I Made Rocky Road ♡

What you will need:

250 – 300 g of Chocolate (for melting)

2 – 3 tbsp of Golden Syrup

150 g of Mini Marshmallows

300 g of Digestive Biscuits

150 g of butter

Medium Sized Baking Tray

Anything else you would like to throw in like cherries, raisins etc. (I wasn’t so keen)

What Next?

Smash up all of your digestives into reasonably small pieces (I used a sandwich bag and a rolling pin).

Melt the chocolate, butter and golder syrup altogether in a pan or (I used a bowl sitting on a pan of boiling water ).

Add the digestives and once it is all mixed up and the digestive biscuits are covered in the chocolate mixture tip it in to your baking tray.

Spread the mixture out into the corners of the tray and pat down firmly.

Pop your tray in to the fridge for 2 hours to set.

Once set, cut it up into sizes of your choice.

AND THEN EATT!! 🙂  Enjoy folks!

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Sarah

xxx

Plain Scones – Topped with Jam!!

What you will need..

Milk – 150ml/5 fl oz (have a little left to glaze the scones)

Self Raising Flour – 225g/8oz

Caster Sugar – 25g/1oz

Butter – 55g/2oz

Pint of salt (optional)

Utensils – Baking Tray,  Bowl, Scales, Measuring Jug and a Spoon

[nut free recipe]

Make then Bake…

Grease a baking tray with butter

Heat the oven to 220C

Rub the butter into the flour and then mix in the sugar (add a pinch of salt).

Add the milk to make the dough (knead a little).

Sprinkle a little flour on your hands and roll the dough in to soft smallish (2cm thick) balls – try and get them all the same size!

(this was my technique, however you can knead all of the dough together and then cut out equal circles)

Place the balls of dough on to a baking tray and pat each down slightly with the back of a spoon.

Glaze each ball with a little milk.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golder brown.

Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes on a cooling rack.

Spread with any topping that you please – I chose Raspberry Jam (You can also add fresh cream – delicious!)

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Happy Eating!

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Simple Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe…

Prep: 30 mins

Cooking: 15-20 mins

Serves: 12 Cupcakes

You will need…

110g/4oz butter

110g/4oz caster sugar

2 free-range eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

110g/4oz self-raising flour

1-2 tbsp milk

12 medium sized cupcake cases

Prep…

Preheat the oven to 180C

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale. Beat in the eggs a little at a time and stir in the vanilla extract

Fold in the flour, adding a little milk until the mixture is of a dropping consistency. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are half full and place them on a baking tray

Bake…

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean

Leave to cool for 10 minutes

Once cooled, add your icing or a topping of your choice.  I used ‘Cake Décor, Two Colour Stripes Cupcake Frosting – Strawberry and Vanilla’ (I was pretty bad at applying the icing neatly but at least it tasted great!)

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Happy Eating!

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Sarah

X

Scottish Tattie Soup Recipe…

My Granny’s recipe for Tattie Soup is so simple and delicious so give it a try…

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 1 hour and a half

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The Ingredients You Will Need (Serves 4/6)

1/2 X Turnip

6 X Carrots

1 X Onion

6 X Large Potatoes

3 X Chicken Stock Cubes

3 X Pints of Water

Pinch of Salt

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What you need to do…

Peel and chop all of your veg into small cubes

Bring your water to the boil in a large pan

Add a pinch of salt

Add all of your veg into the pan

Add your stock cubes

Boil all of the ingredients for about an hour and a half (until your veg is soft)

 You can either mash your veg in the pan or blend it in a blender

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes

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Enjoy !!!

