#30 TURKEY SPINACH+FETA CORDON BLEU

I never know when I fancy to make a proper meal, there are days when I want something good but I just can't think of anything and there are days when I just can't be bothered. But you all know what I mean. sometimes the ideas just don't come and you're like "god I really want to make something good and spend some time in the kitchen, but I just don't know what". And I guess lately I've been in that kinda mood quite a lot, so I was surprised when the other day I actually had an idea. it was one of those ideas that come to me when I know I want to make something, I stand in the kitchen and look at what ingredients I have and then it just comes to me. It's like when I sing and sometimes there are just words coming to my mind and I have no idea why but they sound good. But they usually don't make as much sense as my food does, so I'll stick with that.

So that specific day I was standing in the kitchen and we had some spinach with feta left because we used it as a filling for pasties the day before (I'll get that recipe up too, they were delicious!). and my mum had bought some turkey before, and well rice is always there, couldn't live without it. So there I was filling the turkey with spinach and feta cheese and believe me it turned out better than I thought it would. So I had to share the recipe with you, it's really easy too and you'll love it!

Turkey Spinach+Feta Cordon Bleu
for two
2 turkey schnitzel
spinach
feta cheese
salt

if you're making rice with it, you might
want to start by cooking that.

then, you flatten the turkey pieces as much
as you can so they don't take as long
and stay juicy. cook the spinach
(or if you are using frozen one, warm it
up). Cut up the Feta and mix it with the
warm spinach. add salt.

You then take about 1 1/2 tbsp of the mixture
and place on one half of the schnitzel.
fold it over and fix it with three toothpicks.

if you like lemon, you can marinate them
in some lemon juice for a minute and then
roll in some flour.

heat oil/fat in a non sticky frying pan and
once it's hot add the two cordon bleus.
fry for about 6 minutes each side
(you might have to cut into one to
see if it's done, might take a little longer
depending on how thick it is.)

(you can then put it in some tinfoil
and leave it to rest for a bit)

to serve, leave it whole or cut it in half.
Serve with the rice and enjoy!

Magdalena.

NEWS + STUFF

hey everyone,

well lately I've mainly been posting pre-prepared recipes and posts simply because after the holidays I had to get back to uni work and study for some upcoming exams.

I hope you enjoyed the recipes anyway and they were some kind of inspiration for you. i want to thank all of you who stopped by to read them and also for all the lovely comments I've received.

I am still studying for some exams at the moment so I won't be able to write any "fresh" posts, but I still have some lovely recipes written down which I really want to share with everyone, so I will do that in the next 7 days. 
About a week from now I will be going back to the UK and there I will definitely have time to work on some more posts for all of you, probably some reviews of some lovely restaurants/pubs and I will definitely be trying out some great recipes aswell. I will have my wonderful food photographer with me again (you can find him here) so expect some really nice photography on here too. Also I really want to add some new categories to my blog, because I know a lot of you like my recipes but sometimes it's just nice to read something else food related, so I have some ideas in my head and I'll let you know what I come up with in the end. Also if any of you have requests for certain recipes or for new things you'd like to see on here, just leave me a comment below, I would love to get some inspiration from all of you. (If you haven't noticed, I've put a poll up there for all of you to vote, still leave me a comment with your ideas please)

So I'm hoping to hear from you and I promise you'll hear from me again soon.


Magdalena. 


PS: I've also asked a question on facebook about what you like to see on my blog, find my page here and answer the question.
and today I have reached 100 followers on twitter (I know that's nothing actaully) but I want to thank all of you anyway, you can find my twitter @lullabyforpies

#29 RASPBERRY + LEMON MUFFINS

Well as some of you might now, I'm quite late posting this because I actually made it for my kind of birthday get together with my friends. But as I already mentioned on facebook and twitter I did prepare a lot of these recipes before going back to uni a few weeks ago so that I could still post while being busy studying and going to lectures. I hope you guys don't mind and you enjoy this lovely muffin recipe. It's actually kind of summer-y but I like to deny that it's winter and especially with all the snow outside I can't wait for it to be summer and spring again. So this is something for spring/summer of course, but also something to cheer you (and your friends) up on a snowy/cold day.

So I had people over the other day and I always expect myself to make something lovely for when I have friends coming over. And it's a good way to try new things and see what people think about it. Most of the time they do.

