Baking Days

When you're stuck at work, totally bogged under with accounts, feeling a bit cheesed off at having to work a few long days during half term, it's nice to get pictures e-mailed of what the children have been doing.

Today, they're home with Andy. It's not often he gets a day alone with them, so time together, having fun, is the order of the day.

Fun today = baking.

Eleanor and Sam make dinner

It seems the love of cooking is running in the family......







and it tasted delicious!!!

Blumenthal's Apprentice

Chef Loizou ready and raring to go.

Ingredients prepped, knives sharpened, chef's hat on and stove at the ready.

A bit of chopping here and a bit of chopping there. The panel of judges keeping a keen eye on proceedings.

Maddie not quite certain about what's about to be served up!

Voila! Chalaier (pronounced chilayer, his own creation, owned and named by himself)

Joshua's very first own recipe main course meal.

YUM YUM YUM

And it was.

Well done Joshua!!

xx

Tweaks

After last night's discussion, Joshua went to sleep with ideas of culinary expertise at his fingertips, no doubt dreaming of the day he's awarded his first Michelin star.

This morning he woke up and told me in the car that he had to rethink his dish. At this point I was kind of hoping he'd realise that the brown sauce element might not work, which he did, only to replace it with worcester sauce. I liked his thinking as I don't have any HP in the house so it's one less item on the shopping list.

But his tweak to the menu was to ask me to buy some garnish, because in his own words, 'If I'm going to be taken seriously as a chef my food needs to look right. There's no point me cooking a dinner if it look a mess. Presentation is as important as the eating'.

He just gets better.

The Budding Blumenthal

As you know, Joshua celebrated his tenth birthday last week. Each birthday seems to bring a new list of things he feels he's now old enough to handle and new deals are made with his father and myself regarding new 'skills' he is allowed to practice in the house.

Since he was four he has shown an extraordinary interest in food. He does have a hearty appetite, which is nothing short of a miracle after living six years with severe food intolerances, but thank God he is better and thank God that his interest in food has increased over the years rather than waned.

Joshua loves food. He loves eating it, he loves watching programmes about it and he loves the idea of handling it. He has recorded all the Heston Blumenthal feast series and kept them on the SKY+ and watches them again and again. He watches The Great British Menu, has been known to follow Masterchef and now and again I find him leafing through my Jamie Oliver book.

Today he asked me for 'a word'. This usually means he has something significant to either ask or report that requires my 100% attention and serious feedback.

He wants free reign to 'experiment' in the kitchen with ingredients of his choice. We discussed his reasons and at what times of the day he'd like to do this and the added responsibilities of handling equipment safely and maturely, as well as not wasting food as our budget is stretched to the limit as it is and food wastage is not on the agenda in this house.

So, we chatted and he assured me his intentions were serious and that he wanted to take a part in cooking dinners for the family. Whilst my heart soared at the prospect of me and his Dad having a night away from the cooker, I must admit there was a side order of panic wondering what the heck we'd be eating each night. Plus I do wonder whether the entire family will be sneaking down at midnight for nibbles not unlike the guy years ago in the R Whites Secret Lemonade Drinker adverts. Only we'd be the Secret Midnight Rumbly Tum Munchers tiptoeing to the larder in search of edible sustenance!

We have now come to an agreement. I like having agreements with the children. It gives them a sense of ownership to their responsibilities and it's easier to hold them to things as they can be reminded that they agreed the deal. So, the deal is that he writes his recipe and method, lists his equipment and shows it to either myself or his Dad for prior approval before going ahead.

Tonight's offering involves peppers, onions, cinnamon, sage, syrup, deep fried carrot and potato strips, chicken stock, a bit of chicken, tomato ketchup, brown sauce and I think some sweet chill sauce. He'll be 'experimenting' tomorrow and has already decided it will be a resounding gastronomic success and that I should be prepared to put it in the recipe book if it works!

I love that boy!

Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake - EVER!!!

Steve sent me this today - I went to school with him for 5 years, I've worked with him for a further 18 years.

Today, for one day only, I think I love him.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons self raising flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous) - no chance!

Now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night! You're going to print this out now, aren't you?

Dinner Time

I love dinner time.

It's when they're quiet.

It's when they sit together in one place.

It's when they discuss their day.

It's the only time I'm not running around like a headless chicken clearing up after them.

Did I mention I love dinner time?

