the peripatetic turkey

It is the time of the year when many people, in this country at least, cook a big turkey for their family, and some years ago, when my grandson was a baby, we volunteered to go to her little house in Norwich and provide the festive feast. Planning ahead, I took a big roasting tin…

a day of kitchen mishaps

I made the Christmas cake yesterday morning, after boiling the fruit up with sugar and butter and brandy on Saturday. It, thankfully, seems fine. However … A chicken went in the oven to roast on a bed of vegetables. Roast potatoes went on top in another dish, as did a coconut and citrus cake (see…

banana and *chocolate* cakes

Neither Pete nor I are especially fond of bananas in their raw form, but I bought some for the GrandToad’s visit a few days ago. He didn’t really want them either, so there were five bananas going brown in the fruit bowl. Not a problem – banana cake! I use a basic recipe refined over…

Remoska to the rescue!

I made brownies last week, for a gathering of friends. I always use this Nigella Lawson recipe, which makes a huge heap – I find a huge heap of brownies generally to be the right amount, as people rarely refuse, and they keep well. I cooked them in the oven, and baked a couple of…

nearly disastrous mixed berry scones

I always use this Nigella Lawson recipe from Nibblous when I make scones. It’s an absolute cracker – they never fail to rise, no matter what you do. You can mix the flour up with wholemeal, add cheese, have them plain or cheesy, whatever. Last night we fancied fruit ones, so I did about 60/40 wholemeal/white flour…

very nearly a disaster

We were invited to a picnic on Sunday afternoon, to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I decided to make some brownies, and some focaccia, and we took fruit, cheese, cold meat, beer, as well. The weather was not delightful, but a pleasant time was had. But oh dear – I came close to disaster with the…

New Year's Eve dinner 2010

When I ordered the goose from Fields, I added a venison loin to the order for New Year’s Eve; traditionally, I cook dinner for three close friends on 31/12, and have done so for many years. The fact that we’ve moved 220 miles away seems to make no difference 🙂 The butcher phoned a couple…

lamb shanks cooked with calamity

A few weeks ago, Morrisons had some lamb shanks reduced – £2.10 a pair. Believe it or not, I’ve never actually cooked lamb shanks before, but I bought a couple of packs and stowed them away in the freezer. Decided to cook them on Sunday, so on Saturday I bunged a load of flageolet beans…

woe …

I forgot to put the soup in the fridge on Friday (which I normally do, as we don’t normally eat it at the weekend). Given the temperature, and remembering that both P and I were quite ill after eating some shoop that had gone over, we have reluctantly poured it into the compost bin. Thankfully,…

duck fail

Last weekend, Sainsburys were doing whole Gressingham ducks for £7 each – a bargain, I’m sure you’ll agree.  I hate supermarkets, and only visit one every few weeks, so I felt this offer was most timely and bore a brace of ducks home in my fair trade bags. One went in the freezer, and one…