RECIPES

July 18, 2019 by: Sunny London

Cooking Tips for Making a Full English Breakfast

Warning: if you don’t know what a Full English Breakfast is and you aren’t a fan of grease start to your day, look away!

This blog post is a contribution from my English husband, Mr Sunny, and he doesn’t hold back when it comes to cooking a proper English fry up in the morning. As foodie travellers, we love exploring local cuisine and often we try to replicate the recipes when we return. We bought waffle mixture after visiting Brussels, as well ravioli cutters, pasta dyed with squid ink and balsamic vinegar at Eataly while we were in Bologna.

However, it’s understandable that eating traditional English food is a majority of our life at home in London. Having enjoyed Mr Sunny’s full English breakfast on countless occasions, I thought it well overdue to share it with you on this foodie blog. If you’re American, you will find a few similarities to our traditional American diner breakfast. However, keep reading to see what’s different when you are eating a Full English Breakfast in London cooked by a proper Londoner.

cooking-tips-for-making-a-full-english-breakfast-londoner

Full English Breakfast- Key Ingredients

A traditional full English breakfast means a morning plate served with sausage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding, beans, and fried bread. You will probably want to accompany it with ketchup or brown sauce too. You can also incorporate different types of bagels in your breakfast if you’re fond of them, which, unfortunately, Mr Sunny is not.

With regard to selecting ingredients, Mr Sunny has some key advice for your English fry up.

Purchase good quality ingredients. For example, visit your local butcher for sausage that is preferably a high meat content. Mr Sunny suggests plain pork, not Cumberland, Lincolnshire or pork and apple sausage.
Be generous with the vegetable oil and under no circumstances should you substitute it with olive oil. His direct quote is, ‘Olive oil makes eggs go green and tastes like sh*t.’
While you can get ‘streaky bacon’ in the UK, nearly every Full English Breakfast uses back bacon. He doesn’t used smoked, but he feels it depends on your taste preference.

Full English Breakfast- What You Need

You can see a big list of my foodie product recommendations on Amazon UK. For this recipe we suggest the items below.

You can also find the splatter screens and anti-fatigue mats on Amazon.com in the US.

Full English Breakfast- Cooking Tips and Order

We aren’t going to share a direct recipe with you, because a traditional Full English Breakfast only requires basic cooking skills. Plan 25-30 minutes cooking time This is really the time it takes to cook the sausage, so you’ll want to start with that first.

You could probably get away with one pan. But, if you want to make it exactly like Mr Sunny, he suggests two frying pans. The smaller one is for the fried bread and eggs.

Here is the order for a successful English fry up.

Put a decent amount of vegetable oil in the large frying pan on medium heat and add your sausage links.
Next, place the black pudding in the same pan.
After 5 minutes, it should be time to put in the bacon.
While Mr Sunny is letting this food fry, he cuts mushrooms evenly. His preference is button or close cup.
With regard to a tomato, he chops it in halves and then cuts a cross on the rounded side with skin so they cook evenly. He also sprinkles them with salt before cooking.
In the smaller frying pan, Mr Sunny adds a generous amount of vegetable oil on medium heat. As you fry the bread, don’t be afraid to add more oil because the bread absorbs it. Because I was interrupting him a million times for video and still shots the day we cooked the one shown in the post, his bread ended up a little too fried.
After you remove the bread, you probably need to add more oil because again the bread will have soaked up most of it.
Crack the eggs and add them to the pan. You should move them around so they don’t stick to the pan. His bonus frying eggs tip is to use a teaspoon to flick oil an to the top of the eggs so you don’t get the ‘snotty’ bits. (I know every American just cringed at the sight of the word ‘snotty’ but that is the word they use here.)
Finally, Mr Sunny removes the food items from the pans and puts them on paper towels to remove excess grease before serving.
In our breakfast the day we filmed he didn’t include beans. But, if you want to make beans, you can remove them from the can and splash them with a dash of black pepper and Worcestershire sauce. He zaps them in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute, gives them a quick stir and throws them back in for another 15-20 seconds.

Full English Breakfast- When Do English People Eat It?

Mr Sunny and generations of his family were born and bred in London. He says that the Full English Breakfast was more of a staple breakfast in the 50’s-60’s. To him, it seems like now this type of breakfast is reserved for lazy weekend mornings or holidays. But, he said if you go to your local caf in the morning, it’s common to see builders enjoying a hefty Full English Breakfast on a weekday.

If you visit London, you will likely have this option for breakfast at your hotel. If you holiday in Europe, you might see a Full English Breakfast on the menu. But, the standard European continental breakfast is different. As you can see in images from our Brussels hotel and Nice hotel in France, it features a selection of cold meats and cheeses, fresh fruit and pastries.

