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
River Cottage Baby Frittata
It has been non-stop here over the last week or so. A family holiday in Norfolk (pictures will follow just as soon as I get round to it), catching up with various friends that we haven't seen in months, and Mr C with a week off work in an attempt to get various jobs done around the house and garden. Finding time to go online just keeps getting knocked off the end of each day's to do list! There has also been the arrival of many new books (both new new and old) and various new recipes have been discovered. The first of these comes from the very new River Cottage Baby and Toddler ... read more
First home brew success
It all started about 18 months ago when I was lucky enough to "win" some bits of home brew kit on Freecycle. What I didn't realise at the times was that I was two weeks pregnant at the time, so it's taken us a while to get round to our first proper batch of home brew. I admit that it did start as a kit, but I'm not feeling too guilty about that. I'll leave it to Mr C to provide words on his blog at some point (and I will let you know when he does) but I can provide picture evidence and I'm also pleased to report back that it tastes delicious and no sign of ... read more