Goodbye, Mr David Tennant, We Wish You Well!

Picture the scene:New Years Day
The time: 6:40pm
The programme: Dr Who
The kids: excited and expectant
The parents: times 10
The snacks: home made white loaf, jam, Parmesan, garlic and thyme hearthbread, pesto, Nudo lemon oil and sapa, roasted tomatoes and smoky bacon crisps!

We made it a picnic and snuggled under blankets together to watch the lovely Scottish man's last episode. Goodbye, Mr David Tennant; you will forever be a part of my wee 'un's childhood and for that I thank you. Adieu; we shall miss you.

The picnic....

Oh, gimme! Parmesan bread topped with lemon oil, roasted tomatoes and a drizzling of fresh pesto.


Nudo Lemon Oil with Nudo Sapa and Maldon sea salt, pesto and those roasted tomatoes.


I always feel we should have lashings of ginger beer when we have bread, butter and jam....


The presentation is obviously not the thing....


Nudo extra virgin olive oil with lemons and Traditional Italian Sapa...a welcome gift from my mum; just discovered and really lovely. I'm reading the book 'The Dolce Vita Diaries' about how this family business got started. More on this story later!

Shopping List and Menu.

This weeks menu for family of five:

Family of five
Garlic mozzarella pizza, potato wedges, tomato, basil & mozzarella salad, cucumber strips
Roast Lamb with mashed potatoes, sweet potato crisps, roasted parsnip & green vegetables
Chicken, Rice and Vegetable Soup with homemade Bread
Roast Chicken with vegetable couscous and gravy
Moroccan lamb with rice, couscous, roasted tomatoes, yogurt raita and pitta bread
Garlic and Rosemary hearthbreads with cold meats and salad

Kids only
Macaroni Cheese
Chicken noodle soup and baked potatoes with tuna mayonnaise and cheese salad
Fish fingers, chips and baked beans

Helen & Brian
Linguine with spicy tomato, feta, pine nuts and spinach
Linguine puttanesca
Fried spinach and potato curry with rice and paratha

Breakfast
Cereal, porridge, toast, homemade fruit loaf, chocolate and hazelnut buns (made with Nutella) and danish pastries.

Lunches
Sandwiches, soup, cheese, biscuits, bread, bananas, apples, crackers.

Snacks
Pickles, bread, French toast, mini chocolate muffins

There are nine main meals, some of which will use items already in the freezer. The leg of lamb will be roasted, the leftovers used for the Moroccan lamb and some frozen for later on, for curry.

The receipt came to £50.92.

Tonight's fayre is homemade garlic and mozzarella pizza with potato wedges, tomato, basil (grown in a pot) and mozzarella salad and cucumber strips.

The potato wedges are made by quartering and then halving Maris Piper potatoes with the skin on and covering with olive oil and sea salt. Use your hands to coat each potato wedge thoroughly. Place in an oven at 240 degrees Celsius, 10-15 minutes before the pizza goes in; they should cook in approx. 30 minutes, depending on your oven.

Garlic & Mozzarella Pizza
The pizza dough I normally use works well with this but I prefer to use 200g strong white bread flour and 50g plain flour when not using tomato sauce.

Pizza Dough
250g flour, 200 strong white bread flour, 50g plain
1 heaped teaspoon easy-blend dried yeast (half 7g sachet)
Half teaspoon salt
150ml warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pizza tray with holes, or baking sheet, oiled with olive oil

Combine flour, yeast and salt and mix. Pour in water and oil and mix to form a dough, adding more water if necessary. Knead for 5 minutes. Put into an oiled bowl, turning once to oil both sides of the dough, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise for an hour.

After an hour or so or once dough has doubled in size, punch all the air out of it and knead for another minute. You can squeeze it to fit into your chosen tin but I tend to hold it in two hands firmly, shake it, moving it around from hand to hand quickly. As it starts to get larger, keep moving so that you don't end up with too many tears. Lay it on the pizza tin and then press out to fit. It's ok to have a thicker rim, this makes for a lovely crust.

