Just Add Magic ~ Cindy Callaghan

      Good news, my dear readers. For yet another book has descended upon us! Behold, the totally awesome, Just Add Magic By: Cindy Callaghan! I read it a few years back and read it again. But I didn't know there were recipes at the back of it!

      Recommended (by me of course) for young readers (but not that young, ages 10-12). But if you really love baking/cooking why not give it a try? Age doesn't matter, neither does the cover of the book. Here's what the blurb says:

 

      When Kelly Quinn and her two BFFs discover a dusty old cook-book while cleaning out an attic, the girls decide to try a few of the mysterious recipes inside. 

      But the ancient book bears an eerie warning, and it doesn't take long for the girls to realise that their dishes are linked to strange occurrences. The Keep 'Em Quiet Cobbler actually silences Kelly's pesky little brother and the Hexberry tart brings an annoying curse to the mean girl Charlotte. And the Love Bug Juice, which seems to have quite the effect on those cute Rusamano boys...

      Could these recipes really be magical? Who wrote them and where did they come from? Most important of all, what kind of trouble are the girls stirring up for themselves? Things are about to get just a little too hot in Kelly Quinn's kitchen...

      Interesting isn't it? I'm intrigued already just by reading this blurb. Okay! So, on to the recipes! Today we're starting off simple with the Love Bug Juice and Fresh Citrus Squeeze, dead simple if you ask me.

Love Bug Juice

Ingredients:

4 cups of cranberry juice

Fistful of maraschino cherries, mashed

2 slices kiwi fruit

1 diced apple

Dash of shade-grown Mexican ginseng*

Mix all ingredients in a pitcher with lots of ice

and sprinkle generously with ginseng.

 

*This ingredient makes all the difference,

if added to the juice, whoever drinks it is said to

fall in love with the person who adds it into the juice.

 

       I know, you've probably never heard of such thing. The spice is pretty hard to find too. But you don't have to add it in. 

Fresh Citrus Squeeze

Ingredients:

Fresh Orange Juice from 3 Oranges

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoon cherry juice

Mexican mint*

Mix together and serve over ice.

*This ingredient, if added to the beverage, will cause strife.

Not something you want to give a good friend.

       So yes that's all for today, if you're thinking of adding the special spices, think again. Bad things happened to the girls after making these. But, its probably just a bunch of baloney... You've gotta read the book to find out. Look out for more magic recipes, coming your way!

Thank You!

      Sorry guys, no recipe for today, I think its time I write my Thank You Speech, hope you guys will still bother to read it : )

      I'd like to take this moment to thank all my readers and fellow bakers for visiting my blog! As you can see, I've put up a Pageview gadget (not to show off, no but) so you guys can see how this blog has progressed over the months. These are weekly pageviews.

      I used to get only 1 or 2 pageviews a day, or sometimes none at all. But yesterday I had 23 and there are possibly more than 20 pageviews everyday.

     Thanks Dad, for persuading me to start my blog and many thanks to my siblings for helping me type the recipes out when I was too lazy. Thanks to Laura Schaefer, author of The Teashop Girls and The Secret Ingredient, for inspiring me to start collecting recipes.

      I'd like to give a shout-out to Miriam Larson, thanks for commenting. And to minkyung my very first follower. Thank you, it means a lot to me : D

      All credits go to the books I've shared the recipes from: The Secret Ingredient ~ Laura Schaefer (see also: The Teashop Girls), Eggs Over Evie ~ Alison Jackson,  Confectionately Yours: Save the Cupcake! ~ Lisa Papademetriou, Healthy Cooking for Your Kids ~ Sarah Banberry. Also please check out my Whats Bakin'? posts.

Lastly, thank you readers! Wouldn't have come this far without you, please keep reading. Even though recipes are running short, I WILL find a way! So KEEP CALM AND BAKE ON!


Signing out,
An Lyn ❤

Healthy Cooking for Your Kids: Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes

      Hellloooooo people!!!!! Hi. So today here's another recipe from healthy cooking for your kids. Mini strawberry cheese cakes! Have fun baking!

Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes

(Makes 6)

Ingredients:

 75g unsalted butter

75g rolled oats

25g chopped hazelnuts

225g ricotta cheese

50g demerara sugar

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk

150g cottage cheese

1 kiwi fruit

6 large strawberries

How to Bake

Line 6 holes of a muffin tin with paper cases. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over a low heat, then leave to cool. Put the oats in a food processor and pulse briefly to break them up, then tip into a bowl, add the nuts and melted butter and mix well. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and press down well. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Gas mark 2 . Beat the ricotta cheese with the sugar, and lemon rind and juice , in a bowl. Add the egg, egg yolk and cottage cheese and mix well. Spoon into the muffin cases and bake for 30 minutes. Turn of the oven, but leave the cheesecakes in the oven until completely cold. Peel the kiwi fruit and slice the strawberries. Remove the paper cases, top each cheesecake with fruit and serve.

You do not send me to Brooklyn to get a cheesecake 

and then I come back and you're gone.

