Recipes & Cooking Archives - A Simple Life of Luxury https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/category/recipes/ Tales from a down-shifted family - Making the most of modest means in West Wales Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:04:55 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/cropped-favicon-160x160.jpg Recipes & Cooking Archives - A Simple Life of Luxury https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/category/recipes/ 32 32 2696646 A Long Weekend in West Wales https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2026/06/a-long-weekend-in-west-wales/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2026/06/a-long-weekend-in-west-wales/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:58:00 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=48620 West Wales isn’t a bad place to spend a long weekend at home. Both Anna and I were off on Friday, so after an early-ish run around the dunes for me, we headed into town for brunch. We decided to try somewhere new and ended up at Kwizinn, which serves Caribbean-inspired food. It was excellent...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2026/06/a-long-weekend-in-west-wales/feed/ 1 48620 Fine Dining at Gwen https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2023/07/fine-dining-at-gwen/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2023/07/fine-dining-at-gwen/#comments Tue, 11 Jul 2023 08:56:00 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=40101 The (probably) last of our anniversary treats was a fine-dining experience at the relatively new restaurant “Gwen” in Machynlleth. Gwen is an intimate 8-seat restaurant offering a communal dining experience. The experience begins at 3pm or 7pm, where you’ll have a chance to have a drink before a 10 course tasting menu is served by...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2023/07/fine-dining-at-gwen/feed/ 3 40101 Air Fryers – Are they worth the hype? https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2023/01/air-fryers-are-the-worth-the-hype/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2023/01/air-fryers-are-the-worth-the-hype/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2023 16:15:30 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=38596 Air Fryers seem to be all the rage at the moment. Most people who have them seem to rave about them but we were somewhat on the fence. The general selling points seem to be So, how do they actually stack up? Well, in the name of gadgetry goodliness, we got one for Christmas and...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2023/01/air-fryers-are-the-worth-the-hype/feed/ 1 38596 St Fagans and The Great House https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/12/st-fagans-and-the-great-house/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/12/st-fagans-and-the-great-house/#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2021 09:37:22 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=36961 We’ve just got back from a nice weekend away in South Wales. As usual at this time of year we try to combine my birthday, my Mums birthday, my brothers birthday and a Christmas get together into one visit. We usually meet the whole family either in Bristol or somewhere nearby. Covid precautions once again...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/12/st-fagans-and-the-great-house/feed/ 1 36961 Mach Muffin for Breakfast https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/04/mach-muffin-for-breakfast/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/04/mach-muffin-for-breakfast/#respond Mon, 05 Apr 2021 10:07:00 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=36022 We’ve had another treat from the Michelin starred Ynyshir Hall restaurant. This time it was a ‘Mach Muffin’ breakfast takeaway! Mmm Mmm. This is the Ynyshir version of the McDonalds McMuffin, without the trip to Aberystwyth. It includes The ‘Mach Muffin’ Hash brown Mug of coffee or a juice We had planned to eat it...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/04/mach-muffin-for-breakfast/feed/ 0 36022 Gourmet Dining in Lockdown https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/03/gourmet-dining-in-lockdown/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/03/gourmet-dining-in-lockdown/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2021 08:28:47 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=35861 Our (now not so) recent culinary experiences at River Cottage and Ynyshir Hall had us inspired to visit some other top UK restaurants. We had planned to visit L’enclume in the Lake District but lockdown put an end to that for a while. We’ve had a few gourmet dining experiences thanks to Ynyshir Hall takeways...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/03/gourmet-dining-in-lockdown/feed/ 2 35861 Kombucha Brewing https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/01/kombucha-brewing/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/01/kombucha-brewing/#respond Mon, 11 Jan 2021 09:09:32 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=35644 I was bought a couple of brewing kits for Christmas. One for Kombucha and one for Ginger Beer. Kombucha Brewing I got started with the Kombucha kit first and soon had a nice batch of freshly fermented and carbonated Kombucha ready for drinking. Mmm Mmm! The second batch is well under way already and the...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2021/01/kombucha-brewing/feed/ 0 35644 Our Christmas Cakes https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/12/our-christmas-cakes/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/12/our-christmas-cakes/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2020 15:35:00 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=35555 Anna said it would be nice to se all of our Christmas cakes that we have made, so here they are. Click to enlarge. Which is your favourite?

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/12/our-christmas-cakes/feed/ 3 35555 A Santa Christmas Cake https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/12/a-santa-christmas-cake/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/12/a-santa-christmas-cake/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2020 15:15:39 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=35543 We have only five days to go, and a son who is slightly less enthusiastic about cake decorating than he used to be. A simple, not too time consuming design was therefore the order of the day for this years Christmas Cake. To be fair, I think that’s actually the secret to success when it...

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]]> https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/12/a-santa-christmas-cake/feed/ 1 35543 Christmas is Coming https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/11/christmas-is-coming-3/ https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2020/11/christmas-is-coming-3/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2020 08:24:43 +0000 https://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=35034 45 days to go as I write this, so less than that by the time it is published and you’ve read it. Christmas is coming so it’s time to make a start on the Christmas Cake!! It might end up being a little different to usual thanks to Coronavirus this year but let’s hope we...

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