The Vesper Cocktail. Yes. This is the James Bond drink. Shaken and not stirred. We will not be getting all sniffy about shaking it in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice, this is the drink he ordered, this is the drink he gave exact instructions for, this is the drink we are going to make, [...]
Nelson’s Blood Cocktail is a champagne cocktail unlike any other: champagne is used to celebrate the man’s victories against the French, port for his spilt blood, rum because he was a sailor, brandy because it preserved his body on his last voyage home, and a slice of Spanish orange, because his last battle was fought [...]
A cocktail is a mixed drink containing two or more ingredients and originally meant only a mixture of distilled spirits, sugar, water, and bitters, although the word has gradually come to mean almost any mixed drink containing alcohol. A cocktail today usually contains one or more types of liquor and one or more mixers, such [...]
Do you want the best tasting winter-spiced Hot Chocolate Drink ever for Christmas, having been disappointed before in other recipes? Then this is the one for you. There are no words adequate enough to describe just how delicious this hot toddy drink is on a winter night in the holiday season. For this special season [...]
This is a wonderful tasting, modern citrus version of a mulled wine, perfect for Christmas; it easy to make, and can be made ready on the day it is to be served. If, however, you would like to make an authentic Medieval Mulled Wine, this type of mulled wine is best made several months in [...]
This Chocolate Brownie recipe, like our Hot Chocolate Puddings recipe, is the real thing; they are definitely not your average Chocolate Brownie. If you ever felt you and your friends or family really deserved a treat or reward, or it is a very special occasion, then this is what you should make. Buy bars of [...]
From at least Medieval times salt was mixed with saltpetre, and other ingredients such as sugar, honey, pepper or juniper berries, to carry out the processes of preserving pork. Dry Cured Hams are the hind leg of a pig that have been salted, then air-dried to ‘cure’. This is done using a curing compound, (consisting [...]
When you hear that jam can be made in 20 minutes, any jam, in twenty-minutes, you might well be skeptical … by saying it even I feel like a snake-oil salesman trying to convince you that rubbing on this lotion will miraculously make you live longer. But its true, any fruit, any jam, in 20 [...]
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a great tasting recipe, and certainly a modern British ‘classic’, (alongside Jam Roly-Poly and Spotted Dick puddings) capturing for many the childhood memories of growing up in the 20th Century. Some say Sticky Toffee Pudding was developed in the Lake District in the 1960′s while others claim it is from an [...]
Scones are a great treat at tea time, (once served at 4 pm sharp) and quintessentially British. While the English have taken credit for their popularity, this is a dish which all regions of Britain enjoy, and have a history with. The simple scone is thought to have originated from Scottish Quick Breads, (baked on [...]
These Victorian, regional Cherry Turnovers are a speciality of Buckinghamshire in southern England, where wonderful, local Cherries are grown in many private and commercial cherry orchards. They have a light pastry top and bottom, and ripe, tangy-juicy cherries in the center. Cherries have a very short growing season if you are after picking your own; [...]
Blackberry Jam is a real treat on toast in the mornings. It has a unique, and easily recognisable flavour amongst jams, with its sweet-sharp dance on the tongue and deep berry taste. To help the jam set, (adding in extra pectin) the recipe uses one brambley apple and a small amount of fresh apple juice [...]
Many people’s favourite jam is strawberry, and with good reason, this fruit lends itself to jam making, and is wonderfully delicious when eaten on a fresh piece of buttered bread. Collecting the fruit is a great summer time family day out and the return on the labour by having your own home-made jam to eat [...]