feedingfamilyoffiveforfifty

Blogger has Deleted My Bloglist

2011-05-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

Oh woe is me: my follow list has been pillaged and is no more.   I seem to have lost a host or is it a bunch, a posse...or maybe a flotilla of followers which means that the ones lost were those who only followed me because I followed them.   Well, that's ok then.   Lets face it, those kinda bloggers are unwilling to commit to my rants and diatribes, flaky behaviour and periods of absence.   Only the true follower would hang in there, not particularly noticing or caring about your absence but happy to see your wee name pop up every month or so nonetheless.

But what am I to do, I'll miss those peeps I followed, albeit quietly, stalker-like in my silence but reading nonetheless.   Thanks Blogger.   Better say it again in a whisper, they may pillage my page next......thanks a lot, Blogger.   Insert sarcasm.

But to food.   Always to food.

Sainsburys in the UK has started an ad campaign "Feeding Four For Fifty".   Hmmm.   I think my fifty could take their forty in a fight but check it out, it's all about paying less and eating healthy and the recipes look good so I'm all for it.

We've had sausage meatballs in a tomato and basil sauce this week alongside tortellini in an oregano, tomato and ricotta cheese sauce, turkey chilli with a lovely yoghurt and avocado dressing....soooo good and a lot less fat and cost than beef....Sloppy Joe Bake, a wee invention as my kids and I can't bear the thought of eating it on buns; I know it's cultural and would no doubt taste great I promise to give it a go but for now, we tried it topped with potatoes, bread, cheese etc.

This post has no pictures...wah, I hear me you cry but that will be resolved once I can once again upload the darn things.

Stay with me peeps, it's about to get tasty round here.

Easter Holibags

2011-04-07T03:52:00.000-07:00

April is the month of no return; the kids are at school for a total of approx. 7 days, the rest being dedicated to Easter holidays, bank holidays, the Royal Wedding and there may be an election in there too. So how do you keep them entertained? No, seriously, HOW.........? Nah, only kidding, I have this down to a tee after years of practice. It's a finely tuned balance of food, entertainment, jammie days and the occasional throwing money at the situation.

The secret is not to peak too early ain't that the truth....; so here's how it's going so far: Saturday after school ends, have great friends who throw a party or throw it yourself to celebrate the start of the holidays and who will supply you with a constant flow of gin and champagne, the kids a constant supply of sweeties, Easter egg hunts and dvds.   A bit of sunshine helps, if you can arrange it as an hour at the park for the kids, and only the kids, you'll be sitting sipping that gin and tonic helps tremendously.

The Sunday, arrange for some visitors...not too early, you've been drinking gin remember, but not too late either, you'll be in need of those bacon rolls and lemon cake to aid your recovery.   It just so happened it was Mothers Day...perfect; breakfast in bed, for me a toasted bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese and huge mugs of tea....then up to make the cake and then chill on the sofa with the Sunday papers until mum and sisters arrive.   See, we're all happy; the kids are happy to see their family, adrenalin pounds at the excitement of it all tiring them out and you get to sit still. And eat.   Doing not much at all.   That's important.

So they've had a busy weekend, it's time to take stock and chill for a few days but only if it's raining; if it's sunny, you must go out in Glasgow as we don't know when that rare ball in the sky might surface once more or at least, throw the kids out but in general, Monday is the day for jammies, dvds, cookies, food and games.

Tuesday was a wee bit similar, truth be told I spent the day cooking, see below, but it gets them ready for a nice long walk to the train station come Wednesday for a trip the the cinema .   By 7.30pm, they're home, fed and tired and mum can go meet her pals at the pub.

That leads us nicely to today; the girls are having a pony day where they get to clean out, pony ride etc. and me and the lad get to have some laddie time:
"So, Fraser, what shall we do today?"
"Stay in, play the Wii"
"The sun is shining, son, lets go do something"
"I think that would be good, but for now, I really think you should have a coffee and a biscuit first and why don't you go on the computer for a wee while?   You deserve it"
"Well...ok....."

Hence my bloggy update.

Now to the issue of food: this week, I cooked Martha's Beef Goulash, Moroccan Style Chicken with Couscous and my Original Chilli recipe; I've experimented over the past year with chilli, my favourite having sirloin steak in it as well as mince but you know how I like to get value for money and although it is indeed a tasty chilli, the sirloin and extra ingredients push up the cost enormously.   My original chilli costs less and is a good starting point where extra ingredients can be added.

Helen's Original Chilli

Ingredients:

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced (I like the long, pointed peppers as sweeter)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
500g lean minced beef
1 beef stock cube
400g can chopped tomatoes
½ tsp dried marjoram or mixed herbs containing marjoram
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato purée
410g can red kidney beans
Square of dark chocolate
Teaspoon cocoa powder
Half cup coffee

Add oil to a large pan and add the onions and cook for 5 minutes on medium; stir occasionally. Once the onions are soft, add the garlic, red pepper, chilli, paprika and cumin. Give it a stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Brown the mince. Turn the heat up, add the meat to the pan and brown; break up the mince with your wooden spoon. Keep stirring and breaking up the mince until totally browned.
Mix the stock cube with 300ml/1⁄2 pint of hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince. Add the can of chopped tomatoes and the marjoram, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee, tomato puree and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Stir.
Bring to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on. Turn down the heat until it is simmering and leave for 1 hour. Stir every now and then.
Add the beans and chocolate. Bring to the boil again, and gently simmer without the lid for another 15 minutes, adding a little water if you think it needs it. Taste and season well. Have a wee bowlful because hey, you made it, you deserve it but then leave for at least an hour or overnight before serving for dinner as the flavours really get a chance to adhere.

* I serve mine with flatbread or rice, topped with a little grated cheese and natural yoghurt.
** Add chopped up chillies for an extra kick.

Ode to a Goldfish

2011-03-03T02:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was frought with drama; the day started pleasantly enough very pleasantly actually, even though I did my headless chicken act for an hour beforehand but hey, that's life as a mum, isn't it?   So is rambling, apparently, as my friend Shona picked me up to take us into town for coffee and shopping.   We had some toast, chatted and then went our separate ways, on the hunt for gifts, knick knacks and sundries.

On looking at bags in Debenhams, they had a 20% sale on, you'd think they were offering them with a Faberge egg and a year's supply of lottery tickets, a scuffle broke out between two women I say women, one was growling so much, she may have been part Rottweiller over one, frankly, rather tatty looking creation and they turned to me for 'advice' by advice, I mean a decision.   By decision I mean they both wanted me to tell them that they were right.   I suppose you got all that from the quotes anyway and there is really no need for me to explain further...well, tough, I'm in a lyrical mood....by lyrical I mean....oh never mind. On stating that I wasn't getting involved, they both decided to 'involve' me anyway by turning their lovely mouths to terms of endearment in cursing form; that was fun. By fun I mean not fun. By cursing, I mean swearing ....oh, you got that?   Good.   Just wanted to clarify.   One called me a bitch.   Can you believe that?   Me?   Lovely, unbitchless wee me.   Man, that bag was fugly.

I had no phone with me to tell the time I don't wear a watch, I'm a rebel without a Cassio.... and didn't worry about it too much, considering I left the house at 9.15am and didn't have to be back until 3.30pm.   On entering a very calm, sedate establishment who sell nothing but white yes, white....just white...I became aware of a man becoming increasingly angry.   He'd been back three times looking for 'pomegranate' you don't want to know and they STILL didn't have it?   It was an OUTRAGE.   The girl suggested he go to Jo Malone, they did Pomegranate apparently...   Her manager wasn't too impressed.   My outrage managed to surface for a brief millisecond when I realised Pomegranate was what I wanted too or had he just put the power of suggestion into my mind? but quickly subsided when I realised Ginger was better.   I wanted to call after him "HEY!   Ginger's better!   Pomegranate SUCKS!" but thought better of it.

You'd think that would be it for my day, wouldn't you? Nooooooo. I've not even started on the food yet and there's some way to go. For those of you waiting for pics, just scroll down to the bottom and ignore the rest of this diatribe.

Asking someone the time, you'd think I'd asked for a kidney, the way she sighed and told me it, eyes raised to the sky, reluctantly looking at her watch, as if lifting up her arm caused her enough activity to have to go lie down for an hour, I realised that I was, in fact cutting it fine and headed for the train station.   On waiting at Partick, the hub of all activity in Glasgow....it's like the Rail version of the Bermuda Triangle....strange things gather and drama abounds....the usual token nutter comes up the escalators, shouting abuse at rail staff at the top of his voice.   We're used to this sort of thing, it doesn't happen every day but usually, the nutter will go sit somewhere away from everyone and continue to shout until he falls asleep and is removed by local authority.

When the train pulled in, everyone headed for one carriage, away from the shouting bearded man and that was fine, until he got lonely and came looking for us, so he could shout some more. What's the point after all, without an audience.

So eventually the train pulls to a halt. The man is wrapped round a pole, refusing to leave. Twenty of them mingle round, scratching their heads and drawing up plans on How To Remove A Nutter From A Pole.

Some time later, the Big Man gets on the train. He surveys the scene, look of bored disgust on his face, arms folded in front of him. He assesses the situation and without even looking at anyone, he simply kicks out his foot, just enough to make the man fall over so that he is caught by the other twenty and dragged out of the carriage. The Big Man shakes his head at the Little People, annoyed to be taken away from his sports fixtures and goes about his business.

The train continues and I arrive at the station, a 30 minute walk from my destination.   So to cut a long story a tiny bit shorter, I've been walking for hours, I get the kids, we go food shopping, I have ten minutes to get organised for yoga and even refuse an offer to go to the pub...unheard of, I can assure you...and go home to normality.   I open the door to find the youngest wee lass crying her eyes out, the other two looking crestfallen and an upside down fish being given resuscitation by an anxious dad.   So the rest of the evening is spent massaging a fish, comforting children and falling asleep exhausted.   Our lovely wee goldfish died, after six years, just as two baby gerbils arrived.   What HAVE we done?

Raspberry Shortbread and Whisky Cream Cupcakes for Burn's Day.

Vegetable Lasagna being prepared; recipe to follow, this was delicious!

Helen's Calzone Attempt.

Caramel Apple Granny; wish I'd got a better picture but, mmmmmmmm. This was good.

The Apply Granny; you can't find a recipe for this so I made it up ans was pretty happy with the results...I promise to share.

Making Chicken and Potato Chimichangas...frying the potatoes in a little turmeric, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic clove. I used leftover chicken which had been breaded.

Filling the tortilla.

Adding the cheese, Monteray Jack if in the US, grated Mozzarella if in the UK.

Folding up the chimichangas. From here, fry for a minute or so both sides in a little oil then bake in oven for 10 minutes. They go lovely golden brown, the cheese melts and everyone enjoys. Normally, I'd make this with chillies, salsa, etc. but sometimes you just have to use up those leftovers the best way you see fit!

This looks like a blob but man oh man, was this good; chocolate orange cake, recipe to follow. I'm making one tonight so more photos...as a whole cake this time!

Pork, chorizo, roasted pepper,s new potatoes, tomato sauce, thyme, olives....the list goes on. This dish was so easy and very tasty. Again, recipes to follow.

Wholemeal chocolate cupcakes with Nutella Icing. Grand.

Aunty Marion's cupcakes.

The cupcakes were lemon drizzle with lemon icing. They were well tasty!

Root Vegetable Gratin....another winner, recipe to follow.

In memory of our wee goldfish.

To A Haggis

2011-01-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Burns Day! Today, in Scotland, we celebrate Robert Burns, our national poet by eating, drinking, reciting poetry and generally making merry. For our Burn's Supper, we eat haggis, after serenading it with it's own special Address...and other verse of such blethering words, only those who are Scottish, drunk or sleeping can understand it...oh, and how we love it!

Here is my daughter, Addressing the Haggis.....

Tonight, we had Haggis Pie with neeps and tatties.

We'll be having a Burns Supper on Friday night with friends. Cullen Skink, Haggis Neeps and Tatties and Shortbread Pudding will be served alongside a wee dram or five. I promise to explain what this all means, then.

Sláinte

Some Food

2011-01-21T02:06:00.000-08:00

Well, bloggy peeps, another year is well underway, another chance to eat well, work hard and play. I've been warming up the cold, frosty days with lots of stews, soups and broths as well as a few salads and cakes because lets face it, everyone needs cake in their life
!.

Lemon Chicken Stew

When I first made this, it looked wonderful but didn't taste so great; I went against my instinct and stuck to the recipe. I realise now, my instinct is probably pretty good when it comes to food and although I should probably act on it, I have been surprised before. I remade it by marinading the chicken in lemon, ginger, thyme, sesame oil and olive oil with a tiny bit of chilli and lots of salt and pepper. The full recipe to follow.

Patatas Bravas with Chorizo....mmmmm.

Helen's Samosas

Coming up this week: Haggis Samosas!

Scallop Salad...a wee bit of sunshine amidst the stews

Biryani

Will's Cheeseburger Cakes! Yup, cake....very clever and tasty.

Brooklyn Blackout Cake filled with cream and berries, covered in Nutella Icing

Grandpa's Steak Pie!

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

2010-12-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

December Already

2010-12-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

I took the bull by the horns some time ago and decided to get busy with my paintings, my cooking and my cupcakes. I cook all day and night on a Monday and Tuesday morning with yoga inbetween afternoon deliveries, I draw and paint on a Wednesday and weekends when I have commissions, bake on a Thursday and deliver on a Friday. Hence my lack of posts, dear friends.

It's been a revelation: I've discovered a certain style to drawing that people seem to really like which I'm delighted about and I've attended many fairs this autumn/winter and intend to travel next year further afield (any fairs near you?). It's all very busy and exciting.

