I Have Mince Lip

You might ask why?

Or maybe what is she talking about now?

Well, last night, I was tucking into a sin-free dessert. A fruits of the forest ice lolly with a ice cream centre. It had to be fake ice cream. The lolly was only 26 calories, 1g of fat and full of fresh fruit. I felt very virtuous eating this as a snack!

I slid the crinkly paper of the lolly as I walked from the kitchen and then I touched this sin-free delight to my lips, with great anticipation.

.....and that is when it happened. The most horrible sticky, burning sensation. I shrieked and ripped the lolly from my lips and indeed ripped is the right word to use.

Pain? Yes!

Mince lip? Yes!

I have seen cartoons, where some foolish creature is too curious by half and ends up with it's tongue stuck to something cold and icy, but hey, that's a cartoon right, it doesn't happen to us sensible, normal folk, does it? Well think again!

It was a steep learning curve, let me tell you! One that ruined my enjoyment of watching a soppy romantic movie with my husband, who had no sympathy at all and just rolled about the sofa laughing! Gee thanks Graham!

Mince Lip!

(of course I had to finish the lolly to take the swelling down!)

Easy Strawberry Ice Cream

This is the strawberry ice cream that I served up with a slice of hot fudgey chocolate cake, the one I got from Anne. Let me tell you, it was a slice of heaven on a plate!

Easy Strawberry Ice Cream

500g pot good-quality vanilla custard
600g strawberries, hulled and sliced
50 - 100g caster sugar (depending on sweetness of strawberries and custard, you may not actually need any sugar)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
a squeeze of lemon juice

Whizz up all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Then transfer the mixture into an ice cream machine. Churn until it begins to firm up. How long it takes will depend on your machine, I know my ice cream is done, when the paddle starts to rotate the opposite way, although you can tell by the texture. So, when the ice cream is velvety, transfer it to a container and freeze until you are ready to serve it.

If you are churning by hand, pop into a container and freeze for about 90 minutes until it starts to freeze around the edges. Stir well, then repeat the process twice more until the mix is smooth and frozen.
















This really is a cheat's ice cream, as the custard is already made. It just makes the process so quick from start to finish and when you have a eureka moment like I did, when I decided to eat some of that fudgey chocolate cake, hot with ice cream, then it is just what you want. It is a good store cupboard standby for last minute guests too!

Spinach and Mushroom Linguine and the Name Saga

You may have noticed a slight change to my details. When I started this blog two years ago, I made the decision to use an alias as my screen name. The whole venture was a scary one to begin with and it felt like I was sharing so much, which was an unfamiliar feeling indeed. I plumped for the name Holler in tribute to a lovely little children's book called Ruby Holler. I became more at ease with blogging after a while and could have reverted to my own name, but I had become comfortable and quite fond of my alias. However, I think it was becoming a little confusing for those of you who know me quite well now, switching between the two names and so Jacqueline it is from now on. But, enough of that! Let's get back to the food!






















Spinach & Mushroom Linguine

1 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
250g mushrooms sliced
100g baby spinach
½ cup vegetable stock
½ cup single cream
1 handful fresh basil
black pepper

freshly cooked linguine
black pepper
parmesan
a few basil leaves

Lightly sautee the mushrooms and garlic in the olive oil until the mushrooms are soft. I like to add black pepper to my mushrooms as they cook, but you can wait until the end to season. Add the spinach to the pan, before adding the stock. Leave to cook gently for a few minutes and then add the cream. Next add the basil leaves. You may leave the sauce on a gentle heat until the pasta has finished cooking and has been drained, then pour the pasta into the pan and coat well with the sauce before serving. Top with a grind of black pepper, a sprinkling of parmesan and a few basil leaves.

Serves 2

This is our favourite pasta dish at the moment. I am trying to limit it's appearance on the table to once a week, because of the cream, but we do love it and it is difficult to resist!

I am entering this delicious dish into this week's edition of Presto Pasta Nights, which is hosted by Kitchenetta over at Got No Milk.

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Just a quick note to say that the round-up for this month's No Croutons Required is up and running over at Lisa's blog, be sure to have a look and vote for you favourite entry.

