Recipe for a perfect Sunday brunch......

Gather some friends together......

Have the obligatory rashers and sausages and maybe some cheese....

Throw a pear frangipane tart into the mix.......

and maybe some spiced pumpkin muffins....

Some treats for the kids.....

An indulgent orange and almond croissant pudding

A selection of juices......

and a little baby cuddle to round it off! Perfect Sunday!

Oreo cupcakes!

I can never resist a bargain, a snack pack of Oreo cookies was just €1:50 this week in Tesco so I couldn't leave them behind. To make these you will need all 20 biscuits. Two for the toddler in payment for helping to mix the bun mixture without breaking your favourite baking bowl, four to shovel in your mouth and gobble as fast as you can, twelve for the bottom of each cupcake case and two to crush to sprinkle on top of your buttercream icing! Am sure these will go down as well in your house as they did in mine!

You will need;

120g butter, softened
120g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
90g self raising flour
30g cocoa powder
1tbsp milk
14 Oreo cookies (+6, wink, wink)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees & line your cupcake tins with cases. Place an Oreo cookie at the base of each.

Cream the butter & sugar together.

Add in half the beaten eggs, combine.

Add in a tablespoon of sieved flour.

Stir in remaining eggs.

Add the rest of the flour and the cocoa powder, lightly stir.

Add the milk and give a final stir.

Spoon equal amounts into each case.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

To decorate;

150g icing sugar
50g cocoa powder
100g softened butter

Mix all ingredients together to make a stiff icing.

Spoon into an icing bag fitted with a Wilton 1M icing nozzle.

Pipe a swirl of icing on top of each bun.

Decorate with two Oreo cookies which you have crushed into crumbs! Nice little treat to have with a glass of ice cold milk, great twist to the usual cookies!

Baked chocolate custard with eyeballs, bones and skullbones......

If you have made this http://paulaskitchentable.blogspot.ie/2012/01/paula-prodigious-pavlova.html before you will have been left with eight lonely looking egg yolks in a bowl! Countless times I have refrigerated them only to remember them several days later when all they are suitable for is the compost bin! After making a gorgeous pavlova at the weekend I was adamant I wasn't going to forget about the gorgeous golden yolks sitting patiently in the fridge.

Mousse, curds and pasta were all options but I decided on a baked chocolate custard as I knew the two youngest men in my life would be well impressed upon their return from school, especially with the addition of the eyeballs, bones and skulls!

You will need;

200ml full fat milk

50g cocoa powder

8 egg yolks

80g caster sugar

200ml cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Bring the milk and cocoa powder to the boil.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until creamy.

Take the milk mixture from the hob and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Stir in the yolk mixture and the cream before pouring into four ramekins.

Place the ramekins in a roasting dish and pour some water into the roasting dish so that the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Place in oven until the custard has set, approximately 20 minutes.

Leave to cool before decorating with some gorey eyeballs and whatever other halloween candy you can get your greasy paws on!

I have entered my photo in Action Against Hunger’s Love Food Give Food Instagram Competition. You can find out more about the competition and how to enter here.

My marathon running husband......

Next Monday my lovely husband is running the Dublin city marathon. Would love if you had a minute to read his words below. Don't worry if you can't sponsor him just maybe we will all be a little bit more aware of all the little lights that never got a chance to shine.

"As most of you know I’m doing the Dublin City Marathon on Monday 29th October. I set myself a target two and a half years ago to do the marathon in 2012, thinking it would never come around, but now it’s only a couple of days away! So after months of training it is upon me and I am running in memory of Oja Prunty, a little baby who was born prematurely and only stayed with us for 5 minutes before he was called home. Oja is the son of good friends of mine, Mark & Nitai, and they experienced a pain no parent should ever have to experience when Oja died. The money I hope to raise will be passed on to:

• A Little Lifetime Foundation (http://www.isands.ie/)
Donations http://www.mycharity.ie/event/raymond__ryans_event/

• Friends of the Coombe (http://www.friendsofthecoombe.ie/index.htm)
Donations http://www.mycharity.ie/event/raymond__ryans_event1/

Oja will never be forgotten and I hope by doing this small deed it will help the people who helped Mark and Nitai when Oja passed away. I would be grateful for any donations that you could give and have set up an online account for ease of contribution."