Full English Breakfast- Final Thoughts

If you would like to see a Full English Breakfast in the making, you can watch Mr Sunny cooking it below. We also go through tons of differences between an American breakfast and a British breakfast.

So if all that grease didn’t put you off and you made it to the end of this foodie blog post, what do you think of the Full English Breakfast? If you are English, is there anything you can suggest with regard to cooking tips? Do you do anything differently when making your Full English breakfast?

Americans, did you notice what was missing from the traditional English breakfast compared to what you find in America?

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As part of the welcome, you will also receive several other free downloads, plus a weekly edition of the hottest happenings in London.

The Best Time to Visit London
What Airport to Choose for London
What You Must Know About British Food

How to Plan a Perfect British Picnic

Planning a perfect British picnic is very simple. During the very hot (near 90º degrees) temperatures this summer, Mr. Sunny and I decided to keep cool by packing up our picnic basket with some food and cocktails and heading to London parks. To make things really easy, we bought most items from our local Marks and Spencer. However, to save money you could certainly make many things yourself.

Plan a British Picnic: Cocktails

Naturally, you want to make sure your drinks are covered first. Traditional picnics involve wine or champagne. To give yours a British twist, try making either a Pimm’s cocktail or gin and tonic. Mr. Sunny made a Pimm’s cocktail with strawberries, apple, cucumber, mint and lemon slices.

I don’t like fruit floating around in my drink, so I opted for a simple G&T with Fever Tonic water. It’s a delicious discovery I made while visiting Windsor in the early summer. It blended well with Rock Rose gin, which is another summer discovery for me. It’s made in the UK through a small batch process of 500 litres. Each bottle is hand waxed and signed by the distiller too.

Plan a Perfect British Picnic: Food

You can watch the video below to see all the food we brought with us. Some suggestions for you are: Scotch Eggs, Pork Sausage Rolls, Mini Pork Pie, Classic Sandwiches, British cheeses and coldcuts, pickled onion, crusty bread and butter.

The engraved items with my blog name ‘Sunny in London’ are from With Luv Design.

Plan a Perfect British Picnic: Final Thoughts

To make your picnic easier, I would suggest having the following items in the UK: a wicker picnic basket, an insulated picnic cooler and a picnic blanket.

In less than two minutes you can watch highlights of our summer British picnics.

For more culinary information, follow the Pinterest board of British Food Recipes which includes Mr. Sunny’s culinary talents as well as many other pinners. You can start your British food adventure by pinning the image below. And, I’d love to learn in the comments what you would bring on a picnic too!

June 16, 2016 by: Sunny London

Easy Toad in the Hole Recipe

Want to cook a traditional British food that’s delicious and not much work? When my husband said he had an easy Toad in the Hole recipe and offered to make it, I quickly said, ‘Yes please!’

However, when I grabbed my camera to share it with you, he said the recipe is so simple that he didn’t think it would translate well to pictures and words for a blog. I am taking the chance and would love your feedback.

It’s a bit cheeky but, Toad in the Hole is actually just a Yorkshire pudding recipe poured over sausage. And now that this little secret is out, let’s look at what you do to make this yummy British food.

If you notice the top part of the picture, that’s literally all the ingredients you’ll need for this traditional British dish. Ok, so the flour featured above is just a small representation of what you’ll use, but what you see there is pretty much it in terms of food.

What might be an issue before you start is kitchen appliances. If you don’t have a blender or food processor like these below, you’ll just need to save this on Pinterest or bookmark it some way until you’re better equipped.

Kenwood Food Processor – Amazon UK

Cuisinart Food Processor- Amazon USA

The steps were fairly straight forward and not very photogenic.

Basically, you pour the flour, eggs and milk with a pinch of salt in to a cuisinart. After mixing, you leave it to sit. In a baking tray, you add the oil and then bring it to a boiling point in the oven. Once boiling, remove the baking tray from the oven and add sausages. Next you brown them a bit. When the oil is still very hot, you add the batter, red onions and rosemary. Finally you cook it in the oven.

The magical results should look something like this…

Now doesn’t that just look amazing? Of course, you’ll want to pair it with a few things for a full plate to impress your mates. In this case, my husband made mashed potatoes and green beans (AKA ‘runner beans’ to the British).

If you aren’t interested in making a full Sunday roast, this Easy Toad in the Hole recipe is an excellent food choice for a brilliant weekend meal. What you see in these blog pictures could easily feed four.

My husband, the infamous ‘Mr. Sunny’, recommends drinking Stella Artois for the preparation and consumption of Toad in the Hole.

For more recipes from my beer-loving husband, be sure to follow the Sunny in London British Food Recipes board on Pinterest.