Fudgey Chocolate Cake

I have this recipe thanks to a really sweet girl and a lovely new friend - Anne from Anne's Kitchen. Anne made this fudgey chocolate cake back in December, but I only discovered it after spending a happy couple of hours browsing through Anne's archives. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make it and it certainly didn't disappoint.

I met Anne over at The UK Food Bloggers Association.





The UK Food Bloggers Association (UKFBA) was founded in 2007 by Julia Parsons, a British Food Blogger who writes the blog 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'. Julia set up the association to create a community for the growing number of food bloggers in the UK to network with, get to know, and help and support each other.

The association also enables food bloggers from around the world and people from outside of the food blogging world to connect with the British food bloggers. It's the first point of call to find out what's hot and happening from the people with their fingers on the pulse of the British food scene.

To begin with Julia set up a blog, where British bloggers could post and chat. She also set up a foodie forum, but the latest edition to the UKFBA is a social networking site that is a bit like a facebook for food bloggers.

There was, at my last count 253 members and it has attracted support from UKTV Food, Mat Follas, the 2009 winner of Masterchef, food presenter Lotte Duncan, the New Covent Garden Food Company and my favourite vegetarian cook & food writer Celia Brooks Brown. It really is well worth a visit and I hope some of you will join up.

But enough of the preamble and on with the recipe.














Fudgey Chocolate Cake

100g butter
175g caster sugar
75g brown or muscovado sugar
125g dark chocolate
1 tbsp golden syrup
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder


Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.

Place the butter, both sugars, chocolate and golden syrup in the pan and melt gently on a low heat until it is smooth and lump-free.

Remove the pan from the heat, break the eggs into the bowl and whisk with the fork until light and frothy.

Add the eggs, vanilla extract or essence, flour, baking powder and cocoa powder to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.

Put the mixture into the greased and lined cake tin and place on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool for 20-30 mins before cutting into wedges and serving.

I served my chocolate cake warm with homemade strawberry ice cream. It was divine! Although it is also good to bite into cold with no frills. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Strawberry & Blueberry Fruit Soup

The thought of a chilled berry soup for dessert is very appealing, especially now that berry season is just beginning here. I decided to use my favourite berries in this dessert soup. Bluberries and strawberries. The strawberries are still a little tart, so I added some honey to my soup.

This is such a delicious, yet guilt-free dessert, so you can serve it with a light heart and a thankful waistline.




















Strawberry & Blueberry Fruit Soup

12 large strawberries, hulled
½ cup blueberries
1 large pear, peeled and cut into chunks
½ cup water
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tbsp honey & extra to drizzle
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon & extra to sprinkle
Greek Yoghurt to serve

Whizz up all the ingredients apart from the honey. Add this towards the end, tasting as you go. How much you need, will very much depend on how sweet your berries are, but it is nice to leave a little tartness to this soup.

Serve in bowls with a dollop of thick Greek yoghurt. Drizzle some honey over the yoghurt and sprinkle on a little extra cinnamon.

Serves 4

Preemio Blogger Award

I am feeling very chuffed today! I had a lovely day out with Graham and my parents in Perth and then I got home and found out that Vanessa over at Mommy Gourmet has kindly presented me with a Preemio Blogger Award. Yay!

I hope you all pop over to Mommy Gourmet and say hi to Vanessa, who has some really tempting dishes on her blog. There is the Greek Yoghurt & Potato Salad, which sounds really delicious, the Cashew & Butterscotch Cookies, which I am desperately craving, the gorgeously simple Bluberry Crisp and Vanessa should get an award for the most amusing post title for her I Finally Have Great Buns post. I am not even going to tell you what that was all about :)

.... and now the catch! There has to be one doesn't there? Well as recipient of this award, I have to tell you 7 random things. You will just have to grin and bare it, if you want to know who I am passing the award on to!

1 I think I have fallen in love lust with the actor that plays Edward in the film Twilight. This is the picture I have as my screen saver just now. Shhh! Don't tell Graham!

2 I am eating greek yoghurt with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkling of berries for my breakfast, now that Spring it here. It is so, so good!

