Breakfast Week

Breakfast week…

So how many of us actually have breakfast? I am ashamed to say, I am a two cups of coffee for breakfast kind of girl. Yet I wouldn’t dream of letting my kids leave the house with rumbling tummies.

Breakfast isn’t always conventional in our house, but then we are not generally a conventional household. I don’t really mind what they have. They would have chocolate croissants every single morning if I let them, but I try to add a little variety. Sometimes it is eggs on toast or a sausage sandwich. Pancakes if we get up early enough or it’s a weekend. Maybe a big slice of homemade flapjack if they are claiming not to be hungry.

To be honest the decider for what we have for breakfast is, it has to be something I can face making and eating early on a morning. (When I was in my teens and had the luxury of sleeping in till noon, my breakfast was often a full Sunday roast.
I would rather my kids eat a cheese and ham toastie or fruit crumble and custard, than consume a dish of sugar coated cereal. Something they enjoy, but that will fuel them for their morning in class. This morning they had eggy bread, and although it was eaten in a hurry, whilst trying to track down swimming kits and book bags, I feel they had a good start to the day.

It has been proven by many a committee that we are more productive, and less likely to snack on junk food mid morning if we take the time to consume breakfast. So it seems a ridiculous meal to miss.

I probably shouldn’t tell you I skipped breakfast this morning 😦 …but I promise to try harder tomorrow. Who knows when I realise it makes me less grumpy and more productive, I may start each day half an hour earlier. It would seem it’s a good idea to make time for what maybe the most essential meal of the day.

Happy eating, and as always thanks for reading

Sky @ http://www.thesideplate.com

Everything breakfast

http://www.shakeupyourwakeup.com

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The perfect destination for my incredible journey

I have to say the best days @ thesideplate.com involve consuming the food that other people have made. I absolutely adore cooking, and some people may even agree I’m pretty good at it. However, this does make me ever so picky when I eat out. Be it a breakfast, lunch or Dinner. I need it to be at least as good as I can make at home.

I think we would all agree that we have had to tighten our belts a little recently (money wise I mean, jeez definitely not waist wise…that’s more of an expansion thing) So when we do part with our hard earned cash I think we need to get something worthy in its return. And I can happily say one of the first things I noticed on my first visit to the Bolster Moor farm shop was how reasonably priced it was.
http://www.bolstermoorfarmshop.co.uk

I will be honest, when my partner heard I was going to take a road trip that would end in the consuming bacon and sausage butties, he offered to drive. I am glad he did. My ability to follow directions and not actually reaching my destination are a great source of amusement to my family and friends. And I have to say it wasn’t the easiest place to locate, but Wow, it was worth it. And judging by the amount of folk up there on said Moor, I am not the only person to think so.

There was a queue to be seated, but we didn’t wait long, and I have to say the staff were incredibly welcoming and polite. Once we were settled we had a tough choice to make. We had arrived very late morning, so I almost wavered in my menu choice…it ALL sounded so good. However I had come on a mission…to try their award winning bacon sandwich (BBC Olive magazine 2013).

We decided to truly put them to the test and adored a sausage bap too (you can now see what I mean about the waistline…although for the record it wasn’t me that also had a Florentine!!) We also sampled their Café Ology coffee.

It is possibly wrong how thrilled I was by the coffee arriving not only bearing a complimentary fairy sized shortbread, but also a jug of cream. You would not believe how many outlets only provide milk. The coffee was divine…possibly the best I have been served in the UK. The shortbread was a perfect mixture of buttery, crumbly excellence. And then the sandwiches arrived….

So many places make rubbish bacon sandwiches…Bolster Moor is not one of them.

The bread was a soft, but not too soft, a white bap (breadcake, barm, roll, call it what you will.) The bacon was moist and tender, with a perfectly crispy edge. The sausage had texture and the most fantastic savoury taste. Seasoned to perfection. The fillings actually filled the bread, which to be honest is not always the case at other eateries I have visited. And they were big 😀 . I am sure you will agree at £3.25 for the bacon sandwich and £3.50 for the sausage, they were also great value.

I would love to tell you about the Florentine…. All I can say is I was told it was delicious.