~ Brandy Norwood

       Well, hope you liked that, look out for more right here. Oh and I was reading this book called recipe for disaster, totally awesome! And really funny, written by Maureen Fergus. So check it out, there aren't any recipes in here but the main character loves to bake anyway so I suggest you give it a shot :)

Banana Biscuits

      Here we are again, with yet ANOTHER banana recipe. This time, invented by yours truly. : ) That's right, its my very own recipe! How awesome is that? But this is my first time, so please forgive me if it is a little simple. Just to let you know,  people tell me it tastes better without banana, so you may want to have a mixture of both (in the picture below).

Banana Biscuits

Ingredients:

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

50g butter, softened

(plus xtra for greasing)

dash of ground cinnamon

(about 1/3 a teaspoon)

about 3 tablespoons of milk

few slices of banana

(smaller pieces are better)

How to Bake 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.* and grease you baking tin. Sift flour and ground cinnamon, then cut the softened butter into smaller pieces and work them into the flour and cinnamon mixture. After that, add the sugar and mix well. Then slowly, add in the milk bit by bit until a thick paste is achieved (you may not need to use all of it). Place clumps of the batter onto your tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. If you want to add banana, place a small piece in the center of the cookies before placing in the oven.

*Warning this may not be accurate as I do not have an oven, I used a toaster oven. But it's gonna be awesome anyway.

When I get tired, I start eating things

that I wouldn't normally crave,

like biscuits, because they'll

give me a bit of energy to keep going.

 ~ Carol Vorderman

      I know they look a little burnt, but hey, I'm only using a toaster oven so I'm pretty sure yours are gonna look much better. So, please follow the recipe and don't accidentally put in thine instead of cinnamon like I did. (How was I supposed to know? They were in similar looking jars!) Don't worry I managed to get them out of the batter.

      I also forgot to sift the flour and I put in the sugar before the butter. Hey, I'm not a horrible baker okay! I just didn't have a recipe to refer to. And if you wanna know how to bake cookies WITHOUT an oven, click right HERE.

Tea for U and ME

      Hi guys! Back on the subject of tea... So, you know the book The Teashop Girls, right? Well guess what people?! (of course you wouldn't be able to guess this,) 

     They posted my blog on their Facebook page! (http://www.facebook.com/teashopgirls) I didn't really know, I just stumbled upon it. So check out these other pics I'm sharing from their Facebook Page:

Look at this little cottage/teashop. I'd like open up a teashop like that one day.

And look! A tea strainer lamp!

This here's a little cup my friend made for Mother's Day. How cute!

 

These are the other pictures from the Facebook Page. So adorable : )

      And time to close off, there's an interesting article about how to bake cookies WITHOUT an oven. Fellow bakers, I think you'll like it! Will be featured next time : D

Healthy Cooking For your Kids: Banana Loaf

      Hmm... We seem to be having lots of banana recipes recently. Here's another one for ya. Banana Loaf makes an awesome filling breakfast. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Banana Loaf

Ingredients:

unsalted butter for greasing

125g white self-raising flour

100g light brown self-raising flour

150g demerara sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 large ripe bananas, peeled

175ml orange juice

2 eggs, beaten

4 tablespoons rapeseed oil

sea salt

To serve:

honey

sliced banana or chopped walnuts

How to Bake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and line a 450-g/1-lb loaf tin. Sift the flours, sugar, a pinch of salt and the spices into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with the orange juice, then stir in the eggs and oil. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well. Spoon into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour, then test to see if it is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean, the loaf is done. If not bake for 10 more minutes, then test again. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Turn the loaf out, slice and serve with honey, and sliced banana or chopped walnuts.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

~ Groucho Mar

      Well, that's all for today folks. : D Don't worry, I have another "Special Edition" post coming up soon.  

♚

Stay Calm

and

 Keep 

Reading

Nestle Corn Flakes: Raisin Cupcakes

      Hi readers! Here we are on the subject of cupcakes once again. But these aren't any old cupcakes, they contain Nestle Corn Flakes! I know, it sounds a little bizarre, but you've got to try new things in life don't you? Got this recipe from the back of a cereal box. And I'm telling you, I will hunt down as many recipes as possible for my blog and my readers. So please enjoy.

Raisin Cupcakes

Ingredients:

250g butter

200g castor sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

3 teaspoons grated orange rind

150g self-raising flour, sifted

150g Nestle Corn Flakes, finely crushed

1 cup raisins, soaked in hot water

& drained before adding to batter

1/4 cup orange juice

How to Bake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well mixed. Add eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add vanilla essence and orange rind into the mixture. Fold in flour, Nestle Corn Flakes and raisins alternately with the orange juice. Position paper cupcake cups in a muffin or cupcake pans. Spoon mixture 2/3 full into the prepared cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

The happiest of people don't have the best of everything,

they just make the best of cupcakes.

~ Cupcake Quotes (Twitter) 

      So, there you have it. Sorry about the picture, I took it from the back of the box so it isn't very clear. So, yes please give it a try and I'll be back with more recipes very soon. ❤