Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies

150g plain flour

1/2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp salt

75g rolled oats

125g butter

75g brown sugar

100g caster sugar

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract

75g dried cranberries

150g whit choc chips

Preheat the oven to Gas 4 and grease a baking sheet.

Cream the butter and sugars in a bowl, beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the foulr, baking powder, salt, oats and fold in the cranberries and choclate chips.

Roll spoonfuls of dough into balls, then place on the baking sheet and flatten with a fork.

Cook for 15 minutes, until golden, and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Languine with chilli, and crab

2 gloves garlic

1 scant tbsp salt

1 large chilli (red)

200g white crab meat

100g brown meat

125ml extra virgin oil

juice and zest of 1 lemon

500g linguine

handfull of chopped fresh parsley

Put on a large pan of water to boil the pasta.

In a large pestle and mortar pulverise the peeled garlic cloves with the salt into a smooth paste. Add the chopped and seeded crab meat, breaking it up gently with the fork, and pour in the oil. Zest the lemon into the mortar then add the juice.

Mix together using a fork. Cook the pasta. Drain and tip into a serving bowl, pouring over the crab sauce. Toss the pasta to coat in the sauce and throw in the chopped parsley, and toss again.

This was not as fantastic as I had expected (or perhapes hoped). For my taste there was a little too much oil, and the flavour of it bebecame over poering in the dish. Should I make this again I'll cut the oil down to 100 ml's and try and find a hotter chilli!!

Love Buns

125g plain flour
125g caster sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
1/2tsp bicarb
2tsp baking powder
2tsp vanilla extract
2-3tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.

If you have brought all the ingredients to room temperature, put everything except for the milk into a food mixer and blitz unil smooth. Add the milk to make a smooth dropping consistency.

Divide the mixutre into a muffin tin lined with papers and bake for 15-20 minutes. They should be risen and golden.

I find the topping in Nigella's book for these to sweet and sickly, so used a simple vanilla icing. The bling is obviously optional.....

Chocolate Orange Cake

2 small oranges (approx 375g)
6 eggs
1/2tsp bicarb
1tsp baking powder
200g almonds
250g caster sugar
50g cocoa

Put the oranges in a pan of water and bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours until soft. Drain and cool, then pulp in a food processor.

Preheat the oven (Gas 4), butter and line a 20com tin.

Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarb, almonds, sugar and cocoa to the food processor. Mix together with the orange pulp into a batter. Pour into the cake tin and bake for an hour. Test with a cocktail stick, or cake tester if your posh! After 45mins you may need to cover with foil to prevent burning.

Leave to cool on a rack, take out of the tine when the cake is cold. Can be eaten as it is decorated with orange peel strips.

However I've taken to covering this with the following icing:-

75g butter
175g dark chocolate melted
300g icing sugar
1tbsp golden syrup
125ml sour cream
1tsp vanilla extract

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a pan over simmering water, add the golden syrup to the melted mix once its cooled. Then add sour cream, vanilla, and icing sugar. Mix together and decorate your chocoalte orange cake.

Ham in Cherry Coke

6-7 lb/ 2.5-3 kg mildly cured boneless ham

1 onion, peeled & halved

2 litre cherry coke

Water(if the coke doesn’t completely cover the ham)

16-20 whole cloves

Glaze

2-4 tbsp cherry jam

1tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2tsp smoked paprika

2tbsp english mustard powder.

Place the ham in a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Cover the ham completely with cold water. Bring it to a boil and immediately drain the ham in a colander and rinse. This removes the saltiness from the ham without having to soak it overnight.

Rinse out the pot, replace the ham, add the onion and pour the cherry coke to completely cover the ham. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer, partially cover and let it cook for at least 2 – 2 ½ hours.

Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C4.

Remove the ham from the cooking liquid and let cool on a cutting board. In the meantime, in a small pot, combine the jam, mustard, paprika and vinegar and stir until the jam is melted. Strip the rind, if any (mine didn’t have any, but I was a little nervous trying to figure that out) and score the top and sides in a diamond pattern and stud with whole cloves.

Place the ham in a roasting pan and glaze with the jam mixture. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

My coke didn't quite cover the ham so I topped it up with water, having done some internet research I think next time I make this I will top up with apple juice. Also either use a foil disposable roasting pan, or cover your pan with foil, otherwise lots of scrubbing for your resident dishwasher!!!

I served this on New Years Eve, with red cabbage and potato gratin.