Dimple the dough with your fingers and pour over some olive oil; enough to cover the dough lightly, not too much that it dribbles through any holes or falls over the sides. Sprinkle over crushed garlic...around 2 cloves or more if you prefer, a good pinch of sea salt and then lay thinly sliced mozzarella around the middle of the pizza. Drizzle over a little more olive oil. I like to place a basil leaf right in the middle, just for me and aesthetics!

Place in pre-heated oven...it should already be at 240 degrees c for the potato wedges and bake in the middle for approx. 15-20 minutes or until browned and bubbling.

Serve with the cucumber strips, which the kids love and the mozzarella, basil and tomato salad, which is my favourite.

The kids like to add a little melted butter to the crust which is lovely or you can add another little drizzle of olive oil, which I usually do. Bon Appétit!

Canada Edition Part 2-Toronto

Pauline and I were like wee children, whooping and laughing, we were that happy to see each other. We know each other from our school days and were close pals for many years until she ran away to Toronto with a tall, dark and handsome Canadian. We drove to her home in Richmond Hill and had a lovely supper of cold meats and olives. I got to meet her son, who I had not seen for many years and her little daughter Megan whom I had never met. What a wee cutie she is too. I have no idea what time I went to bed but it was in the wee hours of the morning, empty bottle of wine maybe even more beside us. There was so much to catch up on and such little time.

The next morning, we went shopping because a girl can never do enough shopping, right? and I treated myself... to 4 mini loaf tins! Even on holiday, I was thinking about what I could cook next. They were dinky little things and at only $12, a complete steal I've already made bread and lemon cake in them but that's for later. We stopped off at a Chinese supermarket at lunchtime and had sushi; it was a fraction of the price we'd pay in Glasgow and it was all freshly made. What to pick was a dilemma with so much choice but we eventually opted for miso soup, fried and steamed dumplings, california rolls and tempura. It was utterly delicious.

We were meeting up with a crazy crowd of Scottish lassies plus one Irish one later that evening at the Astoria, a well known Greek restaurant. Pauline's parents also moved over to Canada so her lovely mum came along too with some of her friends including, Jane, a Glaswegian who happened to be visiting at the same time. I'd forgotten how funny she is and the night was such a laugh. We all ordered Greek salad, souvlaki, everyone going for chicken except me, going for lamb. It was really nice and Pauline and I decided to finish off with a Greek coffee.

I rather enjoyed the unusual taste but stopped drinking halfway as there was a sediment at the bottom, the way it is supposed to be I presume. Pauline, being caught up in the general hilarity...we laughed throughout the entire meal...decided to just slug it back, not realising that I had put my cup down and found herself in a state of disbelief, horror and wonderment as to where this sand like sludge was going to end up, because it sure wasn't going to be her stomach!

As she tried to dispose spit out of it in as mannerly a fashion as possible, the rest of us laughed at the look on her face; she was completely beyond help as her own face started to crumple in amusement. Needless to say, we had to push several napkins towards her and a trip to the washrooms was required. We went back to Betty's house Pauline's mum where we were entertained by Jane and Ed, Pauline's dad. We also had the Scottish Obligatory Sing Song which was just great fun but no doubt annoyed the neighbours no end. Oops.

Before I left the next day and after a lovely breakfast of bagels and cream cheese, I showed Pauline how to make Paratha as she was having a curry night; I'm happy to say she was delighted with it and her family and friends were very happy at this edition to Pauline's culinary repertoire, which is already vast indeed.

I arrived back at Kate's on Tuesday afternoon, dropped of my luggage, grabbed a book and cooried away inside a local restaurant, Dr Generosity. I ordered Dr G's Eggs Benny; two poached eggs served atop grilled peamill bacon on a toasted English muffin and apparently, topped with zesty hollandaise sauce. This was served with fries. It was nice although the hollandaise was missing and the liberal use of cayenne pepper on the eggs was a bit much but I still enjoyed it and the coffee, managing to read a few chapters of my book before wandering back out into the sunshine.

I travelled into Bloor and Yonge area on the Wednesday and went to the Eaton centre. I thought I would pick up some gifts for the kids and see Coco Chanel, the movie but alas it was not on and I opted instead for some schmaltzy rubbish called PostGrad because the daughter from The Gilmore girls was in it.

