An Honest Kitchen #5: "Seasonal Desserts"

house is beautiful not because of its walls,
but because of its cakes.

~ Old Russian saying

here is a place for dessert, even in the healthiest of diets and to be honest, without the occasional dessert, life would be blander, paler and a lot less sociable.

     ~ An Honest Kitchen, Seasonal Desserts
by Kathryn Elliott & Lucinda Dodds

Because I wholeheartedly agree with the "old Russian" and believe Kathryn and Lucy have created something very special with Seasonal Desserts, I've purchased two copies of this e-Magazine to give to two very lucky Greens & Berries readers.

And I'm going to keep this post short and sweet.

Simply stated, Seasonal Desserts makes my cooking tastier, healthier and more creative. Here's why:

1) Nutrition savvy: Kathryn Elliott writes in an engaging, sensible, positive way on how to eat well without feeling deprived.
2) Warmth and beauty: Lucy's gorgeous film photographs are visual comfort food.
3) Reliability: Recipes have been triple-tested recipes to ensure consistent results.
4) Honesty: Recipes consist of basic, wholesome ingredients and clearly-explained methods.
5) Deliciousness:  The creative ingredient combinations please the palate.
6) Value: The 60-page (PDF) e-Magazine features ten seasonal recipes, many more healthy eating and food preparation tips, seasonal food guides and a wise reflection on the benefits of "a cup of tea", which I highly commend to myself as much as you, dear readers.

Berry and Hazelnut Cranachan

Chocolate Date Honey Balls

Disclosure: I was a recipe-tester for two recipes in this issue; you can see the results from my test kitchen in the preceding photographs. But I'm also a dietitian and try to be a critical, honest, fair evaluator. I followed the recipes exactly and the results were delicious and, in real life, much prettier. (My kitchen doesn't have the best light and I'm not a skilled food stylist.) The photographs, however, are truthful and authentic, which is in the spirit of An Honest Kitchen.

How to win a copy of Seasonal Desserts? Just leave a comment here. You're welcome to simply say "hello, count me in." But I'd love if you shared a story about how a dessert made a special or everyday occasion sweeter, brighter and more sociable.

You can double your chances of winning by going to my newish blog, More Greens & Berries, and leaving a comment on any post.

And though I have my biases about recipes, cookbooks and food bloggers I will be completely unbiased when selecting the two winning entries. Each comment will be assigned a number in consecutive order, based on its time stamp, and I'll use an online random number generator to select winners. (You can read more details in the fine print, below.)

Good luck to all!

An Honest Kitchen links:

An Honest Kitchen (new web site)
Limes & Lycopene (Kathryn Elliott's Web site)
Nourish Me (Lucinda Dodd's Web site)

The fine print about the give-away:  Excluding my immediate family, any dessert-lover in the world -- and beyond -- can enter! I will be purchasing two copies of the e-magazine, Seasonal Desserts, and sending the download link to two randomly selected commenters, one commenter on Greens & Berries, and one commenter on More Greens & Berries. I will be assigning each comment a number in chronological order based on the time stamp of the comment; i.e., the first commenter will be #1, the second #2, etc. I'll be using a random number generator to select the winners. Contest closes at midnight (2400 hrs, PST) Friday, November 16th.

Comments

[Wendy Cutler]

I rarely make desserts and had to look up "cranachie". Funny that the Wikipedia article would have a link to one of the few other desserts I have made - Eton Mess. It's hard to go too far wrong with whipped cream or meringue . Or berries.

[Eszter]

Hallo Elaine! It's my first visit at your gorgeous blog, but I think it won't be my last... Interestingly, I have been baking/making desserts since I don't know when, because my mother has neither the talent for baking nor the patience. It was the same with my maternal grandmother. By contrast my paternal grandmother was a talented cook, and I might have inherited her baking/cooking skills. So, I am a passionate hobby cook, and I am happy to bring a smile to the face of my family/friends by baking something delicious. Have a nice evening and thanks for the chance, Eszter

[HJB]

I am always looking for new and simple dessert ideas and
will be trying these very soon.
Congratulations to Kathryn and Lucinda.

[Elaine]

Congratulations, Wendy. You won the giveaway on this blog. Congratulations to Eszter, you won the giveaway on my other blog, More Greens and Berries. I'll be emailing both of you e-issues of Seasonal Desserts later today! Enjoy.