 

 

My Top 10 Tips on dealing with a serious food allergy…

1. If you are prescribed an Epi-Pen, take two wherever you go. You have no excuse, when your life is on the line.  I tend to keep mine in a pocket in my handbag so it’s not easily lost with the rest of my belongings and really just so anyone can locate it easily if necessary.
2. Learn how to use your Epi-pen. Teach all your family and friends on how to use it correctly when required.  I have noted the instructions below:
   1. Pull off blue safety cap
   2. Hold orange tip approx. 10cm from outer thigh and jab firmly into outer thigh (listen for click)
      • DO NOT PRESS THE ORANGE TIP with your finger as if the pen is upside down you will inject yourself in the finger – the orange tip is to press against the thigh which automatically forces the needle into the thigh.
   3. Hold firmly against thigh for 10 seconds 
   4. Dial 999 – ask for ambulance and state ‘anaphylaxis’
3. Unfortunately you are rarely ever 100% risk free of having an allergic reaction so make sure all of your friends and family are aware of the seriousness of your condition. I never stop going on about my allergy to all of my friends!
4. Do not let your food allergy stop you from doing normal things. Just take a sensible approach! An allergy specialist once told me you are more likely to be ‘hit by a bus than have an allergic reaction if you are sensible’ about it (I know it’s dramatic, but it’s true!)
5. If you are going out for a meal, avoid places that use your allergen in most meals if possible, for example with me being allergic to nuts I do not tend to eat at a Chinese, Indian or Thai restaurant. In my opinion, it’s just not worth the hassle and the effort the chef would have to put in to making sure your dish is allergen free would be a nightmare and time-consuming.
6. When you go out for meals, always explain your allergy to the waiter/waitress or chef. Never risk not telling them.  If the chef is aware of your allergy then they will do their best to avoid cross contamination and will make sure that your dish does not contain your allergen.  I tend to use the line “I can die if I consume a trace of nuts” which tends to emphasize the seriousness of my allergy!
7. The dreaded ‘we cannot guarantee statement’ is the words we all hate as allergy sufferers. If a restaurant is doing their best to accommodate my allergy then I will eat there, even if they say ‘we cannot guarantee’ as you have to understand that they are trying to avoid you suing their business which is understandable if they are a small.  So if they are doing their best to help then I don’t see it as a problem and you are usually safe.  There are new EU laws on food labeling which came out in December 2014 forcing food businesses to label their food and menus correctly emphasizing the allergens.  So, I have been hearing the ‘we cannot guarantee’ statement a lot less recently.   Also, always ask for an allergen menu if available – many places now provide these.
8. If for some reason, a restaurant will not cater for your allergy or they are not being very understanding about it (which does happen), then leave. It’s not even worth it.
9. Grocery shopping takes probably twice as long as the average shopper when you have an allergen to avoid.  Start to create a list of all of the products that do not contain your allergen.  This will speed up your grocery shopping.  However, I still recommend you always read the ingredients list as they can change. The best thing to do with grocery shopping is to get raw/fresh ingredients and make your dishes from scratch, however if you’re like me and rarely cook meals from scratch, creating a list of products which do not contain your allergen is beneficial. Again, now with the new EU legislation encouraging food businesses to emphasis allergens, ingredients lists are much easier to read.

10. Travelling abroad with an allergy involves a whole new list of tips and advice! The most common problem when travelling with an allergy abroad is the language barrier and the lack of allergy awareness in some countries.  My main advice would be to be prepared!  Get allergy translated cards, explain the seriousness of your condition to everyone necessary, inform the hotel you’re staying at, find out where the nearest hospital is and create a plan of action if you were to have an allergic reaction.

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The Anaphylaxis Campaign has a great website on allergies: http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/

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I hope these tips help anyone with a serious food allergy!

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Sarah 

X

A Great Chain Restaurant…

So I’m addicted to going to the Zizzi Ristorante (Zizzi’s) in Aberdeen’s Union Square Shopping Centre.

The service is faultless, their food is great for a chain and they have a very well written allergen menu which is easy to understand – important for allergy sufferers.  It’s the only place where I feel safe eating a dessert!!

Also, they always have good offers available if you go on to their website prior to going.  Even at times when there are not suitable offers available, their prices are very reasonable!

Go on to their website to check out their offers – http://www.zizzi.co.uk/offers 

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P.S. They have the most amazing Chocolate Melts for dessert!