All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Review: What to Bake and How to Bake It. Buttermilk Pound Cake

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What to Bake and How to Bake it book

I was sent What to Bake and How to Bake It to review and I was really looking forward to having a flick through the pages to see what to bake. I knew it would be a fab book from the quick look I initially had but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be such the joy that it was. The quirky cover makes it stand out amongst the other books on my shelves and I liked the colours and illustrations. There are two key things I noticed about the book which I love: firstly, Jane provides pictures right at the start showing you exactly what butter and sugar look like when perfectly creamed (and if they’re over beaten) amongst other techniques, secondly, she doesn’t assume you have a microwave. I don’t have a microwave and it’s amazing how many cookery books assume you have one (I think I’m in the minority but still!). The book is published by Phaidon and they kindly said I could publish one of the recipes so I tried my hand at the Buttermilk Pound Cake. read more

Orange and Poppy Seed Biscuits

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Hello and welcome to my new website; I hope you enjoy it! To kick things off on my new site it was only right that I baked something; I had to have something to keep me motivated during the changeover! These orange and poppy seed biscuits are a recipe from Cathryn Dresser (former Great British Bake Off contestant) author of Let’s Bake and she has teamed up with Pyrex to create a series of baking recipes for National Baking Week from 13th to 19th October. See below for details of the giveaway to win lots of Pyrex baking goodies in time for October 13th. read more

Review: Stokes Sauces

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It may be slightly gloomier outside than we’ve become accustomed to over the last few months but that doesn’t mean BBQ season is over. At least not as far as I’m concerned! There’s not much weather that will stop my family from cooking alfresco; indeed one memorable snowy day saw us making gravy outside as the roasting tray was too big for the hob. Stokes sent me some yummy sounding products to try which lend themselves to a BBQ really well: Ketchup, Bloody Mary Ketchup and BBQ Sauce. So it was time (but certainly not the last time this year) to fire up the coals and get cooking. read more

Smörgåsbord with Swedish Salad

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Smörgåsbord with Swedish Salad

Scandinavian food interests me; cured salmon, pickles and dark rye are the things that immediately spring to mind. By coincidence I was sent two different crispbreads to try; some from Finn Crisp and some from Plain Tasty so it seemed the perfect opportunity to try and make a Smörgåsbord with a Swedish salad; Swedish style anyway! Something very different for dinner in the ATIE household.

Ingredients

You will need (make as many as you need): 

  • Pickles
  • Cheese and cream cheese
  • Crispbreads


For the salad:

  • 1/2 cucumber, diced
  • 1 small fennel, sliced
  • 1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
  • Handful fresh dill and parsley, chopped
  • 3-4 spring onions, sliced
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper

Method

I took inspiration for the salad from the Jamie Does book. Put all the prepared salad vegetables into a bowl and mix it together. Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper together then dress the salad. read more

Barber’s Cheese Toastie Off and Pastichio

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Last year I went to the BBC Good Food Show courtesy of Barber’s Cheese and got to try their lovely cheese for the first time. This year, things got a bit more serious and I was invited to The Bath and West Show to take part in a cheese toastie off (as well as having a good nose around the show). For my toastie recipe I wanted to keep it simple so I went for a sort of croque-monsieur; smoked ham, Barber’s Cheese, English mustard and plenty of butter on both sides of the bread. You can’t go wrong with butter. read more

An afternoon with Twinings

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Stephen Twining
As you know I quite like tea. As part of this tea appreciation I have become a fan of the more unusual teas and seek to try as many different types as I can. I was invited to spend some time with Twinings and meet Mr Stephen Twining himself. Their shop on The Strand is long and thin and you could spend a long time smelling the different teas on the shelves. We were sat at the back of the shop; it was great to see Fiona again (from the blog London Unattached) and to meet Choclette (from the Chocolate Log blog) and we settled ourselves in to sample and learn more about Twinings.

I thought I knew a bit (at least) about Twinings but I learnt so much! They have been operating out of the same shop in London since they started in 1706 and have a huge variety of tea available; all sorts of flavours and blends. It takes five years to become a master tea blender and, once qualified, you get a special teaspoon engraved with your name on (I really want one of those!). I also didn’t know that Twinings originally created Earl Grey; that’s why theirs is called The Earl Grey. read more

Review: Rachel’s Organic Lemon Yoghurt

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Lemon Yoghurt with quick granola
I find breakfast is sometimes a bit of an inspirational dead end. I might want toast but then if I’m having a sandwich for lunch I think it’s too much bread, I like cereal but I begrudge paying the price for a box that lasts less than two weeks, fruit doesn’t fill me up enough and I don’t have enough time to do anything more involved. I could get up earlier and make something but I’ll be honest; I stay asleep until the last possible moment. I always make sure to have breakfast though. I need something quick, simple, filling and tasty; cereal bars, muesli or granola with yoghurt keeps me full and it’s great to put together when still half asleep in the morning.

