Lavender and Lovage

05/23/2013 10:01 AM

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5:2 Diet Fast Day Recipe: Wild Garlic and Chilli Sweetcorn Fritters (185 Calories)

5:2 Diet Fast Day Recipe: Wild Garlic and Chilli Sweetcorn Fritters (185 Calories) It’s time to go back on the 5:2 diet, after a few weeks of unfettered eating whilst travelling and staying with my parents, I am keen to get back on my two fast days a week. And, I want, or should I [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/22/2013 11:07 AM

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Cold Roast Beef Salad with Bread and Bagels: Plus New Kitchen Knives!

Cold Roast Beef Salad with Bread and Bagels: Plus New Kitchen Knives! I was sent TWO new knives recently for review, two Eden Classic Damast Knives – an Eden Quality Classic Damast Bread knife 20 cm (8?) and a Eden Quality Classic Damast Carving knife 20 cm (8?). I was more than a little delighted when I received them, [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/22/2013 05:53 AM

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Giveaway: 2 x Eden Classic Damast Knives – Bread Knife & Carving Knife (RRP: £79:90)

Giveaway: - 2 x Eden Classic Damast Knives - Bread Knife & Carving Knife (RRP: £79:90) If you enjoy cooking, as I do, then you will know that knives are VERY important, and I get so frustrated when I reach for a knife that is blunt or worse still, with a loose handle! But, I recently discovered Eden Classic Damast Knives [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/20/2013 10:41 AM

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National Vegetarian Week, Seasonal Favourites, 5:2 Recipes and my Weekly Meal Plan

National Vegetarian Week, Seasonal Favourites, 5:2 Recipes and my Weekly Meal Plan This week is National Vegetarian Week, and I was set a challenge by Asda supermarket to eat vegetarian all week! I was happy to accept, and felt a little bit of a fraud, as to eat vegetarian all week is an easy challenge for [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/18/2013 06:02 PM

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World Baking Day……Cakes Galore and my Vanilla, Strawberry & Rose Victoria Sandwich Cake

World Baking Day……Cakes Galore and my Vanilla, Strawberry & Rose Victoria Sandwich Cake Are you brave enough to Bake Brave tomorrow, Sunday 19th May 2013? Just ONE more day to go, and you can choose from 100 wonderful cakes to make on the World Baking Day website here: World Baking Day 19th May – The [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/16/2013 03:50 PM

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Celebrating Britain’s Most Famous Snack – The Sandwich! Egg and Two Cress Sandwich Recipe

Celebrating Britain’s Most Famous Snack – The Sandwich! Egg and Two Cress Sandwich Recipe It was a moment of pure brilliance the night that the 4th Earl of Sandwich asked for his cold roast beef to be served between two sliced of bread, as not to dirty his playing cards, and so the “sandwich” was [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/14/2013 03:12 PM

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An Art Deco Afternoon Tea Experience with Champagne at Bettys of York

An Art Deco Afternoon Tea Experience with Champagne at Bettys of York As a local Yorkshire lass who knows and loves Bettys, and who has had many a Fat Rascal from there, as well as ”rainy day” breakfasts of cinnamon toast and tea, when I was recently invited to take tea at Bettys of York, I was [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/14/2013 12:58 PM

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Giveaway: Bettys Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two at Harrogate or York (Worth £65:90)

Giveaway: Bettys Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two at Harrogate or York (Worth £65:90) What a fabulous treat I have for all Lavender and Lovage readers, a wonderful opportunity to win a Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two at Bettys of York or Harrogate, worth £65:90. I am so excited to be able to offer this very [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/13/2013 12:43 PM

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The Fast Diet: Menu Planning and Recipes Revisited for the 5:2 Diet

The Fast Diet: Menu Planning and Recipes Revisited for the 5:2 Diet Last week was a funny old week, it started off with a lovely birthday on Sunday, a trip to Fountains Abbey on Monday and then sadness on Thursday……more about all of these events later, but for today I want to share some [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/12/2013 12:52 PM

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Giveaway: Win a Summer Picnic Hamper with Belvoir Fruit Farms

Giveaway: Win a Summer Picnic Hamper with Belvoir Fruit Farms Imagine this, a summer’s day, no work and plans for a country or seaside picnic, well, I have JUST the thing for all Lavender and Lovage readers, a FABULOUS Summer Picnic Hamper from Belvoir Fruit Farms……..perfect for a picnic by the river, the seaside or just [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/11/2013 03:18 PM

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The Coffee Challenge with De’Longhi: Italian Coffee Mocha Kisses and Brandy Snaps

