I think I may have mentioned this before, but my weeknights are awfully busy, what with getting home late, getting dinner on the table, spending some quality tickle time with my daughter and getting her to bed at a reasonable hour. To make life easier, I plan and shop for the week’s meals each Saturday. I sit down with my multiple cookbooks (for inspiration!), a blank piece of paper, and try to envision what my week will look like. I always factor in one or two nights of incredibly quick meals in case I have to work late, and I try to use up the more perishable meat or produce early in the week. Despite having an army of cookbooks and magazines and blogs at my disposal, I often find myself returning to the same old standbys – stir fries, soups, salads, made with chicken or beef or vegetarian. It’s hard to think outside the box when it comes to weeknight dinners – I want reliable. I want easy. And so I get into a rut.
Entries Tagged as 'lemon'
Simple Meets Sublime — Roast Shrimp with Broccoli and Cauliflower
May 26th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Main Dishes, Recipes, Seafood, weeknight dinners
I Toddy Taw a Pudding Cake — Hot Toddy Pudding Cake
April 17th, 2009 · 21 Comments · Baked Goods and Desserts, Entertaining, Spring
Apologies for the silly title. I’m a little punchy. It’s been one of those weeks at work, where I’m constantly teetering on the brink of bursting into manic laughter, at which point they would have to tie me up and drag me off to St. Mungo’s. Yes, one of THOSE weeks. Add to that that I haven’t been feeling well, and, well, that’s the explanation for why posting around here has been on the light side. Fortunately, I have some lovely comfort food to deliver to you, in case you, too, are having one of those weeks.
When you are sick with a cold, the best thing to have is a hot toddy. If you’ve never had this miraculous concoction, it’s a shot of scotch whisky, a few tablespoons of honey, the juice of a lemon, and a cup full of boiling water. The honey, whisky and lemon all have antibacterial properties and they soothe your scratchy throat and calm your cough. Plus if you drink enough of them, you won’t even realize you feel bad. See? Magic.
I saw this recipe for hot toddy pudding in Gourmet, and I knew I had to try it. It combines the comforting flavors of a hot toddy with a different kind of magic – the surprise pudding. You pour batter into a pan, and in the oven it separates into a layer of sponge cake and a layer of custard. I had tried this before once with boiling water and chocolate to really disastrous results, but this particular pudding comes together like a dream.
