How to get kids to eat their veg….
10 May 2012 7 Comments
in ....just a thought, Veggie Tags: children, kids, puree, vegetables
I’m lucky that my grandson isn’t a fussy eater and usually clears his plate with gusto. It’s still fun though to make mealtimes more exciting so this week we did ‘food painting’.
I’d made a tomato sauce from passata, onion, garlic and basil and a pea puree with a little garlic and cream for a ‘grown up’ meal so I sieved the rest of them both so that they were smooth, warmed them through and put them into squeezy bottles.
I served up a bowl of macaroni cheese and gave my grandson the two bottles to ‘paint’ his food with. Needless to say he squirted the whole lot over his food. Okay, it looked a bit messy but he ate every last bit!
Calçots for lunch
28 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in ....just a thought, Life's little extras, Out and about Tags: Calçots, Catalunya, Priorat
We spent last weekend visiting friends in Barcelona. Saturday was a lovely warm sunny day so we drove down to the Priorat area of Catalunya for a walk and some lunch. We ended up in a little restaurant called Cal Pep in La Vilella Baixa, chosen because they had a traditional Catalan dish called Calçots on the menu. Calçots are a type of onion, as they grow they are earthed up so that they grow a long white stem like a thin leek. The season for them is between the end of winter and March or April when they are eaten in huge quantities. Calçots are barbecued and served by the plateful. Before eating you strip off the outer layer and then dip the onion in salvitxada or Romesco sauce, made from almonds, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, vinegar and oil. They make very messy eating so we were supplied with bibs and gloves to eat them!
The Priorat area is best known for its wines,better even than wines from the Rioja. Vines were first grown in this area in the 12th century by monks from the Carthusian Monastery of Scala Dei but the vineyards were wiped out by a pest in the late 19th century. The vines were only replanted on the steep terraces in the 1950′s. Old-style Priorat wines were rough and massively alcoholic,but since the 90′s things have changed and now the best Priorat wines are some of Spain’s most sought-after and expensive……and alcoholic……hic!
St David’s Day Pie
01 Mar 2012 1 Comment
As it’s St David’s day I made a Leek and Potato pie. Very much a spur of the moment decision so it’s a ‘make it up as you go along’ recipe. Came out really well so I’ll share it with you. And it will taste just as good on any other day!
Serves 3- 4
150g plain flour
75g butter
25g cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbs olive oil
15g butter
1 leeks,finely sliced
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 or 3 rashers of bacon, cut into thin strips (optional)
200g waxy potatoes, finely sliced
75g cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs beaten
2 tbs crème fraiche
1tsp wholegrain mustard
A little black pepper
Make shortcrust pastry with the first three ingredients plus enough cold water to bind it together. Roll out the pastry and line a flan tin, leaving a little pastry overhanging the edges. Bake blind at 180° gas 4 for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and cook a further 2 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Parboil the potatoes until just soft. Strain the water off. Fry the bacon until cooked then remove from the pan. Cook the leeks and onion slowly in the oil and butter until soft but not browned. Stir in the bacon and cooked potato and put the mixture into the flan case.
Mix the cheese, crème fraiche, mustard and black pepper into the eggs and pour carefully over the mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes at 180° gas 4 or until set.
Chocolate Mousse
22 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
This is the most amazing quick chocolate mousse recipe.
85g plain chocolate, finely chopped
2tbs water, brandy or rum
10g unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated
Put the chocolate and liquid in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water. Leave until just melted. Remove the bowl from the heat and gently stir in the butter.
Leave for a minute then gently stir in the egg yolks one at a time.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir a quarter of the white into the chocolate mixture to loosen it then gently fold in the rest. Spoon into separate bowls or one big bowl.
Chill for at least two hours.
Serves 4
Say no to Packaging.
01 Dec 2011 1 Comment
in ....just a thought Tags: bananas, broccoli, packaging, waitrose
A few months ago I moaned about the price of Waitrose bananas! The price discrepancy between loose and packaged fruit is huge….twice as much per kilo for the packaged ones.
This week I came across the same ridiculous pricing on broccoli. Loose broccoli at £2 a kilo…packaged broccoli was £3.44 a kilo. You’re effectively paying 70% more for the privilege of someone picking and packaging it for you!
Aren’t supermarkets supposed to be cutting down on packaging? I don’t need my veg cling wrapped, I just pop it all into my ‘veg shopper’ – no bags, no plastic, thank you!
The Gallery -The Table!