The Coffee Challenge with De’Longhi: Italian Coffee Mocha Kisses and Brandy Snaps There is nothing as nice as afternoon tea, unless it happens to be afternoon coffee. I am a bit of a tea and coffee snob, and only drink the best stuff, made in a tea-pot for tea and in a cafetière for coffee. So, when [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/09/2013 02:43 PM

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Hot Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Terrine for the Le Creuset Cast Iron Challenge

Hot Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Terrine for the Le Creuset Cast Iron Challenge I have had a life-long love affair with cast iron cookware, probably since I was old enough to lift a casserole lid, and Le Creuset tops my cast iron cookware list. I am an avid collector of new and vintage Le Creuset, [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/07/2013 04:36 PM

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Rhubarb Cordial, Tulips, Edible Flowers and a Day at Perch Hill with Sarah Raven

Rhubarb Cordial, Tulips, Edible Flowers and a Day at Perch Hill with Sarah Raven Just over a week ago I was invited to attend an open day at Perch Hill as part of my contribution as a writer for Garlic and Sapphire – along with several other bloggers who also write for Sarah Raven’s Garlic and [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/07/2013 12:59 PM

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Giveaway: Sarah Raven Seeds and Gardening Products for You and the Children! RRP £42:50

Giveaway: Sarah Raven Seeds and Gardening Products for You and the Children! RRP £42:50 As my regular readers will know I write for Garlic and Sapphire - Garlic & Sapphire was created by the team at Sarah Raven, who brought together bloggers from around the UK who are passionate about gardening, wild flowers, cooking local produce and [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/06/2013 05:47 PM

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Thrifty & Organic Meal Planner: Asparagus,Spring Vegetables,Gooseberries & Cape Malay Beef Curry Recipes

Thrifty & Organic Meal Planner: Asparagus, Spring Vegetables, Gooseberries & Cape Malay Beef Curry Recipes Core May Ingredients: Beef, Asparagus, Broad Beans, Peas, Gooseberries and Jersey Royal Potatoes May Menu: Two Cheese Asparagus Tart Broad Bean and Pea Medley with Feta Cheese Jersey Royal Potato Salad with Three Herb Mayonnaise Cape Malay Beef & Fruit [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/05/2013 06:30 PM

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My Kitchen Heroes and a Signature Dish: Cheese, Spring Onion and Tomato Flan Recipe

My Kitchen Heroes and a Signature Dish: Cheese, Spring Onion and Tomato Flan Recipe Meet my kitchen heroes and one of my “signature” dishes……I love cooking and baking and also prefer to make my own pastry, but, life can be hectic and frenetic sometimes and that’s where my kitchen heroes come into play – ready-made [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/03/2013 10:04 AM

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SousVide Supreme Chicken Three Ways! Chicken Cordon Bleu, Lemon Thyme Chicken Kebabs & Chicken with Beans

Review: SousVide Supreme Chicken Three Ways! Chicken Cordon Bleu, Lemon Thyme Chicken Kebabs & Chicken with Beans I have been on a bit of retro kick lately and have been rediscovering recipes from the 1970′s – those famous restaurant staples of many a restaurant or bistro, such as steak and chips, prawn cocktail, chef’s salad [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/02/2013 03:54 PM

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Provence Calling! Mussels with Tomatoes and Garlic for the 5:2 Diet (269 Calories) Guest Post

Provence Calling! Mussels with Tomatoes and Garlic for the 5:2 Diet (269 Calories) Guest Post Welcome to the Provence! Not as such, but by way of my good friend Angela who writes for Provence Calling. I met Angela for the first time at Food Blogger Connect last year, but, I had been following her blog [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/01/2013 05:53 AM

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May Tea Time Treats: The Biscuit Tin and Cookie Jar! Biscuits and Cookies

May Tea Time Treats: The Biscuit Tin and Cookie Jar! Biscuits and Cookies Welcome to May’s Challenge for Tea Time Treats! After a HUGE and very successful April with Kate, who was the Fairy Cake and Cup Cake queen, we decided to go crisp and buttery for May, and so the theme this month [...]

