food

The Courtyard Cafe, 11 Hatfield Road St Albans

Anjie Davison — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:16:06 -0600

On Wednesday morning I went to the Courtyard Cafe, with my friend Sue, it's located at 11 Hatfield Road, next to St Albans Museum. The cafe's decor is charming, right up my street, an eclectic mix of old and new. We had tea and coffee and home made cakes, beetroot and carrot. I must recommend it, it has a lovely atmosphere and the staff are very friendly and welcoming.

Home Grown

Anjie Davison — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:01:21 -0500

It might not look like the most exciting salad picture in the world but I grew it! The lettuces in window boxes have been a big success. It's easy to control the pests and when you want a salad just open the window and pick a few leaves. I haven't bought a lettuce for weeks. Highly recommended. The tomatoes I am growing in hanging baskets and pots. The one in the picture is my first crop, I'm sure it will taste better because I grew it! I hope.

Institute of Directors Conference

Anjie Davison — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:28:07 -0500

Ashley was invited to the Institute of Directors conference today, held at the Albert Hall. The conference had lots of inspirational speakers but what really impressed Ash was the packed lunch they were given, I'm impressed too!

Wagamama 2 for 1 Voucher (valid until the 5 April 09)

Anjie Davison — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:18:12 -0500

Ash and I had lunch at Wagamamas yesterday. If you want a 2 for 1 meal just download the voucher here and present it before your meal, and If you order their green tea it's free. The voucher expires on the 5 April 09. We had yaki udon (teppan-fried thick noodles with chicken and prawns)

Banana Cake

Anjie Davison — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:25:04 -0600

This recipe is great if you want to use up very ripe bananas

Oven temperature 180C (350F, Gas 4)
Grease a 20cm (8in) deep round sprung cake tin

125g/4oz of butter
185g/6oz caster sugar
2 eggs
185g/6oz self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 small very ripe mashed bananas

In a mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar.

Beat in the eggs one at a time

Beat in mashed bananas

Sieve flour with bicarbonate of soda and fold into mixture

Pancake Day

Anjie Davison — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:43:50 -0600

I made pancakes!

Fantasy Chocolate

Anjie Davison — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:15:13 -0500

I bought this bar of chocolate the other day. We were trying to guess what the fantasy flavour was. We have tried lavender chocolate and chocolate with a hint of chili both very nice in their own strange way. All three of us thought the fantasy flavour was rose, a bit like turkish delight. A close look at the packaging in the smallest writing, under the words milk chocolate, it whispers CARROT. No way! Not in a million years would we have guessed carrot. Whose fantasy is that? But it was nice!

Yorkshire Curd Tart Update

Anjie Davison — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:39:22 -0500

I tried the Yorkshire curd tart recipe, it worked out well. Making the curds was a new experience and you need 2 pints of full cream milk, like Jersey, to make the amount of curds for this recipe. I feel a bit like little miss Muffet with my curds and whey, I now want to know what to do with the whey.

A Recipe for Yorkshire Curd Tart

Anjie Davison — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:07:57 -0500

When we go to Yorkshire we always bring back a Yorkshire curd tart, they are delicious. I have found a recipe for the tart that sounds authentic so if you never get to Yorkshire you can still try this delicacy. Making the curd doesn't sound too difficult I guess it's a bit like cottage cheese. The photograph is a bakers shop in Bridlington.

INGREDIENTS
250 g (8 oz) curds*
2 eggs; beaten
125g (4 oz) caster sugar
60 g (2 oz) currants
Small knob of butter; melted
A pinch of grated nutmeg
250 g (8 oz) short crust pastry

Italian Market

Anjie Davison — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:59:36 -0500

As well as the usual Saturday market in St Albans there was the added bonus of an Italian market. Here are photos of some of the produce they were purveying, a little taste of Italy.