Not only was it poor but the hotdog I bought had died a few years before, had been buried and then dug back up for my palate to baulk over. Luckily, the food improved dramatically as I was invited to Jill's that night for dinner. Lovely olives and delicious pasta with shrimp was served with tasty chilled wine and more than made up for the scabby bun and dead dog I'd had earlier. I also got to meet Jill's two beautiful children who kept me entertained until their bedtime.

I had brought a cake from Max's Market on Bloor Street West, a lovely place filled with every conceivable goody of my dreams; pink cakes and chocolate ones, olives and cured meats, curries and pies. I finally chose a strawberry chocolate concoction which tasted as good as it looked, especially since Jill served it with ice cream. Stuffed, we went to the late night movie to see Julie & Julia. I really enjoyed it and loved Meryl Streep's performance of Julia Child bon appétit very much. Of course, the food part of the movie was the best.

Thursday was my last full day in Toronto and I was missing the children very much. I realised that 8 days was just too much time apart and that next time...yes, next time...it shall be no more than 5 days. I spent a great afternoon at the Boulevard club with Kate and Jill, a lovely place by the water with two swimming pools and tennis courts as well as other activities and restaurants. Whilst Kate worked out and Jill played tennis and swam, I partook of some energetic activity of my own; reading and drinking coffee on a deck chair, watching the boats and getting sunburnt. That part was not part of the plan but my milk bottle skin didn't know what to do with itself in the brilliant sunshine.

I got to spend a little more time with Kate's gorgeous children...wee Claire and I hit it off and spent any time we had together making play dough roses and then bashing their heads in plus Kate sneaked me one of her delicious nut-free chocolate brownies and I have to confess that I 'stole' another on Friday afternoon when picking up my bags...I hope you'll forgive me...and then got the train back out to Pauline's house. I never did get to Niagara on the Lake as I was having too much fun doing all the other fun things with my friends but we'll save that for the family trip in 2011.

Pauline and Dave had prepared a feast for me; I was so happy to see Dave's homemade bread, a dish of shiny black olives and some dipping oil with balsamic vinegar which Pauline had gotten for me, especially because she knew I liked it so much. She had also kept me a few portions of her homemade pakora which I wolfed down greedily. I was very kindly furnished with a spice mix which will allow me to make my own and I will give it a go on Saturday evening.

We then had spaghetti and meatballs and a lovely salad; it really tasted great and I asked what the special ingredient was: it was blue cheese! I use cheddar in my meatballs normally and am now switching to blue once you've had blue you can't look back. We had an apple strudel for dessert which I'd brought from a bakery on Bloor Street West and unfortunately, the spice had been forgotten. All things considered, it didn't matter after such a marvellous meal. Dave and Pauline prepared me one of their special Irish coffees and it was really the best I've ever tasted. The rest of the night was spent curled up on a chair outside by the wood fire, chatting about every topic under the sun. It was a lovely night and I was sad to go the next afternoon.

My last night in Toronto was spent at The Boulevard Club with Jill and her children, where she treated me to a lovely Chicken Caesar salad whilst she had pasta. She dropped me off at the airport and I was torn; happy at going back to my family and friends and sad to be leaving wonderful Canada and my friends there, knowing I probably wouldn't be back for a few years.

I had a delightful welcome home and was so happy to see the kids and Brian, even if I did sleep most of the weekend. I enjoyed my trip so much and it already seems like eons ago; it is lovely though to know I have friends so many miles away and that when we meet up, it's like we were never apart. Thank you girls. You're the best.

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head.

It's a rainy day in Scotland; the natural state of things. I cooked most of the day and looked up various hotels and venues for my trip to Canada in a few weeks...I'm really excited at meeting up with my old friends in Toronto, visiting Montreal and walking the Bruce trail, possibly staying at Niagara on the Lake and visiting some wineries. Can you hear that high pitched noise? That's me, screaming in a pitch reserved for cats and dogs, so the kids can't hear how excited I am.

I made Carrot, Honey and Ginger soup for lunch today, alongside pan toasted ciabatta with cheese and chorizo, cheese and ham and just plain ole cheese. I stuck to the soup only, letting the rest of them wire in to the bread, having lost another 2 pounds this week and not wanting to put it back on in one sitting!

