Toblerone Cocktail

https://www.liquor.com/recipes/toblerone/ 

OMG, These are to die for, I first tried these many years ago and fell in love with them. They are way too easy to drink! Great to have during the silly season or anytime you want to indulge in a decadent cocktail. 

I could go hog wild with these and some nice chocolates 🤣🤣🍸🍫🍸 lock the front door and pretend no one is home. Give the cocktail a go, I guarantee you will love it. My other love is Frangelico or a drop of Glayva (pronounced Glay Vah) a delicious Scottish liqueur. 

If you like Rum Balls I have a recipe from the internet here to share. There are way too nice, I pigged out on these last year. I think I ended up making three lots, lol. 

https://psychictarotreadingwithalexfulford.blogspot.com/2022/11/rum-balls-recipe.html

Recipe: Bran loaf

 This is an old Kellogg’s All-bran recipe that was in their recipe book back in the day. My mum used to make this recipe and then I started making it in the early 1990’s . My mum swapped milk for tea and the results were amazing. Basically you need to boil the kettle as if you’re making a cup of tea. 

Put the teabag in the cup and fill with boiling water. Let the cup cool down and then add it in to the mixture. 

Bran Loaf 

1 cup caster Sugar  or brown sugar 

1 cup All-Bran

1 cup mixed dried fruit or sultanas 

1 cup of cold tea or milk

Stand for an hour then add the sieved flour. Mix the ingredients and then pour into a one pound loaf tin.

Place in the oven at 180 Celsius for 45 minutes to an hour. Test with a skewer of a knife to see if it’s cooked. If the knife or skewer is dry then it’s cooked. 

Turn onto a wire rack to cook . Cut into slices and serve with a cup of tea or coffee. This cake freezes perfectly and you can spread butter on the slices. 

Share with your family and friends and enjoy this delicious recipe.

Simple recipes are often the best and when money is tight you can still enjoy homemade cakes and cookies. Freeze them and have something on standby for unexpected guests. Bake for a school fete or whatever else to raise money. 

Google picture of the day, Scones

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scone. They date back to the 1500’s. 

I was baking scones today with dates in them, and I didn’t realise it was the Google image today to celebrate scones. I always make scones from my great grandmother’s recipe going back over a hundred years at least. Scones are great and so versatile that they always going down a treat. The recipe is easily modified to make it savoury or add fruit. 

I use self raising flour or wholemeal self raising flour recipes and on the odd occasion I make cheese scones. My mother in law was a diabetic so I often made her a batch of cheese scones. They freeze just as well as any other scones. I add a 1/4 a teaspoon of baking powder to my scones to make them lighter and fluffy. I cook them around 220 Celsius for 10 minutes ( the temperature is very important, scone require a high temperature to cook and come out light and fluffy on the inside) and most importantly I glaze the tops with a little left over egg and add a little milk to the egg to help with the browning and glaze. 

To add dates you need a cup full of finely chopped dates and the taste is magnificent. If you are having a special afternoon tea you could make a couple of different types of scones, just choose which ones will be appropriate for your afternoon tea freezing the spare scones for another day. The recipe makes 12 scones with a standard size scone cutter. 

By the way the pumpkin scone recipe by lady Flo Bejelke-Peterson is very nice, Coles supermarket makes them occasionally.

Below is the link to the recipe for my scone recipe, keeping in mind that British and Australian measurements are different to US and Canadian measurements. Always check the measurements for your own country as they do vary considerably. 

https://psychictarotreadingwithalexfulford.blogspot.com/2021/02/alexs-scone-recipe.html

Originally posted on my old blog back in 2016. 

https://alexfulfordclairvoyantmedium.blogspot.com/2016/11/alexs-scone-recipe.html

I no longer post on this old account, not everything is transferred to the new blog. 

RECIPE: ANZAC biscuits

 As ANZAC Day is approaching here is a recipe for traditional ANZAC biscuits. This came home from primary school with one of my children decades ago. I have no idea where the recipe came from, no doubt from the good old Australian Woman’s Weekly. 

1 cup of rolled oats1 cup of plain flour 

1 cup of sugar (I use brown sugar)

3/4 cup of coconut 

125 grams  (4 oz) of butter 

2 tablespoons of golden syrup ( our measurements are different to US measurements but but not sure about Canadian measurements)

1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda 

1 tablespoon of boiling water 

Combine oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Combine butter and golden syrup in a pan and stir over a low heat until melted. 

Mix soda with boiling water then add to melted butter mixture. Add to the dry mixture and stir. Place tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking trays. You can alternatively use baking paper instead of greased baking trays. Allow room for spreading. Cook slowly in oven for 20 minutes at 150 centigrade. Remove from oven and loosen when warm, then cool on trays. 

NOTE This is Australian/UK metric measurements so if you live in the US please google the translation of these measurements into your country’s measurements or the recipe won’t work out. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_biscuit. Historical account of the biscuits 🍪 

One’s old china: set of plates fit for the Queen comes up for auction

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/12/ones-old-china-set-of-plates-fit-for-the-queen-comes-up-for-auction

Gosh what a find, but what a waste, only used once and then locked up in a cupboard for years. Very delicate Just imagine dropping a piece that would be heart attack inducing.

