it's time to get back to nature

I remember when I first started to make jam, many moons ago, I bought a book which told me I had to have so many technical instruments and ingredients, copper bowls, this, that and the whatever and as I grew older I just thought, ah….life’s too short!  Now I make good honest thick, tasty, fruity jam with just 2 ingredients, it takes about 15 minutes to cook and it is fool proof. This way of making jam has never failed me once! The jam is not super sweet and sickly like some commercial jams, you can actually taste the fruit *gasp*.

I love scones, especially with vast quantities of clotted cream and home made jam, but some recipes are so long winded for scones that I decided to share with you my fool proof easy scone recipe. These scones can also be frozen for up to a year in the freezer so why not make a double batch and keep them for the coming months. Enjoy! Makes 20(ish) scones Ingredients 750g self raising flour (with a little extra for dusting) 1.5 teaspoons salt 4 teaspoons baking powder 4 tablespoons of caster sugar 160g unsalted butter 350ml milk (whole, semi-skimmed or skimmed

These festive muffins are great for Yule afternoon as you cozy up in front of the fire.  They are sweet, aromatic, soft and fluffy.  Even better, they are easy to make!  If you don’t like cranberries, you can replace these with blueberries or cherries, which ever you prefer.   They taste lovely with a glass of mulled wine or a mixed berry fruit punch.  They also freeze very well, so make a larger batch and freeze some in case you have unexpected guests arrive (or in case you want more yourself ).  I do love a bit of cakey goodness

I am a bit of a sucker for chutneys. The idea of a white crusty roll filled with chedder cheese and home made chutney fills me with deep joy. But chutneys, good chutneys, can be very expensive to buy, however, they are actually incredibly cheap to make, they just take time. Below is my recipe for tomato, aubergine and chilli chutney, all three of which we have grown in our garden this year. These are the last of our crop so I wanted to put them to good use, our neighbour donated some extra tomatoes too! (Thank you!) Ingredients 900g