Carrot, Honey & Ginger Soup
5oz/150g onion, thinly sliced
3/4 oz/20g root ginger, thinly sliced
3oz/75g unsalted butter (I used much less than this-around 1oz/25g)
1oz/25g honey
21oz/600g carrots, sliced
1.5 pints/1 litre water (I used a mild chicken stock)
One third oz / 8g salt (just added it to taste!)
Fifth oz/5g white pepper (just added it to taste!)
Squeeze lemon juice

Sweat onions and ginger in butter over gentle heat for ten minutes...do not brown so keep and eye on them. Add a droplet or two of water if required.
Stir in the honey and let it melt.
Add carrots and stir. Pour in water or stock.
Add seasoning to taste, bring to boil, cover then simmer for 45 minutes.
Pour into liquidiser and process to a puree.
Check the salt and pepper, add more if required, add lemon juice and serve with a little cream.

This soup is excellent if left to get cold, placed in fridge and reheated.

For dinner, I made pizza & chips; not any old pizza and chips but homemade pizza: the dough, the sauce and I even milked the buffalo myself....ok, I lie but the rest is true. The chips were made with sweet potato, cut into chips, drizzled with a little olive oil, sea salt and thyme and roasted in a medium to high oven for 20-30 minutes, until soft and browned a little on the outside.

Home-made Pizza with fresh Tomato Sauce and sliced Mozzarella
Pizza Dough
250g plain flour, good Italian 00 flour is best but isn't necessary
1 heaped teaspoon easy-blend dried yeast (half 7g sachet)
Half teaspoon salt
150ml warm water with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil added
1 baking sheet, lightly oiled

Combine flour, yeast and salt and pour in water and oil mix. Form a dough, adding more water if necessary. When it looks bound...it'll still look messy though...plop onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Put into an oiled bowl, turning once to oil both sides of the dough, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise for an hour.

Make the tomato sauce. This is the same as my usual tomato sauce recipe except I use 2x500g cartons passata and I do not add the water/stock or milk. This can then be used as a pizza sauce and for a variety of other uses.


Put oven on to 240 degrees Celsius/gas mark 9.

Make the chips.

When dough has doubled in size, punch all the air out of it and knead for another minute. Press out onto the baking sheet, atop a baking tray or pizza tin; press out until it nearly fits the tin. spoon over some sauce and bake in the oven for approx. fifteen minutes. Check, you don't want it to burn.

Turn oven down to about 220 and add a little more sauce...just a little and fresh mozzarella, sliced. Sprinkle with a little salt and black pepper or any other toppings of choice. Pesto or basil would be lovely with this. Cook until mozzarella has melted and browned a little...approx. 5-10 minutes.Serve with the chips, salad and some cold meats; you have the option of course of putting the meats...salami, chorizo, pepperoni...on top of the pizza before the cheese. Enjoy.


Edited to add: I forgot to say, with this being served for a family of five, the calorie content per person was 372 calories. There is also lots of tomato sauce left over for pasta and bread pizza.

Beef Stew and Homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce with a twist!

The kids, Brian and Grandpa were served beef stew with mashed potatoes tonight. The weather has been so mixed and it has been quite cold so a good, hot stew seemed appropriate...and Grandpa likes stew a lot!

I cooked the beef as normal: I covered the cubes with flour, salt and pepper,and fried in hot oil until browned and sealed and then added an Oxo cube, stirred, added chopped onions, sliced carrots, 2 bay leaves and a sprig of thyme. I poured in some red wine and let it bubble over a hight heat. I then made up a mix of beef stock, Oxo and tomato puree and poured it over the beef. Once it came to the boil I turned it down to a slight simmer and added some thyme leaves off the stalk and some black pepper. It was left, covered, on a simmer for 2 hours and then served with creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. It was polished off really quickly.

I had prawns instead(shrimps)as I thought buttery mashed potatoes and beef weren't really conducive to losing weight and as I'd also walked for miles today I was pretty motivated...and shattered! I decided to have them on their own but with a little sauce so I set about making my own sweet chilli sauce and the twist was using sesame oil...really amazing, particularly with the prawns. I think I'll have this tomorrow too but add peppers, onions and either noodles or rice.