Easy Toad in the Hole Recipe: Advice

While this is truly an easy Toad in the Hole recipe, you must know that cleaning your oven after cooking the food in the pan can be incredibly difficult. The beef dripping that splashes around creates quite a greasy situation. Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Easy Toad in the Hole Recipe

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

45 mins

Author: Sunny London

Recipe type: Dinner

Cuisine: British

Serves: 3

Ingredients

2 ounces flour
4 eggs
4 ounces of milk
Salt
6 pork sausages (minimum 90% meat)
¼ cup beef drippings
2 sprigs rosemary (to taste)
½ red onion thickly sliced to add in to the mixture

Instructions

Pour the flour, eggs and milk with a pinch of salt in to a cuisinart. Mix until smooth. Leave mixture to sit.
Heat oven to 430.
In a baking tray, add the beef dripping until it melts.
Bring it to a boiling point in the oven.
Once the beef dripping begins to smoke in the oven (approximately 10 minutes), remove from oven and add sausages.
Quickly brown sausages on top of the stove, and when the oil is still very hot, add the batter, red onions and rosemary.
Cook it in the oven until sausage is done, making sure Yorkshire pudding mixture doesn't burn (approximately 20-25 minutes).
Serve with green beans, mashed potatoes, cabbage, peas and gravy.

March 29, 2016 by: Sunny London

Easy Lamb Saag Aloo Recipe (Spinach and Potato Curry)

Do you have any idea how easy it is to make a Lamb Saag Aloo recipe at home? For Mr. Sunny’s first offical recipe contribution to the blog, he picked this simple Indian curry dish for you.

I’ve learned since living as an American expat in London that the British tend to refer to almost any Indian main dish as ‘curry.’ It’s extremely popular in London. In general, the food offered is Indian food cooked to British taste; although, there is increasing demand for authentic Indian food. As of 2015 curry houses accounted for a fifth of the restaurant business in the U.K.

Curry is an integral part of British cuisine. Since the late 1990s, chicken tikka masala has been referred to as “a true British national dish.’

Even though this spinach and potato curry looks like it takes a long time to make, it’s actually pretty fast to create, outside of the time it takes for the lamb to marinate in seasoning and oil. Also, it’s a fairly inexpensive recipe. Let’s get started…

First, you add oil and seasoning to the lamb cubes and toss in the refrigerator. While your meat is marinating, you can peel and boil the potatoes plus chop the onion, garlic and shallots.

You can then take a few hours to enjoy other activities before you finish the Lamb Saag Aloo recipe.

About an hour before you want to eat, take the lamb out of the refrigerator so it can begin to reach room temperature. At the 40 minute mark before your meal, add the lamb and marinade to a medium size sauce pan on medium heat.

Brown the lamb while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for about 6-7 minutes. Next you add garlic, shallots and onion to the saucepan.

Once onions are soft, add the jars of Keema curry. Mr. Sunny chose the Punjaban brand of Curry Sauce because it doesn’t contain artificial colours, preservatives, additives, flavourings, dairy, nuts, coconut, sugar, wheat, gluten or yeast.

After adding the potatoes, simmer for 30 minutes. While waiting, prepare the rice in a microwave and then layer in the spinach to your lamb mixture.

Lamb Saag Aloo Recipe Results:

The result of your Lamb Saag Aloo recipe will be a bit spicy, so be ready! The full recipe is below. Mr. Sunny made this recipe gluten free for me. You can serve it with papadum (also gluten free) and a Tomato, Onion, Cucumber and Coriander salad.

We’d love to know what you think of this simple Lamb Saag Aloo recipe. Have you ever made your own curry? What Indian restaurants in London do you recommend?

Lamb Saag Aloo Recipe (Spinach and Potato Curry)

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Prep time

5 hours

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

5 hours 45 mins

This is a Londoner's easy recipe for delicious Lamb, Spinach and Potato Curry. The lamb needs to marinate 4-5 hours before serving.

Author: Sunny London

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

21 ounces of cubed lamb (600g cubed lamb)
2 tbls tumeric (plus a tsp for cooking)
2 tbls ground cumin (plus a tsp for cooking)
7 tbls tikka curry powder
3 tbls organic rapeseed oil (plus 1 tbls for cooking)
5 New potatoes
1 tsp salt
½ white onion
3 shallots, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch coriander
1 bag of washed spinach leaves
24 ounces (2 jars - 350g) Keema Curry Base (or equivalent curry base)
9 ounces (250g) brown basmati rice or pilau rice
1 package papadum

