The Work Charity Bake Off

At my hubby's place of work every Monday is cake day! Each member of the department take turns to do a weekend bake and then sell their delicacies for a £1 a piece with all proceeds going to 'Dogs Trust', a charity which the company is a patron of.

It's a great idea - a sure way to brighten up a Monday, and also how naughty can it be to indulge in cake when it's for such a good cause?

This week it was my hubby's turn. Fortunately out of the two of us he is the 'masterbaker' *giggles like an adolescent*. Seeing it as an opportunity to christen the half finished (never likely to be completed kitchen) and spend some quality time with Roo, he set about the ambitious plan to make millionaires shortbread and strawberry macaroons. (At some point there was also mention of lavander shortbread - I think that was revised after hour six of baking)

Making macaroons is a serious labour of love - I now know why they are actually almost as expensive as their weight in gold (having misread the french, the most expensive most we've paid is 20 Euros for a box of 12 tiny macaroons in St. Emellion, France - officially the true home of the Macaroon.)Nevertheless the were worth it. Gooey little mouthfuls of sweet creaminess.

Macaroons come in pretty much any flavour you can imagine - although my personal favourite is pistachio or violet. Roo's is raspberry and the hubby's is, of course, chocolate.

So after six hours of intense baking - enough to confuse you into thinking it was the finals of the great British Bakeoff, operation charity bake off was complete. Let's just cross our fingers that his collegues will enjoy them as much as we have.

Halloween Treat

Pumpkin and Coconut Curry

Cheap and delicious; this curry is ideal for a rainy November dinner. (Just like it is right now) It's also a great way to use up some pumpkin. If your household is anything like ours we seem to go a bit pumpkin crazy for Halloween. This is the dinner we are having tonight whilst we watch X-Factor, drink our organic farm cider and moan about our week.

Prep time - about 10 minutes. Cooking Time - about 30mins.

1 large potato

1/2 small pumpkin (you can use any squash such as butternut)

1 x white onion

1/2 a red chilli deseeded

1 small green chilli (take seeds out if you don't want it hot)

2 chopped garlic cloves

1 and 1/2 tablespoons of fresh ginger

1 chicken stock cube

1 tin of coconut milk

Chop your onion and sautee in a heavy based casserole dish. When translucent add the ginger, the chilli and the garlic - turn down to a low heat to prevent the items catching.

Peel and chop potato into approximately 5cm x 5cm chunks. Do the same for the pumpkin. Add the potato to the onions and let cook for about 5 mins until the outside goes a little transluscent.

Add the pumpkin and enough water to come to the level of the vegetables. Add a chicken (or veggie) stockcube and give a gentle stir. Turn up the heat to a mid-heat and allow the potatoes and pumpkin to simmer until just off soft ( approx 20 mins). Add in the coconut milk and stir. Cook for a further 5 mins.

Add a handful of corriander just before serving over a bowl of jasmin rice.

Note: It will be a slightly runny broth style curry rather than a thick paste curry. Don't be alarmed this is authentic for thai.

Rock Pooling treats

One of our family's favourite things to do on holiday is to go rockpooling. Those tiny amazing microcosmic worlds - a whole universe contained within a rock.

Last week we went down to Devon with 'granny and granddad' - it was a halloween spectacular at the holiday park they go to. We had a great weekend - good fish and chips!

On the Saturday we took our littlie rockpooling and had the most amazing couple of hours on the beach. We were particulary excited to find a scallop in a rock pool. He was clearly not that happy about being put in a bucket and 'looked' at - but his crossness provided great amusement as he continually squirted water at us.

We were even more excited to discover a section of rockpools where a whole bucketful of scallops had landed. (You've never seen two thirty + year olds look so excited about rockpooling) We gathered our cache and informed the littlie that they had now moved on from being a curiosity to being our supper.

I was a little aprehensive as to how she might receive this news - I braced myself for concern, tears, a tantrum ... what I hadn't quite banked on was her little tongue poking out, licking her lips and patting her tummy before saying 'Yum! I love scallops in my tummy!'




Beach found scallops with garlic butter.
Good fresh seafood should be treated simply.

3 x scallops per person for a starter

2x spring onions

A clove of garlic finly chopped

Knob of butter

Kill the scallop by sliding in a long sharp knife and running it along the flat side of the scallop. You'll know when it's dead because the 'snapping' hinge will relax and you'll be able to pull apart the shell with ease.

It looks pretty disgusting at this point, you may want to use scissors to trim off all of the excess from the white scallop nugget. Disgard everything except the nugget and the roe. Put aside onto a plate and if cooking later, cover with clingfilm and place into the fridge (don't leave them sitting in a warm room for more than twentyish minutes.

Get a heavy based frying pan, add a knob of butter and a thimble of oil (to stop it burning). Heat until the butter is frothy. Add the sliced, chopped spring onions and the chopped garlic clove. Cook until soft. Add the scallops to the pan spaced out. Cook for about 1-2 minutes per side until the surface is butter brown.

REMEMBER - There is no such thing as an undercooked scallop! If you're unsure then take off sooner rather than later. Overcooked scallops are rubbery and horrible.

Serve them by piling them into one of the washed shells. Spoon over the butter, garlic mix and serve with fresh brown bread or a green rocket salad.

Welcome

Well, hello there.
At last I've taken the plunge and started this blog all about food. I've been blogging for a while - in my other life - that of a fiction writer but the more I've got into blogging and social networking, I've found myself increasingly sharing details of food, recipes, places I've eaten etc.

The thing is ... I LOVE food! In our house it's almost a religion; a shared family passion - a way in which we share love for each other, a way in which we can connect as a family. If ever any of us are down in the dumps, it's cooking and food that cheer us up.

The kitchen is truly the heart of our home - it's not just a place for cooking but for dancing, singing, debriefing each other's day and moaning about the washing.

We are signed up with Able and Cole, an organic box scheme which delivers on a Thursday - a highlight of our week as we race to the boxes. We started off just getting the veg, but have soon progressed to making it our main weekly grocery delivery. And although it looks an expensive way to shop on first look, our grocery bills have reduced by over half because we're not seduced by false offers, impulse buys or toddler shopping.

What we love about the box delivery scheme is the idea of seasonality - eating in tune with nature. We also love the organic cider that 'magically' comes along with it.

So this blog is an indulgence and a chance to share with you some of the food, ideas and experiences. Bon appetite.