Sweet Chilli Sauce with Sesame Oil
1 whole red chilli, seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped, around 2 inches
Tablespoon sugar
Good big pinch sea salt
Around a tablespoon white wine vinegar (added a little more near the end)
Around Tablespoon and a bit more of sesame oil

Put chilli, garlic and ginger into blender. Blend well and then add sugar, salt, vinegar and sesame oil. Blend on a low speed then turn up to high. Scrape all the ingredients together and add a little more vinegar and oil if needed. It should be thick but still liquidy.

Empty into bowl, scraping out all the bits of chilli and garlic that have clung to the side. Taste and add more sugar/salt if required. This is a spicy version so watch out...a little goes a long way. The smell is divine.

This would be great as it is, cold as a dip or with chicken or fish or even as a marinade, but I heated up a tablespoon in a frying pan and added a good handful of prawns, emptied into a bowl after a few minutes of quick stir frying and sprinkled with black pepper. It was really, really good.

Sun and Simple Pleasures

What a wonderful weekend. The sun continues to shine, the kids continue to glow and, despite a small slump yesterday morning when I realised I had tasks ahead of me before I could enjoy any of the sunshine (and on my own too as husband took another Saturday off to go Aikido-ing. No, it's no mistake, last week was treasure hunting, this week is Aikido-ing-I did say it was ok, but we say these things sometimes when we don't really mean them) it has been grand. I worked through the slump with the help of the kids as they did their best effort at tidying a bedroom, i.e. they sat on the floor and looked puzzled. But still, they did a little and with my help, we made a dent, big enough for a sleepover to happen.

The rest of the day was spent in a hazy blur as we wandered the long way through the haze to the park. We stopped of at Ann's to pick up her laddie and she forced me...yes, FORCED me...to have two gin and tonics. I left half of the 2nd one as I had responsibilities ahead of me and Ann pours a mean drink.

The kids parked it up for a good hour and then we went home for sausage and mash. I'll not insult anyone with how to cook such a dish but my mash does contain a good pinch of salt, a splash of full fat milk if I have any, sometimes even cream and a stick of butter! Sometimes, there is no point without the proper, fatty ingredients. A little of what you fancy does you good. I of course did not partake and instead had a nice cold salad.

Today was spent gathering lots and lots of children, boys at that, dropping them in the swimming pool and then feeding them burgers and ice cream. Everyone needs afternoons like that. On the way home, we saw the Air Cadets and stopped off for a wee shot in their plane. They happily obliged.

As if all that wasn't enough, Auntie Susan appeared and took the twins away for a birthday treat and Kelly and I made our way slowly towards the park, her on her bike, me in my mules that haven't seen the light of day for nigh a year. The walk took an hour. So, of course, my poor feet died. Goodbye, dear feet, you did me well.

For dinner, we had sugar-spiced salmon and rice. The rice was a last minute decision and it went well together. It was a subtle, pleasant summer dish and the hot but sweet mustard sauce....the easiest I've ever made...added a nice tang. I did not take a photograph as I salivated my way to the dinner table. I had a salad at lunch and ate at 6.30pm, really rather late for me.

Sugar Spiced Salmon with Chinese Hot Mustard
(This recipe is from Nigella Lawson's 'How to Eat'...as if I didn't know how to do THAT.)

A fillet of salmon per person.
Combine the following ingredients in a little bowl:
Quarter teaspoon per fillet of ground ginger, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, sugar and salt, Colman's Mustard Powder.

Heat the griddle or frying pan (I added a tiny bit of sesame oil and rubbed it round with kitchen towel, but do what you prefer). Coat the salmon in the spices, both sides by pouring the spices onto a plate and pressing the salmon into it. Cook for 2-3 minutes each side...you'll see it turning opaque. I always put it in a very hot oven for another few minutes after this as I do not want to eat this type of salmon with raw bits in the middle.

The Hot Mustard is prepared simply by adding 1.5 teaspoons mustard powder and sugar then add a teaspoon of warm water from the tap. Stir thoroughly and Bobby's your Uncle, you have yourself a sauce, my friend.