I make family meals on a Monday for busy mums and dads and made a few new discoveries: stews are always a success, the humble cannellini bean is great for slow cooking, I now know 101 things to do with a tin of tomatoes, whereas many meals are great for reheating, some don't quite work and trying to ban children from the kitchen on a Monday is a laborious task. I've found out that you should never cook a meal for others that you've not tried first; if it isn't to your taste, don't serve it and trust your own judgement at all times.

It's been a busy, eye-opening time but I feel it's all taking shape and I'm getting into a routine. It all went up in the air this week with the annual sickness bug affecting all three kids but I managed. We cheered ourselves by putting up the tree and lighting Christmas scented candles yes, Christmas scented....Christmas has a smell!...with Helen's Hot Hottie Chocolate although the kids couldn't have any because they were ill. I felt it was evil to drink it in front of them so Brian stood in a cold kitchen, sipping his with a bobble hat and gloves on.

It's -12 and very, very snowy here in Scotland. Brrr. But here's some cake to keep you warm....you need to go put the kettle on.

Grandpa's Victoria Sponge and Buttercream Icing Birthday Cake, November 2010

Angela's 40th Birthday Party Cake, November 2010. Bit of a weird picture, it was dark!

Aw, wee lamb!

2010-12-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Aw, wee blog. Wee lamb. Totally neglected by the big bad Scottish lady. Here's a wee dusting, pet. I'll be back soon for the proper clear out. Sorry, blog. Sorry fellow bloggers, I miss you. Thanks for not ditching me!

Far too much contemplating, not enough work.............

NOT!

If Food Be The Music Of Love....

2010-09-18T00:53:00.000-07:00

....Why Don't You Stop Yer Whingeing a good wee word; think a cross between wining, moaning and wailing...it's not fun...And Just Eat It? So said the lady to her wee boy in the cafe, sitting next to me. He had said "This Tastes Minging" and then, surprisingly, considering his young age around 7, "Isn't Food Supposed Tae Be The Music Of Love....or sumhin like that?" "Cos If Ye Loved Me, Ye Widnae Make Me Eat This Mingin Stuff". And that's when she replied.

I had to leave so that I could laugh; it was funny and in it's own wee way, very sweet. I guess you had to be there to see how she smiled at him and they both chuckled to each other.

Beef and Barley Broth

It's been stews, casseroles and pies this past few weeks; the chill is already in the air and we've felt like coorying up with a bowl of something hot, soothing and meaty! I'm having smaller portions than everyone else but that's ok because a stew like this fills your belly pretty quickly. All recipes to come next week.

More Broth!

Chicken Pie with Cheesy Cobbler Topping...oh my.

Tasty garlic bread

Beef, Sausage and Potato Stew...this was later topped with dumplings. Very tasty.

Carbonnade a la Flamande with Mash and Crisp Vegetables

This is a traditional Belgain dish made with Belgian beer and slow cooked for hours. You caramelise the onions first, making this a really tasty meal with a hint of sweetness.

Friends, trying to eat in peace; "fer goodness sake, can I eat my soup??"

I promise all recipes next week; I have my first fair this week and I'm head to toe in badges and paintings! Have a wonderful weekend, lovely bloggy peeps.

The squatters have moved in.

2010-09-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

The amount of 'anonymous' piffle on my comments has grown exponentially since my hiatus.   Begone, evil anonymous pifflers, I'm back and you can just bog off with your 'buy adult chickens' and 'buy bizarre liquids'; what is an adult chicken anyway?   Aren't all chickens 'adult'?   Does anyone ever click on these links?   Have the anonymous computer generator peeps nothing more substantial to do with their time?

Aaaaand rant over.

How are you all?   How have you been? I missed you.   I've been cooking, crafting and generally messing about, limiting my time to mimimum use of the computer.   I've still been shopping on a budget, as usual and cooking tasty meals...or so the kids tell me...even taking photos, knowing I'd be back one day....and looking after the family as always.

My life in food...and badges!    Recipes to follow...I'll be back on Thursday.   Have a wonderful week.

Sweet and Spicy Goats Cheese and Prawn Salad

Roasted Scallops, Potatoes, Onions and Chorizo...sublime!

Slow Cooked Spicy Lamb Shanks

Chocolate Tart

A bit of a tart...and fruity to boot!

Kids' Fish, Potatoes and Cucumber...pretty tasty, kids!

Helen's New Badges and Gift Tags

Such fun to make and selling well!

Customised for Birthday Favours

Who for? You guessed it....

Paris

Night Nurse

Edwin Morgan Dies

2010-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite poets died this week aged 90.

He was a Glaswegian, like me, and I met him once or twice in The Ubiquitous Chip (or so said the old man with a wicked sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye...). I have the fondest memories of learning his work, including the following poem whilst still at school...one of my all time favourites...from the Glasgow Sonnets:

A mean wind wanders through the backcourt trash.
Hackles on puddles rise, old mattresses
puff briefly and subside. Play-fortresses
of brick and bric-a-brac spill out some ash.
Four storeys have no windows left to smash,
but the fifth a chipped sill buttresses
mother and daughter the last mistresses
of that black block condemned to stand, not crash.
Around them the cracks deepen, the rats crawl.
The kettle whimpers on a crazy hob.
Roses of mould grow from ceiling to wall.
The man lies late since he has lost his job,
smokes on one elbow, letting his coughs fall
thinly into an air too poor to rob.

RIP Edwin Morgan. I think of you, as Carol Ann Duffy said, with love and gratitude.

My Food Week in Pictures

2010-08-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

The last day of summer, the sun shone with glee. We spent the day loitering in the garden, lazing on deck chairs and enjoying the warm sun. We had a BBQ and Brian and I stayed up to watch the sun set. The kids, tired and excited about the return to school, smiled through half shut eyes as they wearily set of for bed, windows open to let in the cool air.

Breaded Cobbler with baby buttered potatoes and cucumber slices

Goats Cheese and Spicy Prawn Salad with Sweet Chilli and Black Pepper Sauce

Yet more prawns! Prawn Broth with Noodles. Mmmm.

You know we love Chicken with roasted veg

Healthy BBQ food; halloumi and mushroom kebab, mixed salad, sunblushed tomatoes drizzled with pesto, loives, BBQ'd asparagus and baby buttered potatoes.

Homemade mini burgers and lamb koftas

Prawn skewers coated in spices and olive oil

Lucy enjoying the BBQ and the sun!

That's BBQ'd baby sweetcorn sticking from his gob!

Kelly eating and reading at the same time as usual!

And the sun sets on a beautiful day.

The food, as you can see, has remained light and healthy...the weather allowed us another few BBQs and we've had a busy, productive and tiring but lovely week.

The Summer's Over....

2010-08-13T03:43:00.000-07:00

That's it, the last official day of the school holidays.   There was hollering over haircuts, spanking new school trousers too small, brand new shoes suddenly too big.   The weather has been rubbish: rain, wind and cold....the cost, a lot; trips to the pictures, pizza, shopping and indoor entertainment-all designed to blow your mind at the minimal cost of £50 per trip, per family....roll up, roll up!

There have been highlights; having them here has been wonderful, watching new friendships form, clubs being created and books being read.   They've baked cakes and bread and ate them with relish.   Seeing them play in the odd pockets of sunshine has been great, faces held to the sun to catch the rays as they stay out all day, coming back for dinner and juice and then running off again before the fork stops clankering on the table.

They've all grown at least an inch and have a grubby, rosy glow about them.   It seems like not the greatest summer to me, but through their eyes, it's been fantastic and filled with adventure and fun.   That's all that really matters.

Coconut Prawn (Shrimp) Curry with Noodles

Absolutely delicious; light coconut milk is used, making this a low fat but very tasty tea. Recipe to follow.

Hearthbread pizza

Hearthbread topped with homemade tomato sauce and mozzarella, herbs and a drizzling of olive oil. Delicious, but for kids (and dad) only right now!

Lettuce boats filled with roasted veg, olives, garlic and cured meats with a low fat dressing and mint

A great alternative to bread...well, not really, but when you're looking to loose a few pounds, then yeah, it works well! I roasted asparagus and artichokes in a little olive oil, sea salt, mint and black pepper, filled the lettuce boats alongisde a little chopped chorizo and Parma ham. Thin slices of cooked garlic and olives were added along with a little lemon and honey dressing. Lovely.

It's That Time Again....

2010-08-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

All dishes still to be cooked this week and any in the near future will be with weight loss in mind. I know that when it comes to this subject, many of us want to run screaming for the hills; fat content, weighing and calorie counting don't figure in my plan life is too short but lots of fresh vegetables, smaller portions and tasty little bites of treats do as does a wee bit of gin and tonic and wine...lets face it, you didn't expect any less. I don't intend to tell you my weight gawd help us all as I don't have scales but when I'm down a few dress sizes, I'll letya know!

I'll work out the calorie and fat content of some meals for those that requested it last time.

I like something sweet in the mornings so that's when I'll be treating myself: digestive biscuits with margarine and jam, Welsh cake, croissant or cookie but just the one.   Lunches will be soups, light snacks, crackers like Ryvita with goats cheese, tomatoes and salads with light sprinkling of nuts and seeds.

The fridge and freezer heave with leftovers yet I have lots of fresh food; it's a battle over which to eat first.   Fresh veg should always be used so today I made chicken soup with chickpeas and grilled vegetables with halloumi cheese.   The kids had a separate meal of salmon pasta.

Pan-fried Salmon Pasta with Parmesan, Lemon and Peas

Cook pasta as per instructions. Drain and drizzle with a little olive oil, a knob of butter, a large handful of grated Parmesan cheese, a good squeeze of lemon juice and a heaped teaspoon double cream. Mix well and add in the cooked salmon, cooked peas and top with a good grinding of black pepper and some more grated Parmesan.

Chicken Soup with Chickpeas

This recipe was taken from Sophie Dahl's 'Voluptuous Delights'. I highly recommend it, I love this soup! Mildly but expertly spiced, delicate yet full of flavour, I could live off this for a long time. I intend to make it at some point with the addition of cubed potatoes, maybe some toasted cumin seeds and serve it with flatbread. Delicious.

1 medium onion, chopped**

**white onion but I used red this time, worked well

2 tbs olive oil

Half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Half a teaspoon of ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon of ground turmeric

A pinch of ground cumin

1 swede or turnip, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, washed and sliced

2 litres/8 cups of chicken stock

750g/1.5 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped **

**I used two free range chicken breasts this time around....approx 250g...I think the recipe suggestion is rather a lot of chicken but I think thigh meat would work better

400g/13oz can of chickpeas

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh chopped parsley or coriander/cilantro, to serve

Sweat the onion in the oil in a big, deep pan over a low heat. Add all the spices, stir to coat and cook for several minutes. Throw in veg and stir, cooking gently. Add stock and chicken and cook for a further 15 minutes. Add chickpeas and cook for another 10 minutes. I put lid on and simmered slowly. Season to taste. I added a squeeze of lemon juice too. Serve with the chopped herb of choice and Sophie recommends a splash of olive oil but I didn't use this time.

Grilled Vegetables with Halloumi Cheese

Sophie Dahl again! Tasty although I hate it when veg goes soggy so make sure the veg is thinly sliced so that it crisps up quickly. This was nice but I'm unsure if I'd make it again until my grill is fixed (I used the oven this time). Thinly slice aubergine and courgette (eggplant/zucchini). Salt the aubergine and leave for 30 minutes...this will draw out the moisture. Rinse with cold water and pat dry. Place with the courgette on a tray, sprinkle with ground cumin and then combine 2 tablespoons olive oil and the juice of half a lemon and drizzle over veg. Grill for a few minutes (I actually used the oven as my grill isn't working...grilling would be MUCH better) and then turn over. Add halloumi cheese and blast under the grill under golden.

Artichoke Tart and Jersey Royal Potatoes with Pesto

Salmon coated in Panko Breadcrumbs with Baby New Buttered Potatoes

The kid's chocolate cupcakes with Nutella and Malteser Topping...well done kids, delicious!

Ryvita with Brie, Pesto, Olives, Cherry Tomatoes, Parmesan Shavings and lightly grilled Parma Ham

Day One: Today's breakfast was two digestive biscuits with margarine and jam, lunch was crunchy salad and dinner and supper was the chicken soup with a little of the grilled veg. I ate two chocolates with coffee as I had visitors. Lets call it dessert.....

New Dress Blues

2010-08-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

I bought a new dress today from a funky new store in town; on returning home, I put on the dress to show my lovely, supportive family yeah, not so much. I stood in front of the kids and watched their silence unfold; Fraser cocked his head to the side and declared it "old-fashioned". Lucy kinda smirked and the words "oh dear gawd" emanated from every fibre of her being.

The kids followed me upstairs, giggling as I went to show husband. He looked me up and down, grinned and asked "did you make it yourself?" followed by "so that's what you've been doing at all those night classes".....playing to his audience of giggling children, he went on to describe his horror in many forms which ended with me curled up under the duvet, with only eldest daughter hugs for comfort.

Sigh.

Thank gawd there's always cake.

Chocolate Cheesecake with mixed berries

I had friends over at the weekend and I served antipasti with basil pesto, sunblushed tomatoes, brie, fresh bread, dipping oil, olives and balsamic vinegar, Parmesan, a variety of tarts including caramelised red onion and goats cheese, artichoke and mint, goats cheese and pesto, asparagus and cheddar. There was also lasagna, pasta Bolognaise, macaroni cheese, green salad with a honey and balsamic dressing all followed with apple pie, chocolate cheesecake, extra thick double cream and Colpi ice cream. Twas a great night and no-one went hungry!

Apple Pie

Helen's buffet, suitable for kids!

Lasagna

Antipasti

Pasta Bolognaise and Asparagus Tart

William's cupcakes...tasty cakes, well done lad!

