I found this brilliant recipe on http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/foodanddrink/Marguerite+Patten-230.html last year, when I was trying to find out if it was possible to microwave a homemade christmas pudding - anything to avoid the ridiculous (to my mind) notion of steaming it for the whole day on a hob! (Have you seen the price of fuel these days?!) 

Sure enough, the wonderful Marguerite Patten came up with this recipe (there is also a 'pudcast' if you want to watch her doing it). I made it about 3 weeks before Christmas and kept it wrapped up in a cold place until the day. It reheated in the microwave in a couple of minutes and was rich, fruity and delicious, light and not at all stodgy. Even my children loved it.  

Try it, save yourself 8 hours and in the wise old words of Why Don't You, go out and do something less boring instead.

Marguerite Patten's Perfect Christmas Pudding

This is a very special, traditional pudding but it can be cooked in 10 minutes in the microwave, the quick, modern and simple way – it’s beautifully easy!

The Ingredients

65g of Anchor,
50g of flour (preferably plain),
A teaspoon of mixed spice,
75g of soft breadcrumbs,
100g of soft brown sugar,
150g of sultanas,
75g of raisins,
50g of currents,
25g of chopped peel,
50g of soft dates, chopped up into small pieces
50g of glacier cherries,
2 tablespoons of black treacle or golden syrup,
2 eggs,
The juice of half a lemon,
Two tablespoons of orange juice,
75ml of apple juice,

Method

Put 50g of butter into a mixing bowl.

Place an additional 15g of Anchor into a basin in which the pudding is going to be cooked. Cover the basin on top with cling film or paper and put it into the microwave, for 30 seconds to soften the butter.

Mix all the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl, and stir them all together.

With the small bit of melted butter, grease the pudding basin. Put at the bottom of the basin a small round piece of greaseproof paper to prevent the basin from sticking.

Now, spoon the mixture into the pudding basin. Put a greaseproof paper lid on top of the basin. (Make sure it is double or treble the thickness of the one used at the bottom.)

Make a few holes in the paper with a fork or scissors so that the steam can escape.

Place into the microwave. Set the microwave timer, at medium or medium to high rather than high to get a better steamed pudding.

Microwaves vary though, so take the pudding out and have a look at it after nine minutes.

Insert a skewer or a cocktail stick into the centre of the mixture, take it out and have a look at it.

If the mixture is still sticky, place the pudding back into the microwave for another half a minute or minute longer.

When there is no sticky mixture on the skewer, after doing the test, the pudding is ready.

Read more: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/foodanddrink/Marguerite+Patten-230.html#ixzz2ja0CrcaU

Homemade mincemeat recipe - All recipes UK

Homemade mincemeat recipe - All recipes UK

Here is a classic mincemeat recipe without any suet. You can mix up the dried fruits a bit, substituting dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries for some of the raisins and sultanas. Perfect for your mince pies at Christmas!

Ingredients

Serves: 12 

• 250g seedless raisins
• 250g sultanas
• 250g currants
• 65g mixed peel
• 250g cooking apples, peeled and finely chopped
• 125g butter, softened
• grated zest of 1/2 a lemon

• grated zest of 1/2 an orange
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of allspice
• 250g dark brown soft sugar
• 250ml brandy or dark rum

Method

Prep:10min  ›  Extra time:21days  ›  Ready in:21days10min 

1. Make sure all of the dried fruits are finely chopped to around the same size. In a large bowl, mix all the fruit, apples, butter, zest and spices together till well combined. Dissolve the sugar in the brandy and pour it over the mixture. Cover and let stand overnight.
2. The next day, stir the mixture again then place in sterile, dry jars for 3 to 4 weeks before using in your favourite recipe.

I was told by a member of staff in Aldi, that their lovely jelly beans have been discontinued. A quick web search says the same thing. What a shame! They were one of the things I always bought if I went into Aldi. Are they going to bring out a new improved version? Will they have bumped up the price? Who makes these daft decisions? 

Comparison between Lidl and Aldi Belgian chocolate seashells

Anyone who knows their chocolate seashells (think Guylian) knows that Lidl ones are just as good and more than half the price. I had a distant memory of trying Aldi ones and not being as impressed with them. However, in the interests of research, I decided I needed to answer this question once and for all - Are They The Same? 

Aldi ones are on the left, Lidl on the right. 

Mmmm, breathe in the smell....

The Aldi ones seem to be smaller per chocolate, and slightly different shapes. 

For the Test, I sampled the seahorse from each box. Aldi tail curls inwards, Lidl one curls outwards.

I only ever get Guylian ones if someone else buys them for me as a present, but I'm under the impression that the Lidl ones are equivalent sizes and shapes to Guylian.

Checking the ingredients list on the backs, Lidl list 7 different ingredients, whereas Aldi list 11. They also have a lower % of hazelnuts (21% vs 23%) and theirs are not listed as 'roasted' unlike Lidl. 

Taste: 

Aldi had much thicker chocolate, and less of the hazelnut praline. It had a sweeter much more vanilla flavour. 

Lidl not so much chocolate to interfere with the more intense praline flavour. 

WINNER: Lidl. Praline-tastic.

Mind Loft

This is going to be somewhere I can stick things until I can work out what to do with them. There may or may not be some kind of order to it at times. Most likely it will jump about all over the place with no coherent theme to anything.