Instructions

To make marinade, add lamb to large bag and then 3 tbls rapeseed oil.
Seal plastic bag and massage meat for approximately 1 minute.
Add Tumeric, Cumin, and Tikka Curry Powder.
Seal bag and massage mixture approximately 1 minute.
Place in refrigerator for 4-5 hours before meal.
To prepare potatoes, peel potatoes and cut in half or quarters, depending on preference.
Place potatoes in medium size saucepot. Add water, salt,1 tsp Tumeric, 1 tsp Cumin. HEat until slow boiling, approximately 10 minutes. Strain and leave in saucepot to cool.
Approximately 20 minutes before cooking meal, remove lamb from refrigerator to bring to room temperature.
Add 1 tbls of rapeseed oil to medium saucepot. It should be just enough to cover bottom of the pot.
Add lamb and brown, using a wooden spoon and stirring constantly (approximately 6-7 minutes).
Add garlic, shallots and onions to lamb in saucepot.
Once onions are soft (approximately 3 minutes), add the jars of Keema curry base. Fill half of one empty curry base jar with water and add to saucepot.
Add potatoes.
After simmering lamb for 30-35 minutes, add the spinach leaves and chopped coriander.
In a microwave, prepare the rice according to package instructions.
Serve the Lamb Saag Aloo immediately with rice and papadum.

March 20, 2016 by: Sunny London

Banana Chocolate Chip Scone Recipe

Do you love chocolate? If so, you’ll find this Banana Chocolate Chip Scone recipe an easy way to satisfy your cocoa craving. It’s also a fun way to add a fruity twist to an afternoon tea party.

When my shipment of boxes from my New York townhouse finally arrived to London, I couldn’t wait to unpack all of my bakeware. After writing so many afternoon tea reviews the past two years, I have been eager to share my own kitchen creations on the blog with you.

This Banana Chocolate Chip Scone recipe was at the top of my English baking list. I made this recipe once for an afternoon tea I hosted for friends in America and knew it was easy and delicious.

Let’s get to it.

I like to make the chocolate cream cheese first so it can cool while the scones are baking. This is especially useful if you’re planning to make and serve them straight away. You could even make it the day before.

In a small saucepan, heat the cream and add the chocolate morsels or baking chips. Stir this slowly and continuously, as it doesn’t take long to melt and combine.

Remove from heat and leave set on a baking rack while you make the rest of the Banana Chocolate Chip Scone recipe.

First for the dough, combine all the dry ingredients in a food processor. Yes, I shipped my Cuisinart to London. Using it required buying a Heavy Duty Voltage Transformer Converter because of the electrical currency conversion. I’ll write about that later for my American expat in London readers.

Next, you add the mashed bananas and other liquids. Make sure you pulse the food processor and don’t remove the dough until it’s slightly sticky. I made the mistake of taking it out too early and spent about 20 minutes kneading it and adding flour to it on a little cutting board. My floor and I were a proper mess.

You have a few options for shaping and baking your Banana Chocolate Chip Scones. I chose to fill a Nordic Scone Pan and use a biscuit cutter for the remaining dough, because the recipe yields more than one scone baking pan will hold.

Once you have used a Silicone Pastry Brush to glaze the top of the dough with egg, place your scones in the oven and enjoy the glorious smell. And of course, when they’ve cooled a bit, pile the chocolate cream cheese on high. It’s good for the foodie soul.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget a cup of your favourite afternoon tea!

If you liked this recipe, please do share it on Pinterest and with your friends. However, if they’re English, do make sure you pronounce it, ‘Bah-nawwwhhhh-nawwwhhh.’

Banana Chocolate Chip Scone Recipe: Bakeware and Gadgets

These are some special items UK readers might want to consider for this recipe.
– Nordic Ware Scone & Cornbread Pan
– Stainless Steel Flour Sifter
– Silicone Pastry Brush

And don’t forget these:

Dr Who Tardis Tea Pot

Queens Penzance Fine China Teapot

Banana Chocolate Chip Scone Recipe:

Banana Chocolate Chip Scone Recipe

Save Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

30 mins

This recipe combines traditional English scones with banana and chocolate. It works well with a seasonal afternoon tea menu.

