Forever Nigella - A New Blogging Event

Well here we are, two weeks into the new year already. I've taken a couple of weeks off from blogging while I tidied away all the seasonal bits and bobs and generally cleared my head ready for the year ahead but now I'm ready and raring to go again.

So, I'm kickstarting the new blogging year by participating in a new blogging event. While looking through the UK Food Blogger Association forums I was delighted to discover that Sarah from Maison Cupcake had made the excellent decision to start up a monthly challenge to celebrate Nigella Lawson's recipes called Forever Nigella.

It's no secret that I am a big Nigella fan and one who loves her books AND her television programmes. OK so a lot of people think that her shows are just too OTT for words and I admit that a black satin dressing gown wouldn't be the first choice of kitchen attire for most people but who cares? Her recipes WORK.

Each month a theme will be set, and for the first month of this blogging challenge the theme is "Seasonal Sensations". Hmmm, well I discovered the Forever Nigella challenge about a week ago so unfortunately my desire to bake something Christmassy has been packed away with the tinsel and all the leftovers have been eaten. No matter though - I have stuck to the theme by taking two recipes from Nigella's Christmas book but they are just the sort of thing I want to eat at this time of year when excess is something I'm trying to avoid.

The first recipe is a fairly simple one - Antioxidant Fruit Salad. Sometimes simple is good though and this combination of mango, blueberries, pomegranate and lime juice is wonderfully refreshing and full of flavour. This is delicious for breakfast with some natural or greek yoghurt or with something a little more substantial, which leads me on to my second recipe.

The second thing I made (and I decided to make both as they are both simple recipes but go so well together) is a Cranberry, Almond and Honey Granola. I love granola and make it often and this one caught my eye I because of the dried cranberries which are my favourite dried fruit. The warm flavours from the cinnamon and honey are complemented by the slight sharpness of the dried cranberries and the almonds and seeds provide great texture.

Now I'm afraid that the rules of this challenge are such that I'm not allowed to post the recipes being used unless I've changed more than two of the ingredients (which I haven't). This is to encourage as many people as possible to go out a buy Nigella's books - an idea I heartily endorse!

Thanks again to Sarah for hosting this new challenge. I'm already looking forward to next month's.