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Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire Puddings
by char2011
I love yorkshire puddings although I have not tried to make them from scratch before I guess Aunt Bessie is to blame. I love them on the side with my Sunday dinner they add a nice touch to my Sunday meals. Usually have about 2 or 3 depending on how I feel.
These Aunt Bessie yorkshire puddings are easy cook straight from ... frozen in the freezer to the oven. I usually us a foil covered baking tray to cook these and it takes not longer than 3-4 minutes at gas mark 6 before they are crispy golden and ready to eat. One thing that is a little hard annoying for me when cooking them is that the cook so quite and on a number of occasion I have burnt them. When all the dinner is ready I put them in the oven then go sit down for a minute till they are done next thing I know they are burnt because more than often I forget they are in the over because of how quick they are. I invested in an alarm so now when I cook them this doesn't happen to me anymore.
It was the taste of Aunt Bessie yorkshire puddings that have made me loyal to the brand. The Aunt Bessie yorkshire puddings have a very light/soft centre and a crispy outside. They go well with bisto gravy or mint sauce in my Sunday dinner and I have a couple of times just put some in the oven and eaten them alone. Wired I know :). I usually like mine straight out the over and well hot because they taste the best that way. The smell of these is appealing and they are good quality. From the freezer the look all scrunched up but when cooked the are a decent size
Although I have never made homemade ones myself I have tried some homemade ones and Aunt Bessie ones where just as good. For those who made homemade ones I'd recommend trying these because they will save you the hassle of making them and cut down you Sunday dinner preparation time.
The packaging for these is a little hard to spot in the supermarket because Aunt Bessie seem to give almost all there products near enough the same packaging either yellow or blue. The packaging is OK though but I do find having a small freezer that these do take up a lot of space. I once had to put them in the fridge because there was no space in the freezer and they taste vile so i would not recommend anyone do that.
Ingredients
Wheat Flour, Whole Egg, Egg White, Water, Vegetable Oil, Skimmed Milk Powder, Salt
Dietary Information
Suitable for Vegetarians
Free From Artificial Colours
Free From Artificial Preservatives
Overall these yorkshire puddings stand out from the rest for me and are very nice. I would recommend these to anyone even those who home make them. These are perfect for everyone in the family I even got my sister to like these and she doesn't usually like this sort of thing.
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Uncle Ben's Express Golden Vegetable Rice
by Whizz11
The ultimate in convenience food with a great taste must be the Uncle Ben's Express rice range. They are so handy and so easy to make that really nothing could be simpler. They are very simple to make but I find them so handy to keep in the cupboard, especially this golden vegetable flavour as it really goes with anything. At the moment ... my favourite thing to serve it with is some steamed rice so you get quite a healthy meal and a tasty one at that too.
The rice comes in a sealed plastic pouch and has already been cooked. All you need to do is heat it up and then eat. The packets have definitely gone up in price since I began using them quite a few years ago. A pack usually costs £1.59 but at the moment in Sainsburys they are selling for £1 each so that is actually quite a good bargain at the moment. I always tend to buy a few of these packets each time I go shopping and store them in the cupboard so I always have some when I don't have much time to cook. The sell by and use by date is usually quite long on these so you can store them in your cupboard for quite a while
As I've said above, my favourite normal flavoured rice would have to be the express golden vegetable rice. I find I always have this one in the cupboard because it goes with everything. It has quite a nice smell to it to begin with. I like the fact that there are quite a lot of vegetables in it and you can really see them. There are in big pieces not just a few dotted around like some rices. It has quite a rich herby taste which is very pleasant. The rice has a nice yellow colour to it and a nice taste to it. The vegetables that you can see in it include bits of corn (which I have to pick out for my husband as he hates them) and red peppers.
The rice is incredibly easy to make. Like I said above it is already cooked so all you need to do is heat it up. There are two ways in which you can do this. The first way is in the microwave where you just open the packet a little bit at the top (no need for an extra dish so this cuts down on the washing up too) and heat on full power for 2 minutes. It's as simple as that. The other way is to heat it in a pan. You boil a small amount of water (about 2tbsp) and then add the rice to it, simmer it for about 3 minutes and then when all the water is absorbed the rice is done. I do find that the rice sticks together when you first get it out of the packet as it has been stuck in the packet so sometimes you just have to either squeeze the packet before opening to get the clumps apart or put a fork through them while the rice is in the pan. Either way, I think when you eat the rice you will be pleasantly surprised. I find it very tasty and pleasant and it's a great way to serve dinner on the run. Sometimes I find a few grains of the rice a bit tough but that gives it a nice consistency in my opinion.
I find one packet is good enough for two people to eat as a side dish. If you are looking to make a dinner purely based on rice with say some chicken in it then I would recommend perhaps one packet each. The only not so great part is that it perhaps has quite a few calories. Each packet has 250g in it. Half a packet contains 230 calories so if you ate a whole one yourself you would be eating 460 calories but I guess if you count this as an evening meal then it is not too bad.
My kids have started eating these too. I usually make one packet between the two of them but add lots of other vegetables to it and some bits of chicken too so they get a nicee filling but quick and easy meal. They love the taste and its easy for them to eat themselves without me having to feed them.
The nice thing is that the rice has no artificial colours, no artificial flavours and no artificial preservatives.
All in all a quick, convenient food that tastes good and people will enjoy.
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Squires Kitchen Professional Paste Food Colours
by Holland1
I use these paste food colours for cake decorating purposes, as they are easier to work with than liquid colours. Colours which come in the form of paste are more concentrated, meaning that you only need to add a tiny bit to inject a good amount of colour. This means you don't run the risk of altering the consistency of the food you ... are working with, by adding too much liquid.
The Squires Kitchen paste colours are the most well known in the world of cake decorating, and they have an excellent range of colours which are all quite specific. So, whereas you could go to the supermarket and find a basic range of colours such as red, blue and yellow, if you're looking for a more specific colour, you'll have a wider range to choose from in the Squires Kitchen range. For example, there is no yellow colour, but instead you have a choice of sunflower, marigold or daffodil.
The pastes are packaged in a little pot with a very stiff flip top lid. The reason for the stiffness of the lid is obviously to contain the product and not allow it to leak or spill anywhere. When I first started cake decorating about four years ago, I used to be nervous about carrying these to college, but in actual fact they are very hard wearing, and I've never had any incidents involving leaks in my bag. You just have to make sure the lid is fully "snapped" onto the pot.
The paste itself is thicker than food colour, and the consistency is a little like a watered down body butter. This means you won't be able to pour it, but instead it can be applied by using a wooden cocktail stick. The key to this is to remember that less is more when it comes to paste colours. You're best starting off with a tiny bit, and then increasing it if you need to, because the colours are very intense so the likelihood is that you'll need less than you think.
I'm always very careful when using these pastes to try to avoid it coming into contact with my skin or work surfaces. This is because they are very concentrated, and take forever to remove. When I first started cake decorating there were a couple of occasions I had to go into work the morning after college with green fingers, after spending ages scrubbing trying to get the colour off my hands! Sometimes it can't be avoided, for example if you're kneading it into fondant, in which case it's advisable to wear gloves.
The pastes themselves are very effective, and they do last a while due to only needing to use a little each time. You can build up darker colours by using more paste, or alternatively you can mix and match the colours to create your own colour. They create long lasting colours in fondant or buttercream, and are much easier to work with than liquid colours. Currently available for around £2.10 per pot, from the Squires Kitchen website (www.squires-shop.com), Hobbycraft, or cake decorating shops. Highly recommended.
(Review may also appear on Ciao under the username Gingerkitty)
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