Food From The Good Life

Food From The Good Life

Fellow Good Lifer's, a contact of ours is working on a UK TV baking show (daytime tv) and they're busy casting at the moment.

They are looking for someone, particularly men, who would like to take part.

You need to be able to cook to a reasonable skill level; you'll have to cook your signature bake to be judged. Casting is happening this month and next. Filming is from January onwards I think - and it would only be a day filming.

Anyone interested, please get in touch :)

18 months ago

Food From The Good Life

Hi Guys,
its the run up to Christmas, and we were thinking it would be really great fun to hear about your favourite Christmas recipes from across the globe. Are you more Mince Pie, Stollen, Panettone or Lebkuchen? Let us know your tastiest Yuletide treats!

19 months ago

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Leanne Chevallier Butter Tarts ! I think its a Canadian thing ... I'm still looking for the perfect recipe if anyone has a good one?

19 months ago

Rhona Edwards never heard of butter tarts, anything with butter always sounds good to me though! I love gingerbread at Christmas, and would love to know how to make delicious soft gingerbread, so if anyone has a good recipe for that please could they share?

19 months ago

Alex Fayle My favourites are sweet shortbread. They were the recipe of my grandmother's maid. They're basically icing sugar, butter and a bit of flour. They melt in your mouth and heavenly!

Leanne - I'll ask my mother for her buttertart recipe. The tarts are the right mix of dry and gooey. Too many recipes are too full of filling. This recipe also has currants rather than raisins.

19 months ago

Alex Fayle Here you go Leanne! I already had it in my mail.

For syrup use Tait & Lyle's or something like that.

3 T very soft butter
1 egg
1/4 c syrup
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 c brown sugar
A handful of dried black currants

And if you like you can add in chopped walnuts.

Beat together (by hand) thoroughly.

Fills 2 doz small tarts and 1 doz. large tarts. Bake at 425 for about 12 minutes. If the filling overflows, loosen the tarts while still warm. I use the pick of a cheese knife.

19 months ago

Rebecca Garnett Sounds delicious Alex !

19 months ago

Victoria Thomas  ›  Food From The Good Life

A good news story for any parent with children who want to cook:

When my girls say "Mummy, can we help you with the cooking?" my heart sinks. It never seems to happen in magazines and on TV, where yummy mummies kitted head to foot in Cath Kidston make encouraging noises to their pretty relatively clean and well behaved offspring, whilst baking the PERFECT Victoria Sponge and persuading us that this a great way to bond with your child as well as teaching them valuable life skills.
Doesn't it make you sick?
I did some cooking yesterday with the girls (6 and 9yrs) and I was dreading it! Usually it ends in tears with bowls smashing and mum on her hands and knees... More mopping up a kitchen that looks like it has experienced the biggest earthquake EVER.

But yesterday, miraculously, it turned out to be fantastic...the girls made us savoury quiches - red peppers, courgettes and boursin cheese - I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. They not only cooked supper for me (without fighting) - but cleaned up as well! Long may it last.
I have to thank the BBC children's programme "Junior Bake Off" as I don't think inspiration from me alone would have produced such a stupendious result!!!
I recommend your children watch it. Here's the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/ and go to the Junior Bake Off section.

19 months ago

Rebecca Garnett Fantastic Victoria - thats a story I think everyone on this forum can relate too, lol. The Quiche sounds heavenly though.
In our kitchen, we often get smoothly through the baking / cooking bit until its time to lick the spoon clean. Then Armageddon in the kitchen ensues with two howling 6 / 7 year olds screaming for vengence if one gets more cake mixture on their wooden spoon than the other ;)

19 months ago

Food From The Good Life

Et Voila!
A recording of Tuesday's impromptu Live Cooking Session by Food From The Good Life's Rebecca - Yum Yum!: (Click on this link to view) http://www.skilio.com/session/recorded/2009 Thanks to fellow foodies Neil, Monica, Sylvain and Leanne for joining

19 months ago

Food From The Good Life PS - Leanne - re: your question on eating the pumpkin skin - I did some research and its absolutely fine - infact, apparently pumpkin skin is a rich source of nutrients and antioxidants that can help your skin achieve a healthy glow throughout the season! Phew!!