;

Val and Colin's Chocolate Cake...the icing was an experiment,

I need to make again before I decide if I like it or not or whether to share!

I'm a bit late in giving the shopping list but suffice it to say, it was within budget and will last for 10 days in total; meals include the following:

Rosemary and Garlic Roast Lamb with a Pesto crust, served with roast asparagus, broccolli, green beans and roasted potato with a red wine gravy

Chicken Soup with Chickpeas

Fish & Vegetable Stew with dumplings

Salmon Tempura with Sesame Fried Rice and green veg

Prawn coconut curry

Grilled Vegetables with Halloumi

Macaroni Cheese

Lamb Curry

Fishcakes

Stirfry

Recipes and pictures to follow, my friends!

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting......

2010-07-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

We saw Karate Kid today, a pretty great remake in my opinion.   Jaden Smith, Will Smith's son rocked the part and Jackie Chan was just brilliant in the role of Mr Miyagi although the name changed to Mr Han.   There was no 'wax on, wax off' or 'paint a fence' but something similar was portrayed in true Karate Kid style.   The kids enjoyed it, we adults enjoyed it and I'd recommend a viewing during the long and for us wet summer holidays.

Last night I made an almond cake; I'd gotten all the ingredients out to find my scales were broken so I guessed them.   Now, guessing is ok for a stirfry or even a pie but not so much for baked goods.   I wanted some cake though; it seemed easier to just make it than put the ingredients away and really, that's as good as any a reason for pouring and dodding flour, butter and eggs into a bowl, willy-nilly.

With fingers crossed, I baked the cake on a low heat for 1 hour; it looked good and smelled ok but the jury was still out.   By the time it had cooled, husband had arrived home and we had a slice with a mug of tea....pretty darn tasty, luckily, even if a little sweet.   I think I overdid the sugar somewhat but the ground almond and almond essence made it almost like a bakewell tart...something I'll be cooking soon...and has inspired me for a few more variations...with scales this time.

Almond Cake with Crunchy Topping!

Absolutely brilliant for breakfast

There is always curry in my freezer so when all else fails, leftover curry with freshly made flatbread is the order of any day:

Leftover Curry for dinner yesterday.....

Cumin flatbread brushed with butter and salt

Thick, sweet, cumin flatbread with crushed almonds

Tomorrow is a new shopping week although we have friends coming over on Saturday so we'll split the shopping into two, that for the week ahead and a separate shop for entertaining. The budget will remain £50 for 7 days worth of meals with an extra day added at the end for excluding Saturday. Menu to follow.

101 Ways to Cook Vegetables

2010-07-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

I sit here typing, unable to move out of this space as a structure has been built up behind me, ceiling high, made up of cushions, tripods, brushes and blankets; it is precarious, to say the least. To the left of me is four children, eagerly watching Corpse Bride, heads held in hands, stuck out of said structure. To the right of me is my husband, drilling a hole in something and cutting wires for reasons unknown to me although I'm sure he explained it less than twenty minutes before. I feel rather trapped.

This makes me consider the need for emergency supplies; a secret squirrelling of sweet and salty snacks to keep me going for an undetermined level of time, hidden beneath my computer desk. I'd start with a kettle that plugs into a hard drive surely such a thing has been invented? for that ever needed cup of tea or coffee. A supply of Reese's Cups would be nice or my own version, tucked into an airtight container. Some crunchy Kettle crisps would be a must and maybe a bottle of fizzy or two coke, Irn Bru, champagne...... A packet of midget gems or Sports gums could keep me alive here for years 20 minutes and some sweet tomatoes with a little packet of salt to dip them into.

Or I could just crawl over the couch.

Take a blagged bucket of veg, fresh from a farm and ponder their fate:

Way no. 13:

Vegetable Curry

Chop, peel and wash fresh veg and sliced garlic and fry in a little oil with cumin seeds, ground ginger, ground cumin, kalonji seeds, cinnamon stick and curry powder. Add a little turmeric. Add tomatoes. Stir gently and add a little vegetable stock and cook until soft. Add a little coconut paste and yoghurt and serve with homemade cumin bread......

Cumin Bread with Kalonji Seeds

Mix together equal quantities of wholemeal and white flour with a pinch of salt and a sprinkling of kalonji seeds and toasted cumin seeds. Add a little oil and mix. Add some cold water, enough to form a nice ball of dough and knead for five minutes. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Remove from fridge and roll out on some sprinkled flour until roughly the size of the pan you are cooking it in. Heat a little oil in said pan and when really hot, dump in the dough. It will brown and start to rise immediately. Press down all over and after a minute, turn over. Press down once more. Brush with a little melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Eat with curry and a spoonful of yoghurt on the side. Mmmm.

Way no. 42:

Spinach & Rocket Pesto Pasta with grilled and toasted vegetables

Place quartered onions and tomatoes in a hot oven, drizzled with olive oil, salt and a sprinkling of oregano. Thinly slice the courgette and griddle or grill after brushing with yet more olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper when cooked. Cook pasta and toss with a little pesto...basil pesto works just as well. Top with veg and chopped, fresh basil and some more black pepper....enjoy.

St. Andrews

2010-07-23T03:57:00.000-07:00

We're just back from a few days at the golfing town called St. Andrews. We stayed in a lovely house called Morton of Pitmilly at Kingsbarn, a wee village next to St. Andrews which was set inside a working farm. Of course, we managed to blag a bag full of fresh veg before we left; beetroot, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage and cucumber, to name a few. I'm looking forward to making a stew!

Whilst there, my friend Irene prepared a monkfish stew with the addition of wee dumplings from me using the fresh veg from the farm whilst I got on with making brushcetta alongside olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip, crusty bread, olives and sun-blushed tomatoes as a starter and salmon tempura for the kids with a salad of chopped cucumber and apple.

Did I take pictures to share with you? No I did not, for various reasons, the main one being the food was inhaled before you could say "can you wait until I take a picture for my blog............." because the answer would have been a resounding "no" or even a "bog off". But it was good and looked well tasty. I know you'll hopefully take my word for it.

No food photies, only kids; normal service will be resumed shortly...............

Kids in St. Andrews High Street with Skye the dog

Dear gawd....

Lucy on Beach

It was a gorgeous day

Happy and confused?

Oven Disaster and Complete Randomness

2010-07-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

My oven hates me. She expressed this opinion by blowing up but not until after the chocolate cake was ready so har har to you, oven lady, I get the last laugh!

Well...it didn't actually blow up, it just kinda stopped working. I think it needs a holiday from all the toiling and striving it's done over the years. Just a pity I have lots of food and cakes to make for various events. I think I'll be pushing my wee camping stove to it's limits.

So today I'm going to show you some complete randomness so here goes; a picture of a crazy cupcake I baked:

Psychedelic Cupcake!

A very tasty chicken khorma wot I made.....

Chicken Khorma....oh yeah!

A picture of Lucy reading Keats:

Lucy reading...well, Keats......

Poori Bread...mmmm!

Deep fried Indian Poori Bread. Heaven...I'm in heaven....

Yet more cupcakes.....

Cupcakes

Tartan creatures.....

Tartan Sheep

Lambs, just getting their tartan in.....

Tartan Lambs

Kids outside the Tardis.....

Hello Doctor!

Don't want to really say too much about this one...........

Falling asleep with random hat

And finally........

Evening outside our window.

True randomness can only come from within.

Cabin Fever

2010-07-16T02:14:00.000-07:00

The month of June was wonderful, weather wise; the sun shone, we had BBQs, picnics in the park and the flipflops and sandals were dusted off for the duration. School came out on the very last week and we holidayed in the UK, with the sun hitting off our backs. Ah, it was glorious.............

Then July comes. The rain with it and it Just Won't Stop. We're used to rain of course but after a while spent in cagouls, braving the park in the downpour or getting soaked on a short trip to the shops, it all starts to get a bit....well, wet. On top of it all, we are waiting to go camping...methinks the wait will linger a wee bit longer so I'm contemplating tossing us all on to a passing plane and heading for sunnier climes in Italy, France or Cornwall. Any suggestions?

Making Risotto

Making risotto is easy; it may not seem it but it really is, as long as you are happy standing at the cooker for 20 minutes because this is how long it takes to cook. You make your stock and have it sitting next to you, still warm and ready to go alongside a glass of wine or champagne.

To begin, gently fry onions and garlic (or whatever else you want to use...mushrooms, celery etc.) in some olive oil and butter until soft. You add in the unwashed rice (I always add in a wee bit extra olive oil just before this) and 'gently fry' by stirring it around the oil for a good few minutes. When it looks like no oil is left and the rice appears translucent, then pour in the wine.

The amount depends on how much risotto you are cooking; approx. 400g/14 oz rice-2 pints of stock- 2 glasses of wine or alcohol like Noilly Pratt.

Stir until all all the wine has been soaked up and then add a ladle of stock and a pinch of salt to the risotto. Stir until all the liquid is soaked up once again and repeat (without the salt!) until the stock has been used up. Take your time, don't rush it; as long as you stir and add in the stock a little at a time, you can't go wrong. It should take approx. 15 minutes.

You must taste it at this point; I prefer the rice to be soft although it is supposed to have a tiny little bite to it and I stop cooking at this stage as it is still to 'mature'; more on that in a moment. If I don't feel the rice is ready by the time the stock runs out, I add in some water from the boiled kettle until it is. Check seasoning.

Remove from the heat and add in a good handful of grated Parmesan alongside a great knob of butter (for the amount of cooked risotto above, approx. 4oz Parmesan and 2oz butter). Stir well.

Now for the maturation! You must put a lid on the pan and leave it to sit for approx. 2-3 minutes. This is when the risotto changes into a wonderful, creamy dish as the butter and Parmesan works it's magic, the rice continues to soften a little and it all matures.

A messy dod of risotto with peas but what a tasty dod it was!

I like to add cooked peas to my risotto alongside another grating of Parmesan and a good grinding of black pepper. Utterly delicious! I always have loads left over and, although purists would be banging their heads off the keyboard at this, I put the remainder in the fridge and use it throughout the week as an accompaniment to dinners; it goes particularly well with roast chicken. Heat up in the microwave for 1 minute. Enjoy.

Such a Tart!

2010-07-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

How to make a tart:

Make shortcrust pastry: I make mine via Gordon Ramsay's recipe but you can use whatever recipe you prefer or buy it from the chilled or frozen part of the supermarket-you can even buy it in sheets these days!

Once you've made your pastry and left it to rest (or opened up the packet...remember, if using frozen or chilled, let it come to room temperature first) then get ready to roll it out, using a rolling pin and a sprinkling of flour. I like my tarts a bit rough and ready so I use my tart tin to cut out the size of pastry I need and then give it another wee roll out to make it fit but you can use a saucer, a plate or anything round! I then butter my tart tins...any kind of tart, pie or cake tin will do...and lay the pastry onto it, pressing down and into the tin ensuring that there will be no air bubble underneath.

You can par bake the pastry, I usually do but only for five minutes; either pour some baking beans (specific beans for baking from good cake supply shops), rice or the easy option, a wee bit of tin foil in the middle of the pastry, where the filling will go. Bung it into a medium oven for five minutes and then bring out to cool slightly, removing the beans/foil/rice first.

Ingredients of choice: I always fill my tarts with the same mix; a beaten egg, approx. 5 tablespoons double cream, a good handful of Parmesan and plenty of seasoning-these are all mixed together to be poured on to whatever topping you prefer.

Red onions, chopped finely and sauted in a pan with some butter and olive oil. After a few minutes, add some crushed and chopped garlic to taste. Cook slowly until soft but not too browned. Let it cool and add to pastry.

Add some chopped, sliced or crumbled goats cheese (or feta, or cheddar....) and place on top of onion mix.

Add dollops of pesto and either smooth out neatly or leave in lumps....whatever way you prefer.

Pour in the creamy eggy batter til almost full but not too full because remember, it'll rise....and add some slices or halves of baby tomatoes, a basil leaf, a grating of Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. I add a tiny squeeze of lemon juice too!

Bake in oven until golden brown and puffy and remove to cool slightly. Can be eaten hot or cold.

I like a shallow tart sometimes so that there is lots of crust; this one was made in a large pie tin with artichokes instead of pesto and some rocket and basil. It was sliced into 8 and ate at random whenever anyone was hungry.

Yoga Bear

2010-07-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ploughman's

I woke up this morning like a bear with a sore head; the reason for this, quite frankly, out of character behaviour guffaw, I hear you cry was sleeping in.   I slept in for the first time in a long while and it did me no good at all.   "Sleeping in is overrated!" I cried from the side of the bed, quickly followed by "It's someone else's fault!" and "Where is my TEA?!?".

I grumped down the stairs and was greeted with the essential cuppa and no breakfast to speak off.   "Sleeping in is definitely overrated" I grumbled from underneath my hot cup.   When coffee was offered, the family ever hopeful that the caffeine would enter my system quickly, a brownie was proffered as an apology to the mum god for the lack of sustenance earlier.   The brownie was accepted and, combined with the coffee, a new dawn broke and a wavering smile began at the corner of my mouth.   All was well with the world once again.

But still: brownie for breakfast? YUM!

No sleeping in for me this week, even if I wanted to; this morning, I head off to a yoga course which continues throughout the week.   I'm a wee bit nervous but really looking forward to it.   It has me focusing on what I eat yes, Helen, because you certainly don't focus enough on what you eat........ and portion sizes as my main goal is to have enough energy without being too full, to retain momentum throughout the day without being floored by early morning yoga i.e. having to retire to my bed mid-afternoon... I have been known or without the horrendous possibility of sleeping in...we know where that takes me see above.   My yoga week lunch although there may be a few eaten in Peckhams and dinner menu, using ingredients in the pantry and leftovers from the past week's shopping and cooking is as follows:

Farfalle with Spinach & Watercress Pesto

Lentil Soup with Ham

Shredded Ham & Potato Cakes with Risotto

Pea & Ham Soup (from a chicken...? Now that's clever!...aye, the old adverts were the best 'uns)

Stirfry

Spinach & Watercress Pesto Muffins

Ham, Mustard & Homemade Chutney Sandwich with Potato & Leek Soup

Red Onion & Cheddar Omelette with Crispy Salad and Toasted Linseeds

Pesto & Goat's Cheese Tart Slice with Roasted Tomatoes

The kids and husband will have a few wee additions to this. This week's shopping won't be until Friday which will mean last weeks shop has lasted at least 10 days. Woohoo!

