Tag Archives: Dairy Diary

Tomato Scones

Simply irresistible, serve hot from the oven with a little cheese

Makes 12
Time 20 mins
Calories 133 per portion
Fat 5g of which 2.7g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Self-raising flour 275g (10oz)
Salt ¼ tsp
Butter 50g (2oz)
Dried basil 1 tsp
Tomato purée 1 tbsp
Milk 275ml (9fl oz)
Egg 1, beaten
Sesame seeds 1-2 tbsp
Cherry tomatoes and Cheddar cheese to serve, optional

1 Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Place flour and salt in a bowl. Rub butter into flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2 Add basil, tomato purée and milk and half of the egg and mix to a soft but not sticky dough.

3 Roll out on a floured work surface into a rectangular shape about 2cm (¾in) thick and cut into 12 x 5cm
(2in) squares.

4 Place on a greased baking sheet, brush tops with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 10 minutes or until well risen and golden.

Serve with tomatoes and cheese, if using.

A Dairy Diary recipe.

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The joy of tents

Anyone who knows me will tell you that although I am not a high maintenance woman, I do like my creature comforts.

So, it has taken many months of persuasion from all members of my family and friends to entice me to give camping a go.

The fon of camping The deciding factor was our friends buying a new tent. My husband’s immediate reaction to this news? “What are they doing with their old one?” Indeed.

So, last Friday I was home alone trying to pack for a completely alien experience. Me: ‘The Novice Camper’ forgot pillows, and towels, but did take fully packed swimming bags so covered myself. I did take proper wine glasses, which weren’t entirely practical, and all my winter layers which were (thanks Kathryn!).

The outcome? A very pleasant weekend thank you very much.

It was all the more alluring as the sun shone the whole time, quite a rare occurrence for the Peak District in July! Will I go again? Yes, another weekend is already in the planning stage for August.

What have I learnt to improve my trip away? To buy a sturdy table for my wine glass to sit safely on, and to research a good, easy to cook, quick outdoors meal to take with us. Last time it was meatballs and pasta, this time I may try the Brie Burgers from page 131 of the 2011 Dairy Diary as they won’t even require plates to wash. Perfect!

Enjoy your week.

Karen
Dairy Diary Team

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Raisin Parkin

Perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.

Makes 20 squares
Time 1 hour 10 mins
Calories 120 per portion
Fat 4g of which 2.2g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Plain flour 175g (6oz)
Oatmeal 50g (2oz)
Bicarbonate of soda 1½ tsp
Ground ginger 1 tbsp
Brown sugar 75g (3oz)
Butter 75g (3oz)
Golden syrup 50g (2oz)
Black treacle 50g (2oz)
Egg 1 medium, beaten
Milk 150ml (¼ pint)
Raisins 110g (4oz)

1 Preheat oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3. Grease and line a 20cm (8in) square cake tin. Mix together flour, oatmeal, bicarbonate of soda and ginger.

2 Gently heat sugar, butter, syrup and treacle in a pan. Add egg and milk and mix together. Beat in dry ingredients then stir in raisins.

3 Pour into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour until firm to touch. Cool in tin, then cut into squares.

A Dairy Diary recipe.

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National Family Week

Another bank holiday, and half-term already. So a good time for National Family Week.

I’d never come across this before until a friend put me wise. Apparently, it started in Canada but is held in the autumn there, around Thanksgiving time.

There’s a website, address below, and you can have fun with the online magazine, Family Time – it’s set out like an actual magazine and you use the mouse to turn the pages. Plenty of ideas there about what to do with the kids and grandkids, as there are in this year’s Dairy Diary, pages 44-47, with some more websites to look at for inspiration.

Visit (www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk)

Barbecues usually go down well for a family get together

They can involve everyone, ‘cos the fellas usually take charge of the grilling, but at the moment the weather doesn’t seem to be very obliging.

All that wonderful sun in April and now we have the wind and the rain – not enough rain to avoid having to water the garden, at least in the southeast, though!

Again in this year’s Dairy Diary, there’s an interesting BBQ Sauce recipe to try on p.119, including rhubarb, which I love, and a more-ish (and quickish!) sounding trifle with pear and ginger on p.105.

