, 1 egg, 75ml sunflower oil, 142ml single cream, 125ml milk, 150g english strawberries and icing sugar for dusting.

First preheat your oven to 180 c/ 350 f/ gas 4. Now shift your flour into a large bowl and grate the rind of the orange placing the rind and sugar in with the sieved flour. Mix together the egg, oil, cream and milk and whisk together before pouring in to the flour mix and mix together with a wooden spoon. Remove the hulls from your strawberries and shop them into small pieces before adding these to the mixture and gently stirring them im. Place the mixture in to silicone muffin moulds or muffin paper cases. You will have enough for 8 to 10 muffins. Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen and golden. Then dust with icing sugar to finish and serve warm. Delicious!!!!  I bet you don’t have any left over!

Cooks tip - Try using other fruits like raspberries, blueberries etc for even more fruity muffin ideas!

Take a look at my previous blog silicone bakeware makes it oh so easy to clean and great traditional recipe in my blog classic recipe for Victoria sponge cake, plus there are many many more delicious recipes for you!

These zesty little citrus fruits are the epitome of refreshing summer tastes, bringing a fruity zing to all manner of beverages, from soft drinks and squashes to classic seasonal drinks such as my personal favourite gine & tonic or the more exotic mojitos.

Serve up a mojitos which is a fabulous cocktail made with white rum, mint, crushed ice and limes, and don’t forget the hunk to shake your cocktail and serve it up for you of course! Bring the cuban spirit to your party or evening serving mexican dishes, great rythmic salsa music and your delicious cocktails. Don’t forget the garden lanterns and tea lights to really set the mood for your guests and enjoy and fun dining experience alround.

Make sure you have the glassware to serve up your special cocktails in with these great connoisseur cocktail glasses. There stylish & versatile, this premium glassware has a simplistic classical design, which is ideal for everyday use, aswell as for your dinner parties. So make sure you serve your cocktails in Style!

Versatile limes though are not only the domain of delicious drinks as their delicate aroma adds another dimension to many dishes like thai and your barbecue marinades for example.

Look at my previous blogs sweet tender yellow sweetcorn, edible sunshine, bbq grills for the sunshine, and the big dipper for more ideas and many recipes to help you plan for your guests no matter what your planning!.

I am sure many of us stop to think what can we do to make someone specials birthday that extra special. Well one very special person in my life like many of this is my Mum, like me Grandma she too believes in wholesome local and seasonal food as we were both taught to cook by her.

Wanting to make her birthday extra special we were looking to serve her a great birthday breakfast as a real treat.

Other breakfast recipes can be found in my previous blog ‘yogurt recipe depends on milk used’. You could also look at my previous blog ‘perfect omelettes’ too.

I knew exactly the breakfast Mum loves and headed for Red Hill Farm for fresh farm eggs straight from the field from their free range hens. Heading back Ed had already started to put together a tray fit for a queen together with a vase of flowers from the garden.

What were we preparing for this very special lady well one of her favourites scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. While Ed set about preparing his grandmother a cup of the best earl grey I got together the ingredients.

You will need: 4 Large free range eggs, pinch of cayenne pepper, 2 tsp butter, 2 small bunches of cherry tomatoes on the vine, 2 thick slices of homebaked bread, 50g fresh smoked scottish salmon cut into strips and fresh dill.

Start by preheating your grill and line your grill pan with foil. Place your beaten eggs, cayenne pepper and butter in a nonstick pan and cook on a low heat. Make sure you stir gently and constantly with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes until the egg is softly set. While cooking your eggs, grill your vine cherry tomatoes for about 5 minutes until softened and they are starting to split. Toast your bread, butter and cut in half (like triangles).  Placing 2 triangles of toast on a plate, then top with scrambled egg, pile on the smoked scottish salmon strips and snip some fresh dill over the top using scissors. Serve with you extra toast triangles and grilled tomatoes.

Putting together our tray complete with tea, toast, flowers & birthday breakfast, not forgetting the birthday cards we headed for the bedroom with a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’. To say she was delighted and enjoyed her breakfast was a understatement she loved it.

What would you serve that special someone for breakfast in bed, why not send in your recipes for a tasty special breakfast!

If your planning a birthday party check out my previous blog ‘The Big Dipper’.

For a great toaster with great functions for full use in your kitchen try this Morphy Richards accents polished stainless steel pause and check toaster. With its great function to Pause and Check your toast without interrupting the toasting cycle for perfect toast and removable crumb tray to keep your toaster clean and tidy, the crumb tray can be removed to clean. This toaster also has a hi lift facility to remove smaller items from your toaster such as crumpets etc. you can use this lift on the lever to safety remove these; along with a variable browning control allows you to set the browning of your toast so you can have your toast just the way you like it. One of the best functions is the deep vari-width toasting chamber - thick doorsteps or thin wafers, whatever your choice of bread the variable bread width function can cater for your needs, so you can toast homemade bread too, which some toasters just cannot accomodate.