We had Ploughman's for dinner on Saturday which consisted of Ham cooked in Coke, Homemade Bread & Chutney made with ginger, apples and raisins, Cheddar Cheese, Pickled Onions and Cucumber Slices. It was delicious!

Coked Ham...bet you thought it was a spelling mistake!

Quick and Easy Homemade Spicy Chutney (recipe to follow)

The Fish Pie last week was a hit:

Fish Pie with Mashed Potato Topping

Ingredients:

2 x lightly smoked salmon fillets (or non-smoked fillets)

1 x coley/cod or haddock fillet

Dash of olive oil or knob of butter

2 hard boiled eggs

Cooked petit pois or garden peas of choice

Half chopped onion

Half lemon

White sauce or light cheese sauce (follow the recipe but put in only a small handful of the cheese with some Parmesan or with no cheese at all)

Mashed potatoes

* Wrap fish in foil with a squeeze of lemon juice and the remains of the lemon and a sprinkling of pepper. Bake in a medium heat for 8-10 minutes. When cooked, leave to one side.

* Boil eggs.

* Make white or cheese sauce

* Heat oil or butter and saute chopped onion for a few minutes until softened but not browned.

*Cook peas in salted boiling water until just tender

* Boil potatoes and mash with butter, cream or milk and mash again with fork

Flake fish, removing any skin or bones and add to sauce. Add any liquid. Stir and check for seasoning. You may want to add some nutmeg. Roughly chop up boiled eggs and add to pan with sauce and fish. Stir in cooked, drained peas and sauted onions. Pour into dish of choice, making sure the fish and sauce do not come up past half way; if it does, the sauce will leak out when you place the potato on top.

Top with mashed potatoes; use a spoon and place the potato at the edge of the dish, working round until there is only a hole left in the middle. Top this with more potatoes and smooth over with the back of the spoon. Using a teaspoon, mark the potato topping to resemble fish scales.

Place in a medium oven for 20-30 minutes.

The cod was delicious:

Cod topped with spicy couscous served with rice and salad

Helen Ponders

2010-07-09T05:17:00.000-07:00

Why is my hand stuck to a radio and why is my watch so darn tight? I'm going to pass out soon....gawd, I'm hungry.

Laura from The Mordaunts asked me: "I was wondering if you could give some hints/tip on how you got started with the weekly budget. I really need/want to do something similar. I am sure that we bleed money into our food budget constantly with our disorganized shopping.   What are Auntie Helen's tricks for getting started on the road to food planning, food budgeting and food loving?"   Ask, dear Laura, and ye shall recieve!

I started with a well stocked pantry; my basic list would be as follows:
Cupboards:
Rice
Lentils
Broth mix
Chick peas
Stock cubes
Wide range of dried herbs and spices
Dried chillies
Maldon sea salt
Olive and extra virgin olive oil
Sesame oil
Groundnut and vegetable oil
Soy sauce
Seeds and nuts
Couscous
Dried noodles (fine)
Dried pasta
Vinegar; balsamic, wine, etc.
Tomato puree
Chopped tomatoes
Jarred artichokes

Fresh:
Herb plants
Lemons
Limes
Onions
Garlics
Fresh chillies
Ginger
Potatoes
Eggs

Fridge items:
Cheese: Parmesan, cheddar, goats, feta
Salad
Butter
Cream
Milk
Olives

Baking:
Flour: plain, self-raising, wholemeal, bread
Sugar: caster, icing (fine, superfine), brown, demerera
Yeast
Almond and vanilla extract
Dark and milk chocolate
Parchment paper

You can make a multitude of meals with the items above and almost all of these will last for some time. To buy all these items at once would cost between £50-£75. That would be your first shop with some meat thrown in there for the week!

Now that you have your basics, you want to write out your menu for the week with the following principles:
* What meals does everyone like and what meals would I cook just for adults and just for kids?   Minimise meals which need you to cook twice!
* As a general rule of thumb, have one chicken, one meat, one fish, one pasta, one rice, one vegetable and two leftovers a week.
* It's worth spending money on free range chicken; buy large and pick clean for another meal and for soup.
*When buying meat, look out for special offers and cook large batches and freeze.   Remember what you have in there so that you can add a frozen item onto your menu each week or so.
*Use leftover chicken or meat to serve with pasta or couscous.
*Even cooked veg can be kept to throw into soup or a pie.

Get the whole family involved; ask them what their favourites are and ask them what new foods they'd be willing to try.   Get the kids to eat favourites mixed with new flavours e.g. my kids like fish like salmon and coley and they like cheese sauce so I combined them with a smoked fish to make a fish pie and will add less cheese each time until I have a mainly white sauce.

Get them to have routines: someone kneads the dough for the bread every Saturday, another cuts up all the vegetables for Sunday's roast....get them to give you suggestions as to what to add for flavour and try it out...in small batches!

Shop once a week for the week ahead...if it lasts longer, great....you'll find this will happen from time to time as the freezer gets stocked up.   Buy what you need as per your menu plan...write a shopping list....and also decide what you want for lunches and breakfast.   Don't overdo the fresh ingredients unless you are willing to cook some meals in advance i.e. if you need fresh coriander for Friday's curry and it is Monday, do your weekly shopping on the Friday or buy a plant instead of cut herbs. Keep money aside for bread and milk from the local shop.

Change the above to suit your own family and your own needs; set a budget that suits you and try to stick to it.   Don't waste anything; if it needs used, cook it and freeze it, if it needs eaten, have it for dinner or freeze it...everything can be made into a pie, a stew or soup.....everything!

Good luck!

Messy but very tasty brownies!

Back to Basics

2010-07-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

The shopping cost for the week came to under £40 (see receipt below); we have lots in the freezer and fridge and I think we should manage well for the next 10 days with £10 for sundries.

The menu this week:

Recipes to follow!

Lunches will be coked ham, cheese, homemade bread, soup, salads and egg and cress sandwiches. Desserts will no doubt involve lemons, since I bought a huge bag of them...I'm thinking lemon meringue pie and lemon cake, brownies, cupcakes and pancakes.

Some dishes from the past month......

First attempt at Whoopees, so called because when the Amish men in America discovered them in their lunchboxes, they'd cry "whoopee!"; tasty but not quite the way they were meant to be. They're supposed to be half cake, half biscuit but they resembled giant gypsy creams and were definitely more cookie than crumble. Not that the kids complained! I made the first batch for Val G and they went down rather well at her hoose. They don't keep well though. I'll make another batch with the added addition of baking powder and post the recipe if it works.

Yet another tasty Salad

Chicken Pie

Mini Chicken Pies!

Helen is Happy With Her Chicken Pie. Can you tell?

Making Whoopee!

2010-07-05T03:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a month? Wow. June IS a busy time but still.

I have been cooking a lot.

Asparagus and Artichoke Salad with Poached Egg

This salad was just delightful; I roasted the asparagus in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper and sea salt for 6-8 minutes; it comes out perfectly cooked and so tasty. I tossed the artichokes in there half way through with some dried mint and added both to the salad of olive oil, honey and balsamic dressed leaves, Iberico ham, goat's cheese and cucumber topped with a poached egg. A salad fit for a queen.

Cupcakes for Jo

Pan-fried Salmon with sesame oil, linseeds and salad

Artichoke and Iberico Ham Salad with Parmesan

I have also been running around like the proverbial blue-bum fly trying to pack it all in in time for school finishing which was last week. When the last day came, it was a blessed relief! The kids played in the park with their friends; the park throbbed with mums, dads and kids having picnics, riding their bikes, playing on the swings.....the sun shone and we all exhaled, knowing we had 7 weeks of holiday time with the kids to look forward to. I say we all exhaled; some will hold their breath for the entire 7 weeks, some will be ok for the first 4 until they find they want to run away screaming to the hills and some will just grin and bear it...e.ach to their own; right now I'm happy.........!

I want my holiday to begin NOW!

We went on holiday to Crieff Hydro and then Alton Towers, the biggest theme park in the UK; again, the sun shone and the kids had a ball.

Crieff Hydro with sis and niece

Beautiful view over Crieff

Lunch shenanigans

Beautiful horses

Feeding them grass

Hydro Reception...happy to be there!

Entering Alton Towers

One of the tamer rides!

On holiday we had salads, haggis, fajitas, creme brulee, hotdogs, hotpots, steak sandwiches and lots of fruit and wine! Pretty tasty fayre, all in all.

On our return journey, we stopped off at Morecambe Beach;

Jumping for Joy!

It's always good to be home.

Roast chicken with lemon and thyme

On coming home, we cooked up a roast chicken, stuffed with lemon and thyme, Jersey Royal potatoes drizzled with olive oil, butter and sea salt, roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli and baby sweetcorn, peas and green beans coated in pesto...a new discovery and really delicious.... rice, gremolata breadcrumbs (toasted breadcrumbs with parsely, lemon rind and garlic), gravy made with the juices from the pan with a glass of champagne added and reduced. A lovely home cooked meal.

Crepes stuffed with Nutella and banana, topped with icing sugar and ice cream from the local Italian cafe. Mmmmmmm.

...

And now I try and redeem myself for the rest of the week; roasted tomatoes drizzled with pesto on Ryvita.

Today, I make Whoopees for the first time; they're just out of the oven, the first batch going to Val's house today...watch this space for results. They have been cooked in the USA for some time now and have come to these shores, looking to dethrone the cupcakes crown. A cross between a cake and a cookie, sandwiched between a layer of vanilla buttercream, they may just do that very thing.

Poor, Neglected Wee Blog

2010-06-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling bad about my blog. I've neglected it her...him...? over the past few months as my time is consumed by manic me managing mainly mince but urgent, immediately in need of attention mince just the same. I will therefore wrap it the blog in a wee snuggly blanket for a week or so and try to keep it warm so that it can be happy once again. Anyone got a loan of a feather duster? I dinnae like those spiders....

It has been the birthday weekend of the year, that one weekend when parties take over our lives and we collapse around Tuesday, exhausted and happy that it's over for another year. The Twins turned 9 on Monday and with it came parties; not just theirs, I hasten to add. The partying began on Friday when Lucy had a sleepover in an indoor Bedouin tent thingy with 8 other wee girls.

We put on a buffet of mini baked potatoes with cheese and tuna, stuffed pitta pockets, carrot sticks, antipasti, homemade bread, cheese, lots of it in real and disguised form i.e. cheese strings, mini babybels etc.

There was watermelon, grapes, pineapple, tomatoes, cucumbers, bread sticks, sweeties, cookies, pigs in blankets, pizza to name but a few.

And of course, there was cake.....

The weather was glorious so a lot of time was spent outside playing; Fraser was supposed to go out with dad but instead, gelled his hair back, put on a white shirt and waistcoat and became the butler for the evening......

....and then it was a sing song on the X-box but before that, there was time to put the candles in....

And some sparklers......

And sing happy birthday!

Finally, a dvd was asked for with 'midnight feast'....it wasn't really midnight, I'd put the clock back two hours.....and then the count down to get them to sleep!

Lucy at her party

Happy Girl!

So, that was that....no, wait....it wasn't. Then it was Fraser's turn!

Skywalking and climbing at Climbzone, Braehead was the party of choice and a doddle compared to the sleepover; take 5 kids, bundle them into a car, let them scale new heights and giant walls which they loved while you watch with a coffee and a camera then take them for burger, chips and ice cream. Done.

Of course, cakes are still required....

Mice and worm cupcakes

Then there was the family tea party...even more cakes....

And of course, party bags (or cups in this case)....

Done yet? Not quite. We had a BBQ to attend which was lovely with chicken marinated in pesto and bbq sauce, burgers, fat sausages, pork with sweet chilli sauce and buckets filled with potato salad, amongst many other things.

Finally, Lucy had her friend's party to attend and after taking them to the local restaurant for dinner on Monday night, the night of the actual birthday, we collapsed in that little heap and were thankful that birthdays are but once a year.

My 9 year old, ready for the BBQ.

And lets not forget big sis who was wonderful during the entire weekend.

Salad and Schnecken

2010-05-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Something happened in the borough of Scotland this weekend...something so strange that people gathered in large open spaces, stood or sat open mouthed and stared at the big orange ball in the sky.   What caused such mass hysterical behaviour?   What were the Scots looking at with such awe and wonder?   Was that......sunshine??   Yes!   Twas indeed!   Oh, happy days, the boroughfolk cried....happy, happy days and they stripped to their underwear immediately and promptly got burnt to a crisp.   The End.

And such is the scene all over the country every time the sun dares to rear it's gorgeous head from the sky.   It makes us happy though.

I was supposed to be in France last weekend but alas, it wasn't meant to be.   The reason appears to be the numpty gene I've inherited from a well dodgy gene pool.   But at least the sun shone. But wait, I hear you cry....weren't you supposed to go to London tomorrow? Surely that will make up for missing France. Yes, dear reader, I was. I was supposed to go to London tomorrow with my daughter.   Happy days again!   Ah but alas, once again, that numpty gene...the one that lay dormant for many years, switched on with the passing of the years has suddenly come up trumps again and it looks like we won't be going to London after all as daughter's passport is out of date.   Yes, we need a passport these days to travel within the country.   Can I get a new one?   Sure, they have a fast one day service for the price of a small cottage.   Why don't I do that then and stop moaning?   Because the passport office won't let you book for a same day appointment, even if you call them at 8am.   Stupid?   Oh yes.   Ways round it?   No.   But hey, the sun still shines.............