30 Nov 2011 2 Comments
in ....just a thought Tags: Sticky Fingers, table, The Gallery, The Kitchen
Someone suggested to me that, as its about the kitchen, this would be a good week to do my first ‘The Gallery’ post.My kitchen has evolved over 20+ years, it’s the hub of the house. I spend many hours cooking in it, we eat there most days, we sit around with friends and a glass of wine….and what is the most important thing in it? The table. This table is about 70 years old. It was my mum’s table, I grew up with it, made tents under it, had picnics with Big Ted under it….there are still scorch marks where I lit candles on the ledge where the drawer opens. Then my Dad used it as a work bench in his garage until I rescued it. One day it will belong to Baby Genie!!
World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
29 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in ....just a thought Tags: cake, cancer charity, Lemon Drizzle Cake, Macmillan, Queen Mother’s Date Cake, World's Biggest Coffee Morning, Yogurt Cake
Tomorrow I am going to host a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan – a charity which helps people living with cancer. So this morning I’ve been baking cakes…here are the recipes.
Lemon Drizzle Cake
110g butter
165g caster sugar
175g sr flour
4 tbs milk
Zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
Syrup
4 tbs lemon juice
85g icing sugar
Butter and line a 2lb loaf tin
Beat all cake ingredients together.
Bake for 45 mins at 180°
Warm sugar and lemon together until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil briefly.
Prick cake all over and pour on syrup.
Cool in tin and turn out when cold.
Yogurt Cake
This is the easiest cake recipe ever! All the measurements are in ‘yogurt pots’ (150ml) It’s easiest if you have a spare clean, dry pot for the dry ingredients.
1 pot of yogurt (+ 1tsp vanilla if using plain yogurt)
1 pot vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 pots caster sugar
3 pots self raising flour
Tip the yogurt into a bowl or food mixer. Measure the oil in the empty pot and add. Crack the eggs into the pot, whisk lightly and add. Measure out the sugar and add. Mix these all together. Measure out and add the flour. Blend mixture together then pour into a lined 2lb loaf tin.
Bake for about 1.5 hours at Gas 3 or 160° until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cool in tin and turn out when cold.
Queen Mother’s Date Cake
This is alleged to have been the Queen Mother’s favourite cake recipe and that she said it must only ever be “sold” for charitable donations and never given away. So if you bake this one please give a donation to charity.
225g chopped dates
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
200ml boiling water
75g butter
200g sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
275g flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
60g chopped walnuts
Soak the dates in boiling water with the bicarbonate of soda for 10 minutes.
Cream the butter and sugar. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix in. Add the dates and water, stir in. Add the walnuts and stir in.
Grease and line a 9×12” tin. Pour in the mixture and cook for oven 35 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean, at gas 4 or 180°. Leave to cool.
150g brown sugar
50g butter
2 tbs cream
Melt these 3 ingredients together and boil for 3 minutes, stirring. Spread on top of the cake.
The Price of Bananas……..
12 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in ....just a thought Tags: bananas, waitrose
After noticing the huge difference in price between loose and packaged bananas I have had the following e-mail exchange with Waitrose
ME: Can someone explain this one to me…it doesn’t make sense!
I usually buy about a dozen bananas at a time, some ripe and some more
green. Today I chose a bunch of 6 under ripe bananas, weighed and priced
them…… 74p.
Sometimes, like today, there are very few ripe bananas so I picked up a bag
of 7 Essential Fair Trade bananas. And then I noticed the price…..
£1.59! So I weighed and priced the bag as if they were loose
bananas…….72p. Needless to say I put them back!
How can you possibly justify more than doubling the price just because the
bananas are pre-packed? And why pre-pack them anyway – aren’t you supposed
to be cutting down on unnecessary packaging?
WAITROSE….25 days later:
Firstly, please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to you which is as a result of the high volume of e-mails being received at this time.
All Waitrose Prepacked Bananas are hand selected in the UK to ensure the
best quality and the price differential is due in part to higher production costs.
The Loose Bananas Price is so low is due to moving it down to remain competitive.
I hope this helps with your query.
ME:Thank you for your reply. I understand why packed goods cost more – but I am still surprised that it more than doubles the cost.
Also, you have not answered my second point. Why do you feel it necessary to pack bananas in plastic bags, aren’t you working on decreasing packaging rather than increasing it? After all, bananas come in their own, very efficient package!
……I’ll keep you posted!
EDIT 3 weeks on and I have had no reply!
Thai Green Chilli Paste
30 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
Mix all the following ingredients together.
1 stalk lemongrass, minced
1-3 green chillis, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece of ginger, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
3 tbsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. brown sugar
3-4 tbsp. coconut milk (enough to blend ingredients together)
Homemade presents
21 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in ....just a thought, Life's little extras
Really pleased with homemade Xmas pressies….pics later or it will give the game away!!
……here they are….yummy dark , milk and white chocolates .
…and of course, more Sloe gin!
