Super Easy Sticky Date Bars

I made these for our weekend away we had SUCH a blast! Will post a review of the place we went to soon.

This recipe is in the “Recipes from the Royal Kitchen” supplement that came with the June issue of the Food and Home Magazine, and they are divine!

Sticky Date Bar Ingredients:

250ml / 1 cup Cake Flour 

8ml / 1 ½ tsp Royal Baking Powder 

2ml / ¼ tsp Salt 

5ml / 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon 

60ml / ¼ cup Light Brown Sugar 

60ml / ¼ cup Digestive Bran 

100g chopped pitted Dates 

50g Pecan Nuts (you can leave these out if you want)

80ml / 1/3 cup Golden Syrup / Honey 

80ml / 1/3 cup Milk 

Sticky Date Bar Method: 

Sift flour, Royal Baking Powder, salt and cinnamon together Add sugar, bran, dates & nuts Add syrup and milk and mix well Press mixture into a greased 20 x 20 cm baking pan and bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 – 25 minutes. Leave to cool before cutting into squares.

I added more dates, and I would advise you not to let the date bars cool completely before cutting them into squares.. it was quite a mission! Super easy and delicious!

Super Easy Roasted Butternut Soup

This is such an easy recipe for a really quick family meal. I took it from the June 2013 issue of the Food & Home Magazine:

Butternut Soup Ingredients:

1 1/2 Kg Butternut, Peeled & Chopped
50 ml olive oil
Salt & Pepper
2 ½ Litres Vegetable Stock
Extra Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Place butternut, olive oil salt & pepper on a large tray and into a hot oven 180 degrees C
-I added some fresh thyme, garlic and nutmeg as well, covered with foil and added a liiitle bit of water

 2. Roast until the edges are slightly charred and butternut is well cooked 
 - I didn't exactly do this, just until they were cooked through and yummy.

3. Liquidise with half the liquid and strain through a sieve. 
 - I am way too lazy to do this.. I blitzed it and that’s it.

4. Heat the soup and add extra liquid if needed to get the desired consistency. 
- I used 1 large butternut and only used 1 litre of stock, so see how much you need before adding it all at once. I added half the stock, blitzed, added more etc etc.

Lovely!

A New Beauty - Food & Home Magazine

I stumbled upon the Food & Home Magazine last month - and I must say what caught my eye was the very attractive cover! I’m a sucker for pretty things!

I was not disappointed when I browsed through it for the first time either. The entire magazine, from the layout & quirky fonts to the attractive images make it a great read. The one thing I totally loved about it was the fact that they had articles, interesting articles about foodie people and even included some of their recipes. Not only one but a few! I am yet to try some of them and of course the pork pie they featured on the June 2013 cover! The magazine also came with a totally free recipe book from Royal Baking Powder. I was smitten.

Food & Home July 2013 Issue

I bought the magazine again today and while doing my first “browse” I saw they are offering a special subscription price for the month of July 2013. With everything getting more and more expensive, I thought I must just share this super saving! 12 issues for … (drum roll please..) HALF PRICE!!

And that is exactly what I did today! I haven’t subscribed to anything since I was a young girl and that was to the “Barbie” Club - I cannot remember exactly what it entailed! I still have the certificate which clearly states that my membership would only be for one year but it included a very personal scribble from Barbie herself saying “We pledge to remain friends forever” Love it!

My spectacular Barbie Club Certificate

 

Well Food & Home magazine.. I’m looking forward to our “one year friendship” and I pledge to enjoy every issue. More so if they are all as amazing as the two issues I already have. Naturally I would also like to try out the divine recipes sometime this month, so watch this space!