The thing with barbecues is that you can usually put them on at short notice, and anyway you can always wrap up warm if it’s chilly, or be stalwart Brits and carry on in the rain, unless it’s torrential.

If push comes to shove, we can always move inside. I think I’ve just talked myself into it!

Have a great week and let me know how you get on with the BBQ Sauce
.

Marion
Dairy Diary Team

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Food waste and compost!

Several months ago, the council gave us all a brown plastic container for food waste, to be collected at the same time as the rubbish and the recycling.

Actually, they collected it the first week and then seemed to forget about it, but they’ve got into the swing of it now!

Some brown bins seem to be overflowing; for families with children that’s not too surprising, I suppose.

There’s just two of us, both non meat eaters – no bones or fat to get rid of – so we haven’t used ours much yet. Near enough everything bar cooked food (not much of that gets left) and fish goes in the compost. And this being national vegetarian week, there’ll be no fish to worry about either!

National Vegetarian Week

This gives us a good excuse to get creative with veggies and maybe try a few new ones. Dishes with aubergine and mushrooms as a base are quite substantial; spinach and chickpeas go well together; squashes and sweet potatoes are lovely just roasted, and any tomatoey sauces can be livened up with grated ginger or finely chopped mild chilli or garlic – or all three!

There are some lovely recipes in this year’s diary to try. Cheshire pasties make a meal. Broccoli soup is delicious, and cauliflower crisp. They may even persuade the kids that these somewhat unloved vegetables are not really that bad after all.

For a really versatile dish try Sweet Potato and Pepper Omelette from Good Food, Fast. It’s good hot or cold and takes just 30 minutes to prepare and cook.

Marion
Dairy Diary Team

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The bluebells are fabulous this year

We’ve just spent a few days in Cornwall and the bluebells and primroses were just gorgeous.

So was the ice cream – I’ve never come across so many different makes in such a short stretch of waterfront, and all award-winning!

We loved Roskilly’s organic, and Kelly’s with clotted cream was hard to resist, so we didn’t try.

It’s a time for treats, though, isn’t it, what with Easter and then the wedding. No street parties that I’m aware of around our way but I expect most people will be watching on TV – well, most women anyway. Fascinating to see what everyone’s wearing, apart from anything else.

I thought I might bake a fruit cake for the occasion – my Cornish sister-in-law used to go on about how easy ‘boiled cakes’ are to make and I see there’s a recipe for one on p.101 of this year’s Dairy Diary – Rich’s Fruit Cake.

Could make it into a real treat with a dollop of ice cream – now I’ll have to search out an award-winning one, though.

Enjoy the wedding day.

Marion
Dairy Diary Team

P.s. The wonderful weather continues, so this is the perfect time for gardening. Fancy winning a copy of Seasonal Garden Ideas?

To enter simply complete the form on our website www.dairydiary.co.uk/competitions.html and don’t forget to “Like’ the page for an extra chance to win!

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Dairy Diary Chat

Tag Archives: Dairy Diary

Tomato Scones

Simply irresistible, serve hot from the oven with a little cheese

The joy of tents

Anyone who knows me will tell you that although I am not a high maintenance woman, I do like my creature comforts.

Raisin Parkin

Perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.

National Family Week

Another bank holiday, and half-term already. So a good time for National Family Week.

Food waste and compost!

Several months ago, the council gave us all a brown plastic container for food waste, to be collected at the same time as the rubbish and the recycling.

The bluebells are fabulous this year

We’ve just spent a few days in Cornwall and the bluebells and primroses were just gorgeous.

Don’t miss exciting competitions, new recipes and exclusive offers!

Dairy Diary Chat

Tomato Scones

Simply irresistible, serve hot from the oven with a little cheese

Share this:

The joy of tents

Anyone who knows me will tell you that although I am not a high maintenance woman, I do like my creature comforts.

Share this:

Raisin Parkin

Perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.

Share this:

National Family Week

Another bank holiday, and half-term already. So a good time for National Family Week.

Share this:

Food waste and compost!

Several months ago, the council gave us all a brown plastic container for food waste, to be collected at the same time as the rubbish and the recycling.

Share this:

The bluebells are fabulous this year

We’ve just spent a few days in Cornwall and the bluebells and primroses were just gorgeous.

Share this:

Don’t miss exciting competitions, new recipes and exclusive offers!