Sometimes a physical change of scenery can help you clear your head and see things clearly and that's exactly what happened to me yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited, along with a handful of other bloggers, to visit Yeo Valley - home of yummy yoghurt and some equally yummy farmers (well, so says their TV adverts!) - to find out more about the company behind all the yumminess and their way of doing things. When I recently wrote here about wanting to use my blog to find out more about the people and things that make me smile this trip was exactly the sort of ... read more
Slow Cooker Beef Adobo
The longer I have my slow cooker the more adventurous I'm getting in what I cook in it. This week's special was beef adobo. Now, if you are like me, you may well not even know what adobo is. Let me enlighten you: : a Philippine dish of fish or meat usually marinated in a sauce containing vinegar and garlic, browned in fat, and simmered in the marinade (according to Merriam Webster) Other online dictionaries suggest that the dish may be Spanish and some also say that the meat (or fish) is cooked from raw in the marinade. Things differ in this recipe as you don't ... read more
Damson gin – the finished product
It's nearly six months now since I started telling you about our efforts with our first batch of damson gin, but now that I'm seeing this year's blossom on the damson trees in our garden it's got me thinking about how we can use this year's harvest and I'm already hoping it's a good one. Back to the gin though... We made two batches in the end and thought that we'd bottle up the first one in time for Christmas - both for us to sample some and also to make some homemade Christmas presents. This bathc must have had about four months in the kilner jar, so not as mature as it could have ... read more
Helen’s egg parcels
I've been making a bit of an effort recently to come up with some new things for Little Miss C to eat, especially at lunchtimes. An economy drive means I've been reducing portions for myself and Mr C in the evening, but then that it turn means that any leftovers are big enough to do another evening meal for both of us and hence there's not a small portion left to cover a meal for LMC. Once again I have returned to the fantastic River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook which never fails to give me some kitchen inspiration. This time round I went for Helen's egg parcels which have ... read more
Pancakes
We don't normally bother with pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, but I thought we'd make a small effort this year. A very small one. Only problem was that my tossing wasn't really up to the required level... Please don't laugh. ... read more
Scone based pizza
T make the scone base: Ingredients: 200g self-raising flour Pinch salt 50g grated cheese 50g butter 1/2 beaten egg About 160ml skimmed milk Method: Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Place flour in mixing bowl and add pinch of salt Add the butter to the bowl and rub into the flour with your fingertips Mix in the grated cheese Make a well in the centre and add the 1/2 beaten egg. Mix Add sufficient milk to form a soft dough. Mix with a knife. This volume of ingredients will either make one large pizza or two smaller ones. Shape by hand or roll out as desired. To complete the pizza: Spread tomato ... read more
Slow Cooking
I've been busy not only in the kitchen here, but also over at Mummy Reviews where I've reviewed a slow cooker that we were lucky enough to be sent along with some of the new Schwartz Slow Cookers recipe mix range. My review can be found here. To show people just how easy dinner preparation can be I created this little video as part of my review. Some dodgy camera work, but still worth a watch if you haven't yet been won over by the slow cooker revolution that seems to be going on at the moment with all the mums I know! ... read more
Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry
I've realised recently that we're actually quite traditional when it comes to food here and most meals do contain a meat element. In fact, Mr C doesn't generally think that a main course is a main course unless there is meat in it. I have therefore watched with fascination the latest River Cottage series, Veg Everyday. Hugh F-W is not a man that you usually think of as a vegetarian, but that's exactly what he challenged himself to do for a summer, to see what it would be like to eat veg everyday and cut meat out of his diet. The television programmes have been interesting, but ... read more
Damson Gin
It's over two years now since we moved to this house, and I'm ashamed to say that for the last two years we've just ignored the potential harvest from the two damson trees in our garden. This year was different though! Firstly I made the effort to go and pick the damsons before they all became mush in the grass, and after washing them I put them in plastic bags in the freezer until I had a bit more time to get organised. We love damson gin, but have been finding it increasingly difficult to buy without going to farmers' markets and shops. A quick request on a few internet ... read more
Breakfast without words
(Blueberry pancakes from the fantastic River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook) ... read more