This week I finally bottled my Sloe Gin, its been slowly maturing  since October 2010.

I also had some Raspberry vodka that needed bottling too !

Of course both needed sampling and they are thick sweet and syrupy 🙂

Now these bottles have been stored away and the Sloe Gin I made in 2009 has been bought out for Christmas.

I have been told to try Sloe Gin and champagne , its a bit like a Kir Royale.

Perfect for Christmas day !

Alas next year there will be a break in tradition as I never made any this year 🙁

No British Christmas is complete without a classic Christmas Cake, and last week I finally found time to make mine.

This year I used Delia Smiths Classic Recipe.

Yesterday was stir up Sunday…..Stir Up Sunday is traditionally the day the pudding is made, about five weeks before Christmas and associated with the last Sunday before the Christian season of Advent.

I would love to make my own Christmas pudding using the recipe that Geoff’s mum used to use but although I think about it every year, I just never find the time.

The fact that it takes 8 hours to steam kind of makes it hard for me , which is a shame as I think Christmas Pudding is the best part of Christmas.

Decided to have a change from making my usual Muffins.

So experimented last night with a plain Cup Cake recipe that had a cream cheese topping

I filled the topping with chocolate drops too.

They were such a hit that none made it to Cambridge 🙁

It was funny that Matthew should like the cake stand, ssoo much, I was not allowed to store the cakes away.

The cake tins are here with me in Cambridge and hopefully I shall make some more today 🙂

I really should buy another set of tins then its another thing I wont have to carry back and forth along the A10

An ideal day to try my new mini muffin baking tins out 🙂

So I baked 36 mini Blueberry muffins, to share with our walking group.

Geoff even bought me 45 little gold cases to bake them in.

I also baked them using my coconut massage oil, which has huge health benefits.

They were well enjoyed and the group found it very funny that I had made them with my massage oil

and I made a special BIG Muffin for Geoff 🙂

As Geoff had been away for most of January, I had no one to cook for, so on his return I was delighted to do some cooking.

Friday I made the lovely warming Butternut Squash and Ginger soup.

Saturday it was a slimming world cod gratin, which was delicious.

Sunday I tried a new recipe that had caught my eye in the Daily Mail.

Moroccan Mushrooms served with couscous.

It was a very tasty, Low fat, vegetarian dish, easy and economical to make.

So it ticked all my boxes and was enjoyed by all 🙂

The recipe can be found here.

When we are over in Les Gets we always have Thierry and Gail over for a Cheese fondue.

Last night we did not break with tradition 🙂

To make the cheese fondue I followed this recipe

1. Rub the pan with Garlic.

2. Add 1 glass of wine per person.

3. Add grated cheese slowly ( 250g per person ) stirring continuously

4. When smooth add 1teasp of potato Starch.

5. Add a glass of kirsch.

As well as using cubed bread to dip into the fondue I tried a diced Apple and it was delicious, I would imagine grapes would be good too.

A request was made by Emily for a very vegetable dinner on Saturday evening.

A typical student away from home missing her fresh fruit and vegetables.

After going through my Slimming world recipes i decided a Vegetable Lasagne was just the answer.

The sauce is made from milk and Fromage Frais which makes it a far healthier dish than your normal lasagne.

Here is the recipe

1 aubergine
2 courgettes
1 red and 1 yellow pepper
4 garlic cloves
3 tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary
2 level tbsp cornflower
2 level tsp mustard
7 fl oz skimmed milk
7 oz/198g very low fat fromage frais
500ml carton passata
lasagne sheets
parmesan cheese

I also added a fennel  🙂

Heat oven to 200 c / 400 f / gas 6

chop all vegetables and place in a roasting dish with the crushed garlic and rosemary.

spray with fry light and roast for 30 mins

meanwhile make the sauce.

blend the cornflower with the mustard and  3 tbsp of the milk.

bring the remaining milk to the boil and stir in the cornflower mixture.

heat for 1 or 2 mins until sauce thickens

remove from heat and stir in the fromage frais then season to taste.

remove vegetables from oven and stir in the passata.

spoon half the vegetables into an oven proof dish then cover with lasagne and half the sauce.

repeat this , then sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and bake for 30 mins.

serves 4 and 3 1/2 sins per portion.

Even i was amazed at how delicious this dish was, it could easily be served to friends,they would never no it was a slimming world dish.

Glad to say it was enjoyed by all 🙂