I learned so much when I actually took the time to look into the Benefits of Flax that I thought I’d compile some Benefits of Lentils. I started buying and using lentils for my family because of the nutritional and money-saving benefits of using them as a substitute for meat or a way to decrease the amount of […]

These wonderful marinated mushrooms would be a welcome appetizer or snack at any party! With the holiday season coming around, it is the perfect time to learn a quick and easy recipe that you can bring to your gatherings. They also make a great topping for salads or a side dish to a steak! When I have to travel, I pack a cooler full of fun picnic type foods. It is difficult to be assured that I can find gluten-free foods on the road, so I just eliminate any potential of being ill (or hungry!) on a road trip by planning ahead. It also saves money and is much higher quality! I like to try some new sort of treat for each trip and this time I went for marinated mushrooms. They are one of my favorite options at the high priced olive bars and I knew they had to be easy and cheaper to make, so I dug through a bunch of recipes and melded them together. The base is oil and vinegar with seasonings and salt. The salt helps draw the moisture out of the ‘shrooms and ups the flavor. Don’t be intimidated by the heavy hand of salt in the recipe, in no way does it create mushroom salt licks! Since the simplicity of this recipe is a vinaigrette dressing, you could potentially use a bottled salad dressing, but the few moments of whipping together a JERF version makes this MARVELOUS!, rather than just good. My husband always teases me about all the jars I save, but when I make something as tasty as this, it justifies my jar obsession! The best part of this recipe is it can all be made in one jar (or bowl), leaving you with minimum dishes to wash! I love a lazy recipe. Marinated Mushrooms Ingredients 1 lb button mushrooms 1 red pepper 2/3 cup olive oil 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar 1/4 tsp dried lemon zest 1 tsp Italian herbs 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 shallot, thinly sliced 1 Tbsp kosher flake salt Fresh ground pepper Instructions Mix all but mushrooms and peppers together. Slice red pepper into bite size strips and if necessary, quarter or halve mushrooms into bite size pieces. Add mushrooms and peppers to marinade, stir (or shake) to get everything covered with goodness and let sit in the refrigerator at least one hour, preferably overnight. Questions, questions, who has questions?! Do I have to use olive oil? Nope, but it is the best option for getting a really good flavor! This is a time to use your good extra virgin olive oil so that the flavor really shines. If you can’t bear to part with 2/3 cups of your good stuff, go half and half with your fancy stuff and your common use oil. You can really use any oil you want, but remember that the flavor is going to greatly influence the end results. Why two vinegars? I like balsamic vinegar. A lot. However, it is a strong flavor and can overwhelm everything else in a dish. To get a good balance of yummy balsamic flavor, I decided to cut the super punch of the balsamic with milder white wine vinegar. You can use any vinegar you would like in the amount of 1/4 cup, but just like the oil, the vinegar is a predominant flavor against the subtle mushrooms. You could even use juice from your jar of pickled peppers. That would really spice things up! I don’t like red peppers, do I have to use them? Of course not! You can use any vegetables you like! Carrots, green beans, asparagus, cauliflower, green peppers Throw in some Kalamata olives or pepperonicis. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and Brussels spouts will likely impart an unpleasant flavor, so avoid those in the mix. I came across several recipes that even used leftover steamed and roasted veggies in the marinade mix! Talk about changing up your leftovers! How do I clean mushrooms? You can either wipe them clean with a paper towel, rinse them under running water or give them a quick swish in a bowl of water. There is always debate over which way is best. Soaking mushrooms for any length of time in water will effect them, but a quick rinse or swish under water isn't going to make any impact in my experience. I'm cheap, so I don't like to waste my paper towels on mushrooms. I used white mushrooms for this recipe, but crimini should work well, too. I prefer to save the fancy expensive mushrooms for a recipe where they shine... the vinaigrette of marinated mushrooms would overpower the delicate loveliness of some of the more expensive gourmet 'shrooms. Just mix it all up in a jar to save doing dishes! What about the seasonings? You can season the mix however you prefer. The base is the oil, vinegar and salt. Everything else is going to change up the flavor. Try Greek seasoning in place of the Italian or maybe some Herbes de Provence. Use orange zest in place of lemon zest. Leave out the Aleppo pepper, or make it extra spicy with diced jalapeno instead. Try a 1/4 cup of diced red onion in place of the shallot. There are so many ways to customize this recipe, just keep the oil, vinegar, salt ratio and season as desired. I don’t have dried lemon zest, how much fresh should I use? I adore Penzeys’ dried lemon zest! I never remember to buy lemons at the market and at 10 p.m. the last thing I want to do is run out for a lemon. If you happen to be more on your game than me and have a fresh lemon, you’ll want about a teaspoon of fresh zest. Before marinating overnight Do I have to make it in a jar? Of course not! You can make this in any vessel you chose. I just chose a jar because it was handy. I do start the jar out upside down so the marinade gets a chance to make friends with the mushrooms on the top, and then flip it part way through. You can make this in any bowl or dish, giving a stir if needed to get all the 'shrooms a chance to make nice with the lovely flavors of the liquid. There is a lot less marinade in the jar than my mushrooms. Is that okay? As the mushrooms sit for a while, the salt will pull the moisture from them and they will shrink a bit. I put my jar in the refrigerator upside down for a while and then turn it right side up before going to bed. That lets the top mushrooms get a good soaking before the bottom mushrooms get to linger in the lovely juice. As they sit for a while the liquid will increase in volume. Make sure you have a jar with a lid you trust before storing it upside down! No one wants a mess in their fridge! If in doubt, or simply extra cautious, place the jar in a small bowl... just in case. After marinating overnight Now that they have sat, I have A LOT of marinade... what else can I do with it? When you serve your mushrooms, drain off the marinade and save it for your next salad. It is now a mushroom and pepper infused Italian vinaigrette dressing! You can add a dollop of Dijon mustard and whisk away till your reach salad dressing heaven. Happy Marinating!

