What to Eat this Week

I've missed a couple of weeks as we've been on holiday.  We didn't go very far, just twenty miles away in the Derbyshire Dales and but wasn't a resounding success,  We (Me, Fluffrick, both Mums and two dogs) were staying in a very pleasant cottage that was supposedly dog friendly, personally I would only regard it as dog tolerant. I completely understand the rule of no pets on the furniture, but this is the first time I have encountered a rule about no pets in the bedrooms and that didn't end well for us.  In brief a spooked Hagrid vaulted the stair gate at the bottom of the stairs, ran up to our bedroom and in his attempt to clamber under our bed knocked the radiator off the wall.  We ended up cutting our holiday short and coming home the next day.  We did all get a break, but not quite the one we intended.


But now we are back and so is "what to eat this week".  So in the veg box this week we got, the lovely tomatoes above, courgettes, an aubergine, red onions, a pointed cabbage, flat green beans and sweet potatoes.  We were meant to receive spinach rather than sweet potato, so I had to jig the menu a little and drop the Spouffle.


FRIDAY
Pizza - well that is if I get off my backside and start proving some dough


SATURDAY
Sweet potato and Peanut gratin with salad - another lovely recipe from Hugh which I tried last week and everyone said they liked. 


SUNDAY
Roast Chicken with potatoes, stuffing and vegetables.


MONDAY
Chicken with rice - using the leftover chicken, this is an Allegra McEvady from Economy Gastronomy.


TUESDAY
Spaghetti with a salmon, mushroom and cream sauce - especially asked for by Mum, previously blogged about here


WEDNESDAY
Vegeree - another recipe from River Cottage Veg Everyday.


THURSDAY
Veggie Sausage and Chips.


I'm watching the European Athletics Championships at the moment from Helsinki which puts me in mind to look at my Nordic Bakery book and rustle up some yummy Scandinavian treats. 

Easy Apple Cake

This is a really easy, but very delicious Apple Cake.  It's derived from a Delia Smith recipe for Sticky Tea Bread, I think from her Frugal cookbook, although I don't stick to her instructions.

Ingredients:

150ml Water

150g Caster Sugar

75g Sultanas

100g Butter

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

175g Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Large Egg

3 small or 2 large Apples

Place the water, sugar, butter, sultanas and bicarbonate of soda in a saucepan and heat gently.

The mixture will froth up, don't let it boil over.  Let it gently simmer for 10 minutes, so that the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved and the sultanas have plumped up a little. You can use this time to peel and chop the apples into 1cm dice.

This is where I diverge from Delia's instructions (she would leave this mixture to cool), but you have to work quite quickly.  Add the flour and baking powder to the hot mixture and mix well, then add the egg and mix again.  Finally stir in the apple and tip into a greased 20cm square tin.  And place in an oven preheated to Gas Mark 4.

No cake mixture looks particularly appetizing before it is cooked.  And this is quite a wet batter.    As the batter is warm before it goes in the oven it only need to be cooked for 30 minutes.  If you let the mixture cool before adding the egg, flour and apple, it may need cooking a little longer. 

Here is the finished result, great eaten warm, but also keeps well and is lovely cold.

What to Eat This week

So what are we going to eat this week?  I do have a process for the weekly menu and it starts with the veg box delivery on Thursday.  This is what we received this week...

New Potatoes, Onions, Salad Leaves, Lettuce, Cucumber, Carrots and Spring Greens.  I have to admit this is not the most inspirations selection I have ever received, but it made the decision that Fluffrick will be having salad for lunch an easy one.

Of late my trusty copy of River Cottage Veg Everyday has been my first port of call when deciding how to make best use of the weekly veg box.  It is a wonderful book with a vast selection of great veg recipes, the Spouffle has made a frequent appearance on the weekly menu.  

So what is actually on the menu...

Friday

Tartiflette - veggie style made with potatoes, onions, cheese and double cream

Saturday

Salmon & Prawn Skewers and salad

Sunday

Roast Chicken, New Potatoes, Carrots, Spring Greens and Stuffing

Monday

Chicken Biryani and Naan Bread - this is not an authentic biryani more of a spiced Chicken rice really, but very yummy

Tuesday

Chilli Cheese Polenta with Tomato Sauce - courtesy of Mr Fearnley Whittingstall

Wednesday

Toad in the Hole (with Veggie Sausages) with Carrots, Spring Greens and Onion Gravy

Thursday

Macaroni (well Penne actually) Cheese

I also plan on making a simple Apple Cake at some point this week, which I will document if I can get the camera working again.

Someone Loves His Duckie

We had a meeting with a dog trainer last week, we're referring to it as Hagrid's Gentleman Training.  He definitely is not the most social of dogs, but we hope that with some training we can make him a happier boy.  One suggestion the trainer gave us to improve our bond with the Big Lad was to play with him more.  The trainer had several different toys to play with and the one Hagrid loved the most was a pink squishy octopus; sadly we have not been able to locate the same toy, but Duckie has been a more than adequate alternative.


A few times today we have a mad five minutes playing with Duckie and jumping around the living room.  I have made Hagrid another tuggy toy, but nothing matched up to his Duckie.  We are also hoping to reduce Hagrid's pulling on walks and so for the first time today we walked him with a Halti and for the first time we actually took him for a walk rather than him taking us.


He really is a lovely lad, but as we know next to nothing about his history before he came to live with us, we will probably never know why he reacts so much to other dogs. But it just makes us love him and want to help him all the more.