Lots of salads have been consumed lately; pasta salads, artichoke salads, meaty, fruity salads...you know how I love me an artichoke...and salads with chicken, cheese, vegetables, fruit and anything else I care to fling in there on a particular day.   Here are some of my favourites:

Artichoke and mint salad with feta, crispy Parma ham, roasted chorizo and Parmesan cheese.

Chicken and Lemon Pasta Salad....doesn't look like much but well tasty, hot or cold.

Chargrilled Chicken Salad

When not eating salads the past few weeks, we've indulged in mini Toad in the Hole...

Mini Toad in the Hole.....delicious with gravy and mash!

....and a bizarre looking concoction of puff pastry, saute potatoes, grated cheese and hard boiled eggs. Delicious, according to the kids!

I made Brian a Key Lime Pie for his birthday....yum!

Skinny Lemon Muffins with lemon drizzle icing for us all.....Fraser was particularly smitten.

A team of hardy laddies what I know, will be taking part in the Caledonian Challenge to raise money for charity; I'll be baking Schnecken, my favourtie bun ever, to help provide some tasty fuel during this gruelling two day challenge. Check out their page and maybe sponsor them a quid or two, if you think they're worthy...I do!

Back to receipts, menus and recipes next week as well as that darn giveaway that never happened.

Why I'll never be a millionaire

2010-05-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

I've been clearing out; I seem to spend my life clearing out but the amount of junk amassed over our lifetime so far is vast and varied: beds, oil paintings, crystal roses, funny, odd shaped wooden things, books, clothes...lots and lots of clothes....to name but a few.   Now, I will turn my hand to anything, if it means making a profit. This is all to avoid getting a proper job, you understand. I bake, cook, sew, paint, manage, teach, cajole and lecture...a jack of all trades, master of nought.   I will also sell things on ebay or adtrader like Craigslist rather than throw it in the dump as, like many of us, the items we store are in great condition, we just don't need them anymore.

So, an ad goes in to adtrader for a cabin bed; I put it up for next to nothing, hoping to give someone a nice bargain and to have it lifted and out of my conservatory where it has been living for the past month.   I'd like to sit in my conservatory without scrambling on top of furniture so by selling it cheaply, I wouldn't break my neck and everyone would be happy.

I get a phone call from a wee girl who asks if it comes with a mattress; no it doesn't, I reply.   I wouldn't sell a used mattress and the bed is being given away for a few pounds.   She hums and haws on the phone, unsure whether it is worth it.   The dinner burning, I try and hurry along the conversation but she can't make up her mind.   Bleeding Nora.   I'm very courteous and tell her to go away and think about it.   Eight phone calls later does it have shelves...yes, see that picture I put up of it, the one with shelves...does it come apart...um, see the part where I said the bed was disassembled....does it have pink flowers on the side....what...? Uh...no....?, she still hasn't made up her mind.   Another phone call; could I deliver it to the East End of Glasgow?   She'll throw in another £2.50 if we do and, oh, can we assemble it for her? Then...how big is the mattress?   It doesn't have a mattress.   Her response: "Whit??   It doesn't have a MATTRESS?? It's no' a bed then!".   She sais she'll think about it and call back.   Similar conversations take place over the course of two nights with different people.

A young lass calls back; she would like to come pick it up.   We go through a rigmarole, trying to figure out a good time for us both; we agree 6.30pm the following evening.   At 8pm she calls to say they can't make it.   We find it difficult to agree on another time and by this point, I'm imagining the bed chopped up for firewood.

Sunday night, the door goes.   It's quite late but I answer it.   It is young lass, so quietly spoken I can hardly hear her and she thrusts money into my hand.   She's come for the bed.   This is the girl who couldn't make it at 6.30pm but she has my address. Dad comes down to carry the bed away and I can find no change so thrust most of the cash back to her and tell her just to keep it. And that is why I'll never be a millionaire.

The door goes again 30 minutes later; I'd only given them half a bed.   Idiot.

I've been trying different khorma dishes for a while as it is my husband's favourite but none seemed to hit the mark. Last night I experimented and think I have come up with the winning formula. It's very simple, plain and straightforward but my goodness, it was tasty!   My husband loved it and thinks it is the best to date. Being daft, I didn't write down amounts but I have a fair idea and I don't think you could really go wrong, as long as you don't overdo any particular ingredient.

Helen's Chicken Khorma

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts

For the marinade:

Curry Powder, teaspoon

Ground Fenugreek, scant teaspoon

Ground Turmeric, scant teaspoon

Ground Ginger, scant teaspoon

Garlic cloves x 2, crushed but left whole

Pinch dried chilli flakes

Yoghurt, preferably thick Greek style but any would do, 2 large tablespoons

1 Lemon

Tablespoon vegetable oil

Sauce:

Dash of oil

Large Onion, cut into 8

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Curry Powder, approx. 1 heaped teaspoon

Fenugreek, 1 scant teaspoon

Turmeric, good sprinkling

Sprinkle ground Ginger

Pinch dried chillies

Approx. 1-2 inches fresh ginger, grated

Sachet coconut milk (I use Patak's 50g sachet, sold in packs of 4)

Chicken Stock, 1/4 pint

Double cream, good splash

Ground almonds, approx. 2-3 heaped tablespoons

Small handful Sultanas or Raisins

Scant tablespoon Sugar

Freshly ground black pepper

Juice from 1 lemon

Method:

Cut each chicken breast into three or four chunks. Place in a bowl and season lightly. Place all marinade ingredients into bowl except lemon; squeeze juice from lemon first and then mix everything together, making sure there are no lumps of curry powder or spices. It should smell divine and be a lovely yellow colour. Add more Turmeric if not. Throw in the skins of the lemon, cover with clingfilm and leave to marinade for at least 4 hours, overnight if possible.

When making curry, turn the oven to 200 degrees and once warmed, place the chicken onto a shallow baking tray and bake for 20 minutes until cooked with the tips and edges starting to darken. The chicken should be cooked and no more, cut open a chunk to check; it shouldn't be pink but it will cook for a further 10 minutes in the sauce so if it is borderline, do not keep cooking in the oven as you want the chicken to be tender and not overcooked.

Pour a little oil into a deep saucepan. Add the onion chunks and stir. Add the curry powder, fenugreek, ginger, turmeric and chillies and stir to coat. Cook for 5 minutes on a low heat and then add garlic slices and grated fresh ginger. Stir to coat once more. Cook for a further few minutes, adding a few drops of water if it looks like it may catch and burn. Dissolve the coconut milk inside the chicken stock until you have a thickish paste. Pour on top of the onions and garlic mix.and stir. Once it comes to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes until it thickens slightly and then add the double cream. Stir. Add the scant tablespoon sugar, lemon juice from half the lemon and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir and taste; you shouldn't need any salt but add it now if you do. It should be a little bit sweet yet tangy with a little bite, thanks to the pinch of chillies. Add the raisins, the ground almonds and stir.

Take the chicken from the oven and put it into the pot with the sauce; do not pour any of the juices left behind on the baking tray into the pot as you want a thickish sauce and this will thin it. Simmer with a lid on for 10 minutes (put rice on at this point!). Remove a chicken chunk, cut it open and check it is cooked; taste it, it should be firm but tender. Squeeze over the other half of the lemon over the chicken curry and serve with plain boiled rice.

This recipe was tried by Valerie from yoga and she loved it so it has another seal of approval! I recommend it wholeheartedly. Pictures to follow.

We made Spaghetti and Meatballs; we made minced beef ones but also chicken ones for Kelly....they went down quite well.

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

Salmon Fishcakes with cucumber and carrot sticks

Braised Beef in Beer with Onions, Mash and Baby Carrots...recipe to follow.

Saturday Night dinner.....

Feta, lemon and herb stuffed poached and chargrilled chicken with a white wine cream sauce and mixed veg, served with a potato rosti. Recipe to follow.

Mmmm....curry!

2010-05-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

I decided not to plan a menu this week and therefore took no list with me on my food shopping trip; I wanted to stay within the budget and see what I could make with the ingredients I found. A leg of lamb, reduced to approx. £4-£5 per kilo was tossed into the basket as was braising beef at £6 for 4 huge steaks. A few trays of free range chicken breasts were added too, along with fresh coriander, chillies, ginger, potatoes, pasta, yoghurt and other substance and sundries.

The chicken was made into a tasty Green, Creamy Chicken Curry which I served to my friends on Thursday night with some home made flaky pan bread. I was rather pleased with how it had turned out; a good bit of spice but not too hot, the coriander and lime juice coming through the creamy sauce and mixing pleasantly with the rice. I had had a very busy day baking cupcakes for a launch night which I attended with Anne before our other friends arrived at my house; add to that, making the curry as well as painting decorations for the school fair and, in my rush, I forgot to have dinner. On arriving home, the curry, which was meant for a late supper was instead heated right away, the rice cooked and the bread re-warmed in the pan and served with no photograph as my stomach couldn't stand to wait. We all enjoyed it.

We had leftovers tonight along with a quickly prepared lamb curry using the leftover leg of lamb we had on Sunday, rice and pan bread.

Slow roast leg of lamb...

rubbed with a paste made from garlic cloves, fresh thyme, olive oil, soft butter, ground cumin, sea salt, black pepper and smoked paprika. Rub all over lamb. Put oven to 180 degrees, gas mark 3.5 for 20 minutes, then turned down to150 degrees for 2.5 - 3 hours; at this point, pour a cupful of stock and white wine into roasting dish. Check every hour to ensure stock/wine gravy doesn't burn away. Add some water if needed. Throw in potatoes, carrots and a quartered onion as well as garlic cloves in the skin for the last 45 minutes-hour. Let the meat rest for at least 20 minutes. If veg not ready, turn up oven and keep cooking during the rest period.

Served with peas cooked in stock and leftover mash.

Green, Creamy Chicken Curry

Ok, so one thing you should always, always do when you are making up a recipe is take notes. Me, I like to think my brain is the size of a planet when actually a pea is more accurate so the retention of information will stay with me until I get to a computer, right? Wrong. I remember all the ingredients but since I tend to work in 'dods', especially the first time, all these measurements are approximate. Stick with the basic guidelines, and ye cannae go wrong!

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
8 chicken breasts....half the amount or use whatever is required
Marinade the chicken in the following mix:
Small tub creamy yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 teaspoons curry powder
Lemon juice (toss the lemon in there too, once juice extracted)
Sprinkling of turmeric
Grinding of black pepper

Once marinated...overnight or at least 4 hours....place onto a baking tray and bake in oven, 180 degrees (medium) for 20 minutes. No need to turn. Remove from oven and add to sauce when ready.

For the sauce:
1 25g packets/ 2 large handfuls coriander...if you dinnae like the green stuff, ye'll no' like this curry!!
Juice of 2 limes and zest from 1 lime
2 garlic cloves
Approx. teaspoon of cumin, half teaspoon coriander,quarter teaspoon fenugreek seeds, 2 cardamom pods, half cinammon stick, 1 clove, a few black pepper corns, ground turmeric all ground together in a pestle and mortar
Big dod of ginger....i.e. approx. 3 inches
2 green chillies, deseeded plus one whole chilli, slit a little down the middle
Small tub double cream
Thick Greek style yoghurt, approx. same amount as double cream
3 tablespoons coconut milk
2 good handfuls ground almonds
1 red chilli, deseeded and very thinly sliced into strips

Blend together: the ginger, garlic, chillies (not the whole one) and coriander. Add the spices, blend and then the lime juice. This should make a nice paste.

Melt some ghee or a mix of butter and oil in a deep pan over a medium heat. Add the paste and cook for 10 minutes, making sure it doesn't burn. You may want to turn the heat down after the first five minutes and add a few drops of water if necessary to stop the mix catching.

Add the cream and stir into the mix. Then add the yoghurt and the coconut milk. Add the whole chilli. If you want the sauce a bit thinner, add a little stock. A teaspoon of sugar and a good sprinkling of salt should be added although you could omit this. Leave the sauce to simmer with a lid partially on. Add the chicken when ready. Thrown in the thinly sliced red chilli and the almonds.

Simmer gently together with the chicken for at least 20 minutes; the chicken should be cooked through (obviously) and will be tender. Add the juice from a lime or lemon if you prefer and another good handful or two of finely chopped coriander. Taste, season if necessary and serve.

Boiled rice, lamb and potato curry, green, creamy chicken curry and quick pan bread

Curry close up!

The Lemon Madeira Cupcakes for the new product launch were frosted with a mix of pale pink and pink vanilla butter icing and topped with flowers, leaves and butterflies. They tasted yummy.

Ingredients:

250g softened unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 large eggs

210g self-raising flour

90g plain flour

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy.

Grate the lemon zest into the bowl.

I made a double batch so I grated the first lemon and used a zester for the second to give longer strips.

Add a tablespoon of flour with one egg and mix together; repeat until all eggs are incorporated and add the remaining flour.

Add the lemon juice and mix until combined.

Place paper cases into a cake or muffin tray.

Add approx. a large tablespoon of cake batter to each paper case.

Bake in oven 170, gas mark 3 for approx. 20-25 minutes or until golden; use a skewer inserted into a cake to check they are cooked; it should come out clean.

Make frosting by mixing sieved icing sugar with soft butter, a little at a time until fully incorporated and creamy, adding colour of choice and vanilla to taste....a few drops at a time!

Frost cakes and decorate.

Enjoy.

I made thai fishcakes;
Disaster!
The Thai green sauce was delicious but I totally mucked up the cake; it tasted nice but not great, far too greasy and in need of much simplification. Back to the drawing board; I'll keep you updated.