Lavender and Lovage

05/01/2013 05:00 AM

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Giveaway: Win a Set of Le Creuset “Petite” Casserole Dishes

Giveaway: Win a Set of Le Creuset “Petite” Casserole Dishes I love cooking in cast iron, and I also love my Le Creuset pots and pans, I have numerous ones in all different shapes and sizes. They are great for oven to table serving, and their heat retention is second to none. You can sauté in them, [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/30/2013 05:09 PM

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Round-Up: April Herbs on Saturday Cooking Challenge

Round-Up: April Herbs on Saturday Cooking Challenge Here we are again, one month later and another fabulous round-up of the most amazing and diverse herb recipes! There were some wonderful recipes from lavender cakes to mushroom soup with all sorts of other delights in between……and, as ever, I am constantly amazed at how much talent [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/29/2013 12:00 PM

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The Secret Recipe Club: Mexican Taco Seasoning with Fried Ice and Donut Holes

The Secret Recipe Club: Mexican Taco Seasoning with Fried Ice and Donut Holes One of the things I love about the blogging community are the “challenges” that are hosted by different blogs and people……I try wherever possible to join in and I have met some wonderful people through some of the events I enter; my [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/28/2013 02:38 PM

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Studio Pottery, Baguette and Fresh Strawberry Curd (Recipe)

Studio Pottery, Baguette and Fresh Strawberry Curd (Recipe) Way before Studio Pottery became fashionable, and every Vegan café or restaurant decanted their carrot juice out of terracotta pitchers or served their bean salads on slipware plates, my mum was making fabulous studio pottery at Art School…….in the heart of the English potteries in Staffordshire; her pottery is [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/26/2013 02:00 AM

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Giveaway: Win an English Garden Belvoir Fruit Farms & Sophie Conran Hamper worth £63

Giveaway: Win an English Garden Belvoir Fruit Farms & Sophie Conran Hamper worth £63 Are you ready for summer, I am! And what better to get you in the mood than a fabulous English Garden themed giveaway. I am delighted to offer all Lavender and Lovage readers the opportunity to win a little bit of [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/25/2013 05:47 AM

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Review: “Food Glorious Food Book”….. From Cakes to Curries to Cornish Pasties

Review: “Food Glorious Food Book”….. From Cakes to Curries to Cornish Pasties Last night saw the culmination of many weeks of baking, cooking and judging when the final of “Food Glorious Food” was aired on ITV, with two dishes remaining in the competition. The winning cook’s dish was up to win £20,000 as well as [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/24/2013 12:03 PM

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A Quick and Easy Random Recipe: Cheese and Onion Scone Bread (Loaf)

A Quick and Easy Random Recipe: Cheese and Onion Scone Bread (Loaf) I have been a little lazy on the baking front lately, I have just been so busy and also the diet has been high on the list this week, after an orgy of excessive boozing and scoffing last week! So, when my random generator [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/23/2013 11:00 AM

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Peppered Steak and Chips for St George’s Day and Great British Beef Week

Peppered Steak and Chips for St George’s Day and Great British Beef Week Happy St George’s Day to all my English readers, and also a very happy Great British Beef week too………perfect for that special meal for St George’s Day. The 23rd April is also Shakespeare’s birthday, so a thoroughly English day through and through, [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/23/2013 09:19 AM

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Giveaway: Win a £25 Sainsbury’s Voucher!

Giveaway: Win a £25 Sainsbury’s Voucher! Sainsbury’s recently introduced the ‘Taxi of Mum and Dad Calculator’ — a fun way to see how much you could earn in taxi fares, if your children were ‘on the clock.’ However, it’s not all about money, your time is also precious. So, how would you spend the hours [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/22/2013 11:14 AM

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Weekly Meal Plan and Two Day Diet Recipes: Salmon Niçoise Salad (5:2 Diet)

Weekly Meal Plan and Two Day Diet Recipes: Salmon Niçoise Salad (5:2 Diet) I was a little naughty last week, the weekly meal plan with my two-day diet went out of the window and I enjoyed much feasting with gusto and without one guilty thought! MY daughter Hannah was visiting and we embraced the warm [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/21/2013 12:20 PM

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Review & Giveaway: Fruit Curds: Make and Bake – Win a Preserves Workshop with Vivien Lloyd

Review & Giveaway: - Fruit Curds: Make and Bake - Win a Preserves Workshop with Vivien Lloyd As many of my readers know, I love preserving and I recently entered some of my marmalade into the World’s Original Marmalade Awards, with some success, as you can read here: Pink Grapefruit Marmalade and The Lavender & [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/20/2013 01:02 PM

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Quince Blossom and a Lazy Saturday Salad Recipe: Strawberry and Mint Fruit Salad

Quince Blossom and a Lazy Saturday Salad Recipe: Strawberry and Mint Fruit Salad Today has been a lazy day for me, for a change! My daughter has gone back home and I have just pottered all day – in the garden as well as in the kitchen. It’s all about strawberries today, and I have [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/19/2013 06:42 AM