Author: Sunny London

Recipe type: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: British

Serves: 24 Scones

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour (have extra to dust rolling pin and biscuit cutter, plus to add if dough consistency is too sticky)
½ cup sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold butter (1½ sticks) or margarine, grated or diced in to small cubes
2 small bananas, very ripe and mashed
½ cup low-fat Greek yogurt, or regular
1 cup milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips
1 egg beaten with a teaspoon water (glaze)
Chocolate Cream Cheese:
1 cup milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips
¼ whipping cream
1 package (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Grease or spray scone baking pan and/or cookie sheets.
Make Chocolate Cream Cheese: Add chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring until chocolate is smooth and mixture is melted. Set aside and cool to room temperature. Stir the mixture into cream cheese in a small bowl. It may be covered and refrigerated for several days. Serve at room temperature.
To begin making scones, use a sifter to mix first five dry ingredients together in to a food processor fitted with a metal blade or in a mixing bowl. Process or mix at a low speed, or until combined.
Add cold butter cubes and blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add banana, yogurt and chocolate chips. Mix until all dry ingredients are moistened.
When dough is sticky to touch but manageable without overtaking your hands, remove it to a floured surface like a marble slab.
If using a scone pan, flatten the dough a bit with your hands and then pull sections off to half fill a wedge in the pan. Repeat until pan is full. Take remaining dough and use a rolling pin to create a circle approximately ¾ inch thick. Using a 2-inch round, square or heart-shaped biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out biscuits. Place them about 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Gather up the scraps of dough and pat them into a ¾ inch disk. Continue cutting and patting out dough until all dough is used.
Brush tops of scones lightly with egg glaze. Discard extra glaze.
Bake 7-10 minutes, or until scones are golden brown.
You may wrap scones well and keep overnight at room temperature or freeze. Reheat them at 350 degrees for 5 minutes or until hot.
Serve warm with Chocolate Cream Cheese.

– Adapted from Season’s Greetings by Marlene Sorosky

If you’ve moved from America to London as an expat, what’s been your baking experience? Any ingredients you had trouble finding? Are you adjusting to the oven temperatures in Celsius?

December 11, 2015 by: Sunny London

Lactose Free Christmas Recipes with Bake-a-Boo London

Do you struggle with baking during the holidays because you’re limited to lactose free Christmas recipes?

As a person who should eat gluten free, I can surely sympathisize with the problems associated with eating from a limited selection of food. It’s especially difficult during the winter season when comfort food temptations peak.

When Arla Lactofree contacted me about an afternoon tea featuring lactose free recipes at Bake-a-Boo in West Hampstead, there were many reasons I said yes.

Since I discovered Bake-a-Boo on Twitter in 2011, I have been a fan and follower. The bake shop, tea room and party parlour is a hidden treasure of the affluent London suburb West Hampstead. It offers a range of speciality cakes and treats free from the common allergens of wheat, gluten and dairy. Bake-a-Boo also has egg and sugar free treats.

The evening event offered an opportunity to network with other bloggers, learn more about Lactofree, receive lactose free Christmas recipes, and peek behind the scenes of Bake-a-Boo.

With about six other bloggers, I spent the evening sampling lactose free Christmas recipes from Arla Lactofree and Bake-a-Boo.

Above, is a picture of the Mince Pie Cupcakes, which were my favourite.

Lactose Free Christmas Recipes:

(Makes 15 mini cupcakes)

Ingredients:

75g Arla Lactofree Spreadable
75g dark muscavado sugar
75g self-raising flour
1 free range egg
Half teaspoon of vanilla essence
Quarter teaspoon of cinnamon
Jar of mincemeat

Steps:

– Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and line a mini cupcake baking tray with mini cupcake cases
– Cream the Arla Lactofree Spreadable and sugar together in a mixing bowl
– Add the vanilla essence
– Beat in the egg and then combine the mincemeat
– Fold in the flour and cinnamon
– Distribute the mixture evenly between the cupcake cases
– Bake for 10-12 minutes and leave to cool completely

Icing and drizzle decoration:

Chocolate Lactofree buttercream
400g icing sugar
50g Arla Lactofree Spreadable
25g Cocoa Powder
White, green and red sugar paste for decoration
A small holly cutter is useful, but not necessary.

– Prepare the chocolate buttercream by combining all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until you have desired consistency.
– Place in the centre of each shape made from the white sugar paste moulded like icing drizzle. Create a holly leaf with the green sugar paste using a holly cutter if you have one, or just make a leaf shape if you don’t. Then add two small balls made from the red sugar paste to look like the holly berries.

Since that was one of the final treats, you’re probably wondering what lactose free food was featured first.

The above pictured are:
– Blinis (made with Lactofree milk) topped with smoked salmon and Lactofree cream cheese and fresh chives
– Courgette ‘sushi style’ rolls filled with herb infused Lactofree soft cheese and miniature crudites of carrot and red pepper
– Pita bread Christmas trees with creamy avodaco dip made with Lactofree cream topped with red peppers

If you would like the recipes, just leave a comment below, and I will email them to you. All were delicious, considering they are lactose free recipes for afternoon tea.

One of the warm lactose free Christmas recipes we tried is the Turkey Lollipops.

Ingredients:

1 pack of minced turkey
100g Bread Crumbs
75g Arla Lactofree Spreadable
1 small onion chopped and diced
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 clove of garlic chopped and diced
2 teaspoons of tomato ketchup
Handful of finely chopped parsley leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Long round lollippop sticks or wooden kebab sticks

Preheat oven to 200 degrees
In a bowl combine the turkey mince, Arla Lactofree Spreadable, onions and garlic, herbs and spices, salt and pepper, ketchup and breadcrumbs until evenly combined using hands.
Make small patty balls with your hands out of the meat mixture and place on a baking tray lined with greasproof paper, leaving enough space for the lollipop sticks to be added.
Lightly insert the lollipop sticks into each patty ball.
Place baking tray in the oven and cook for 25 minutes, turning the lollipops half way through.
Once slightly cooked, tie each stick with a red ribbon for decoration and serve immediately whilst still warm. Serve with crandberry jam for dipping.

