Monthly Archives: April 2011

Blackberry Muffins with Coconut Oil

By Sharon | Recipes

In trying to cut the amount of butter in my diet I have started using coconut oil in recipes such as muffins. Coconut oil has many health benefits since the fat in coconut is different than the fat in other oils. Along with the benefits being discovered in using virgin coconut oil using it in baked goods adds a light coconut flavor and a nice texture.

The coconut oil and coconut milk used in this recipe gives a great flavor combination with the blackberries and cinnamon. These muffins come out very light and crumbly.
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Poached Pears in Cranberry Sauce

By Sharon | Recipes , Tips

I can’t remember ever having a poached pear and this was a recipe for Junior Masterchef Australia. They looked so delicious as Nicholas and I were watching the show. Since we’re working on teaching my grandson to cook I thought this would be a great recipe to work on with him. It teaches him some different techniques.

I love the way these came out. The flavor of the cranberry and spices goes very nicely with the pears. I used a bosc pear because I like the texture of them. I did 6 pears in my recipe and doubled the ingredients in the poaching liquid so that the pears would be covered for poaching.Continue reading

Pecan Ginger Cookies

By Sharon | Recipes

I wanted to make a praline cheesecake for party we were going to so started to search the web for a good recipe. I found quite a few recipes I was happy with but they either used a graham cracker crust or a crust made with gingersnaps.  Both added pecans.

So, I headed to the kitchen with a trusted gingersnap recipe thinking I’d just make mine from scratch.  As I started to assemble ingredients I thought about how chewy my gingersnaps were and decided they would make a mess when they crumbled for a cheesecake crust.  I also thought perhaps I should just add my nuts to my cookies and then I wouldn’t need to add them when I crushed the cookies for the cheesecake base.Continue reading

Ginger Scones

By Sharon | Recipes , Tips

Warm Ginger Scones with Lemon Curd are the best thing with a hot cup of tea or coffee first thing in the morning or for an afternoon break.

I think the English and Scottish do it right with afternoon teas.  And when you get their clotted cream and really thick jams it is so delicious.  When I travel there, and Ireland too, I make sure I get afternoon tea every day.  Even if I just have tea and a scone.Continue reading

Experimental Sunday – Strawberry Marshmallow Peeps

By Sharon | Recipes , Tips , Tools

Just in time for Easter fresh Marshmallow Baby Chicks. I’m not a big marshmallow person but I used to always eat those store bought Peeps until I was overloaded on sugar. For years I have heard how delicious homemade marshmallows are so with 3 grandchildren I thought I would give them a special treat and make the little chicks for them. I scoured web pages and got hints on how to work with the sticky, gooey mess once you had it made and then went into the kitchen with my very helpful husband and gave it a whirl. This is my test run so I could prepare the blog article before Easter and perfect the process for presenting to the kids.Continue reading