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Fromage Friday! A Simple French Cheeseboard for Al Fresco and Summer Dining

Fromage Friday! A Simple French Cheeseboard for Al Fresco and Summer Dining Now I now regular readers will be expecting a “Fish on Friday” post today, and indeed I will be posting one a little later or tomorrow, but for now I want to share a simple idea for a summer cheeseboard, a bit if [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/18/2013 06:11 AM

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Giveaway: Win 5 pairs of Tickets to The Spirit of Summer Fair with Clifton Nurseries

Giveaway: Win 5 pairs of Tickets to The Spirit of Summer Fair with Clifton Nurseries MY friends at the LOVELY Clifton Nurseries have offered ALL Lavender and Lovage readers a chance to win of one of FIVE pairs of tickets to the Spirit of Summer Fair, to be held at Olympia between the 15th and 18th of May 2013. [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/17/2013 05:05 AM

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Picnics, Lunch Box and Barbecue Salad Idea: Layered Picnic Salads in a Jar (Recipe)

Picnics, Lunch Box and Barbecue Salad Idea: Layered Picnic Salads in a Jar (Recipe) You know those plastic containers of soggy salad leaves, limp cucumber slices, watery tomatoes and floppy onions that are often unpacked on a picnic or for a much anticipated lunch at work? Well, worry no more (if you were worrying of course!) and [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/15/2013 07:27 AM

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Memories of Hong Kong and a New 5:2 Diet Recipe: Minced Beef and Mint Kheema

Memories of Hong Kong and a New 5:2 Diet Recipe: Minced Beef and Mint Kheema Keema served with pau (Indian bun) and green chillies in Mumbai, India Origin: Place of origin Pakistan/India Region or state South Asia Details: Food Main ingredient(s) Meat, peas or potatoes Keema, Kheema, or Qeema (Sindhi: ????,Hindi: ?????, Urdu: ?????, pronounced [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/14/2013 09:01 AM

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The First Sunny Day of Spring! Strawberry Fair Yoghurt Cupcakes Recipe

The First Sunny Day of Spring! Strawberry Fair Yoghurt Cupcakes Recipe Hurrah! The sun has finally come out and spring has most definitely sprung today! The birds are singing, the bees are humming and I even heard a cuckoo earlier, as well as the contented clucking from my sun-worshipping hens. The mercury has risen the dizzy [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/12/2013 01:20 PM

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“Scandi” Friday with Hot Pickled Herrings and a Dill Pickle Potato Salad Recipe

“Scandi” Friday with Hot Pickled Herrings and a Dill Pickle Potato Salad Recipe It’s a bit of an IKEA post today…..blonde and bleached wood, candles, white plates, sleek cutlery, dill pickles, coriander, lemons, SAAB convertibles, red and white enamel pans, herrings, dill pickles and potato salad, yes, it’s my regular Fish on Friday post but [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/11/2013 11:45 AM

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Spring Green 5:2 Diet Recipe: Moroccan Roasted Vegetable Salad with Feta Cheese (200 calories)

Spring Green 5:2 Diet Recipe: Moroccan Roasted Vegetable Salad with Feta Cheese (200 calories) I am a salad eater, a sort of veggie lotus eater but with more rustic charm! I like a green leaf or two and never more so than when I am “watching my weight” (such a funny euphemism for I’m too fat and [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/10/2013 11:56 AM

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“Made in England” Vintage Kitchenalia: Old Tins, Icing Sets and Measuring Cones with Tala

“Made in England” Vintage Kitchenalia: Old Tins, Icing Sets and Measuring Cones with Tala Welcome to my first ”Made in England” Vintage Kitchenalia post, and before my lovely Scottish, Welsh and Irish friends say anything, I will be featuring items that have been made in Scotland, Wales and Ireland too, it’s just that all of the vintage kitchenalia [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/09/2013 10:14 AM

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Win a Baking Party Pack for World Baking Day 19th May 2013

Win a Baking Party Pack for World Baking Day 19th May 2013 Bake for fun, bake with friends and Bake Brave – that’s the message to everyone for World Baking Day 2013. The global event happens annually on the third Sunday in May – and everyone’s invited to join in the fun, from beginner to [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/08/2013 01:04 PM

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French 5:2 Diet Fast Day Recipe and Monday Meal Plan: Provençal Chicken and Fennel Braise

French 5:2 Diet Fast Day Recipe and Monday Meal Plan: Provençal Chicken and Fennel Braise Many people will have read “A Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle, it was the book that launched a thousand moves by Brits to France during the late 80′s and 90′s; the book is packed with idyllic “long French lunches”, pâté terrine, idle [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/07/2013 08:56 AM

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Vintage Blue and White on Sepia Sunday: Farmhouse “Teacup” Spiced Fruit Loaf Recipe

Vintage Blue and White on Sepia Sunday: Farmhouse “Teacup” Spiced Fruit Loaf Recipe It’s Sunday, a day of baking and relaxing by the fire, well it IS a cold spring day! And, I have been washing some of my “food props” that I have arranged on an old dresser, as they get so dusty with [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/07/2013 06:15 AM

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Giveaway: Win a Fabulous Scottish Fish Hamper, worth £46 delivered to your door!