Aww...except look at the expression on Lucy's face.....*shiver*

The Very Merry Month of May

2010-04-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have a trip planned to France and London in May; holidays for me are like buses, none for ages then they all come along at the same time, causing chaos. May is also home to husband's birthday, a concert, 5 school holidays, 6 birthday parties, the school disco and parent's day.   Top that with friends donning the Bermuda shorts to fling caution to the wind/snow/thunder and lightning by dragging out the dusty BBQ and you've got a pretty hectic month.   It's got nothing on June though..........

None of this is complaining, you understand; au contraire, I am veree 'appy, mademoiselles.   It's just a wee bit "aaaargh" and a wee bit "when-do-I-do-the-laundry".

But since it's still only April, we shall sit back and smell the roses/smoked brioche puffs/mince and tatties.   I have a few days until the madness and fun begins.

I was remiss in my homely duties today because shopping, despite being on the list was forgotten; instead, I went to yoga....wonderful, tiring.....then met Shona for coffee and lunch....lovely.... and straight to the school to draw and paint circus decorations....strange.   I made macaroni cheese when I got home, explaining to Kelly along the way what 'necessity is the mother of invention' means; she asked why the cheese sauce tasted even more delicious och, she's a flatterer that 'un than normal although I did get "um...it needs some more pepper, mum"...there's always a critic....and I explained that I only had a little drop of milk left so I used cream for the rest of the white sauce before adding the cheddar cheese.   Hence my use of the phrase regarding mothers and necessities.

This week, we've had................

Chicken and Olive Stew with dumplings

Curried Parsnip Soup with Quick Pan Bread

Spaghetti Sugo (Spag Bog by any other name)

Lucy's favourite!

Happy kids

Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

Lemon Roast Chicken stuffed with Savoury Rice

Plus roasted carrots, potatoes, onions, butternut squash,

steamed broccolli and green beans and baby boiled tatties.

I shall make a new shopping list up tonight, do the trip tomorrow and add it this week, along with one or two recipes. Have a wonderful week, bloggy peeps.

Ooyah!

2010-04-22T02:29:00.000-07:00

Can you claim compensation against yourself?   Since the world has gone mad and every other advert on tv is some dodgy lawyer telling you how you can sue your neighbour for looking at you funny, I thought I'd take it that one step further.   On completing my very enjoyable first session back to yoga on Tuesday, I awoke rather sore and unable to walk without sounds of "ooyah...ouch" escaping from my mouth.   How annoyed was I then, to find an ill placed pair of high heels, jaggy side up, waiting for me on the stairs as I ooyah'd my way down them last night.

Needless to say, my pain this morning from the resounding crash of falling over said shoe and continued pain of lying dormant for 4 weeks and then doing 1.5 hours of yoga is still of the 'rather sore' variety and someone needs to be blamed. Since I only have myself, then that witch is going down!   The content of my purse contains £4.25 but I have cakes in the fridge, I wonder if that will pay her off?

My strange obsession with People Who Sue began when I read about a lady who, having been invited to a dinner party, found herself falling through her host's dining chair, much to her chagrin but the laughter of others.   The host was apologetic and the lady in question had a bit of a bruised bum and ego but nevertheless, the night continued to much enjoyment of all.

Two days later, the host receives a letter from a lawyer, explaining that she is being sued for "upset, pain and embarrassment caused whilst in the care of said host's home".   Yes, this was from her lady friend who fell through the chair.   The host, as you can imagine, was astounded and called her soon to be ex friend up and asked her what was the meaning of this; the lady said that people laughed at her and it was all her fault.

Oh dear oh dear. I'm not normally at a loss for words yeah...we've noticed.....zzzzzzzz.....but this just leaves me speechless. Since then, I've watched in horrific fascination at the People Who Sue and their reasons behind it....bar the extortion of money of course. Any stories to fascinate me with?

But enough of that! Cakes! Yes, cakes! I made Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes and Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes yesterday. Why so many, Helen, I hear you ask? Well, the strawberry ones I had wanted to try and was visiting my lovely friend Karen so was going to take some with me. The recipe called for 200g of digestive biscuits to be ground and sprinkled on the top. I duly complied, even though I knew such an amount was ludicrous and must be a typo ok, Brian pointed it out and called me an eejit, but first time making it, I stick to the recipe. Of course, I was left with approx. 150g of digestive dust and when life gives you said dust, what else can you do with it but make it into cheesecake? Hence the choccy mini cheesecakey thingies.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes.....lovely!

Topped with digestive crumbs and strawberries

Inside: strawberries, cake, cream cheese frosting

I'm not a big fan of baked fruit and was a bit dubious but these were delightful. The recipe was from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook that the gorgeous Shona gave to me although I coloured the icing and added a little less icing sugar than the recipe called for...plus those digestive crumbs don't forget! I'll play with the recipe a little and post it once I've given it another go.

The chocolate cheesecake pics and recipe to follow next post! They're still setting in the fridge. Not for long though................

When it comes to pasta dishes, I like to experiment and sometimes I get it right, sometimes not. There are some key ingredients I always have in the fridge which means I can make a quick dinner or supper and feed any unexpected guests. They are usually tomatoes, jarred artichokes, proscuitto, feta, Parmesan and some cream or creme fraiche alongside the veg rack of onions, garlic, chillies and ginger. All of these ingredients keep for ages, except the cream and creme fraiche but I make sure I buy really fresh so that it will last as long as possible...that's me you see with her arm at the back of the chiller cabinet, tongue hanging out as I try and reach the freshest tubs.

Last night, I made pasta spirals for the kids and kept some back for myself. I took out all of the fridge ingredients above as well as a green pepper which needed using and some lettuce leaves. The pasta that followed it was incredible! I was so happy with it, I wrote down quantities immediately, knowing I'd want to make it again and again.

I reluctantly stopped myself finishing it and placed the remainder in the fridge as I'm always looking for good pasta dishes that can be served cold. By supper time, I decided to eat it and it was just as delicious. I highly recommend you try this...add or remove ingredients to taste...for example pine nuts and garlic would be nice but I love it exactly as it is.

Helen's Five Minute Spiral Pasta

Ingredients (serves 1 greedy person or 2):

Handful or two of cooked spiral pasta

1 small green or yellow pepper, diced

Handful washed and dried lettuce leaves, any kind or spinach

A few slices of proscuitto, torn in half or quarters

Artichoke quarters; I used one and a half, chopped

A few tablespoons oil from the artichoke jar

A small handful of feta

Approx. 5 cherry tomatoes, halved

A large tablespoon Parmesan

A few tablespoons creme fraiche (I used half fat) or cream

Spoon the oil from the artichoke jar into the frying pan and heat. Add the green peppers and cherry tomatoes. Stir for a minute and add the proscuitto. It will immediately start to crisp up, once it starts to go crispy, turn it over. Add artichokes.

Stir for another minute or two and throw in the lettuce leaves or spinach. Stir again and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Add in the spiral pasta, feta, creme fraiche or cream and the Parmesan along with a really good grinding of black pepper. Stir to combine and heat through then serve immediately. You won't be sorry!

Spiral Pasta

Kelly had a craving for Mozarella sticks, the way a particular fast food restaurant makes them so I made her these:

Shallow fried mozarella sticks

She ate some but something was missing.....we figured out afterwards it was the sauce this particular restaurant gave you to go with it, no idea what it is though, could it be sweet chilli....but Brian polished them off, happily. The mozarella was sliced, dipped in egg, seasoned flour, egg and breadcrumbs, shallow fried in groundnut oil and drained on kitchen towel. Easy peasy and tasty to some; personally, fried cheese holds no interest for me.

The Time Has Come, The Walrus Said.....

2010-04-20T08:59:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, fellow bloggy peeps, friends and family who read this blog, my apologies for my absence once again but the holidays are over with, my plans have evolved and I now have time to sit here at my favourite indoor place and talk about grub! Isn't life grand?

The food budget remains at £50 per week and I find it easier as the good weather comes in; salads, light soups, citrus-y chicken and feta dishes all are the order of spring and the best quality still costs low. Meals this past week:

Salmon Nuggets

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets, cut into bite sized chunks

Either: 1 packet plain crisps, crushed or two good handfuls breadcrumbs, seasoned

1 Egg, beaten and seasoned

Oil, if frying

Dip salmon bites into seasoned, beaten egg and then into bowl containing crushed crisps or breadcrumbs. If frying, heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook over a medium heat until outside is crispy brown and inside cooked. Cut one open to check; they shouldn't take long because of their size.

Alternatively, place them in a hot oven for approx. 8 minutes. Serve with petit pois and broccolli.

Cupcakes

I use a lemon Madeira cake recipe for the cupcakes and a butter icing with vanilla, food colouring and little iced flowers. I had friends coming over so this was for them and for the kid's tea.

Sausage n' mash

Ingredients:

1 packet of sausages

6 large Maris Piper potatoes, peeled or equivalent, suitable for mashing

Knob of butter

Dash of milk

Sea Salt

Pepper

Gravy to taste

Boil potatoes in salted water until very tender, drain and dry for 20 seconds over heat, making sure not to burn. I do this with the heat off. Mash potatoes with a masher and then add butter, salt, pepper and milk. Mash some more until soft, adding more butter if required. Using a fork, mash through once again to ensure the potatoes are soft and fluffy.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking, fry sausages in a pan over a medium heat. I prick a few of the sausages and therefore don't need to add oil to the pan as the fat comes off the sausage meat. Turn every few minutes to ensure even browning.

Place mash in a bowl, stick sausages in and pour a little gravy round the side with the rest served in a gravy boat. This is lovely served with fried onions or beans.

Tomatoes stuffed with cheese and herbs

Ingredients:

Small, ripe tomatoes, approx. two per person

Handful of basil leaves, chopped

Handful of grated Parmesan

Optional: chopped feta cheese

Olive oil

Salt and Freshly ground black pepper

Halve the tomatoes and drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Stuff with feta, if using and a good teaspoon of basil leaves. Drizzle with a little more oil and top with a teaspoon of Parmesan cheese.

Bake in medium oven for approx. 10-15 minutes until tomatoes are soft and cheese has coloured. Serve with scallops, salad, pasta or as a side with lamb escalopes, chicken or anything else that takes your fancy.

Serving the tomatoes with pan roasted scallops and salad with pine nuts

Tomato Sauce

I use this tomato sauce as a base for pizzas, pasta sauces, pies and dips. It is very simple and easy to make and freezes beautifully.

Ingredients:

1kg Passatta (sieved tomatoes)

Quarter pint vegetable or chicken stock

Two tablespoons olive oil

Tablespoon sugar

Teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion

2-4 cloves garlic, depending on taste

Place garlic and onion in a food processor or blender and blitz to a pulp. Scrape out into a pan with olive oil and coat by stirring. Cook for 10 minutes until soft, over a low heat, ensuring the mix doesn't colour or burn. Add passatta and bring to the boil. Simmer for five minutes and add stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer for a further 10 minutes and taste. It should be pleasant, with a slight sweetness and saltiness.

Keep it as is for pizza or for pasta, add a good handful of finely chopped basil. For meatballs, add milk.

Tomato sauce used for pizza

Coloured Pancakes

Pancake mix of 4 oz each of flour, sugar, milk and eggs (1 large, 2 small) with added food colouring.

Blend until mixed and cook in pan.

Serve with coloured drinks. Watch kids be happy.

Feta and Chorizo Pasta

Ingredients:

Spaghetti (100g per person)

Chorizo, diced, small handful per person

Knob of butter

Dash olive oil

Onion, chopped

Garlic clove, crushed

Thyme leaves from a few sprigs

Feta, chopped

Light chicken stock, approx. 2 oz. (and white wine, optional)

Double cream or creme fraiche, 2 large tablespoons

Freshly grate Parmesan

Lemon juice, optional

Boil spaghetti as per instructions

Fry onion and garlic and thyme in butter and oil for a few minutes, without colouring. Add chorizo and leave for a minute or so before stirring to coat the onion mix in the lovely red juices from the sausage. Simmer for 5 minutes, add wine and simmer until reduced by half if using, then add stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer until a coating consistency is reached. Add cream, stir and take off heat. Add a handful of Parmesan and feta and a squeeze of lemon juice. Check seasoning, add some freshly ground black pepper and throw in the spaghetti, toss in sauce and serve with more grated Parmesan.

Pan-Fried Salmon with Linseeds, Spinach and Baby Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet per person

Sea salt

Golden linseeds

Handful spinach per person

Baby potatoes

Margarine

Sesame Oil

Green peppers

Lime juice

Boil baby potatoes until tender, crush lightly with a little margarine, butter or olive oil and some sea salt. Set aside. Score the skin of the salmon and rub in a little sesame oil (or flavoured oil to taste). Get a frying pan really hot and place the salmon skin side down. Thrown in the peppers. When the skin side is brown, turn salmon over and turn heat down slightly; cook until a lovely golden colour. Depending on the salmon fillet thickness, at this point, I sometimes shove the salmon into a pre-heated hot oven for 4 minutes.

Thrown in a handful of linseeds and a tiny drizzle of sesame oil to coat the peppers. Squeeze over some lime juice. Place dry spinach leaves on a plate and place the peppers and linseeds on top with another squeeze of lime juice. Plate up the fillet of salmon and the potatoes; the salmon is ready when it has lost it's opaqueness, has turned from orange to pink and flakes away easily; do not over cook. Enjoy.

Dolly for Anna

The competition will resume in the next few weeks; everyone already entered will be put forward.

Happy Belated Easter!

