The Year's Best for 2010

I've just spend several hours going through my archives trying to pick out some of my best recipes that I've cooked and presented to you over these past 12 months. It was a really hard job! I never put anything on here unless it is wonderfully scrumptiously tasty! It was really tough narrowing it down to just a dozen or so! There are ever so many more tasty recipes than just these ones I am showing you at the moment . . . you'll just have to dig around and hunt for them.

I think I just gained ten pounds just looking at these! Happy New Year to you all and all the best to you in the months to come! I'm looking forward to an even tastier 2011, and I hope you are too!!

Strawberry and Mint Scones - I am fairly certain that when you bite into one of these you will be in scone heaven. The dough is buttery and short, with just the faintest hint of mint throughout. The strawberry jam is like a sweet surprise in the centre and that lemon drizzle, well . . . it's just the perfect capper! Printable Recipe

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Icing - Now these dear friends . . . are totally moreish. I think it's the lemon glaze . . . that is, well . . . the icing on the cake! (Of course the preserved ginger in syrup on the top doesn't hurt either!!) Printable Recipe

Creamy Parsnip Soup with Ginger and Cardamom - I think the hazelnut/dried cranberry garnish on this soup makes it something really special. I really hope that you will try it. I just know you will love it as much as we do. And that, my friends, is quite an awful lot!!! Printable Recipe

Sticky Toffee Cake - This cake moreishly filled with dates with a scrummy toffee icing gilding the top is just to die for. You'll find yourself getting up in the middle of the night and raiding the larder for . . . just . . . one . . . more . . . piece. Printable Recipe.

Creamy Courgette Lasagna - A tasty vegetarian Lasagna filled with lovely courgettes, lots of cheese and a spicy sauce! Printable Recipe.

Lemon and Pistachio Cake - A lovely moist and buttery cake, filled with crunchy pistachios and lemon, and topped with lucious candied lemon and lime slices and of course, some more crunchily addictive pistachio nuts. (I love, LOVE pistachio nuts!) Printable Recipe.

Creamy Mustard, Sausage and Pasta Hot Dish - Imagine little meaty bites of a well flavoured sausage, in a creamy sauce filled with not one . . . but two tasty mustards, caramelized onions and cabbage, and a rustic homestyle pasta . . . perfectly shaped to hug and soak in all those lovely juices. Printable Recipe.

Bakewell Whoopie Pies - My attempt to create a truly "British" Whoopie Pie. What could shout out England more than the good old Bakewell Tart! These tasty little cakes have all the characteristics of a traditional Bakewell tart . . . an delicious cake batter, containing ground almonds . . . raspberry jam, the almond icing on top and the glace cherry. The only thing that is not traditional is that gorgeous whipped marshmallow filling. Printable Recipe.

Fudge Brownie Pie - A fudgy mouthful of rich moist chocolate brownie . . . stuffed with toasted pecans and then topped with oooey, goooey, sweet marshmallow . . . all smoothed over with a rich chocolate fudge frosting. Printable Recipe.

Tasty Tuna Baguettes - A fantastically delicious tuna baguette! Filled with lots of lovely flavours . . . lemon, onion, celery, mayo, sweet pickle, Dijon mustard . . . Perfect Picnic Food. Printable Recipe.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Oat Bars - Deliciously oaty bars with a creamy peanut butter filling, and stogged full of rich chocolate chips and crunchy toasted walnuts. Printable Recipe.

Rice Pudding - Perfectly baked rice pudding . . . with creamy, milky, sweet rice beneath a scrummy golden buttery crust . . . a feast for the eyes, stomach and soul . . . Printable Recipe.

Beef Stew with Herbed Dumplings - The meat . . . fork tender and the gravy thick and rich and filled with deliciously simmered root vegetables . . . the dumplings . . . rich and meltingly tender on the insides . . . herbily soaking up that lucious gravy. Comfort food at it's very best. Printable Recipe.

Bakewell Scones - Yummy sweet seedless raspberry preserves, sandwiched between two scone layers made all buttery and flakey with marzipan and butter having been rubbed in . . . with a touch of flaked coconut (not traditional I know) for some added texture, and then topped with an egg wash and flaked almonds. Baked until scrummily flakey and crisp on the bottom and top and then drizzled with an almond glaze and topped with a glace cherry half. Printable Recipe.

Sticky Ginger and Orange Chops with a Parsnip, Potato and Mustard Mash - Deliciously sticky chops with a hint of warmth, atop a bed of luscious parsnip and potato mash. Scrumptious! A feast for the eyes and the stomach! Printable Recipe.

Christmas Pudding Trifle - Without a doubt, hands down . . . this has to be the most delicious Trifle ever! There is just enough Christmas Pudding in it to give you a gentle hint of spicy flavour, without it going over the top. I don't think any die hard Christmas Pudding hater would be assaulted by it in the least . . . don't even tell them it's there. They probably won't even notice what it is, and even if they do, they will forgive you because it is that delicious that they will wonder how they ever got by in life without it thus far! Printable Recipe.