In The Name of Healthy Eating

For somebody who prides themselves on cooking as many meals as possible from scratch, thus limiting the amount of carcinogenic triggers in my body and that of my family, I must admit I do succumb to the odd packet of cup-a-soup or two.

But my delight is further compounded by the boxed statement emblazoned on the packet telling me there are NO artificial colours and NO preservatives.

Well, thank you Batchelors for your overwhelming concern for my nutritional well-being.

So, I needn't worry about the maize starch, hydrogenated vegetable oil, monosodium glutamate, disodium 5-robonucleotides, emulsifier, mono and diglycerides of fatty acids, acidity regulator and dipotassium phosphate you forgot to mention that's also listed on the back of the box.

A Strange Taste In My Mouth

In the office today a colleague asked if I wanted to have a jar of champagne marmite - she bought it for her husband and he didn't like it. This resulted in me and another colleague using our plastic coffee stirrers to dip in and taste the new marmite concoction to give our verdicts. After mucking around pretending to be Jilly Gould, basking in the aromatic sensation of yeast extract and essence of Moet Chandon wafting through our nostrils from the glass smoked vessel we came to the conclusion it actually tasted quite good.

Then the conversation ensued as to whether I was going to try it on toast with jam - which is how I ALWAYS eat my Marmite. (Unless it's sandwiched in ryvita with slices of cucumber). When I tell people this, they balk at it and say it's gross - but then they admit they haven't actually tried it. I get the same reaction when I suggest that peanut butter on a digestive biscuit topped with a sliced banana is actually quite tasty too and drinking black coffee after eating an extra strong mint is a pleasant taste-bud sensation. And did you know, that if you bite the top off a banana and stick your finger in the top, it naturally splits three ways?

So, dare I mention here the times I've dipped breadsticks into chocolate spread, lavished lime marmalade over a ryvita, dipped cold sausages in apple sauce and eaten numerous bowls of cornflakes topped with cold Ambrosia rice pudding straight from the tin?

I love my little culinary idiosyncracies ... well they may not be conventional, I may not have a science lab kitchen like Heston Blumenthal, but I know what I like. Try some of them, you might be pleasantly surprised.

The Jam Returns

Following my near disastrous attempt at jam-making and my accompanying embarrassment at botching something so simple as jam-making, I donned my apron of salvation and saved the jam.

Yay!

Not with pectin though as the major supermarket chain I assumed would have pectin on its shelves near the preserving sugar and just about every other artefact of confectionary creation, didn't.

What did I use to set the jam instead? Jelly cubes.

I can't believe I'm excited about jam - I'll be joining the WI next. Well ... maybe not eh?

The Jam That Never Was

That's what my blackberry and apple 'jam' has turned into. 2½kg handpicked blackberries, 12 cooking apples and 2½kg preserving sugar all contributed to a jam pan of sugary, fruity slop.


All because my youngest two would not go out of the kitchen after being asked NUMEROUS times to leave me alone while I boiled down some fruit prior to putting sugar in. I don't often ask them to leave me alone, only when I'm cooking boiling hot fruit that could spit up and burn them.

I was so distracted I forgot to boil the fruits down first before adding the sugar and put the whole lot in together, so I couldn't measure the fruit afterwards to work out the correct amount of sugar to put in.

I'm chilling it now to see if it will set. If not, I'll add more pectin tomorrow and boil it up again. If it does set, I'll have to give most of it away as it won't keep for long.

I suppose I could ladle it into pots and freeze it, taking out what I need and use it as a compote or make some pastry and use it as a pie filling, or bake it with a crumble topping, or puree it down and freeze to make an ice-cream sauce ..... hmmm, maybe it is salvageable after all. I didn't spend a year of my evenings on a cooking course for nothing you know!

Would A Vegetarian Cater A Carnivore?

A friend e-mailed me some amusing top tips today - all tongue in cheek - but one got me thinking.

Invited by vegetarians for dinner? Point out that since you`d no doubt be made aware of their special dietary requirements, tell them about yours, and ask for a nice steak.

It's a fair point!

A Summer Evening

Present them with a tower of naan bread, savoury rice and coconut satay chicken, for dinner.

Give the younger three some coloured chalk for the pavement and let them draw.

Capture their bright smiles on a sunny evening.

Get the oldest one ready for Cubs.


And live in hope that someday Samuel will put clothes on so you can take pictures without having a little tinkie in the way.

When Krispies Have Lost Their Crunch

When I had a bowl of rice krispies this week, they'd lost their snap, crackle and pop. Only one thing for it. Today I HAD to make...