I love nice bone china, I would imagine this is very light to touch as often the fine stuff usually is. I used to have a tea set that was my parents; which was bought in Hong Kong in the late 1950’s when my dad was in the army. This eggshell china tea set had a lithophane Japanese Geisha lady’s face at the bottom of each wide saucer like cups. The tea set was white and silver in colour with a very fine Asian countryside design in silver detail. I just didn’t have the space for this and took it to a charity shop. I went back a day later with more items and noticed the tea set was  gone. I hope that someone enjoys this , however I strongly recommend keeping this in a cabinet or it could get damaged. It may be near impossible to find a replacement for any breakages. 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/unity-japanese-tea-set-lithophane-1778800505

This is an image that is an exact match of my parents tea set. It’s called the Unity tea set. The website link  is here where I found a photo of it, for which I am grateful. So, I have discovered a little more of it’s history, I never knew the name of the tea set until now or it’s history after ww 2; other than my dad bought it for his mum originally and she then passed it on to my parents before I was born. 

Our teapot got damaged in moving house though so it was no good. I think there was a chip and a crack on the spout of the teapot. Which is very easily done due to how fragile this set is. Best advice is keeping it as a display piece and don’t use it. My parents never used their set, it was display only.

Collecting fine bone china is a lovely hobby with delightful memories to share with loved ones and is something that one can pass on to others that love and appreciate it. I love to use some of mine for an afternoon tea with scones or cake. There is nothing nicer than a cosy afternoon tea with nice linen on the table and a pretty tea set. Creating a beautiful memory and the joy in the moment of the sacred afternoon tea. 

Oh, and by the way I have my great grandmother‘s scone recipe on this blog. They freeze well and defrost in the microwave at 50 seconds. So why not plan a nice afternoon tea on the weekend with friends or family. Most importantly enjoy the experience.

https://psychictarotreadingwithalexfulford.blogspot.com/2021/02/alexs-scone-recipe.html

Are you baking using US measurements or Australian, UK standard measurements?

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit)

Well I learned something new today. I was baking dog biscuits and used a US recipe. Big mistake, I have baked since I was young and using UK and Australian recipes. This was a surprise to find out that US recipe measurements are much different to ours. I have never used to use a US recipe as I have plenty cook books though I have never baked doggie treats before. 

As I was rolling out the dough it was crumbly and not like the pictures the woman had online. Only after looking at Australian recipes did it occur to me that U S measurements are not the same so I did a quick fix on the mixture adding more water.  I then switched to an Australian recipe site and that was so much easier. Depending on what you’re cooking or baking be careful because it’s not just the quantity of ingredients but the heat setting will also be different.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit)

Take a look at this as an example of the difference in measurements. This would throw out many recipes if one doesn’t know that there are so many variables around the world in measurements. So if you happen to use a recipe from another country google is your friend before you start baking or cooking something and ruin it. A bit like dial before you dig, when watching out for underground pipes or wires 🤣🤣

For the record I think the biscuits were successful because miss Ruby has hidden some in her secret stash in the bedroom for bed time. She is good like that, on the odd occasion I find doggie treat’s under my pillow. 

Rum balls recipe

 I decided to make rum balls as they are popular at Christmas. The one that I used to buy are no longer sold. So a Google search and hey presto! This recipe is brilliant, the demo lot were eaten over two days and that was with some restraint. I am not very good at restraint with goodies 🤣🤣🤣

Give this recipe a try, I guarantee you will love it.  I have made another batch using cherry brandy and a 150 gm packet of glacé cherries which we put through the blender and then added to the mix. You can either use coconut flakes to dip them in or, cocoa powder or even chocolate hundreds and thousands. Yummy! Enjoy 😊 

https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/rum-balls-recipe-4/dc2ghlf0

PS, this is Australian measurements. You may need to adjust to your country’s measurements unless you’re in the UK. 

Alex's Scone Recipe

I had this recipe up here  for a few years and I don't understand where its gone. Gremlins must have wanted it because its a really good scone recipe that was my great grand mother's on my fathers side, which has been passed down the family.


I am not one of those foolish people that refuses to share a recipe, to me that is a very immature thing to do. Unless it is a business such as a restaurant having a signature dish. That is understandable but home cooking, meh!


1 lb or 3 metric cups of SR flour
1 tsp ( level) Salt
3oz   80gms Margarine/ Butter
1 Egg
1 TBL Spoon Castor Sugar
1/2 pint or 1 1/4 cup of Milk


Pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda to help make the scones light and fluffy ( I tend to use a bit more than a pinch)


Method:

Beat egg in a cup and put aside a table spoon of the egg and a little milk to use in glazing.
Mix flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl then rub in the margarine or butter.   I USE OLIVE SPREAD and that works fine.


Add the beaten egg and the milk and mix into a dough. Roll out  to a thickness of 1/2 and inch
on a floured surface, to prevent the dough sticking to the surface. next use a scone cutter to cut the size you want. Then place the scones onto a greased tray and glaze the tops with the left over egg and milk mix. Bake in a very hot oven for around 10 mins. I use the electric oven at 220.  As 180 degrees does not help them rise properly.

Makes about 12 or 13 if you use the medium sized cutter. I don't even bother using the rolling pin these days if I am in a hurry , I just pat the dough with the palms of my hand.

You can add sultanas to the scones or use wholemeal flour if you like. If you want to make cheese scones, just omit the sugar. Then add 3 to 4 oz / 80 gms of tasty  or Cheddar cheese.

Scones freeze well and can be toasted too, under the grill. If defrosting either leave them to defrost at room temp or microwave them for  about 20 seconds.  I find the microwave alters the taste of food so, I don't use it too often.

I hope everyone enjoys these lovely scones. share the recipe far and wide that's what its there for.



Update, Just checking my stats and it is lovely to see the scone recipe is very popular. It is nice to go the full bit and get out the  nice table cloths and fine bone china.


There is nothing I love more that going all out with the linen napkins, and the full china service, right down to the little miniature serving spoons for the cream and jam.



Copied from my old blog, originally posted 4 November 2016