Rachel’s Organic sent me some of their new Greek style lemon yoghurt which I have been enjoying for breakfast. I wasn’t sure how sharp lemon would work with tangy yoghurt but it was very nice and zesty, the yoghurt was lovely and creamy too. My last blog post was for some delicious blueberry, almond and poppy seed cereal bars and they worked a treat with the lemon yoghurt; I think the lemon and blueberries worked particularly well together. I don’t tend to be fully functioning until about half an hour after I wake up so anything that tastes nice that doesn’t involve too much effort on my part is good for me!
Thank you to Rachel’s Organic for the yoghurt. All opinions and words expressed are my own.  read more

Review: Make your own Easter Egg

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Make your own chocolate Easter Egg
I’ve always fancied having a go at making an Easter egg but have never got round to it. When the guys from Stay in Devon asked if I would like to try one of theirs it seemed like the perfect chance to attempt it. The kit consisted of: chocolate drops from Choconchoc, sweets, mould, chef’s hat and instructions. You can see the kit (I unfortunately ate it before I took a photo!) on their website. I have to admit that it took me a few weeks to get up the courage to make the eggs, hence why the post is so close to Easter!

I was surprised how easy it was, I didn’t get chocolate everywhere and layering up the chocolate was quite enjoyable. The instructions said to use a microwave to melt the chocolate, and I don’t have a microwave, so I was picturing having to reheat the bowl of chocolate on the hob all the time but the chocolate stayed liquid long enough to do three coats no problem. The chocolate itself was really nice; I’m not one for eating a whole chocolate egg in one go but this one I did! If you’re looking for Easter weekend ideas, rainy day inspiration or want to know what exactly goes into your Easter egg then I can thoroughly recommend making your own.
Thank you to Stay in Devon for the Easter egg kit. All opinions and words expressed are my own. read more

Review: Higher Living Tea

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Higher Living Ginger and Chai Tea
As an avid tea drinker I like to think I’ve drunk my way through a wide range of teas on offer. One thing that is new to me are the teas which are in fact not tea at all. Called tea, I assume, because they come in a bag and you use hot water to extract the flavour. Higher Living sent me two of their herbal teas to try: Sweet Chai and Ginger Kick.

I liked the look of the tea bags; I’m a sucker for teabags with the dangly things and you could smell both of them just when you opened the box. The Sweet Chai was an interesting mix of spices; predominantly aniseed flavour. I reckon this would perk you up if you had a cold. The Ginger Kick made a surprisingly dark cup of tea considering the colour of the contents in the bag. The ginger one wasn’t for me so much as I’m not a fan of ginger but it actually wasn’t too harshly gingery.
I like that they are organic and I am enjoying taking them to work (sharing the ginger one around!) as it’s nice to drink something a bit different.
Thank you to Higher Living for the samples. All opinions and words expressed are my own. read more

Review: Maple Pecan Cupcake Recipe from Baking Mad

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Goose Egg
I learnt something about myself the other day: I am not a domestic goddess. Let me explain. I was sent some baking goodies from Baking Mad and I had chosen to attempt their recipe for Maple Pecan cupcakes. I planned to give them to my Mum for an early Mother’s Day treat. I went for a walk to the pub last week and was offered a goose egg to take home; excellent for my cupcakes. All was going well and I was ready for baking. In my head I’m swishing around the kitchen; mixing a bit there, sprinkling a bit here, birds are singing and the radio is playing non-stop jolly tunes. This is not quite how it happened.

Ingredients

You will need (original recipe here, mine is slightly different):

  • 2 eggs (I used half a goose egg)
  • 125g butter
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup

    For the icing:
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 65g butter
  • 125g icing sugar (I used the Silver Spoon Chocolate icing sugar I was sent)
  • Chocolate chips to decorate (I used the Silver Spoon ones I was sent)

Method

Preheat an oven to 180C and line a cupcake tin with 12 cases. I don’t have a cupcake tin so I use silicone cupcake cases.

Place the eggs, butter, sugar, flour, vanilla and maple syrup in a bowl and mix together until smooth. I used an electric hand whisk for this.

Divide the batter between the cases then place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until baked.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to cool.

Make the icing by beating together the butter and icing sugar then add the maple syrup and beat until light and fluffy. read more


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