MARS BAR RICE KRISPIE CAKES: Oooh yeah!!! Yummy, yummy, yummy!!

Take 3 Mars bars and 75g margarine or butter. Melt them together gently in a pan. When melted mix in 75g rice krispies. Mix well and pour into greased tin. Melt 200g milk chocolate in bowl over hot water. Pour on krispie mix and put in fridge.

When set, cut into squares and enjoy! Nom nom nom.

Bits and Bobs

Samuel has discovered it's fun to shove your face in front of the camera just as Mummy takes a shot.

There he is again.

And again!

And again!

Sam, can you PLEASE move out of the way!

Thank you! The shot I was trying to get all along. The herbs have been planted. Now I want more pots and more herbs. At the moment I'm growing mint, thyme, basil, flat leaf parsley and chives.


After a dinner of fajitas, enchilladas and tortilla salsa melt with Andy's parents down for the day and my friend Michaela, we dived into Andy's lemon torte. Very naughty and not to be consumed if you're on a diet.

Freebies for the allotment

An Indian colleague has just asked me if I would like some onions, from India, to plant in my allotment.

Is the Pope Catholic and German?

I now have three sprouting mild onions to pop into a little gap to harvest later this year. She's even popped in a couple of mature ones for me to try in some cooking, so I've just asked her for her vegetarian samosa recipe, which just totally rocks. She makes the filling and as well as wrapping it in filo, she also does them in Breville toasties.

I'm pinching her idea.

Plus I feel the urge to buy some gram flour and make some onion bhajis.

The Price of Bread

There's been a lot of contraversy in the news regarding the consistent escalation of food prices, not just in the UK but globally. With fuel costs rising due to the persistent scaremongering of oil providers pushing up the prices through sheer speculation, the cost of food transportation has now knocked on and pushed the cost of food up. Resulting in the dilemma of whether to eat wisely and well, or buy cheap rubbish.

My choice? To eat wisely and well. Yeah, sure, I can put cheap bread in my shopping trolley. I can put in value ham and plain biscuits. Heck, I can even get 2 chickens for a fiver. But what's in it for me? There's certainly not much taste, not much substance and certainly no health benefits. I'm becoming increasingly picky about what gets scanned at the check-out and quality is not being compromised in my larder. Yes, I buy less, but you know, because I pay more for the stuff, I'm more creative with what I do with it. I think more about my meals. I plan ahead.

But, on the odd occasion I am impulsive. Like this lunchtime. Taking a trip to the bank to get some cash out for my veggie order I found the French Market were in town. Stalls buckling under the weight of smelly ripe cheeses, walls of speciality breads building a wall around the vendor, catherine wheel displays of flavoured nougat, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, pistachio... Wicker baskets of honey roasted nuts, scoops of herbs, cinnamon sticks of cigar proportions.

I'm afraid the haze of wonderment of it all overtook me and I indulged. In my bag is one *very* expensive piece of chocolate nougat, which will be deftly divided into six slithers for us all to share tonight, one walnut and raisin loaf and one onion foccacia loaf. It's just a shame there wasn't enough money in my purse to stretch to a wedge of one of the cheeses.

One From Last Year

I'm starting to weed through my other blog, the one I don't post to anymore. But before I totally delete it, I'm pulling out threads that have relevance or have just made me chuckle. This post was from last March and it was entitled 'The Spaghetti Tree'.

I love the stage of a child's life where the transition begins from believing everything you're told to finally having the courage to question whether your parents really do know it all.

It happened today at the dinner table. Having requested spaghetti bolognese for dinner and being told there was no minced beef in the house to make it, we rambled on to how it would be great to be able to grow our own ingredients for it at the allotment. Maddie asked where spaghetti comes from, so immediately my response was to tell her it was from the spaghetti tree.

Now, Maddie's not easily fooled. Some days she's sharp, others not so. Today was the latter. Tucking into her fish and chips, she stared in amazement and incredulity taking in the notion of a real spaghetti tree. Then the pause.... the cogs whirring....., then 'you're pulling my leg aren't you?'

'No, I'm not, the spaghetti tree is real, I'll show you on the Internet'.

Then the Google search unearthed that wonderful BBC hoax of 1957 where the nation were fooled for 3 minutes by the reports of a bumper spaghetti harvest and the decline of the spaghetti weevil. I showed her the pictures.

I nearly got away with it, until her even sharper brother spotted the subtitled side heading indicating the April Fool's Day prank.

Laughs all round and confirmation that the old ones are still the best.