So that day I decided to make muffins. But what muffins?
Well we all know and love blueberry muffins, but I had some raspberries in the freezer and I thought well, why not try that. So I made up this recipe for some lovely fruity raspberry muffins, added some lemon zest to make it even fresher and fruitier.
And it worked! Even I was happy with how they turned out and I am not usually happy about things when I try them for the first time. But I loved them and my friends loved them too. And that's why I want to share the recipe with all of you.

They're really easy to make and as usually with muffins it doesn't take that long either. they're perfect for a little sweet snack when you're having friends over or are invited over somewhere. I hope you love them as much as I did. I can't wait to make some again sometime soon.

Raspberry + Lemon Muffins
for 12 Muffins
150 g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
20 g sugar

250 g flour
80 g sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 lemon (zest)
3 eggs
100 g butter (melted)
150 ml buttermilk

first if you are using frozen raspberries you'll want to
take them out of the freezer and mix them with
the sugar (20 g) and either leave to defrost
at room temperature or heat in a pan over low heat.
but make sure you take 12 raspberries and leave them
aside (1 for each muffin).

mix all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, vanilla sugar,
salt, lemon zest, baking powder) together in a big bowl.
melt the butter and mix all the liquid ingredients
together aswell (make sure the butter isn't too hot
when you mix it with the eggs, they'll
denaturate otherwise).

carefully mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ones
to make a smooth dough. you'll then add the raspberries
with the sugar and mix well. you'll get a slightly pink
dough out of this. now put the dough in the fridge
and leave it to rest for about 15 minutes at least.
(you can preheat the oven while doing that, or just
leave it to rest for longer.)

preheat the oven to 180°C and butter your muffin tray
or put paper muffin cups in it.

fill each each muffin case with about two tbsp of the
mixture. that's where you get back to those raspberries
that you have set aside, put one on top of each muffin
and push them in about half way (as you can see in the
picture below).

bake the muffins for about 20 minutes.
you can eat them warm and cold. they're great and fluffy
either way.

Magdalena.

#28 LOVELY LOVERS PASTA BAKE

This is the perfect dish for a lovely meal for two. It's simple and really fun to make together. I love making this with my boyfriend and it always reminds me of him. 

I know it doesn't seem like the most romantic dish but it kind of is. It's great if you want to have a kind of romantic dinner and enjoy it with a bottle of wine (even though I don't like wine too much) or if you want to just have a night in and watch some films and chill. It's an elegant dish but still very relaxed if you want. 

Lovely Pasta Bake
for two (or more)
pasta
250 g tomato sauce
1 glove of garlic
2 slices of streaky bacon
1/2 courgette (grated)
1 mozzarella
salt

To make it quick, simply start by cooking the pasta.

While it's cooking, you can grate the courgette and chop
all the other ingredients into tiny pieces.
Get a pan and heat it and add the bacon for it
to get crispy. Add the garlic and stir fry for
a bit (make sure the garlic doesn't get brown).
Then add the tomato sauce and some salt to taste.
Set it aside and preheat the oven to 180°C.

When the pasta is done, mix the sauce with the pasta
and add the courgette (you don't want to add it
earlier for it to stay as fresh as possible).

Pour it all in an oven proof dish and garnish with
slices of mozzarella.
put in the oven for about 10 minutes and serve hot.

you can garnish it with some parmesan cheese.

enjoy!

Magdalena.

#27 QUICK MEAL: VEG CURRY

Since it's monday again, here's another quick meal for all of you who are busy but still like to enjoy fresh and beautiful food. And not the same thing everyday.

So here's something I came up with the other day when I myself was tired after uni but still wanted something lovely to eat. I wanted something healthy with vegetables and colours and since I love rice I would have rice with anything.

I had this can of coconut milk left in the cupboard and thought that it would be perfect to just make a little curry with all the colourful vegetables I had in the fridge.

I also added a bit of mango I found in there and it made it really fruity and great. 

It worked out really well, it was really quick because you can make the curry while cooking the rice and the vegetables don't need that long because you want them a little crunchy anyway. 