The evening was super fun. I especially loved the opportunity to meet Urvashi from the blog Botanical Kitchen. She is a previous contestant of the BBC’s Great British Bake Off and is the owner of Library Cafe in Enfield.

Arla Lactofree has some very exciting products launching in 2016. I had the opportunity to try one at the afternoon tea event at Bake-a-Boo but have been sworn to secrecy.

What I can say is that next year will certainly be ground-breaking for the brand, and you’ll be able to have the exclusive details here on the Sunny blog. Currently, these are the best-selling items…

Do you have any lactose free Christmas recipes that you can share, Sunny friends? Have you been to Bake-a-Boo? If not, here is a little look inside…

January 28, 2015 by: Sunny London

Sunny’s Simple Smoothie Recipes with Lactofree

Who is ready for some drinking games?

I definitely threw my name in to the ring when Lactofree contacted me to be a part of their latest drink challenge. The mission is to create a fun drink. So, in fairness, I created one to kick start a sunny day. And… one as a grown-up way to end a sunny day.

If you’re an avid Sunny reader, you’ve seen me mention drinking shakes on several occasions. I have always been a fan of protein, vegetable or fruit based smoothies.

Nonetheless, the range of different recipes I have tried and created stretches fairly wide over the years. Today, I’ll show you two that are berry healthy options, and of course, use Lactofree milk.

Simple Smoothie Recipes #1- Sunny Super Sipper

It’s widely known that antioxidants have tremendous ‘healing’ powers. They are high in Vitamins C and E and carotenoids. Mostly, their claim to fame is fighting damage caused by free radicals. As a girl who spent most of her childhood and teen years on the beaches of Florida, I need antioxidants to repair previous sun damage and prevent skin cancer. My skin is in serious need of repair after the years I spent sunbathing. I look a lot older than I am in terms of my skin, so I’m trying many different things to turn this around.

If you think ‘vibrant colour’, you’re in pretty good shape for finding foods rich in antioxidants. Some examples that make great shake ingredients are: all berries, apricot, kale, mangoes, nectarines, peaches, watermelon, apples and oranges.

Foremost, having a super food extractor is essential in making the smoothie process smooth. Lactofree sent me the Nutri Ninja for this challenge. Also, I have been selected to be a Lactofree brand ambassador, AKA ‘ambassadairy.’ 🙂

To make the Sunny Super Sipper, layer foods heavy in antioxidants in to the extractor cup. These include: blueberries, strawberries, frozen raspberries, frozen mangoes and a nectarine. I also toss in a scoop of chia seeds, which are some times called ‘one of the healthiest foods on the planet.’

Although I think the Ninja Professional can handle a full nectarine, I cut this one in to pieces. I layer about a handful of each item (except the chia seeds) in to the cup holder. Next, pour in about 1 1/2 cups of Lactofree milk. Finally, put on the lid, flip the container, and let the food extractor do its magic. Note: don’t fill your cup as full as the picture below. You want not to exceed the max fill line when you create your smoothie.

It’s just an absolutely berrilicious way to start a day! However, a suggestion is to be sure to check your teeth if you’re going anywhere important after you sip it. Berry seeds, while amazingly healthy, don’t always contribute to the cleanest smile. Remember that strawberry seeds scene from Pretty Woman?

Simple Smoothie Recipes #2- Sunny’s Sexyberry Slapup

After a busy day, this smoothie is a fun way to chill in the evening. The recipe is a spin off of one of my favourite drinks at an American chain restaurant I visited quite a bit during my university days.

It’s an adult smoothie that mirrors a strawberry milkshake.

– 8-10 strawberries (save one for a garnish)
– 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
– 20 raw, unsalted almonds
– 10-12 medium ice cubes
– Lactofree milk, fill until milk reaches half the other ingredients
– one shot of strawberry vodka

This is version is much healthier than the one I ordered often while at university. The raw almonds replace an almond flavoured liqueur. Also, instead of vanilla ice cream, Lactofree milk serves as a nice substitute. You could always add a few splashes of Lactofree cream as well. However, this recipe keeps the drink fun but doesn’t get too carried away with calories or alcohol.

I love the high level of antioxidants in both of these drinks and each use Lactofree as a liquid base. You can easily swap out the fruits for ones that may appeal to you differently or are readily available in your home.