There is nothing more comforting with a cup of tea than a scone, with or without jam. Scones are so quintessentially British and always bring to mind the echoing gulder of “Tralllllleeeee!…

Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Sugar-free Pumpkin Custard I have been craving pumpkin pie lately, but really didn’t want to go to the effort of trying recipes for grain free crusts, being the lazy cook that I am. And really, it was a yearning for the filling that I wanted to satiate, not some need to replicate pie dough. I wanted that traditional pumpkin pie flavor, nothing fancy and ‘gourmet’, just good ol’ pumpkin pie. My family has always used the Libby’s brand pumpkin pie filling, so I went to their recipe, tweaked things a bit to fit our dietary desires and below are the results. I am in pumpkin pie heaven and I hope you are, too... get out your sporks and dig in! Pumpkin Custard Sugar-free, Dairy-free, Gluten-free Ingredients 1/4 tsp stevia powder 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3/4 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/8 tsp fresh grated nutmeg 1 tsp kosher flake salt 2 large eggs 15 oz can pumpkin purée 14 oz can coconut milk Instructions Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix stevia, salt & spices in small dish, set aside. Beat eggs in large bowl, stir in pumpkin and spices. Stir in coconut milk. Place Six 4oz ramekins, lightly greased with coconut oil, in baking dish and fill with custard mix. Pour 1 inch boiling water into baking dish around ramekins and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 bake 15-20 minutes, until still a bit wobbly in the center. Turn oven off, crack door and let rest 5 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately take out of the water bath and set on a rack to cool. Serve warm or chilled, with or without whipped cream. (11/5/2011 edit: Check out the Spiced Chocolate Version and alternative baking method!) Here we go with another round of Q and A... I don’t have stevia powder, can I use something else? You can use whatever sweetener of choice you would desire in the amount you desire. The original recipe from Libby’s called for 3/4 cup sugar. The 1/4 tsp of stevia powder is equivalent to about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of sugar in sweetness. Feel free to use sugar, honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, etc from 1/4 to 3/4 cups. The coconut milk has quite a bit of sweetness to it, which is why I was able to cut back on how much sweetness needed to be added. Can I just use pumpkin pie spice instead of the spices listed? Sure, that would be much easier! You will need 2 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of the individually listed spices. Libby’s recipe doesn’t call for nutmeg, but I thought a little bit would add a nice touch. Freshly grated nutmeg tastes quite different than ground nutmeg from the jar. You don’t need a fancy nutmeg grating contraption, simply use a microplane to grate however much you desire from the whole nutmegs. Whole nutmegs keep for a very long time compared to ground nutmeg. I don’t have kosher flake salt, can I use table salt? Of course you can, just cut the measurement to 1/2 tsp salt. I don’t have a mixer, can I do this by hand? You sure can. I hadn’t used Betsy (my Kitchenaid mixer) in a while. It was probably a bit of overkill in the power tool department for this recipe, but I missed her. The coconut milk doesn’t mix in quite as easily as the original recipe's choice of condensed milk, but that just means you get more of a workout whisking it in. Won’t this taste like coconut because of all that coconut milk? Surprisingly not! I always worry about that in recipes that substitute coconut milk. I think pumpkin and all the spices are much stronger flavors and why this works. For those of you new to coconut milk, it tends to form a thick, hearty layer on top, with a thin watery layer on the bottom. This often results in me trying to pry the thick layer out of the can while simultaneously applying enough force for the watery layer to come squirting out and dousing my face with coconut liquid. If I was smart, I would remember this each time and slide a knife down the side and into the thick layer so I could gently pour out the thinner liquid without the mess, then remove the thick layer. Unfortunately, I forget this most times. If you happen to lose a little of the thin liquid because of this, don’t worry, it will still turn out fine! Do I have to use coconut milk? Of course not. If you are not worried about dairy-free or the additives in condensed milk, feel free to use a 12 oz can of condensed milk as the original recipe calls for. I decided to go with the coconut milk because I could use less stevia to sweeten the recipe and am trying to avoid as many additives in food as possible. I have nothing against dairy in general, but try to use it in as whole a form, without additives, as I can. Too much stevia can sometimes have a back-note on the palette that is unpleasant. It works in recipes where a subtle and mild fennel/licorice type flavor isn’t noticed or is complimentary, but not so much in desserts. The Kal Pure Stevia Powder has the least of this back-note in my experience, but it is still there when used in amounts necessary for some sweets. Thankfully it works perfectly with this pumpkin custard recipe! I don’t have coconut oil, what else can I grease the ramekins with? You can use whatever fat of choice you would prefer, just make sure it is a flavor you would like with pumpkin pie... olive oil, not so much, walnut oil, much better. Palm shortening and butter would work well, but avoid the butter if you are trying to keep this dairy-free. Do I have to use ramekins? You can use whatever vessel you desire, the baking time will just need to be adjusted. You could even pour this into a pie plate (with or without your crust of choice) and bake. The original Libby’s recipe calls for baking a pie at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. I like the ramekins because they are cute and I won’t eat the whole recipe in one sitting while hiding in the closet with my spork. What’s with the boiling water? It’s called a water bath and it helps to keep smaller portions from overcooking and drying out. I thought about skipping this traditional step in custard making, but I’m glad I didn’t. I really think it helped to make this treat creamy, light and moist. Be careful when moving to and from the oven so you don’t slosh yourself or your treats with scalding water! What does wobbly in the center mean? When the final timer goes off, give the baking dish a little wiggle and you should see the custard jiggle but not slosh like it does before baking. Before you start the baking, give a filled ramekin a little nudge to see how it moves so you have something to compare with when deciding if baking is complete. How do I get the ramekins out of the hot water and baking dish? I used a solid pair of tongs. Make sure you have a sturdy grip on the little dishes as it would be a shame for them to slip from your tongs and splash back into the water bath! If you are unsure of your tongs, or just don’t have any, carefully do this with a pot holder. You need to remove the ramekins immediately because the water bath will continue to cook the custard since it is very, very hot. I placed mine on a cooling rack so that air could circulate and cool all the sides evenly, assuring the bottoms did not retain heat and overcook. Once at room temperature, you can place them in the fridge to chill if that is how you plan to serve. How do I make whipped cream? Whipped cream happens when the fat in the cream surround the air you mix into it. In order for this to happen you need everything very cold. Think about the difference between cold butter and room temperature butter; the room temperature butter is soft and doesn’t hold its shape as well, the same thing applies to the fats in liquid cream. Pour your cold heavy whipping cream into a chilled bowl and add sweetener of choice. Using a chilled whisk or chilled mixer beaters, whip at a high speed until it doubles in volume and holds its shape. Be cautious not to over whip or you end up with butter or buttery textured whipped cream. To keep this sugar free, I used Sweet Leaf Vanilla Cream liquid stevia to sweeten the whipping cream. I hear you can whip coconut milk the same way, but have yet to try that.