2010-04-07T03:51:00.000-07:00

I have such a craving for something but I don't know what it is; I've tried salty snacks, savoury slices and sweet pieces of pie. Seafood, wholefood, meat, chips and rye. None seem to work. The last time I had this kind of craving, I was pregnant no, I'm not and I worked my way through a half ton of food trying to find out what it could be. No complaints of course, I enjoyed every minute of it but was a wee bit surprised when it turned out to be Cheesy Wotsits; I couldn't get enough! 10 packets later and I scunnered myself; I haven't eaten them since.

It may take me days, months or even years to work it out but I'm up to the challenge..............

Our Easter was lovely; on Thursday, the last day of school we were invited round to a friend's house with the kids and enjoyed snacks, chat and a wee glass of wine. On Good Friday, grandpa came to stay and on Saturday, my lovely niece joined us too. We bought dvds, popcorn and sweets and cooried in for a film fest, venturing out for the occasional walk in the sunshine and lunch. Easter Sunday, I cooked roast lamb stuffed with feta, mint and lemon cooked in lemon juice and white wine, roast pork stuffed with chorizo, onions and fresh herbs, roast potatoes, boiled potatoes, roasted root vegetables with honey and maple syrup and steamed greens and baby sweetcorn. It was a good day and enjoyed by all.

Roast Lamb: looks messy, tasted lovely!

Roast Pork; hmmm, not a great pic but again, tasted gooooood!

I made an Easter cake, with help from the kids and it turned out pretty well. My friend Shona gave me a wonderful cookbook, from the Hummingbird Bakery which is where I got the recipe from a wonderful recipe it was too and spot on but the decor was inspired by Sarah Magid's Organic and Chic cookbook a few little basic recipe mistakes within but was worked out failry easily; very good for inspiration and her vanilla buttercream icing worked really well.

Pretty AND tasty! Brooklyn Blackout cake, Nutella icing inside.

Easter dinner.

I think they like!

Other food this month:

Scallops with roasted tomatoes

More cupcakes....

Mmmmm!

Beef and sausage stew with Yorkshire Puddings

Kids own homemade pizza! Good job.

Mini feta, spinach and pine nut tart

Tomato Sauce for the pizza

Mmmm, pizza..

More tart...

More scallops..I'm going through a phase; that's an artichoke heart in the middle

Lucy is pleased with her own wee pizza

Cupcakes

2010-03-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

I had to pop in to share with you the 100 cupcakes I made the other day; cupcakes need to be share with the world, even if all that can be seen at the end is a few crumbs and a photograph or two.

Yum!

Making the toppings and flowers.....

What else have I been cooking.....

Welsh Cakes for Karen....

Salmon nuggets rolled in crisps!

Chocolate loaf

Sesame marinated chicken stir fry with noodles and rice...

My favourite roasted artichoke salad with Parmesan....

Sesame chicken salad

Scallops and pan fried greens with an artichoke heart

Still on budget, still sticking to the plan! Uh...except for those cupcakes of course.....

Be back soon!

Sorry....

2010-03-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry bloggy peeps; awol for a wee while, I'll be back soon.

Thank Goodness it's Friday.

2010-03-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

Random photos today; i've been looking at them with the kids and thought I'd share. Giveaway details below.

Lulu

The family McGinn; daddy took the picture

Lulu walking but only just!

Kelly's first day at school

Contented Fraser

Lucy at Niagara

Kelly at Niagara

Graduation, Glasgow University

Very tired!

Put that camera down and give me a hug!

Pirate party; one happy, one not so happy....

There is a giveaway of one of my handmade dollies, boy or girl or a painting of choice, again, boy or girl drawing on Wednesday 17th April. There is also a travelling dolly. See the bottom of this post here for details!

Blog Chucking and Giveaway Date!!

2010-03-11T02:17:00.000-08:00

I feel I have been remiss; I have had very little time to read blogs lately and it's just not good.   I love reading them and I'm itching to catch up on what has been happening but alas, sometimes kids, work, house and social lives take over. I always stop first at those people who come to visit and then manage another few each day, sometimes a lot more, if I take a morning off. It's always lovely to know the blogs I read are all there waiting for when time is easier.

Bearing that in mind, I was rather surprised to get an email from a bloggy follower telling me I was chucked. Yes.   Chucked for not spending enough quality time with her/him.   She/he had left me.   Sob.   Having only ever been chucked once in my life before I've led a semi sheltered life...., I started to ponder what this bloggy chuck meant and what is the correct decorum in these situations?   Should I cry into my keyboard or should I go on the hunt for five bloggers in one night, aggressively pursuing them and hoping they'll love me in the morning?

All joking aside, I felt bad that I'd upset someone enough to get such a strong reaction from them and was all set to albeit confusedly profusely apologise. Now of course you're wondering why I would be so public about it. Well, y'see, I started to get a deja vu feeling.   Something didn't seem quite right....

Feeling a wee bit ashamed and guilty after the eyeball rolling at my "Dear Helen" letter, I went to the blog in question and looked round.    Something wasn't quite right, right enough! It was puzzling me. I looked at the last ten posts, posts which seemed......strangely familiar.   Wait.   Hadn't I actually read these?   There was the post on...oh, and then there was that post......   Yes.   Yes I had.

Not only that, I'd commented.   I'd commented rather a lot. Had the blogger failed to read the comments?   Was the blogger a bloggard?   I looked round the site and found responses from the actual person in question, responses directed at me.   What was wrong with this picture?

And then it hit me; the posts were old my friends, OLD. The blogiot hadn't posted for over 9 months. NINE MONTHS! What the...? I chuckled with barely contained glee and flexed my fingers before typing a reply.   I waited for a response and none came.   Email silence.

Tumbleweed.

I sent one final response and eventually I got a reply.   The blogger had started a new blog without closing down the old.   She/he had assumed that I was still on their list as I am on their email address book under bloggy love of course!   She hadn't thought to tell anyone that she had moved to a completely different format and many not just me eventually, obviously stopped coming by.   The blogger was very contrite and I shall refrain from calling her/him anymore bloggy names because it was a mistake and we're all allowed at least one.....

Bloggy friend, you know I'm posting this as I said I would, I'm only partially joking, I'm sorry and I forgive you at the same time!

You know that giveaway I've mentioned every now and then? Well, it's happening next Wednesday, 17th March in honour of St. Patricks Day and my niece's birthday. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have with every follower automatically entered. The 'prize' will be one of my homemade dollies or one of my paintings. You get to choose and even customise!. Here are a few samples....

Just tell me once what you'd like to win and why you would customise it, i.e. a little boy painting with a blue shirt or a dolly with a pink ribbon etc. and thereafter, for every other comment, just mention the word 'giveaway' at the end.

Edited to add, as per comments: open to all, worldwide. No discrimination here. ;O)

There will also be a travelling dolly, a wee tartan minx who will wind her way from blogger to blogger with a little journal so that her adventures can be noted. If you are interested in taking part, mark 'travelling dolly' on your comment too. More details to follow.

I would like to leave you with the cake of the year! My lovely friend Pauline had a request from her son to make him an eyeball birthday cake; once she stopped pondering why, she rose to the challenge and then some.

Aren't they delightfully gruesome?

Shopping List Week 10-12 and Menu

2010-03-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've done a proper shop as we've been using leftovers and buying basic ingredients as we needed them. Today, I purchased enough food for three weeks worth of meals, possibly more as there was quite a lot of special deals on, particularly with the chicken and the salmon. The total cost came to £105.34 so that's £35 per week so far. The remaining £45 will be used for bread, milk, fresh fruit and veg and the occasional treat. This should take us up to the Easter holidays, which is brilliant timing as I get to shop for lovely Easter type foods.

The Menu

Dinner:

Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, roast and mashed potatoes and veg

Chicken Kebabs with homemade pitta and salad

Cheese and spring onion Omelettes

Chargrilled Artichoke Hearts with Parmesan and pine nuts

Curried Parsnip soup and homemade seeded loaf

Marinaded Chicken salad

Chicken Stew with green olives

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Chickpea and leek soup

Chicken and rice soup

Homemade pizza with mozarella and potato wedges

Salmon and tuna patties

Vegetable and lentil soup and sandwiches

Baked tomatoes with basil, feta cheese, olives and hearthbread

Lemon Roast Chicken

Chicken and Garlic Ginger Noodle soup

Fragrant Green Curry

Marinaded Chicken stir fry with noodles and rice

Mince and Tatties

Quick Chicken stew with dumplings

Chinese style salmon

Lunches:

Soups

Salads

Baked potatoes

Hearthbreads

Ploughmans

French toast

Omelettes

Scrambled eggs

Snacks, desserts, breakfast:

Danish pastries

Madeira cupcakes

Snickerdoodles

Maple pecan bread

Lemon cake

Croissants

Pancakes

Shortbread

Cereal

Toast

French toast

Boiled eggs

Sweeties!

Weekend scones

Flowers

Sometimes, only a ham and cheese toastie will do

Tulip

Chilli & Broccoli Spaghetti

Harmony was a Hairspray

2010-03-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

I was a mod once. It lasted about 6 weeks. I had the jacket, the make-up, the glaiket expression. I listened to The Jam, The Who and early reggae. I wore badges with Quadraphenia and bullseyes, curled my lip and looked downwards at all times. I cut my hair to resemble a chipmunk. Smiling was out, sulking was in. My twin sister decided, at the same time, to become punk-like. She cut of her hair except for the huge spike that fell over her eyeballs, vision being secondary to fashion and trend. Who knows what she listened to, I sure wasn't interested. She donned a deliberately dumb stare and I a glazed one.

We shared a room.

Harmony was a hairspray; it only existed as a fine mist, making tangled angles out of hair teased to stick straight out or flattened to your skull, the cloud of residue leaving you with a persistent cough and damage to the ozone layer.

Channelling my inner mod.....maybe a little young still.

We ate stovies with corned beef, mince and tatties, beanfeast. My mum was progressive; she liked to experiment. The main success was mince curry, using leftover mince, spices and rice. We felt sophisticated, eating noodles or pasta before every household had them as staples. I tried to experiment and would spend hours in the kitchen, determined to make a nice meal for everyone and coming up with a bowlful of mush, not fit for the poor, poor cat. I was a terrible cook.

Back then, I thought the more ingredients you put into a dish, the better. It never really worked out that well. To this day, I see a recipe with three ingredients and my first thought is "how could that taste as delicious as they say?". Luckily, experience is a wonderful thing. I realise that simplicity, in all it's form, is usually the most effective way of getting a wonderful plate of something scrumptious. And it's cheap too. What more could a tight, Scottish, thrifty shopper ask for? Free food? Free booze World peace?

So, in honour of that, here are a few recipes I made last week that are limited in ingredients, time and cost but bursting with taste. Or so I / we think anyway.

Pasta Fromage with écrimage croustillant....aye, hen, we know it's mac n' cheese!

Macaroni Cheese

Ingredients for 6:

Approx. 50g of pasta per person or more if you prefer

A large knob of butter

Tablespoon of plain flour

Milk

Grated cheddar cheese, four big handfuls

Actual measurements really don't matter in this recipe, don't be alarmed!

Boil a large pan of boiling, salted water and thrown in your macaroni or pasta of choice. The only pasta that doesn't go with this, in my opinion, is spaghetti or strand type pastas. Leave to boil for the recommended time, usually around 10 minutes. The sauce will take no more than this to make.

Place the butter into a pan and melt over a medium heat. Once completely melted and starting to froth, add the tablespoon of flour and start to stir. It will froth and change colour. Keep stirring for a minute then, with your free hand, add a splash of milk. Don't stop with the wooden spoon though. If you have to use your free hand to hold the handle of the pot, don't worry. Stop stirring, add the milk and then start stirring again. The roux (lumpy mixture) will feel thicker as it all comes together in a lumpy paste. This is fine. Add another wee drop of milk and stir vigorously. It will stay lumpy until about the fourth or fifth drop of milk and start to resemble a sauce. Just keep stirring, stirring, stirring......

Keep adding milk until you have a white sauce of a fairly thick, creamy consistency, like double cream. It shouldn't be too much though as the simmering will thicken it up as will the cheese. Once you are happy with your consistency, turn the heat down and let it simmer very gently for a minute. Then add the cheese a handful at a time and stir until it has melted into the sauce. You can turn the heat up a bit if it is taking too long. Once all the cheese has been incorporated, simmer gently for another minute and that is your basic cheese sauce.

Below are the optional ingredients including seasoning:

Freshly grated nutmeg

White ground pepper

Pinch of salt

1-2 slices of bread blended with a handful of cheddar cheese to make breadcrumbs

Tablespoon Parmesan grated (optional)

A sprig of thyme (optional)

I always add a good grating of nutmeg and a few shakes of the white pepper to my sauce. Taste it first before adding salt as different cheeses have different salt levels. I always use unsalted butter so tend to need a pinch. Drain pasta and pour into cheese sauce, not the other way around. If your cheese sauce pot is too small then add some of the pasta to the cheese sauce then pour that back into the rest of the pasta and mix well.

If making a crusty topping, I blend bread slices with a handful of cheddar. I mix in a few leaves from a sprig of thyme which is probably entirely unnecessary but I love the taste nonetheless and sprinkle it on top of the mac and cheese which has been placed into an ovenproof dish. I sometimes add a tablespoon of Parmesan but since I'm advocating less is more, forget about it! Bake in a medium to hot oven until top is golden brown. Watch happy faces devour the entire tray.

Use the sauce to cover cauliflower, potatoes...great if thinly sliced, covered in the cheese sauce and topped with the crust and baked in a hot oven....nachos, bread or dough balls.

Chicken Cous Cous

Ingredients for 6:

Cooked chicken, leftover or breast/thigh etc. Approx. 1oz per person.

