Author Archives for Emily Davenport, Head of Dairy Diary

About Emily Davenport, Head of Dairy Diary

Head of Dairy Diary; I'm passionate about producing high quality products that our customers will cherish. I'm also a mum of three and I enjoy cooking, walking, gardening and painting with my family, as well as printmaking (when I find the time!)

Father’s Day Food

Father's Day recipes

As you will probably know, Sunday is Father’s Day. Unlike Mothering Sunday, its origins are uncertain.

It is believed to have begun in the state of Washington in the USA in 1907, when Sonora Smart Dodd wanted to recognise the efforts of her father after her mother died giving birth to her sixth child.

As her father’s birthday was in June, she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebrations on the 19th June 1910.

In 1972 the President, Richard Nixon, established that Father`s Day (by signing a congressional resolution) would be held on the third Sunday in June each year. Many countries have followed this tradition including Great Britain.

How will you be celebrating?

My children are lucky enough to enjoy Father’s day with their dad in Majorca as we are jetting off on our holiday on Friday. I am sure he won’t object to a picnic on the beach followed by a cool off in the sea to celebrate his special day – and he certainly deserves it!

So, for my dad we are going to postpone for a week and then I am going to treat him to some delectable dishes. These are my Father’s Day choices.

Don’t forget to get the children involved in the preparation. It will make it even more special!

I hope your dad or other half enjoy them too.

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Pear & Ginger Trifle

A quintessentially British dessert with a twist

Pear & Ginger Trifle recipe

Pear & Ginger Trifle

This Pear and Ginger Trifle recipe is a must! It is a twist on the classic trifle flavours and incorporates ginger cake, pears, cider, custard and cream. So easy to make and so delicious – it will become a firm family favourite! A Dairy Diary recipe. For more delicious recipes visit the Dairy Diary Recipe Collection.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE


Beef & Mushroom Casserole

Beef & Mushroom Casserole with Garlic Bread Crust

In this delicious recipe, the garlicky buttered crust contrasts with the full-bodied beef stew. This tender Beef & Mushroom Casserole with Garlic Bread Crust is so tasty and warming. A Dairy Diary recipe. For more delicious recipes visit the Dairy Diary Recipe Collection.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

How to Attract Butterflies to Your Garden

Butterfly

It was National Butterfly Awareness Day on Saturday, which got me thinking about butterflies and how to attract them to the garden.

I used to have a gorgeous cottage garden full of butterfly-friendly well established plants, including a huge buddleia they loved. The garden was always full of flitting butterflies but this new one – which was devoid of everything except a dilapidated pond – is pretty empty.

So! I am now on a mission, not only to get the garden looking lovely but also attracting butterflies too.

But what to plant? The Eden Project has these tips:

To attract butterflies, it helps to start off by encouraging caterpillars to breed. Believe it or not, caterpillars are fussy eaters. If they don’t have the right type of leaf to eat, they’d rather starve than vary their diet with another leaf. Plant caterpillar-friendly plants and they’ll lay their eggs on these particular leaves (and not your cabbages), happily transforming into butterflies.

These plants are a caterpillar’s delight:

  • Dutchman’s pipe – look out for Pipevine swallowtail butterfly
  • Milkweed – look out for Monarch butterfly
  • Black eyed susan – look out for Great spangled fritillary butterfly

Plant a garden awash with colour
Plant in clumps of colour, as this will gain butterflies attention more than isolated flowers. Butterflies are particularly attracted to pinks, purples and yellows so think pink flowering clematis, the aptly named butterfly bush (buddleia), rosemary with its beautiful blue flowers, and lavender.

Create a butterfly sunbed
Did you know that butterflies need to be between 28-38 degrees celsius, and that they struggle to fly when they’re too cold? That’s why butterflies love sunbathing on large flat stones that have spent all day absorbing the sun. In your garden, it’s really helpful if you leave a few flat stones around in sunny south facing positions sheltered from the wind to give them a nice warm resting place.