The ultimate list of 101 experience gifts for families, kids, teens, and adults. Ideas for classes, activities, memberships, and more.

Lidt sej, og ret farlig. Lækkert print! Fundet her Flot med sort/hvidt print med en sigende tekst mod det botaniske og langsomme kaktus univers. Jeg har lige købt nye kaktuser til min stue -en

The Irresistible Domesticity of November Certain rooms in my house see more of me during certain times of the year. On a May morning when the curtains blow into the room on a rose-scented breeze, I can often be found in my bedroom, reading or writing on my chaise lounge by the four-poster bed, listening to bird song. My library, being the coolest room in the house, is where Edward and I spend hot summer afternoons, him dozing, me reading, while the southern heat melts the bright palette of springtime into a landscape of faded, impressionistic vignettes. But, November. Everyone knows to look for me in the kitchen when the eleventh month appears. Rolling out pastry, stirring thick soups, sitting at the kitchen table with my knitting on my lap as I wait for sourdough bread to rise in the pan. Perhaps it’s the faint scent of woodsmoke on the brisk, chilly wind. Or maybe its simply the colours of autumn - the hearty gold, the cheerful orange. Whatever the reason, whatever the cause, I cannot seem to resist the soul enriching warmth of domesticity in November. I turn inward, close the door and light the fire. This particular November finds me the proud owner of a brand new stove, albeit one both unwanted and unneeded until about a month ago. At the risk of revealing myself to be thoroughly and irreparably spoiled, I confess that I’m one of the lucky ones. The Songwriter makes me breakfast every morning. I know, I know, ... but it has something to do with his preference for absolute quiet when he wakes up, a state of being I seem to shatter when I rejoin the land of the living each day. As I could never be mistaken for a “morning person”, waking up to the fragrance of hot coffee already made and ready to pour is truly a treat unparalleled. Several weeks ago, fancying a bit of cinnamon toast, The Songwriter opened the cabinet above the stove and reached for a too-eager, tiny glass bottle of cinnamon which proceeded to jump off the shelf before he could take hold of it. The little thing plummeted down, down, to a tragic demise on top of the glass surface of the stove where it made a tiny, seemingly insignificant crack. Then, with a sickening slowness, like the pouring of syrup, the crack, though thin as an eyelash, began to spread - an almost inaudible pop here, a hushed little crackle there - as The Songwriter, clad in striped jim jams with a sad piece of bread in his hand, watched in silent horror. Like the shifting of tectonic plates under the floor of the desert, the entire surface of the stove slowly shattered. It took two whole minutes to complete the process and I still can’t help but giggle every time I imagine The Songwriter’s horrified face as he watched it unfold. Laughs were less frequent however, when we began to search for the stove’s replacement. We live in an old house and these days appliances are created for new ones. Like Goldilocks searching for her perfect chair, every stove was either too tall or two wide to fit in our kitchen. No showroom had one. So like most modern families, we turned to the internet where we found a big, sturdy fellow sporting a spacious oven and shiny dials just made for imaginative cooking. He fits perfectly, and with the arrival of November, he is being put to excellent use. I have made an apple pie a week for the past three weeks, one for a neighbourhood bakery auction where all the proceeds went to the animal rescue facility from which Edward and Apple were rescued, one for a beach weekend with friends, and one, made only last night, for The Songwriter himself. There have been two big pots of soup and yes, just this morning, The Songwriter finally chanced another breakfast of cinnamon toast. I’m happy to report it was both tasty and uneventful. I do highly recommend rediscovering the wonders of your own hearthside this November and to that end, I’m sharing one of my favourite soup recipes. It’s a scrumptious minestrone from my neighbour, Nancy. Delicious and healthy. Enjoy! Oh, and Edward and I are humbled, and quite tickled, by the amazing reviews of our new book! Read Art House Design's Review HERE And Splenderosa's HERE And get your own copy of From the House of Edward HERE. Be sure and put in the instructions box if you'd like the book wrapped for Christmas and shipped to a friend! November Minestrone Ingredients: 2 Teaspoons of good olive oil 1.5 cups chopped onion 1 medium carrot, sliced lengthwise and chopped. About 3/4 cup 1 clove garlic 1.5 cup brown rice ( I use a mixture of brown and red rice, with barley and rye thrown in, yum!) 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning 2.5 cups water 1 28oz can diced tomatoes, undrained 1 10 oz can of organic chicken broth 1 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise and chopped (about 2 cups) 1 15oz can cannellini beans 1 10oz pkg of frozen spinach salt and pepper to taste 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese Heat oil on medium high heat and add onion, carrot and garlic. Saute 3 to 5 minutes. Add rice and next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer until rice is done. Add zucchini and next 4 ingredients and simmer till ready to serve. Sprinkle each bowl with freshly grated parmesan cheese before serving.