Me Made May'12 Days 25,26,27,28,29,30 and 31

So the last week of Me Made May'12.  Apart from having my photo taken everyday, I've enjoyed the process.  I've made some new clothes, worn several things I haven't worn in ages and of late bemoaned the horrible hot weather(I have to complain about the weather, I'm British).  So here are the final week's clothes.

Day 25

A thrifted Wallis skirt and my 1970's style t-shirt with my new gladiator sandals.  I don't know why I am pulling that face?

Day 26

This picture was taken late in the day (not at 7am like most of the other pictures), so my blouse is looking a little the worse for wear.  Helped in no small part by Hagrid giving me a through soaking when we gave him a bath.  He is such a good boy, in so many ways, we just have to get his behaviour with other dogs under control.

Day 27

This may not be the most flattering dress in the world, but it is very cool.  Comfort definitely was more important than style here, have I complained about the weather enough yet? 

Day 28

I made this blouse from some thrifted vintage fabric a couple of year ago and I think this may only be the third time I've worn it.  I have a White Stuff tunic top that I love and keep looking for patterns to replicate it, but this pattern was not it, the sleeves are a little tight, I may try to rectify that so that I will wear this more often. 

Day 29

An entire Me Made outfit here, both refashioned.  The top was originally a pillow case and the skirt initially a man's shirt.  There was a trend a couple of years ago of converting men's shirts into dresses, but for women far more petite than me.

Day 30

A repeat of my outfit from Day 16.

And Finally Day 31

The ubiquitous purple chambray skirt and my new Wiksten Tova blouse that I finished on Tuesday. It's a lovely pattern and fairly straight forward to make, this is really a wearable muslin and it's made from a sheet I bought for £1.29 (and that I have enough left of to make another 2 garments).  I was slightly depressing to have to make the XL size, as I don't think of myself as an XL person, but that minor quibble is not going to stop me making it again.  I have quite a few pieces of fabric that I can use to make this top.

As I said earlier I have enjoyed the challenge of Me Made May, but I probably need to create my own challenge rather than follow someone else's.  I definitely could do with utilising better what I already have, before I go out an acquire more stuff.  And even though the above shirt was made with a thrifted sheet, it did require the purchase of a new pattern. I have more fabric and patterns than I will probably ever need, so what I probably need to do is impose an embargo on  buying any new fabric or patterns for a while and try and use what I already have.

Watch this space and see how that works out... 

Me Made May'12 Days 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23 and 24

Day 16

I made this skirt last month, it's an adaptation of the same pattern I used to make the purple chambray skirt (New Look 6106).  I bought the floral fabric as a remnant (my Achilles heal) last year, but it wasn't quite enough to make a whole garment, so I bought some plain turquoise fabric to co-ordinate with the floral.  And this is the result, I think it goes beautifully with my Ness t-shirt.

Day 17

The Chambray skirt again, this time teamed with woolly tights and a jumper.  A week later I am missing the cooler weather.

Day 18

My Bustle Skirt, but not a very good picture of it.  This is quite a dramatic skirt to go about in, but you do have to negotiate sitting down in it.  I keep meaning to make another one, but haven't quite got round to it yet.

Day 19

The same outfit as on Day 10, but here with the addition of my 1940's style apron (I was making Sunday lunch).  This is what I wear when I'm trying to be a Domestic Goddess, I don't know how well it works.

Day 20

As Hagrid's behaviour with other dogs is less than exemplary, we take him for his walk at 6 am, so here I am ready for the walk in my home made jeans and a hooded top I made about 15 year ago.

Day 21

I made this t-shirt a few years ago using a vintage 1970's pattern, but the instruction were not as good as they could have been because I've never felt the collar lies quite how it should.  Or it could just be my aversion to working with jersey, that makes me feel this t-shirt didn't quite work.

Day 22

I lovely cool floaty skirt I made last year. I didn't think a gathered skirt would suit me, so I actually made it by making long darts in the fabric, it required a little trial and error in the fitting, but I think it worked well.

Day 23

This dress is made with the same pattern as the top on Day 4. I bought the fabric in the John Lewis sale, long before I bought the pattern, consequently I didn't have quite enough fabric for a traditional layout.  I therefore cut out the side panels and collar width wise rather than length wise, but I feel it actually improved the design.  

Day 24

A whole self made outfit for a change.  The skirt I made last week, again using New Look 6106 (one day I will actually make the skirt with the contrast border as on the pattern).  I'm sure it would have been simpler to just use regular fabric, however it is actually refashioned a charity shop find, a pair of size 22 cropped trousers, to make the skirt.

The top must be at least 15 years old, it is also a refashion, but of a something I made that didn't fit.  I had tried to make a shirt from a pattern designed to be made with stretch fabric in decidedly unstretchy fabric, so I converted it into this little top as I couldn't bear to abandon this fabric.

Avengers - Thank You Joss

Avengers

Avengers is awesome.  If you haven't been to see this film yet (and from the box office that is only about 3 people in the world), you should rush out and see it now.


Fluffrick and I went to see it for the second time last week and I'm trying to see when we can schedule seeing it again without feeling like we're abandoning Hagrid.  


I should confess that I am a huge Joss Whedon fan.  Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, Dollhouse, Dr Horrible, I love them all.  But this should not detract from the fact that this is a brilliant film, full of great characters, humour, peril, action, sibling rivalry, oh and awesomeness and a bit of Hulk. Who knew the Hulk was funny? Joss Whedon did.


So a huge Hulk sized Thank You Joss, please do it again, now!