Key Lime Pie

I made this desert for my guest as it was her favourite , I have never had this before let alone cooked it up. I used a recipe from the back of the tin of confessed milk, it was a Jamaican brand so the pie was a little different to what my friend had eaten before , still yummy.


The piping bag went in the bin as it was rubbish!

Enchilada (vegetarian)

Another recipe from Ree's book A Mexican dish ''Enchilada'' again it was my first time having this dish. I had a friend over for a few days and we shared the cooking so she made the main meal and I made desert. Oh her being a vegetarian we used soya mince.

Corn Bread and Pinto Beans

I tried out some Sothern Food from Ree book. It was my first experience of Southern food if I be honest.

Corn Bread and Pinto Beans



A very simple and delicious meal ..........spicy too. you can find the recipe for this in Ree's book.

Spring break and all things new

The children have had school holidays for spring, the weather picked up a little but still chilly cold at times, I have managed to mow the lawn (if you can call it that, that's my bald patchy grass I am taking about and not my skill of mowing) and part furnish the garden but still have not been able to sit outside and soak up the sun as of yet, soon I am hoping. I erected the outdoor airer so maybe I may just hang the washing outside today, I will see how the day unfolds.
We finally took part in the earth hour a few weeks ago but I forgot to photograph as I was too busy having fun. The children liked it and we told a one word story and had some chocolate treats during it.

It's been a while since I started writing that post and only just back to finish it. The last few weeks and more have been testing to say the least but alhamduilah, I am still here to tell the tale. Sometimes in life we have that comfy chair that has a soft cushion and when we sit in it daily we feel secure and safe. Content and happier sitting each day out with this comfort. Then one day the cushion is taken away and our comfort and security are no longer the same. We feel down , we feel stressed and times are going to be a little hard on that chair until one day we will be able to get that comfy cushion again.

Random Pictures in the form of gifts

WIP crochet

I have not been doing as much crochet just lately as I would like too. Since starting University my time is divided even more alhamduilah.
Here is a little look at what I am working on right now,


I decided to buy some of the sturdy looking yarn recommended, Debbie Bliss Eco Cotton but then i was knocked back by the price of these yarns. I wanted to make the trio but could not manage the cost of 8 balls of 50g Eco Cotton so i purchased 2 from ebay , still much more than i would normally spend on yarn. I am making the medium sized one.


I made a grey rose brooch for a friend

I sewed some beads onto it , can you see them?


This was an experiment using multi colours to see if the layers of petals showed better?

The pattern for this rose can be found here

Lemon Meringue Tarts

I have always wanted to try to make meringues and lemon tart as I know my dh is a great fan of tarts (the edible type that is!). So when I saw this and knowing I had lemons in my fruit bowl I headed for the kitchen.

I have never really been a fan off lemon tart or pie as it is always to citrus and tangy. Now once I had made mine and it was hot out of the oven I had two naughty slices right away. What a delight to my taste buds, tantalizingly tangy but not over bearing. You have got to try it inshaAllah!


I did not have the mini tart cases for baking so I made a big one and my meringue needs some work................it really took ages to whisk but it looks like it needed more but this didn't effect the taste at all.

‘Chrik Constantinois’

A very interesting , bursting of flavour kinda treat. I saw this first here which lead me to here

Which then lead me to produce these



The only thing I did different was to add orange essence as I did not have any fresh oranges at home.

Thank you Heni and Umm Ibrahim for these delights!

can you help

I have lost that recent commet thingy that goes in my sidebar so i can see where recent comments are published to which post. I want it back does anyone know how?

Chocolate pancakes

My daughter had exams and to get her set off for the day, brain food. She told me her teacher at ''eat lots of chocolate'' at 10pm Sunday evening and i said, ''Why did you not tell me soon i could have got some in?'' In Algeria they tell you to take a spoonful of sugar on the morning of the exam so sweetness and a link to brain activity seems evident. Well i was not about to let my dd go deprived so i thought up the perfect

Exam Breakfast

Just your basic pancake recipe and add some cocoa powder or as in my case some drinking chocolate.
For the pancake mixture:
110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
50g/2oz butter
To serve:
icing sugar (powdered)

and the results are this , everyone had breakfast that morning!

Kerla Curry

Bitter Gourds otherwise know as Kerla

I will update the recipe soon.