The new face of domesticity is all about eating locally, cooking more and living on less. FOODday talks to women living the life.

Perfectly golden brown parmesan-crusted zucchini slices (to use up all that summer zucchini!). So crispy, so good!

Maybe you are passionate about domesticity or simply love the Stepford Wives films. Now you can be a Stepford Wife too!

Should "home ec" be brought back to schools?

These delicious treats are a fun cross between caramels and licorice. I always get compliments on them, especially from those who enjoy black licorice. — Paula Fischer, Rapid City, South Dakota

About Ninja Girls 4 A FRIENDLY FOE? As Raizô and his kunoichi continue their journey they meet Azami, a girl who persists in joining the group. She wins over Raizô with her domestic skills and kindness, but Kagari remains suspicious of this new character. Is Kagari simply jealous or is there more to Azami than docile domesticity?

I haven’t made “real” fries since coming to Canada over three years ago. And before that it must have been a year at least since I made them, and then it was the very odd time. …

I don't always want a big meaty, angsty book, or a gripping murder mystery. Sometimes I just want something charming, well written, and lovely.

Good luck getting these images out of your head.

Welcome to Best of Vegan, a digital culinary & lifestyle publication dedicated to everything plants have to offer. Get the best vegan recipes.

Uncle Ben’s products carry the image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie, said to have been the visage of a Chicago maître d’hôtel named Frank Brown.[11] According to Mars, Uncle...

What food do you turn to most often? For me, it's Chinese food whenever I am in need of something tasty or reminding me of childhood. Here my mother shares her recipe for Beef in Black Bean Sauce. This Chinese restaurant classic is easier to make than you would think with the whole production taking less than half an hour!

These colorful designs get their colorful design inspiration from ancient glassblowing techniques, their culinary inspiration from Japanese sushi, and their bright and fresh flavors straight from the woods of the Pacific Northwest.

Since May 21, the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles has been holding a free exhibit called Beauty CULTure which I’ve been dying to see and I finally found time a few weeks ago to…

This sauce is absolutely amazing! You just want to dip the tofu in that sauce and enjoy it fully.

Recipe video above. Knowing how to make Roasted Vegetables well is a life essential! For best results? Don't mix root vegetables with high moisture vegetables like eggplant and zucchini. Use smashed whole garlic cloves instead of minced which just burns. Same for herbs.And roast in a moderate rather than hot oven so they have time to sweeten and caramelise evenly!I like this mix of vegetables for colour, flavour and texture. Plus (other than the onion) they roast in the same time which keeps things simple. See recipe notes for variations, including other vegetables, herbs etc. Use this recipe for any roast-able vegetables, but separate starchy/dense from watery vegetables.