Bolster Moor Farm & Coffee Shop…
Fantastic food, Well priced, Delightful staff.
I shall return.
It was well worth making the trip.

Can you have your cake and eat it?

Can you have your cake and eat it?

I have to admit I am more of a savoury girl than a sweetie. However some days, especially when there is a distinct nip in the air, and a little bit of blue in my mood…I want cake.

Carrot or coffee sponge would be best; without nuts preferably (It is not that I dislike nuts, in fact I spend a lot of time with them….but I don’t want them in my comfort cake).

Iced or plain, I do not mind.

A little square of sponge that soothes the soul.
A little slice of magic from so few ingredients.

Cake is possibly the nearest you can get to a hug from a food item.

Is it that it reminds us of childhood? Or of Happy Birthdays. Weddings and Christmas…it seems all celebrations should contain cake.

I believe it was Julia Child that said, “A party without cake, is just a meeting.”
And I think we can all agree we need fewer meetings and more Parties.

So I shall celebrate it being Thursday with a slice of coffee cake, just the smell of it baking has lifted my spirits.

I have my cake; I shall take great pleasure in eating it.

Hugs and love

Sky @ thesideplate.com

http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/cappuccino-cupcakes

All things cake

Smells like Home

Smells like home.

It tends to our subconscious that governs so many of our feelings, and boy are we creatures governed by emotion. Our sense of smell is so incredibly powerful; it is why supermarkets waft the smell of freshly baked bread towards our nostrils. Why we spend billions on perfume and why so many of us buy scented candles that remind us of home baked cookies and vanilla.
The smell of frying bacon and eggs always brings back the memory of Saturday teatime, the only meal of the week Dad cooked, and us having to be quiet whilst he listened to the football pools on the radio. I simply have to make a roast on a Sunday..Even if I am alone. Otherwise my house just smells and feels wrong. When I return from the school run I love the coffee machine to be on…it lifts my spirits after what is often a wet, windy and rushed start to our morning. And is there any better smell than a homemade cake, just ready to emerge from the oven.

I am going to be spending next week making sure all my baking recipes work well. I will feel like an earth mother as my children return home, (hopefully each day if my week goes to plan,) to the smell of brownie cake, flapjack and pineapple upside down cakes. It will be interesting to see if they notice the aromas and head for the kitchen before they decamp to the land of xbox and minecraft. I hope they do, and I hope we may make a happy sensory memory or two. Maybe every Tuesday will start to smell of cake, just as every Sunday dinner smells like home.

Warmest wishes

Sky @ thesideplate.com

new baking recipes

Mary Berry

Grumpy??? Not after a coffee.

If you have ever had the unfortunate displeasure of meeting me in a morning, you will know that mornings do not come naturally to me.

I was born an owl and I fear shall always be an owl. Only work and my children necessitate my rising at 8am or before. The only time you will see me joyfully participating in the am hours are the ones that are still attached to the previous evening until about 3am when I am ready to sleep. Maybe I should work a night shift…but having kids makes that tricky. So I try and sleep. Anyway I digress…my point was.if there was ever a coffee with an appropriate name for me it is Grumpy Mule…it is an apt description for myself on a morning.

I have a love hate relationship with coffee. Mainly because most of it doesn’t taste like coffee. The instant drink, in my eyes should be given a different name, as I am yet to find one that has a taste I enjoy. I have graced many a café and restaurant to sample their roasted beans…but alas they tend to fall short, even in the most fabulous eateries. So in a quest for perfection, something similar to the divine cups bought it Italy and France, I purchased a bean to cup coffee machine, and have ground my way through all the top brands and some lesser-known ones.

I can honestly say when I began this quest I did not think I would find the perfect bean in a bag that depicted an amusing mule and a head office in Holmfirth. But the perfect bean I have found. A fantastic range of aromatic and delicious beans are contained in this orange pack of joy. They smell so good I keep a small dish on my desk just to fragrance my workspace. I will not speak to anyone on a morning until I have consumed a cup, and a Mule, albeit a Grumpy one is part of my daily ritual.

How wonderful to find such a wonderful product, carefully delivered so close to home and bearing a name that describes me each morning to a tee.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FC9G53A/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00FC9G53A&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwthesidepla-21