Baker & Foodie Content Creator
My name is Lee, welcome to my pages. I hope we can have fun together?
When I’m not developing recipes for others, writing guest blogs, writing my own blog, or even trying to learn how to paint, I’m usually spending time with the amazing Mr G (my husband) or with my lovely daughter or my lovely son (very proud mum).
What is this all about? Great question. This site is about real cooking and baking, real recipes and real mistakes.
No filters here, (although i’d love to find a filter that can take ten years worth of laugh lines away. Just me, whats happening, and whatever cameras or phone i have to hand .
There are many things that get under my bonnet and wiggle around, one of those is food waste. If i buy ingredients specifically for a recipe, and i only need a small amount of the ingredients, i want to be able to use the rest up and not have to throw them away. My mum used to say , “Waste not Want not” is that still a saying ?
For me, waste is not just about using up all the ingredients. What about leftover food? If i’m able , i hope to give ideas as to how to use up any leftovers too.
Be Brave
Cooking isn’t hard , neither is baking, its all about being brave and being ok with making mistakes
Potato & Spicy Smoked Chorizo Stew is full of the flavours of smokey paprika, spicy chorizo all sitting in a pot of soft potatoes and that sauce ready to be soaked up by chunks of bread. Serve from the pot in the middle of the table r as a side dish in small bowls. For the family for a weekday meal or a Saturday night dinner party. A one pot dish to cook any day of the week
Pistachio Bakewell with Orange & Thyme Curd is a lovely way to get a taste pistachios, which seem to e all over the Internet right now.
A layer of home made Orange and Thyme curd sits on the bottom and then on top, a moist layer of pistachio frangipane cpmpletes this perfect part.
Orange and thyme curd is a twist on the usual curd and tastes amazing spread on a slice of toast for breakfast or, as i often do, used in my pistachio bakewell. Its smooth, buttery and important to me, really easy to make. Store the curd in a sterilised jar for up to one month.
Pepper & Paprika Chicken Thighs is a dish that is easy to cook and full of flavour. With a Croatian pantry staple, Vegeta, which adds that certain something extra, it's a weeknight dish or a Saturday night show stopper. Pair it with potatoes, rice just putout a plate of good bread to soak up all that sauce.
Celeriac Torte with Mushrooms & Pancetta - Slices of thin celeriac holds together a filling of pancetta and pine nuts. Great to eat hot or cold, cooked as one large dish to share at the table or small individual portions in these cute tiny skillets.
Everyone loves a one pot dish, time and flavours merge to make something special. Fish is getting more expensive, so when it's out there at a good price, grab it and make it into this One Pan Roast Salmon & King Prawns with New Potatoes, Peas & Mint. Its fresh and a meal in itself, no need to make anything else. For a Saturday night treat or a week day meal, its perfect for both.
Brown Butter, Whisky, Walnut Tart. This tart is rich with the brown nutty butter, sweet form the mix of brown sugars and has a kick from the whisky. The pastry is delicate and perfectly caramelised to hold that amazing filling. Family style or just for you, its worth making.
Chicken, Leek and Bacon Pie with Quick Vodka Flaky Pastry is the perfect pie to make for a family get together. Made with quick vodka flaky pastry is full of flavour with a flaky golden lid. And yes, it does have a layer pf pastry underneath, other wise it's just a stew with a lid.
This posh cheese on toast is soft, fluffy and slightly tangy. Great to double or treble the ingredients when a group of people turn up. Use the hard cheese of your choice and theres no better thing for a quick meal. Speed doesn't mean that taste is compromised, its luxurious.
This is my recipe for meatballs after revisiting Ikea, buying my usual large portion of their meatballs and realising they were now rubbish. With the addition of my oven dried tomatoes, which give even more flavour, they are so easy to make. The cream sauce is rich and very very moreish. Great for a family meal to serve with mash potato or chips.
Asian Mushrooms are amazing even when not eating a asian meal. The flavour holds up against, well, basically anything you want to eat. As a vegan or vegetarian recipe it's one to add to your cook book.
Baby Cucumber Salad, with Elderflower Vinaigrette, Toasted Pecans & Crumbled Feta is a light salad an amazing counterbalance with an oily fish such as BBQ mackerel. Layer everything up and it not only looks amazing but tastes great too. An easy salad to make vegan or veggie, just keep the feta in the fridge.
There are so many flavours to make butter and so many ways to use them. Marmite butter, chicken skin butter, garlic and spring onion butter and horseradish and chive. This recipe is so easy to make and once made can be frozen or refrigerated. Use these flavoured butters in cooking or as stand alone on some lovely bread.
Cauliflower & Pork Stroganoff recipe, or make it without meat. A great dish to make it into a vegetarian stroganoff, but if you make this dish it'ill soon be on your meal rota. Tons of paprika and cream make this a perfect stroganoff and its a make a head dish or even for freezing too.
Slow Cooked Lamb Shank Hotpot.
The perfect dish to make when you’ve got a little bit of time. It’s full of flavour and great to have in the middle of the table. Using slow cooked lamb shanks and lots of wine, its rich and delicious. Perfecyt for a date night, a weekend meal or a family get together.
Lemon & Blueberry Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Butter Cream & White Chocolate Chips. Another easy cake to make and assemble cake, but one that not only tastes amazing, it looks beautiful when sitting in the middle of a table. Celebrations or a family get together, whatever its for, its worth it. Tons of top ten tips for cake baking too with this recipe, which can be transferred to any cake you want to bake.
Quick Orange & Honey Salmon With Sticky Sauce, a very quick recipe and one that is easy to make too. A quick marinade that turns into the perfect sticky sauce. Dont over cook the fish and if you want a couple of tiops, read on. A perfect weeknight fish dish to serve with noodles or as o like it, an everything salad.
Coffee, Walnut & Orange Layered Cake . This recipe is so easy to make, with the orange not overwhelming as a flavour but its added to take away the bitter edge that can come from coffee. It also helps keep the cake moist and does add so much to the cake. The pretty swirl pattern on the top is optional, but it doesn’t have to be there, its a great way to shout about how delicious the buttercream is.
Apricot & Walnut Blondie. Rich, moist, dense and full of fruit. This recipe is so easy to make and so moreish you’ll be adding it to your family cook book in no time at all.
Burnt Butter Frangipane, Whiskey, Almond and Pear Tart with Honey Roasted Pears is a tart that is worth switching the oven on. The pastry is crumbly and rich and the burnt brown butter frangipane is delicious with a layer of whiskey pear puree. Whiskey honey roasted pears on the side and add a dollop of great vanilla ice cream.