36" x 24" acrylic on canvas This was the first painting I completed for my new set of work for my solo exhibition. Stemming partly from a need to explore a night palette, as well as to represent the mood and mystery personally associated with night itself, Night Hill speaks of those still moments where our subconscious takes over. I have sat on the shores of Lake Huron many times at night, listening to its crashing waves, feeling the breeze and seeing the stars. Each time, I couldn't help but realize how small I felt alongside the universe as it stretched up and on into dark oblivion. We make up such a small part of it, despite our immense impact; mere fireflies which circle about, lighting the way before flickering out. I came across this very stagecoach at an antique shop on the side of the road on U.S. 23 one day. It was strangely intriguing to me, and I thought, why not put it up on the hill? It encompassed an ethereal almost spiritual quality, like an artifact of the supernatural realm, where all things legendary and ghostly dwell. Fire holds several meanings for me, and I often find my thoughts unintentionally centering around the concept of duality as I paint, coming to realize its steady presence at the core of my pictures. The real and unreal, history and the present, opposing emotions, endings and beginnings, nature's seasons and cycles, all of it is present there. I wanted this painting to capture night's magical quality, when the unreal feels realer than anything.

Antique & Vintage things, baking, knitting, sewing, canning & preserving, growing fruit & vegetables, family & a love of the past.

