Magic Muffins...and magic boxes that are hot hot hot!!

"I want to live in America" Actually no I don't not anymore but I have always loved that song.....I remember it well from the production of West Side Story at school.

I have however, always wondered what that whole blueberry muffin fascination was all about!!

I have bought Millies blueberry muffins, Tescos blueberry muffins and countless nameless other bland pathetic tasting imitation muffins....until BEN discovered Blueberries and ate so many on day 1 that on day 2 he simply couldn't face anymore.....so I looked up my ....recipe book........all cups and no weighing...ya gotta love the Kiwi way of baking!!

Basking in their glory...

Ripe and ready to be picked......

Going...going.......
Gone...!!
One pot of Bluepberries 50p the sound of silence....priceless!!

You know I adore Nigella....OK not her but her food/recipes ....the unfortunate fact is that each recipe consists on a block of butter and half of a small county of cream ..think Devon!! So in the end we stopped making her recipes because the indigestion just wasn't worth the effort!!

Anyway I saw this on a blog and had to laugh and share it with you on my foodie page...(I am an honorary member of UKFoodBloggers thanks to Gez and my new Aussie bud Chele.)

I used to love to bake but alas I very rarely do it nowadays unless it's birthday cakes and even then Georgia is busy pointing out the latest tasteless supermarket wonder with Hannah Montana on it and dreaming of her special day........I used to come home from school on my Birthday and Mum would be making a marble cake...year in and year out...it was always fresh always exciting and always special as you knew it had been made especially for you.......and then when we grew up and our house became full of exotic tastes .....we made Black Forest Cherry Cake woop woop!!

Mark has already chosen his for next year...Lemon Drizzle cake.......suits me: hopefully by then he can have fresh lemons picked from the tree!!

Anyway some Nigella funnies for you!

1. Nigella's Way - Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice-cream drips.

The Real Woman's Way - Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone. You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it anyway.

2. Nigella's Way - To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

The Real Woman's Way - Buy Smash and keep it in the cupboard for up to a year.

3. Nigella's Way - When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking tin, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

The Real Woman's Way - Spar sells cakes. They even do decorated versions.

4. Nigella's Way - If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a potato slice.

The Real Woman's Way - If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's tough! Please recite with me the Real Woman's motto: 'I made it and you will eat it and I don't care how it tastes.'

5. Nigella's Way - Wrap celery in aluminium foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

The Real Woman's Way - It could keep forever. Who eats it?

6. Nigella's Way - Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

The Real Woman's Way - Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and drop it into 8 ounces of vodka : Drink the vodka. You might still have the headache, but you won't care!

7. Nigella's Way - If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

The Real Woman's Way - Why do I have a man?

8. Nigella's Way - Freeze leftover wine into ice cubes for future use in casseroles.

The Real Woman's Way - Left over wine???? Helllloooo?!!

and now for a little magic

Yup these magic boxes open out to reveal four boxes in a stepstyle. perfect for Xmas presents filled with mince pies,goodies or jewellery which is what is going into mine!!

Easy to make and bang on trend....I didn't even have to cut or measure mine as the boxes require 8x8 and I used my QVC Cosmo Cricket set which is all 8x8!!

I am such a cheat!! Sssshhhhhh!!


Love and magic

Ruth xxx