Lactofree has tons of recipes, but two more for you are:

Tofu Smoothie:

– 1/2 banana
– 200ml Lactofree Semi Skimmed Milk
– 100g strawberries
– 80g tofu or Lactofree cream cheese
– 10g almonds
– 10g/handful sunflower seeds
– handful of blueberries

Raspberry Smoothie:

1 pot of Lactofree fruit yogurt
– 2 handfuls of frozen raspberries

With regard to this product, the reason why I endorse it is it because of the results. I make loads of shakes with vegetables. While they’re packed with benefits, they also don’t keep me full for long. So, when I want to have a smoothie that is fruit based and filling, Lactofree is the way to go.

I’d love to hear what’s in your ‘go to smoothie’ and hope that you leave a comment with the recipe below! Until then… enjoy your healthy smoothie recipes from Sunny in London!

November 24, 2014 by: Sunny London

How to Fry a Turkey- a Recipe for an American Thanksgiving?

Why would you ever want to know how to fry a turkey? Well, if you’re curious about how Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, it could be a damn good question.

Thanksgiving in America is huge. In fact, many Americans will tell you it’s their favourite holiday. I am one of them. Why? Probably a lot of reasons, but it’s mostly because it’s a day filled with family, food and football.

Last year Mr. Sunny and I got married in America two days before Thanksgiving. So, that’s when I started being badgered with tons of questions from my future British husband. He just couldn’t seem to get his head around what Americans do that day, especially with regard to food.

I explained it was simple. Here’s my recipe for Thanksgiving day:

– Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC from 9am-12pm, while still in pajamas. Make sure you see the Rockettes perform a number from their Christmas Spectacular show. Don’t miss Santa Claus at the very end. Tweet about all the new shows NBC promotes ad nauseam during the three hour event. (Hope for a retweet from a celebrity or other verified Twitter account.)
– Review all the Black Friday shopping adverts in the newspaper. Create a solid plan for shopping the next day.
– Watch football.
– Set the Thanksgiving dinner table for my mother.
– Change in to pants (‘trousers’ for my British mates) that have an elastic waist band.
– Eat turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie until even the elastic waistband feels like it will snap.
– Watch football.

Mr. Sunny thought this was so mystical. For me, it was tradition, except for one thing.

When my sister got married, our Thanksgiving changed a bit. Instead of roasting a turkey all day in the oven, my mother agreed to let my brother-in-law take charge of the bird. No one is ever allowed to step in my mother’s kitchen. However, Mr. Brother-in-law explained to her how to fry a turkey, and my mother said he could.

Thanksgiving 2011

Not many Americans do this. I don’t think. Therefore, my brother-in-law is regularly asked the steps for how to fry a turkey. In a joint effort, we’ve constructed this post for curious British people and even Americans. It features his recipe, including commentary and pictures from Mr. Sunny.

I take no responsibility for what follows.

How to Fry a Turkey- Set Up and Pre-Cooking:

1. Use 100% Peanut Oil, which tastes best. A hybrid will work.
2. Use a turkey with a max weight of 15 pounds.

Mr. Sunny: Open and drink a beer.

3. Carefully inject the entire turkey in all deep muscle tissues. Use 1/2 jar per bird.

Mr. Sunny- Open and drink a beer.

4. Cut the wings off at the knuckle joint and fry after the bird is done, usually while the body is being carved in a serving tray. (If this is not done, the wings will be over cooked and are fit to be thrown away.)Mr. Sunny- Open and drink a beer.

5. Place the remaining turkey body on the fry stand or basket and orientate it so it is as low as possible.
6. Place turkey in cold fryer pot and pour in oil so the bird is completely covered with minimum amount of oil above bird. If you are cooking multiple turkeys, use the largest one for this initial oil level set up. This is done to insure the oil level is correct so when you dip the bird in hot oil it does NOT spill over on the open flame and BURN DOWN YOUR HOUSE (as seen on YouTube.)Mr. Sunny- Open and drink a Beer.

7. Remove while draining oil back in fryer and place bird in staging area pre-set with paper towels to absorb any residual draining oil. This can be a bit messy, but it is only required for the first turkey. If a second turkey is near the same size, it can be cooked in the already measured oil.

How to Fry a Turkey- Ready for Cooking:

1. Heat up measured oil to 350 degrees. (DO NOT EXCEED 350 degrees EVER)

2. SLOWLY> Using the hook handle, lower the turkey into the oil. Steam will pour out and will boil when this happens. -STOP- and hold the partially inserted bird until the boiling slows. Then, continue to lower a little more so that you minimize the excessive boiling. This may take 3-5 minutes and 2-3 stops to make a controlled lowering until fully submerged.
3. At this point, if you have a splash shield, use it now to cover the fryer pot to minimize any splatter until most of the water has evaporated.