3 It really gets on my nerves when people gnaw their way through an apple. Just bite it already!

4 This year I have planted oregano, basil, apache chilli peppers, mint (boxed in, I know how it can get out of hand), rocket, rhubarb (probably too early, but it is a hardy beast I am told) and petunias.

5 Graham and I are having Pasta salad tonight. I made it yesterday and it is most yummy. Penne pasta, sun dried tomatoes and a little of the oil they are in, chunks of mozzarella, baby plum tomatoes, pesto, a splash of olive oil and black pepper. We are going to follow that with a few slices of juicy honeydew melon. My mouth is watering in anticipation!

6 Last Sunday Graham & I went hillwalking with our walking group. We walked scrambled up to the beautiful Loch Brandy.


I managed to half break the walking stick that Angie loaned me and by the time we had fixed it, everyone else was halfway up the hill. It nearly killed us trying to catch up with them, but the views were stunning once we got up there.

7 I just finished reading The Tree Shepherds Daughter by Gillian Summers.

It is the story of Keelie, a Californian girl who loves shopping, manicures and hanging out at the mall with her friends, that is until her mom dies and she is shipped of to live with her dad, who lives a hippy life working in a medieval festival. There are people with pointy ears, a cat in boots, the trees are trying to talk to her and everyone wears geeky medieval clothes (Keelie's description not mine, I quite like medieval clothes)!

It was a really good read, in fact I read it in a day. I hope I can get my hands on the next book in the trilogy soon.


Done, over, phew!

So now it is time to pass this award and meme along to some other peeps, who truly deserve an award for their lovely blogs.

1 Anne (Anne's Kitchen) - Anne's completed meme

2 Dana (Dana Treat)

3 Elyse (Elyse's Confectionery Creations)

4 Lysy (Munchkin Mail) - Lysy's completed meme

5 Pia (The World According to Pia)

6 Arundathi (My Food Blog)

7 Soma (eCurry) - Soma's completed meme

Red Lentil, Carrot & Coconut Soup

I needed some comfort food. I was feeling so, so tired yesterday. I turned to my old favourite - soup! I wanted a creamy, thick soup, so I decided to use lentils. I added lots of carrots for a lovely sweet flavour, then spiced it up with some turmeric and chilli and finished it off with a little coconut milk. As usual this recipe makes a large pot of soup. I never see the point in making a small amount, as soup tastes so much better the next day and it can always be shared around or popped in the fridge or freezer.

Red Lentil, Carrot & Coconut Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cm piece fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp chilli powder (up this if you want a hotter flavour)
8 carrots, chopped
2 large potatoes, chopped
3 pints vegetable stock
2 cups red lentils
½ cup coconut milk
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 large handful fresh coriander, chopped
salt
pepper

Saute the onion, garlic and ginger in the olive oil until softened, then add the carrots and potatoes before stirring in the turmeric and chilli powder. Cook gently for 10 minutes, add a splash of water, if the vegetables feel like they are clinging to the pot. Add the red lentils and the stock then simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree & coconut milk and stir until the puree has dissolved. Stir in the coriander, then whizz up half of the soup. It is always good to have some chunks of vegetable in your soup. Stir the blended soup back in and then season.

Serves 8

Chocolate Maple Muffins

These muffins originally started out as Maple Cupcakes. They were adapted from a recipe for Vegan Maple Cupcakes I got from Ricki over at Diet,Dessert & Dogs.

I basically added chocolate to the recipe,which changed the texture of these cakes, so they were more of a muffin than a cupcake and the maple flavour wasn't so strong. Good all the same!

So here they are...


Chocolate Maple Muffins























½ cup milk
½ tsp cider vinegar
½ cup pure maple syrup
1⁄3 cup sunflower oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1⁄3 cups plain flour
1⁄3 cup sugar
1⁄3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fine sea salt

Preheat oven to 180c/350f/GM4.

Line 12 muffins cups with muffin cases.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, vinegar, maple syrup, oil and vanilla until well combined. Set aside while you measure the dry ingredients, for at least 2 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar and salt. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and whisk just until combined (do not over mix).

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until a tester inserted in one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Makes 12