19 months ago

Food From The Good Life

HI folks, I'm running an informal, spur of the mom!ent, live cooking demo if anyone is interested at 13:00 EU time today - see: http://www.skilio.com/session/info/2009

19 months ago

Food From The Good Life

Fellow Foodies, our very own wonderful Leanne was on the French TV talking about how her and her family choose to eat. It is a real inspiration to watch! Available via gulli replay for only another 36 hours, do take the time to check it out - it'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside ;) ----- PS - tip for those in a hurry go to 4.54 to view Leanne ----- http://replay.gulli.fr/replay/video/emissions/portrait_de_familles/VOD265030

19 months ago

Food From The Good Life

Hi Everyone, this is an extension to our the Food From the Good Life facebook group, and everyone is welcome to join. It has been set up so fellow foodies can actually demonstrate their cooking and we can chat and ask questions in real time. Sessions can also be recorded for later playback.

Please use this page to post your ideas and your food demo requests, share recipes - whatever you fancy! And look out for some yummy cooking sessions coming up over the next couple of weeks

20 months ago

Rhona Edwards Fab! It will be great to share recipes. I am trying out a heston Blumenthal one tonight - if it's a success I will put it on here.....
Also, could anyone who remembers the recipe posted on the Facebook page for bran muffins, please re-post on here so that I can use it? Thanks!

19 months ago

Food From The Good Life

----- AUBERGINES & EGGPLANTS WITH PESTO by Leanne ------ 2 or three biggish aubergines (eggplants) A cup or so of your favourite pesto recipe Cut the aubergines in half lengthways or into very thick slices. Cut one side into a lattice using a sharp knife (without piercing the skin) Heat a good quantity of olive oil in a frying pan and when hot cook the aubergines (lattice side down) on a medium heat until golden and soft (about 10 minutes). Turn them over and cook for another few minutes. Place the aubergines on a oven proof dish and spread the pesto over the lattice side (generously) before cooking them under the broiler (grill) until the pesto starts to bubble/

20 months ago

Food From The Good Life see photo here: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/308028_10150288439766699_355529296698_8029294_2008504488_n.jpg

20 months ago

Food From The Good Life and here: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/313051_10150288439976699_355529296698_8029297_2043072274_n.jpg

20 months ago

Food From The Good Life

----- Quince, ginger and orange oat crumble ------ (Rebecca)

Quince - such a strange fruit - is it an apple? Is it a pear? Why on earth are they so hard to slice?!

I've had four beautiful Quinces, plucked fresh from my friend Una's garden, sitting in my fruit bowl for ... well, a rather long time. Each day I would eye them and say - yes, I shall make jam, or compote or well something Qunicey - but I never really got around to anything until inspiration struck in the form of my five year old Isadora, who said after lunch today " Mummy, has anybody ever made an apple and orange crumble?"

Apples I did not have - but Quinces! Yes! Finally - a way to use that... More beautiful but tricky fruit!

So here it is ladies and gents,

Rebecca and Isadora's quince, ginger and orange oat crumble!

4 Quince
The zest and juice of 1 orange
3 slices of candied ginger
1 large teaspoon of vanilla sugar
1 large tablespoon of honey
half a glass of pineapple juice (I imagine that any fruit juice would work well)

for the topping:
200grammes oats
100 grammes brown sugar
80 grammes of butter

For the compote:
Zest the Orange and squeeze the juice into a pan
Chop up the candied ginger and add to the pan
peel & de-core the 4 quince. Cut into thin slices - add to pan
add the vanilla sugar and honey and bring the lot to the boil. Next turn down the heat to simmer.
Simmer for around 20 minutes until soft.
Add the juice bit by bit to keep the mixture moist

In the meantime mix the oats, sugar and butter in a large bowl and 'crumble' between your fingers to obtain a nice topping.

Add the fruit compote to a dish and sprinkle with the crumble mixture

Pop in a pre-heated oven for a further 20 minutes

Serve with home made custard! Yum :)

20 months ago

Food From The Good Life

Looks like Facebook is killing off the 'Discussion pages' from its groups, so we will be re-posting the recipes our members shared with us on here . Like that all those delicious tips are not lost. If you want to add your own, feel free to upload too :)

20 months ago

Food From The Good Life

For anyone that loves food, especially from South West France, check out this incredible blog by Carol Reid-Gaillard http://www.mailhos.info/ Showing a year in the life of Carol and Jean Francois and their struggles and joys of tackling weeds, mollycoddling worms, torturing slugs to make sure each vegetable and fruit is delicious before and after being served ... Makes you want to get out there and start planting!

20 months ago