A Jelly made using a macedoine mould in my collection Perhaps the most singular culinary expression of the advance of the Industrial Revolution in Victorian Britain was the extraordinary popularity of mass-produced copper jelly moulds. By the middle of the nineteenth century the fashion for this kind of kitchen kit had accelerated into a gastronomic craze. This was the result of the convergence of two emerging phenomena - the availability of cheap factory made gelatine and the increasing use of powerful pneumatic presses to stamp out copper into ever more intricate shapes. After a hundred years of being an unloved, even despised children's party food, a jelly revival has once again recently hit the fashionable food sector. This was started about twenty years ago by my dear genius friend Peter Brears and to a lesser extent by myself, when both of us started running country house events where we recreated jellies and other moulded foods for the public using original period moulds. I also started running courses on the subject in the early 1990s. More recently, Sam Bompas and Harry Parr, both attendees of my courses who have always kindly acknowledged the debt they owe to Peter and myself, have made a career for themselves out of the genre. However, despite modern computer 3D printing technology, the moulds available to the contemporary aspiring jelly maker just cannot compete with those of the Victorian kitchen. Just look at these! A few nineteenth manufacturers designed and produced highly specialised multi-part moulds for creating very unusual jellies with mysterious internal components, such as spiral columns and pyramids of fruit. Some of these striking British designs were even admired from afar by important chefs on the other side of the English Channel. In Cosmopolitan Cookery (London: 1870), the great Second Empire French chef Felix Urbain Dubois illustrated two of these extraordinary English inventions together with recipes he designed for them. He probably encountered them in London when he was exiled there during the Franco-Prussian War. One he illustrated was the macedoine mould, a fancy copper mould with a dome shaped internal liner, both clipped together with three metal pins. Here is Dubois's illustration - This mould was utilised by pouring a transparent jelly into the gap between the mould and the liner. Once the jelly had set, warm water was poured into the liner, which enabled it to be removed. Small pieces of fruit (the 'macedoine') and more jelly could then be used to fill up the resulting cavity. The finished dish was a striking hollow jelly containing a mosaic of coloured fruit, which distorted into an abstract pattern because of the effects of refraction caused by the flutings on the mould. I am fortunate enough to own a complete macedoine mould and used it to make the jelly at the top of this posting. However, my example is a different design from that which Dubois illustrates, though in principle it functions in exactly the same way. Although macedoine moulds are extremely rare - I have only ever seen two others, which lacked their liners. My example is the only one I have ever encountered which is complete. Here are some photographs. Macedoine Jelly from above Another Macedoine Jelly made with this mould Cross section through the macedoine jelly above The chained pins ensure that the inner liner is kept stable and at an equal distance from the outer mould. Macedoine jellies were also be made in plain moulds. The striking example above is from Jules Gouffé, The Royal Book of Pastry and Confectionery (London: 1874). A large plain charlotte mould would have been used to make this. It has been garnished with jelly croutons to create the crest around the top and is surmounted by a gum paste or nougat tazza filled with real or ice cream strawberries. Although a very weak jelly with a light 'mouth feel' was used to make a macedoine, the fruit inside acted as a very strong armature which could support a decorative structure like the tazza above. Even rarer than the macedoine mould illustrated by Dubois is this remarkable and lovely version, which reminds me of a Maya pyramid or ziggurat. It has a liner very similar to the other one and makes the most wonderful jelly filled with a pyramid of fruit. I have never ever seen another in this design. A Jelly containing a pyranid of apricots made in the stepped macedoine mould above The second English