Cous Cous

Chicken stock

Spring Onion x 2

Cucumber

Cook the cous cous as per requirement on packet: I place a knob of butter into a pan, add 5oz cous cous, stir and cook over a gentle heat for a minute and then add 5oz chicken stock, stir and take off heat. Leave it for five minutes to soak up the stock and then place back on heat, stirring for a minute or two. Take back off the heat. I like to add a squeeze of lemon and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Chop the chicken, season and add to the cous cous. Chop the spring onions finely and dice the cucumber, adding both to the cous cous. You could add a few, thin slices of red chilli if you like it with a bit of heat; I like to add this to the chicken stock to infuse and soften.

Serve up hot or cold.

Spaghetti with smoked salmon

Creamy Spaghetti with Smoked Salmon

Ingredients for 2 or one greedy person like me:

Spaghetti

Small onion, finely chopped

Olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely sliced (optional)

Handful chopped smoked salmon

Tablespoon cream

Boil spaghetti as per normal. Cook onion in olive oil; do not brown, stir gently from time to time, adding a tiny drop of water if the onions are cooking too fast. Add garlic when onions are almost soft. Cook for a further minute over a low heat and add the tablespoon of cream and smoked salmon. immediately take of the heat. Add cooked and drained spaghetti to sauce pan and if you happen to have a handy lemon quarter, squeeze it all over and then mix/toss well. If you prefer it a bit richer, add a few cubes of cold, unsalted butter and leave to melt. Grind a lot of black pepper over dish. Place in bowl and, safe in the knowledge that no-one will want any because they don't like smoked salmon, eat in front of the tv until gone.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

I was surprised recently to be asked to give a reference for a girl who used to work with me many years ago; I didn't mind in the least of course but it turned out that the person asking for the reference was an old friend of mine; he hadn’t realised it was the same Helen he’d had shots with in Curlers or the same Helen he had sang duets with at Hogmanay in Tennents Bar or the same Helen....let's leave it there.   I gladly sent a reference and it read like this:

Katie McGill killed my dog.   She hid my shoes and sold my clothes.   But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.   She shot my brother, my best friend and my cat.   She burned my flat down.   She even put the H1N1 virus in my tea.   She downloaded offensive material onto my computer that resulted in me being sacked from my job. I’ve not been able to find employment since.   She put a banana in the exhaust pipe of my car, the subsequent crash leaving me unable to wear high heels ever again.   Just as well really, as I have no shoes.   Ever since then, she’s kept me locked up in this house, unable to leave and brings me out only to cook dinner for her and her evil friends who tell me my cooking stinks or to write her blowhard blog.   However as far as operation management goes, she’s talented, reliable, professional, timely and great value for money.   I wouldn’t hesitate recommending her for the job.

I signed it with my maiden name and emailed it.

Twenty minutes later I got a phone call and was rather relieved to hear a loud, hearty laugh; apparently the whole office was amused but aghast until the man in charge realised who had sent it.

She got the job.

Shona's very tasty Sticky McGintys

For Colin

Pancakes in a back to front jumper

Uh...where's MY pancakes??

Aww.

Nooooowwwww!

Friday's table roses have opened out

White rose by my fireplace

Friday Fun!

2010-03-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

Friday night dinner ...always think of The Gilmore Girls when I say that...was really lovely. The company was excellent of course and the chat, great fun! The food was cooked without any stress or complication although we never did get to the cheese....

Anne's card summed up the night perfectly....

The table was set mid afternoon, allowing me to get on with last minute preparations; the secret to a great, stress free dinner is organisation and preparation-there is no substitute. I've done the headless chicken or spend-most-of-the-night-in-the-kitchen part sobbing into the duck, getting drunk and neither works well for anyone. I've learned my lesson!

Table flowers vased....

...cake at the ready.

My friends arrived with wine, flowers, gifts and even choccies and biccies for the kids! Too, too kind. We chatted over French Martinis and canapes of pate, smoked salmon and cream cheese, parma bundles, served juggled by the kids; Brian topped up our glasses a few times before taking the children and heading for them there hills!

French Martinis waiting to be drunk!

Cooking commences...first course.

We settled at the table with the butternut squash soup; it was different than the first time I made it-thinner and a bit saltier...partly the stock and the ripeness of the butternut squash...but still lovely. The squash is cooked in butter with garlic and onions before simmering in stock. A tablespoon of cream is added and nothing else; definitely a case of less is more. The scallops, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned and when cooked, shown a lemon for a moment, were small but delicious...thank you, good fishmonger man....and the mushrooms sauteed in butter, thyme and garlic, fine.

The soup, mushrooms and scallops being cooked simultaneously

It was all topped with some good, thin slices of Parmesan and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, served with a mini homemade seeded loaf. This is and will remain, I'm sure, one of the simplest, tastiest dishes I've ever had.

We opened the champagne and moved on to the main course of chicken and pesto roulade with accompaniments; this is a dish that, although simple comfort food, dressed up, can go wrong as everything has to remain warm whilst dealing with lots of plates and hot fat. This is when preparation comes in very handy; the leeks, carrots and courgettes were mandolined to within an inch of their life and bagged up, ready for frying. The white wine sauce was prepared without the mustard, with the jar sitting close by ready to be added once it was reheated and seasoned.

The chicken had been pre-prepared and wrapped in foil, ready to be placed in the oven. The chicken was battered flat, seasoned, layered with parma ham, basil leaves and pesto, rolled up tightly from the long end and wrapped tightly in cling film or foil and placed in the fridge so that it would hold it's shape. Once cooked, it was sliced and three or four 'roulades' were placed on top of the mash.

The chicken was good although there is a fine line between overcooking and undercooking this dish. It worked out ok but I think I will definitely poach it next time as I had to take it out of the oven once or twice to check. The mashed potato rounds had been cooked an hour earlier and were placed on a tray, ready to be put into a hot oven. Pesto was dotted over the plates in preparation for plating up; it all went swimmingly.

Chicken pesto roulade on a bed of mashed potato rounds, crispy courgettes,

leeks and carrots served with a white wine mustard sauce.

The dessert and cheese were already cooked so my job was done, cooking wise; I settled in happily with some more champagne before bringing the chocolate marquis recipe to follow out for devouring thank you Gordon Ramsay, this was a treat.

Chocolate Marquis

It was served with plain, extra thick double cream and washed down with coffee and wee home made chocolate and coconut covered mints again, recipe to follow...very simple, you'll like this.

Cooking over, making coffee...

Homemade mints with chocolate and sweetened dessicated coconut

The cheese remains pecaned and caramelised in the fridge as the gabbing and laughter put paid to us remembering about it. I think we were all a wee bit full anyway.

Brian ran everyone home around 1am with much hilarity. You know it was a good night when you find yourself still chuckling once everyone has gone home. A good night indeed. Thank you Anne, Karen, Val and Shona...you girls are the best!

___________

Hot, cinnamony, sugary little balls of sweet dough, ripped apart and eaten warm or smothered in Nutella for breakfast; you know life is good when you smell them apples.....buns...I mean buns....first thing in the morning with the sun glowing through the window and the scent of spring in the air.

We made these HellyKellys on Sunday night with Heather and Kelly's help and reheated them for breakfast this morning.....

HellyKellys

It is a sweet bread dough, made into dough balls and dipped in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.....

Doughballs thrown into a greased, deep cake tin.

They are then left to prove for around 1 hour; the topping begins to crack......

Doughballs during proving

Then you bake them for 25 minutes, covering the top after 10 minutes so that it doesn't brown too much; the top is crunchy with sugar but the sticky part has oozed downwards, coating the outside and bottom of these sweet little buns with lovely syrup.

HellyKellys smell divine!

Highly recommended!

Friday Night Dinner

2010-02-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight, my friends will be coming round for the following:

I think it's fair to say I'm looking forward to it. Now, before you ask....I didn't do this on a budget; entertaining and entertainment is an entirely different budget altogether. The scallops were bought from the lovely fishmongers in Glasgow, the chicken is free range and the champagne, cold! Everyone needs to go all out once in a while, don't you think? I'll be posting pictures and the recipes, all going well!

Cheers!

Canapes & French Martinis

Butternut Squash Soup with Girolles & Griddled Scallops

Pesto Chicken Roulade

with a white wine and mustard cream sauce,

mashed potato and crispy courgettes, leeks and carrots

Chocolate Marquis (mousse type cake)

Camembert topped with caramelised pecans and oatcakes

Coffee served with homemade peppermints dipped in a variety of chocolate, caramel and toasted coconut

Champagne

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-24T04:16:00.000-08:00

It's bleedin' snowing again. I've decided to embrace it fully; no complaining, no effigies this time around...I'm going to don a pair of green, flowery wellies and go build a snow cat. I'm going to walk in it, singing Jingle Bells at the top of my lungs. The neighbours look at me strange anyway, it shouldn't make much difference.

So here's to the snow! Put on a hat, a thick pair of gloves and go out in it, enjoying it whilst you can because when that heatwave hits, you'll be praying for some of the white stuff.

Or should I just stay in...........?

The kids on their way to school this morning

But it's spring inside

Chicken and rice soup; perfect for today's lunch

Sleeping dollies...awww.

Tulips

Last night's roast chicken

Oh daffy, if you'd only heid yer hing

I'd have a word to rhyme with spring.

Camembert Cheese & Pesto Tart with pine nuts...leftover pie!

The kids at the People's Palace, Glasgow Green last week

My angry donkey impression...

.yeah, I've heard the one about how I should be at the other end already....

Leftover week 10

2010-02-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

Cassoulet Ecosse (Valentine's dinner)....or posh sausage n'beans with a bit of lamb n' haggis!

The freezer is fit to bursting with leftover this and that so this week, the shopping has been severely cut and the leftovers shall be left over no more; we shall eat what is there and come up with some weird and wonderful ways to use up the bits and bobs of fresh food tying up the 'fridgerator shelves.

Saturday's Lemon Drizzle Cheering Up Cake for Susan

We shall purchase a chicken, some fresh vegetables and the basics of eggs, butter, milk and bread. But that is all. By the week end, the cupboards should be bare. The following is a mix of dinners, lunches, breakfasts and snacks and may vary:-

Roast chicken with fresh veg and mashed/roast potatoes

Chicken and rice soup

Pasta with roasted tomatoes, pesto and Parmesan

Spaghetti with garlic, broccolli and chilli

Spicy chicken noodle soup

Tuna mayo salad with baked potato

Camembert cheese and pesto tart with pine nuts

Cassoulet with potato slices

Chicken and chorizo stew

Veg curry and naan

Carrot and lentil soup

Cannellini bean soup

Chicken with gravy and rice

Thai Stir fry

Pancakes

Lemon cake

Cupcakes

Last week's one dish roast chicken dinner!

I have a dinner on Friday night with my friends and am looking forward to sharing one recipe with you in particular; butternut squash soup with griddled scallops and girolles. This has got to be one of the best dishes I've tasted in a long time.

Butternut Squash soup with girolles, griddled scallops and Parmesan;

the most divine dish on the planet....this week!

I had a trial run with it on our Valentine's meal and it was sooooo delicious. I had the remainder of the soup without the scallops the next day and it was still divine. I couldn't recommend a dish more but there is a story behind the scallops.....

Lovely, hand dived scallops were on my shopping list and although they cost a lot of money, I was only buying three (you half each scallop for this dish). Scallops are indeed expensive but even the best should not cost any more than £1.60 per shell. Since I'd heard there was a new fish shop in our local area, I headed there first, happy in the knowledge that I'd probably be getting some first rate scallops.

The scallops on show didn't look particularly wonderful but were fresh enough. They were, however sitting in water rather than ice; scallops soak up water and since you get charged per weight, it's a fishmonger's trick and of course, when it's time to fry your scallops, you have the water oozing out, toughening up the skin. I decided to try them anyway, having run out of time. Since they were rather small, I asked for four; the lovely chap behind the counter bagged them up for me and mumbled an incoherent amount as I handed over a £10 note, distracted by the other items on view. As he asked me if I wanted a bag, the cost had made impact with my brain and I found myself asking him to repeat how much; £6.76 came the reply.

£1.69 per wee, water soaked, scrappy scallop?! I don't think so. Of course, having been brought up to behave in a way that Miss Manners herself would approve of, I kept all of that to myself and said instead "no thank you, that is way too expensive, could I have my money back please?". Oddly enough, he didn't look that surprised.

Off to Marks and Sparks to find a packet of cloned, identical offspring for the price of a small mortgage payment so headed off to Tesco instead; their offering was frozen and at £6 for five toti wee scraps, I reluctantly decided against it, at least until Friday, when I could get to the proper fishmongers in Glasgow. As we were passing Asda however, I popped in as their scallops are usually pretty good; they looked about the same quality as the local fishmongers however the cost was vastly different; £1.20 for four! Yup.

"Run that past me again...." came my reply. He smiled: "they're half price just now"...but wait, that would still have only been £2.20 for four. "Ok, give me eight". They were delicious. Looking forward to some hand dived, plump, super fresh ones in their shell from the fishmongers in Glasgow for Friday though.

Mmmm, we LOVE these breakfast cupcakes,

sprinkled with sugar before going in the oven to give a crispy, crunchy topping.

It continues to be the coldest winter but the sun has shone that past few days, casting a lovely light over the land. I've never been even mildly tempted by a holiday in the sun but this year...oh, this year my friends, our holiday must be filled with warmth, sunshine and swimming pools. I'm hoping upon hope that the cold winter means a warm and pleasant summer and the deckchair can be cobwebbed off and dragged out into the garden, kicking and screaming.

This bizarre looking concoction was actually really tasty and was a trial run for Friday's dinner;

Chicken Pesto Roulade on a bed of mashed potato topped with crispy courgettes and leeks, roasted basil leaves and a white wine mustard sauce.

I promise, the flourless orange cake is to come, the original recipe was torn out of a magazine and I need to find it. The chicken goujons too!

Thank you so much to those wonderful bloggy friends who have given me awards recently; I'll be posting them up this week.