Avoid using nasty chemicals
Most of those harmful chemicals that get rid of garden pests also get rid of butterflies. Instead, try coir compost. It’s naturally insect and pest-resistant, while encouraging your plants to grow healthily. Coir is a wonderfully sustainable product, as it’s made out of the inner coconut husk – a by-product that would usually be thrown away.

Luckily, I LOVE lavender, and I shall be planting this in abundance.

I might even edge the lawn at the front with it so it engulfs you with its aroma as you wander past. I’d better done my gardening gloves and get planting!

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Brie & Chive Omelette recipe

Brie & Chive Omelette recipeA quick and easy classic omelette

Serves 2
Time required 10 mins
Per portion:
434 Kcal
36.1g fat (17.2g saturated)
Suitable for vegetarians

Eggs 4
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chives small bunch
Butter a knob
Brie or Camembert 110g (4oz)
rind left on Potato wedges (optional)
mixed salad to serve (optional)

1 Break the eggs into a bowl and lightly beat with a fork until just mixed. Add seasoning and use scissors to snip the chives straight in – you are aiming for about 4 tbsp of the chopped chives.

2 Heat a frying pan, add the butter and when it sizzles, shake the pan to swirl the butter around. Reduce the heat a little and pour half of the eggs into the pan. Move the pan around so the eggs are spread out evenly and cook for 1–2 minutes until the omelette is beginning to set.

3 Snip the cheese with scissors in rough cubes over the omelette. Leave on a low heat for 30 seconds, then, using a spatula, fold one-third of the omelette to the middle, then the other third over and slide it onto a plate. Repeat to make a second omelette.

Serve with the potato wedges and mixed salad, if using.

Recipe taken from Take a Box of Eggs, Dairy Cookbook

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Diamond Jubilee Recipes

Afresco dining in the peak district

Having just enjoying a bite to eat in the sunshine, I am getting all fired-up about alfresco dining.

To be honest, if you are sat in dappled sunshine, overlooking a beautiful view, with the birds twittering (in the old fashioned sense of the word!) above, you can eat almost anything and it tastes delicious.

Enid Blyton was right – food
really does taste better outdoors!

We have lots of opportunities to eat outdoors during the next fortnight. Let’s just hope the infamous British weather is kind to us.

I don’t think anyone can possibly have failed to notice the impending diamond jubilee.
In fact, you would need to have lived in a rabbit warren with your ears full of cheese for the last six months to have missed it! Though much hyped, whether you are royalist or not, I think it is a great opportunity to get together with friends and acquaintances and – for once – just relax and enjoy a good chat, whilst dining alfresco.

We are lucky enough to have been invited to our friends’ jubilee party (so we don’t have to do the clearing up afterwards!) and I am already picturing what I am going to cook.

I will definitely be making white chocolate cake pops dipped in blue and red sprinkles for the children. I can’t go wrong with a sponge cake (I might do coffee) topped with buttercream, strawberries and blueberries to reflect the Union Flag.

I’m also thinking about some potato skins with a trio of dips – a soured cream (white) and a salsa (red). I am just stuck for inspirations for the blue. I might have to cheat and opt for blue cheese, even if it wouldn’t look very blue!

Win Baked & Delicious baking books with silicone bakeware.
PLEASE do let me know what you are planning for your jubilee celebrations. Post your pictures on our Facebook page. We have a set of our new baking books (with silicone bakeware) for those who post the best pics.

It’s also National Barbeque Week this week
This gives us another excuse to get out in the garden. Or you can do what we did last weekend and escape out to the beach or countryside with a portable barbie.

We sat supping a glass of red, roasting sausages overlooking the stunning Peak District, it was idyllic. Just make sure you find a big stone on which to balance your barbeque so that you don’t scorch the grass!

Have a wonderful extended weekend, whatever you may do!

Here are some gorgeous jubilee recipes for you to try. For the traditional red, white AND blue, add a few blueberries too.

Summer desserts recipes

Strawberry Pavlova

Honey Blancmange

Summer Pudding

Berry Tart

All these – plus many more – traditional British recipes can be found in the new edition Dairy Book of Home Cookery available NOW!

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