Lovely Veg Curry
for two

1/2 courgette
1/2 onion
1/2 red pepper
1/4 mango
brokkoli (about the same amount as the other veg)
1 small can of coconut milk
garam masala

rice
butter


for it to be a quick meal you'll want to make the rice
first. so heat a bit of butter in a pan and use
a mug to measure your rice.
once the butter is melted, add the rice and stir it.
fill the mug with warm water (twice) and add
the water to the rice.
lower the temperature to the lowest you can
and leave it for about 10-20 minutes (depends on the rice)

to start with the curry, simply chop all the veg
and the mango into whatever size pieces you like
(wouldn't make it them too small though).
in a pan heat up some coconut fat or whatever
you like to use and stir fry the veg for about 2 minutes
over high heat.
add the garam masala and stir fry for a few more
seconds.
then add the coconut milk (and if you want
you can add some veg stock aswell)
and lower the heat and leave it to simmer
until the rice is done.

add some salt and whatever else you like
and enjoy your fresh quick meal!

Magdalena.

#26 QUICK MEAL: BABY CALZONE

Everyone loves Pizza right? Well this is another version of it I really love and it's great because you can do so many things with it.

It might not be the classic quick meal because yes you'll have to prepare the dough, but all it takes is waiting time you can use to study or work or whatever else you fancy doing. 
Plus, and that is something great really, you can make more than you are going to eat that day and put them in the freezer to have a very quick but still homemade meal another day. One more thing you can do is to just eat it cold and take it to uni or work the next day, it's a great snack and since I like to put a lot of veg in it it's not even that unhealthy. And let's face it, an unhealthy homemade snack with local ingredients is still a lot better than some sandwich from wherever.

Also, if you fancy making some more, they're great party food for a buffet or just as snacks if you're having people over for drinks. I always like to serve pizza-y things because people always love them and you can make loads of different ones without much more effort. brilliant!


(find a recipe for my Pizza Dough here: http://lullabyforpies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/my-pizza-dough.html)

Mini Calzone
for two

for the dough
250 g all purpose flour
7 g sachet of dried yeast
200 ml lukewarm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt

for the sauce
1 can (250 g) tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey
2 gloves of garlic
1 twig of rosemary

for the filling
(you can use what you want, I'll just give you some
suggestions)
1/2 courgette (finely cut)
mozzarella cheese
basil

or maybe try...
1/4 aubergine (finely cut)
parmesan cheese
ham or streaky bacon

you'll start with preparing the dough,
sieve the flour on your worktop and
make a well in the middle and add the
salt to the flour.
mix together the water, yeast, sugar and olive
oil and carefully pour into the well.
take a fork and carefully work the flour into the
liquid. once it's all mixed you can knead the dough.
add some more flour if needed and make a smooth
dough. put it in a bowl with flour
and leave to rest for at least 1 hour.
to make the sauce, chop the garlic intorough pieces. 
heat up the oil in a pan and
add the garlic and the rosemary.
leave it for fry for about 1 minute then
add the balsamic vinegar and the honey
and lower the temperature.
after about 3 minutes add the tomatoes and
cover the pan and leave to simmer for about
10 minutes.
before using it, take out the rosemary and puree
the sauce (even when you've used pureed tomatoes.)
to make sure it's all smooth and lovely.
add some salt to taste.


now to make the calzone, preheat the oven to
180°C and prepare all the ingredients you want
in your calzone. roll out the dough to a circles of
about 10 cm in diameter.
place them on a baking tray with baking paper.
take about 1 tbsp of the sauce and spread it all
over the circle.
then take the ingredients you prepared and
arrange on one half of the circle.
take a bit of water and wet the outside of the circle
for the halves to stick together.
fold the circle in halves to make your calzone.
bake for about 10 minutes.

enjoy!

Magdalena.

#25 QUICK MEAL: BUTTERY SAGE PASTA

The other day I just couldn't be bothered spending a long time in the kitchen plus the creative side of my mind was obviously switched off and the fridge didn't have too much to offer either. But lucky enough there are some things that are always there and some things that always work together perfectly and only take a short time to put together to a lovely meal.

I love that we have all those herbs on the balcony (well at this time of the year, they are not on the balcony technically) and they just make every meal a lot better and they are healthy too. And in this meal the sage is what gives the thing its lovely taste and makes it an easy (I admitt it's not too healthy) and quick meal which is a lot tastier than just pasta with butter and cheese.

Buttery Sage Pasta with Parmesan
for two
Pasta (I used linguine)
4 sage leaves
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp lemon juice
salt
grated parmesan cheese

cook the pasta.

melt the butter over low heat (remember,
butter doesn't like high heat, it gets brown
and bitter) and add the sage leaves (no need to
cut them first) and leave over low heat for
the butter to taste like sage after.
add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
then take off the heat.

mix the pasta with the butter and serve with
grated permesan cheese.

yum! enjoy!