Giveaway: Win a Fabulous Scottish Fish Hamper, worth £46 delivered to your door! As regular readers will know, I am currently involved in a “Healthy Happy Hearts” fish challenge, where I will be eating fish at least twice a week, for a healthy happy heart! I have posted several fish recipes lately that use Omega [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/05/2013 08:55 AM

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Recipe: Low-Calorie Moroccan Cod Parcels for the 5:2 Diet and a Healthy Happy Heart

Recipe: Low-Calorie Moroccan Cod Parcels for the 5:2 Diet and a Healthy Happy Heart As Lavender and Lovage regular readers will know, I love fish! I eat it at least twice a week – it’s easy to cook, tasty and extremely healthy, as well as being low in calories. I have been working with Fish [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/04/2013 06:04 AM

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Review: An English, Italian and Fairtrade Breakfast with Granola, Honey and Coffee

Review: An English, Italian and Fairtrade Breakfast with Granola, Honey and Coffee What can be nicer than a leisurely breakfast? And, especially when that breakfast is filled with high quality and delicious products and ingredients, such as treacle and pecan granola from Lizi’s Granola, a cup of organic fair trade coffee from Puro Coffee and [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/04/2013 04:28 AM

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Giveaway: Win an Abra-ca-Debora Dutch Pancakes Hamper worth £50!

Giveaway: Win an Abra-ca-Debora Dutch Pancakes Hamper worth £50! I am pleased to be able to offer all Lavender and Lovage readers a FABULOUS hamper filled with tasty ingredients as my latest giveway today! Pancakes aren’t just for pancake day. In Holland, they eat them much more often than that. The Dutch make sweet ones and savoury ones [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/02/2013 08:46 AM

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Thrifty & Organic Meal Planner: Salmon with Herb Mayonnaise, Spring Greens & Orange Cream Cheese Cake Recipes

Thrifty & Organic Meal Planner: Salmon with Herb Mayonnaise, Spring Greens & Orange Cream Cheese Cake Recipes April Core Ingredients: Oranges, Spring Greens, New Potatoes, Cream Cheese, Herbs and Salmon April Menu: Whole poached salmon with Herb mayonnaise Spring Greens with Citrus butter Minted New Potatoes Salmon & Vegetable Cheesy Bake Potted Salmon & Herb [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/02/2013 07:54 AM

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April Herbs on Saturday: Win a Cooking with Edible Flowers Book!

April Herbs on Saturday: Win a Cooking with Edible Flowers Book! Welcome to April’s Herbs on Saturday Challenge! Before I start, I would like to say a HUGE thanks to the lovely Andi over at London Busy Body who was the fabulous host for March, and you can see her brilliant round-up here: Herbs on Saturday – [...]

Lavender and Lovage

04/01/2013 07:59 AM

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Easter Monday Meal Plan: Pace Eggs, Pizza and 5:2 Diet Recipes

Easter Monday Meal Plan: Pace Eggs, Pizza and 5:2 Diet Recipes I hope you have got time to read my meal plan for this week, as I have decide to post a monthly meal plan………got you! Happy April Fool’s Day! A Happy Easter to all my family, friends and readers too. I have had a [...]

Lavender and Lovage

03/31/2013 06:01 AM

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March Tea Time Treats Round Up: Ooh La La! French Tarts, Cakes, Bakes and Pastries

March Tea Time Treats Round Up Ooh La La! French Tarts, Cakes, Bakes and Pastries March’s challenge was a French theme, and I must say that even though French pastries are often thought to be tricky to make and bake, you all rose to the challenge, as you can see by the amazing entries below. We had eclaires, [...]

	Lavender and Lovage
	Lavender and Lovage is a fresh and innovative blog that specialises in food & recipes, seasonal ingredients and cooking traditional British cuisine through the seasons; travel is also covered as well as French lifestyle, French cooking, herbs, keeping chickens and gardening. I write and publish a daily post, develop my own recipes and take my own photographs.

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