To read more about Oja click on the following link http://oja-prunty.gonetoosoon.org/






You never said you were leaving​
You never said goodbye
You were gone before I knew it
And only God knew why

A million times I needed you
A million times I cried
If love alone could have saved you
You would never have died

In life I loved you dearly
In death I love you still
In my heart you hold a place
That nobody could ever fill

It broke my heart y to lose you
But you didn’t go alone
For part of me went with you
The day God called you home.

Coffee & walnut loaf!

It's either a blog feast or a famine around my kitchen table these days! I know other bloggers have strict schedules for blogposts etc but to be honest this is my hobby and much as I know ye all hang around on the interweb all day waiting for me to publish a new post, some weeks there may not be any! ;-)

This is a handy little recipe to have to hand and can be easily converted to a lemon, summer fruits, chocolate or whatever takes your fancy loaf. I fancied a coffee and walnut loaf so that is what I made!

What you need;

Simply weigh three eggs in their shell....mine weighed 200g, match the weights of the other ingredients to this weight!
200g butter
200g caster sugar
200g self raising flour
Espresso shot

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease a loaf tin.
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the eggs which you have lightly whisked.
Sieve in the flour and fold.
Lightly stir in the espresso shot.
Pour into the loaf tin and place in the oven.
Bake until a skewer comes out clean, approximately 45 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.

It's perfect to eat as it is but I fancied a bit of crunch! I added two teaspoons of freshly made coffee to 50g of icing sugar before drizzling over the cake. Crush a handful of walnuts and scatter on top!
Voila a deliciously moist interior with a lovely crunchy exterior. Perfection!

I entered this picture in Action Against Hunger’s Love Food Give Food Instagram Competition. I’ve just found out my photo was selected as one of the top 20 in the competition and so will be entered in the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Competition.

Comfort eating in style! Pumpkin & potato gratin.

I have always been a comfort eater and without fail in times of trouble I always turn to food. It's a really bad habit to get into but there is something wonderful about the pleasure that food gives me. Today is a bit of a wet and dark old day so something warm and gooey was required for lunch. Dont worry I didn't eat the entire thing, there is a small bit leftover for later......

You will need;

2 shallots, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

350g pumpkin, peeled and sliced

350g potatoes, peeled and sliced

50g chorizo, chopped up

1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced

250ml double cream

100g breadcrumbs

50g walnuts, chopped

Rapeseed oil

Drizzle some rapeseed oil into a large pan and fry the shallots until translucent.

Add the garlic, pumpkin, potatoes, chorizo and chilli and fry lightly until browned.

Transfer to an oven proof dish before pouring the double cream over the mixture.

Place in a preheated 180 degree oven until the potatoes and pumpkins are soft and the cream is bubbling.

In the meantime drizzle a small amount of rapeseed oil onto the pan and add the breadcrumbs and walnuts and fry until golden.

Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the gratin before serving.

So there you have it, comfort food ready to be eaten in a matter of minutes!

I served this with some gorgeous crispy kale that I trimmed, drizzled with oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and placed in oven to crispen up. simply delicious!

Chorizo, kale & pumpkin frittata

Sometimes the simplest of dishes are the most flavoursome. I hate wasting calories on boring sandwiches at lunchtime and I like to have something quite substantial especially on the days when I am heading to work. This is a simple recipe and is both filling and nutritious. This makes enough for a hungry adult and a picky toddler.

What you will need;

100g chorizo sausage, chopped

100g pumpkin flesh, chopped

A handful of kale with the tough stems removed

4 eggs, lightly whisked

Salt & pepper

Fry the chorizo over a medium heat until starting to crispen, no need to add oil to the pan as the chorizo will release enough of its own.

Add the pumpkin and kale and fry until the pumpkin is soft.

Add the eggs and cook gently until the centre is cooked.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper before serving.

Quick and easy lunch for one and a half!

Enjoy!