Magdalena.

#24 HOME PUB MEAL

So this is a meal I made a while ago for a football sunday by myself.

I really enjoy watching football at the pub when I am in the UK and since I couldn't get the atmosphere I thought I could at least try and get the pub food.

And well this is what I came up with, I thought it would be a little boring to just make normal chips so I kind of made something up myself and I made some chicken in breadcrumbs myself which was really lovely. I also made a simple sour cream sauce with some herbs, it's really light and also extremely easy, just use sour cream or greek yogurt, and add some herbs and salt. done!

So I thought I'd share this with you in case you fancy something homemade for a holidays football day, whether it is just for yourself or you share it with some friends. I hope you enjoy it.

Pint O'Chicken Schnitzel Bites
for two

400 g chicken
1 egg
breadcrumbs
flour
salt
oil or coconut fat

simply cut the chicken into small pieces (basically
as big as you like). season them with some salt and pepper.
you'll need three little bowls, one for the flour, one for
the breadcrumbs and one for the egg.
light beat the egg with a fork in one of the bowls.
pour some flour and breadcrumbs into the other two.

heat some oil or fat in a non-sticky frying pan.

take one bit of the chicken and put in the flour first,
cover it all over and then put it in the egg, make sure it is
all covered in egg too and then put in the breadcrumbs.
when it's all covered, put in the frying pan and 
fry on one side until golden, and do the same on 
the other side.

do so with all the chicken bits.

Pint O'Special Chips
for two

3 big potatoes
2-4 tbsp flour
salt
nutmeg

this is really simple and lovely. 
start by peeling the potatoes and then grating them.
to the greated potato, add salt, nutmeg and any other
spices you'd like. 
add some flour to help it stick together.

heat some oil or fat in a non-sticky frying pan
and with a spoon make little pieces of the 
potato mixture and place in the pan.
fry on both sides until golden.

yum!

Magdalena.

#23 CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE AND GNOCCHI

So this is something that just came to my mind one day. Mainly because my mum had bought some mushrooms and mushrooms are that kind of thing that I only ever think about making when they are already in the fridge. Same with gnocchi really.

I love mushrooms and I love gnocchi but they are both not really the first things that come to my mind when I think about what to make for food and well, as you probably all know, sometimes we don't have time to think much further than to the first thing.

But then again, sometimes we should and that day I did and it came to my mind that gnocchi would work really well with some chicken and a lovely creamy mushroom sauce. So in a way those things really fit together very well. in many ways.

Chicken with Mushroom Sauce and Gnocchi
for two

250 g chicken breast
(lemon, flour)
8-10 mushrooms
3 slices of streaky bacon
1/2 onion
parsley
150 ml cream
gnocchi

if you like lemon, marinate the chicken in some
lemon juice while you prepare everything else.

chop the bacon into tiny pieces and heat it in a pan.
(without any oil).
chop the onion and add it to the bacon.
chop the mushrooms into chunks and add them to the
pan when the bacon begins to lose its fat.
fry everything until the mushrooms start to lose
water. lower the heat and wait until the water
has disappeared.

once that happens, add the cream and salt to taste.
chop the parsley and add it to the sauce.
leave to simmer over low heat.

you can now heat the water to cook the gnocchi.
meanwhile, heat some fat in another pan
and fry the chicken.

the gnocchi don't take long and the chicken bits
only need about 4-5 minutes aswell.

serve everything together and enjoy!

Magdalena.

BACK IN UNI

Hey everyone,

So over the past two weeks I had a lot of time to cook and to bake and to share everything with you. but now I'm back in Uni and I am glad to be back but it also means that I won't have as much time to share everything with you. but as always, I'll still be cooking and baking and taking pictures of it and writing down my recipes. so I'll definitely share those with you come february and the next break.
In february I will be back in the UK too and I'll have some more british recipes to share with you and I'll also be able to review some more places hopefully. and I'm looking forward to going back to my favourite Crêperie in Cardiff, they have some new wonderful creations I've heard and I owe you all a review of these don't I.

So until then, I have some posts prepared for all of you so that you'll have something to read while I'm busy studying. I hope you enjoy it and please keep giving me feedback I am really grateful for everything.

And also, I'll keep you updated about what I'm doing and cooking on my Facebook and Twitter so follow me on there and you'll know what I'm up to.

Thank you all for reading my blog. 