mould illustrated by Dubois in Cosmopolitan Cookery (1870) is a version of a very popular novelty mould first marketed by Temple and Reynolds of Belgravia in 1850. The location of their shop gave the name to this particular dish, the most extraordinary of all Victorian novelty jellies, the Belgrave. The outer copper moulds are quite common, but a complete set with a full compliment of pewter spiral liners is a rare find. Two versions were made, the round and the oval, the latter being very scarce now, especially with liners. The liners were placed into a jelly mould which was filled with clear jelly. When the jelly had set, the liners were literally 'screwed' out of the jelly by pouring hot water into them. This resulted in a number of spiral cavities which could then be filled with a coloured jelly or blancmange. Urbain Dubois's 1870 illustrations of the Belgrave Mould An illustration and instructions for making a Belgrave Jelly from a very late edition of Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery (London: 1905) My very rare oval Belgrave mould with pewter liners Oval Belgrave Jelly made with the mould above The more orthodox round Belgrave Jelly The two most common jelly moulds which included liners to create striking internal features were the Alexandra Cross and Brunswick Star. These were designed to celebrate the wedding of Queen Victoria's eldest son Edward Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The Alexandra Cross jelly had the Danish Flag running all the way through it, while the Brunswick Star had a white Garter Star running through it, both rather like a stick of rock. Here is an advertisement from the 1890s published by the cookery teacher and mould retailer Mrs Agnes Marshall. Surviving liners are almost unknown. To make both, coloured jellies were poured into the mould in a particular order and then the liners were inserted. The rest of the jelly was poured in around the liner, which was removed by pouring hot water into it. The cavity was then filled with white blancmange. A finished Alexandra Cross jelly A finished Brunswick Star jelly Slices of Brunswick Star jelly Jelly extravaganza in Harewood House. There is an oval Belgrave jelly in the centre of the table About three years ago I manned the wonderful period kitchen at Harewood House and demonstrated period jelly making to the general public. As the jellies came from the moulds, I dressed the dining room with a typical Victorian entremet course using Princess Mary's priceless Venetian glass dessert service. Last week I was at Harewood again, this time dressing the kitchen and gallery (the most wonderful room in England) with Regency period food for a major forthcoming BBC drama production, which I will tell you more about after it has been transmitted at Christmas. I made a large number of jellies and blancmanges for this production using Staffordshire ceramic moulds made in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. To whet your appetite, here are a few photos. As you can see, the Victorians were not the only ones to have beautiful moulded foods - the late Georgians could give them (and Bompas and Parr) a real run for their money. Man in the Moon and Star flummeries made in early nineteenth century Staffordshire moulds A flummery hedgehog made in an early nineteenth century ceramic mould Pineapple flummery made in a 1790s Wedgewood mould A footman struggles with two flummery Solomon's Temples, one of my Georgian signature dishes There is a little more on these remarkable jellies here

Brown Butter Passionfruit Meringue Bars: crisp shortbread base, a layer of creamy passionfruit curd topped with easy torched swiss meringue.

This Broccoli Beef satisfies my craving for Chinese takeout but with less oil and sugar than what you’ll find at most restaurants.

Tahini, sesame seeds, honey and fennel seeds are combined to create a moreish bread. Serve with a yogurt dip and olives for antipasti heaven.

These are the perfect snickerdoodles, slightly cakey, crackly surface-d, and just enough cinnamon to make your home smell like the best place on earth to be.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Taste the history and flavours of ancient Rome by making this recipe for a divine honey-cake that was so good it was offered to the gods.

A simple take on vegan overnight oats recipe with cashew butter, chocolate chips, and a delicious cookie-dough flavour.