4. The oil temperature will decrease to about 280°, which is normal. Keep the burner on full until it again reads 350º. Then adjust burner to hold at 350º.

5. Mark the time turkey was fully submerged.
Mr. Sunny- Open and drink a beer.

6. The turkey will be done in 50 minutes depending on outside temperature and other factors. However, at 40 minutes you can use a separate meat thermometer and check deep into the leg joint until a minimum of 160º is reached. Slowly lower back if it needs more time. Note: Used oil cooks faster than new oil.
7. Remove bird with hook handle slowly allowing oil to drain back into fryer and place on tray.
8. Place the next turkey or wings in the oil. Do wings last- fry for about 10 minutes, or until they float for 5 minutes, or they look nice and brown. Pull one and cut at joint to check. Just put back in until they are done to your liking.

That’s it! Carve up and enjoy!

Remember to turn burner off when all the cooking is done. 😉

My brother in law is an avid bow hunter and road racer. Aside from this recipe for how to fry a turkey, his credits include:
– big game animals from a moose to deer to several turkeys with a modern compound bow as well as long and recurve styles.
– road racing. began in 1985 with a Freddy Spenser riding school. Currently, he races two 1980’s vintage bikes as well as a new KTM RC8R.

Mr. Sunny’s Disclaimer: No birds were harmed in the filming of this event.

Sunny’s Disclaimer: Please count the amount of beers Mr. Sunny had during the filming of this event.

So, British mates, what do you think of the American Thanksgiving holiday? American friends, what’s your take on this Thanksgiving twist? What do you do to celebrate?

August 4, 2014 by: Sunny London

How to Make Pasta from Scratch!

With my Italian heritage and love for cooking, I’m frequently asked how to make pasta from scratch. It is very easy, and it’s actually the perfect activity for a sunny day. All you need is the right equipment and atmosphere, meaning air quality.

My mom’s homemade pasta is one of my favourite foods. So on my holiday in the United States, I thought making it with my mom would be a fun way to spend time together.

This is our process for how to make pasta from scratch:

Assemble Equipment:
– Tablecloth covering work table
– Pasta Drying Racks
– Cuisinart or Kitchen Aid Mixer
– Pasta machine
– Motor attachment
– Wax paper

Prepare Ingredients:
(Recipe yields .75-1 pound of noodles)
– 3 large eggs
– 1 3/4 cup flour (plus extra flour to sprinkle on dough and noodles)
– 1 teaspoon salt

Mix Ingredients:
– Add flour and salt to food processor and pulse several times.
– While processor is running, pour beaten eggs in to dry ingredients.
– Stop processor when ingredients have formed a ball. Check consistency. If correct, you won’t have any dough on your fingers. If not correct, add a few tablespoons of flour and continue to run processor. If dough completely separates, add tablespoons of water. Alternate these adding flour and water until consistency is perfect.
– Wrap dough in wax paper.
– Leave in paper (approximately 10 minutes) while washing food processor and other dishes used for preparation.

Cutting the Dough:
– Cut the dough in to pieces and flatten in to squares by hand. Keep additional flour on hand to sprinkle on dough, if it seems too sticky.
– Run pieces individually through thickest setting of pasta machine first. Run each sheet of dough through machine several times.
– Finally, run dough through thinnest setting, according to type of noodles you’re making and personal thickness preference.
– Hang noodles on drying racks.

Cutting the Noodles:
– Feel dough and check dryness. Timing will depend on humidity in the air. Pasta edges will delicately crack when ready. If pasta sheets dries too fast, they will crack when being cut in to noodles.
– Run through pasta machine on desired noodle setting.
– Toss cut noodles on baking sheet and sprinkle with flour.
– Freeze in containers. You may wish to measure containers first. Then add pasta so you have exact weight of only the pasta.

Final tips for you on how to make pasta:
– Use a clean, old tablecloth.
– Make sure you have on comfortable shoes.
– Choose a sunny, dry day so your pasta dries faster.
– When you finish all your dishes and clean your kitchen, have a nice glass of your favourite adult beverage.

We froze our pasta and a few days later we used it to make Fettucine with shrimp, tomatoes and white wine. Whatever you do with your homemade pasta, make sure you serve it in a big, beautiful pasta dish.

So, who wants an invitation for dinner?

Cooking Tips for Making a Full English Breakfast

Full English Breakfast- Key Ingredients

Full English Breakfast- What You Need

Full English Breakfast- Cooking Tips and Order

Full English Breakfast- When Do English People Eat It?

Full English Breakfast- Final Thoughts

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How to Fry a Turkey- a Recipe for an American Thanksgiving?

How to Fry a Turkey- Set Up and Pre-Cooking:

How to Fry a Turkey- Ready for Cooking:

How to Make Pasta from Scratch!

This is our process for how to make pasta from scratch:

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