Magdalena.

#22 QUICK MEAL: FETA VEG

Well I'm back in uni tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it actually, the only thing I'm not looking forward to is not being able to post as much anymore. But lucky for you and for me I have prepared some recipes so that I can still post while I'm busy studying. 

And being back in uni or work comes with not having enough time to cook properly, or so you think. But here's another one of my quick meals to make it easier for all of you working or studying.

It's another quick meal especially for all of you who like to eat vegetables but sometimes don't know what to do with them.

Because sometimes you just want some fresh food but just roasted vegetables are a bit too boring or just not the right thing. Well at least to me that happens sometimes.

I absolutely love feta cheese, it's amazing in greek salad but you can also do many more things with it. Just like I did here, use it to spice up your vegetables a little and make simple roasted veg into a lovely mediterranean meal.

I had it with rice but it is also really lovely with pasta, potatoes or just by itself if you want to avoid carbs.

Feta Veg
for one person

1/4 courgette
1/4 red/yellow pepper
1 tomato
1-2 slices of feta cheese
a few basil leaves
(you can also use aubergine or any veg you have)

simply cut all the veg into equally sized pieces
(that way they will be ready at the same time)
heat up a pan with olive oil or coconut fat
and fry the veg for about 3 minutes.
cover the pan for about 5 more minutes and the
veg should be done.

cut up the feta cheese and serve the veg with
whatever side dish (or without) you like.

enjoy!

Magdalena.

#21 FONDUE/BBQ SAUCES

So these are some sauces I made for new year's eve when my friends invited me over for fondue. I volunteered to make the sauces because I wanted to try some new things and I really enjoyed it, the beauty about them is that they're of course not just for fondue but for a BBQ or whatever else you like to have sauces with.

Fondue is a really great meal to have when having some friends over because everyone can take whatever they like and it is very communicative.
The sauces are one of the most important thing because they make everything a little bit more interesting, so I wanted to make sure there is something for everyone.

As I made these sauces for a party with about 10 people eating, I made quite a bit of sauce, you really never know how much you need. So I'll estimate the amount of ingredients you'll need for maybe 5 people. you can always make more then if you fancy it.

You can always play with the recipes and add some things or leave some out you don't like. You don't need to use these sauces with a fondue. tzatziki is great with any kind of grilled meat and all the rest are great for a BBQ too. it's always lovely to have something to give things a little more taste.

Tzatziki
1/2 Cucumber
1 glove of garlic
500 g greek yogurt
salt

put the yogurt in a bowl, grate the cucumberand crush 
the garlic and add to the yogurt. 
add some salt to taste.

ready to serve!

Hummus Parsley Sauce
300 g cooked chickpeas
3 tbsp water
1 handfull parsley
1/2 glove of garlic
lemon juice
salt

put the chickpeas and the water in a bowl
and puree them together. then add the parsley
and the garlic and puree again.
add some salt and lemon juice to taste.

enjoy!

Mango Mint Sauce
1 Mango
1 handfull of fresh mint
1 tbsp honey

peel the mango and puree it adding the mint
and the honey. you can add some salt
if you would like, I like it pure.

if you can find a really ripe mango you don't
need the honey. but I found you can barely
find one around here.

Magdalena.

#20 PIGGY CUPCAKES

I made this piggy cupcakes for when I was invited to a new year's eve party. Pigs are supposed to bring you luck in the new year and I thought cupcakes would be something new other than the traditional chocolate piggies.

They are of course perfect for new years but I mean, piggies are cute in general, how about taking them to a kid's birthday party or just share them with your friends when you have them over. they are cute no one can deny that and they taste good too! 
it's definitely always a good way to bring a smile to someone's face.
My friends really enjoyed them and I hope they bring them a lot of luck for this new year.

Piggy Cupcakes
for 12 cupcakes

for the dough120 g flour
100 g butter
100 g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking powder
5 tbsp yogurt
zest of 1/2 lemon

for the icing
well if you live in Austria you can simply buy
some "Punschglasur". but if you don't you can just
as easily make it yourself.

