Food is Tine's area, though Jim is very happy to be the guinea pig, and so this page as well as the other recipe pages are all written by her.
If any of you try these recipes, please let me hear about the results, whether good or bad. I'm not a professional cook book writer, so though all the recipes have been done many times, there might be something I have forgotten to put in or written unclearly.
A fresh and healthy start to the day, based on oats, apples and yoghurt. The recipe was first introduced by Dr. Bircher-Brenner around 1900 and he used it for patients in his sanatorium. I can no longer remember where my version comes from, but it works well, and can be varied to your own taste.
I have been making these for a while for packed lunches and am often asked about the recipe.
Due to the fruit, which can be blackcurrants, plums or rhubarbs, they can get rather sticky but it means they are less sweet than most flapjacks and they are delicious.
Especially if you are not normally a big fan of flapjacks these are a really good energising option.
Very popular both at breakfast and later in the day. They are very quick to make, so it's easy to have freshly made muffins whenever wanted. They can be very simple, as the berry muffins often served, or more elaborate, as our spiced rhubarb and walnut muffins. See here for a couple of basic recipes and some tips.
In my opinion, for a good breakfast, you need good bread.
Be aware that the same recipe will taste quite different depending on the flour used. My favourite white flour is organic, stoneground flour from Little Salkeld, which gives a distinct taste and texture to the white bread. Dove's organic strong white flour also works well and gives a more conventional white bread.
After having tried quite a few granola recipes, Nigella Lawson's has become the clear favourite of them all. See here for my version of it.
Marmalade - a must for many during breakfast. I make a variety of marmalades, but one basic recipe has proved to give the best result with not too much work, though all marmalades do take quite a time to make!
We have a variety of homemade jams, but a perennial favourite is the "extra fruity" raspberry jam. It's a very simple recipe, and can be made with either fresh or frozen raspberries.
Over the time we have experimented with various smoothies. Two of my favourites are a green smoothie and a filling banana, blueberry and oats smoothie.