200 g icing sugar
tiny bit of red food colouring
1 tbsp rum or a bit of rum aroma
enough water to make a smooth paste

50 g dark chocolate


preheat the oven to 180°C

to make the dough, make sure the butter is at room
temperature, then beat it together with the sugar.
add vanilla sugar and lemon zest to the mixture.
add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
mix the flour with the baking powder and carefully
fold it into the mixture. add the yogurt and make
a smooth dough.
spoon the dough into the cups and bake for about 10-15
minutes until golden. remove from the oven
and leave to cool.

for the icing, simply mix together all the ingredients
to make a smooth pink paste.
if you are using the "Punschglasur", simply follow
the instructions on the cup.
once the cupcakes have cooled you can carefully
spread the icing on top of them to form a smooth
surface. once that's done, let it cool for a bit.

melt the chocolate over steam (as always, make sure
the chocolate pan doesn't touch the water.)
use a piping bag or just any plastic bag and cut off a
tiny bit off the edge.
you can now give the piggy cupcakes faces so
they can smile at you and everyone you'll share
with.

create your own piggy face or you can use
mine as a template if you like.

enjoy! oink!

Magdalena.

#19 APPLES AND PEARS PIE

Apple pie is probably my favourite pie ever and most definitely one of the best desserts in the whole world.

It is also really great at this time of the year because you can add all those lovely spices like cinnamon to make it even more interesting.

This was my second apple pie in one week because the first one didn't look as nice and I wanted to perfect the recipe. I am quite happy with how this one looks and the recipe is great because it is so easy and easy to remember too. and you really don't need many ingredients at all. just get some lovely sweet apples, because it is really important what apples you get, I like gala, and get baking!

Believe me, everyone you share it with will absolutely love you!

Apples and Pears Pie

300 g flour
200 g butter
100 g sugar (you can use less though)
4-5 apples
1 pear
cinnamon

I usually make the dough first so you can
put it in the fridge and leave it to rest there.
So to make the dough, simply sieve the flower
onto the worktop. cut the butter into pieces
and work it into the flour. I like to use a knife
to do so.
Add the sugar and knead the dough to make it
even. don't do that for too long though
so the butter doesn't get too warm
make a ball, wrap it in foil and put it in the
fridge to rest.

Peel the apples and cut them into chunks (not too small)
put them in a pan and add some sugar and cinnamon.
leave them to caramelize over low heat for about
5 minutes or so. Then put aside and cover the pan.

You can now roll out the dough. you'll need about 2/3
of the dough for the base and the other 1/3 to cover
the pie.
first roll out the dough for the base and cover
your buttered cake tin with it.
Now roll out the rest of the dough into a circle.

pour the apple mixture into your dough and cut the
pears as you can see above and place on top
of the apples.
you can now cover it with the rest of the dough.
bake for about 40 minutes at about 180°C.

serve hot or cold. both lovely!

Magdalena.

HAPPY NEW YEAR + 5 FAVOURITE 2012 RECIPES

I thought I'd wish you all a very happy new year and thank you all for reading my blog and giving me feedback.

2012 has been a good year, this summer I started my blog and I didn't really think too many people would care, but I started it because food is my passion and I wanted to use the internet and its ways it provides to share things with each other.

My goal here is to give some people who sometimes don't see the beauty about cooking something to like about it. And give those who already love it some new ideas.

I can not ask all of you if any of those things have happend, but I know from some people that they liked my recipes and enjoyed making things themselves, even people who don't usually enjoy cooking too much found it inspiring. And in the end it doesn't matter to me how many people like my recipes, if there's only a few people who enjoyed them then that's great and I know I did something not completely useless.

I really enjoyed those months I have been doing the blog for, I have always been in love with making lovely food but this gave me the chance to try even more things I wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I love taking pictures of the food and making it look as great as it deserves.

Another thing I really enjoyed was telling you all about great places to eat and travel to wonderful places. I've been to the UK several times this last year and to France and I had wonderful food everywhere I went.

I too want to thank Geraint Photography for doing some lovely shots for me, I look forward to seeing a lot more of his work on here in the next year.

As for 2013, I am looking forward to trying new recipes and visiting new and exciting places and share all the food with you.

I hope I can get some more people to enjoy cooking a little bit more and just give all of you some inspiration, and myself.

Maybe some of you would like to have a look on my Facebook or Twitter and see all recent updates on there.

Thank you all for your support, and I hope you have a happy 2013 with loads of great food!

Here are my five favourite recipes of 2012 

(including links to where you can find them)

Peach Summer Cake

My Chicken Korma

Pizza Pizza + My Pizza Sauce

Lemon And Sage Chicken + Meditarranean Coconut Rice

Christmas Leftover Lovelies Sandwiches

Magdalena.