Dished Up: Cardamom Shortbread and Lemon Curd

My sister in law bought me a subscription for delicious magazine for Christmas. When I was flicking through it the other day I came across a recipe for cardamom churros and lemon curd. Churros are Spanish and similar to a doughnut. I have made doughnuts before and they were delicious but I wanted something to take away for the weekend and anything deep fried doesn't keep well (and of course is very unkind on the hips) so decided to adapt a recipe and make some cardamom shortbread. I stuck with the delicious recipe for the lemon curd. Having used Delia's recipe before I was surprised to find this one actually produced a smoother result with just as much flavour and seemed to set better too. For the shortbread recipe I went once again to woman's weekly.



Prep time for the shortbread: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
You can make the lemon curd while the shortbread is in oven but if you want to eat it immediately you may want to do this the day before as the curd needs chilling time.

What you need (shortbread):
12 cardamom pods
250g Melted Butter
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
55g Caster sugar
55g Icing Sugar
50g Cornflour
350g Plain Flour

What you do:
1. Heat an oven to 160 Celcius and grease and line a 20 by 30cm baking tray.
2. Split the cardamom pods and place the seeds in a pestle and mortar. Discard the cases and grind the seeds.
3. Beat the melted butter, vanilla, sugars, cornflour and ground cardamom in a mixing bowl with and electric mixer until thick and smooth.
4. Stir in the sifted flour and press the mixture into the prepared tin.
5. Bake for 25 minutes until firm. Slice it into 25 fingers straight away and leave in the tin to cool completely.

For the lemon curd you need:
Zest and juice 2 large unwaxed lemons
85g unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
3 medium eggs, lightly beatenam
A sterilised jam jar (fill one with boiling water or put it through the dishwasher)

Place all the ingredients in a large heavy-based saucepan and heat gently, stirring all the time.

Keep the heat really low as if it gets too hot the eggs will curdle. When the curd is thick enough it will coat the back of a soon and a trail will be left if you run your finger through it. remember it will thicken more on cooling.
Poor the crud through a sieve into your prepared jar and top with some clingfilm touching the surface to prevent a skin forming.

When both have cool completely dip away and enjoy!
Cassie xx

Dished up: Pea and Ham Pasta

I spend time planning a menu for each week so that I don't have a panic at half four every day about what I'm going to cook for dinner. Sometimes plans change though and so does the menu and tonight was one of those nights. So as I stood in front of the fridge looking for inspiration I spotted some left over roasted gammon. Roasting a chunk of gammon is another trick of mine for a cheap sandwich filler, it is much cheaper than buying sliced ham. If you don't fancy gammon for your roast dinner just slice some for lunches and add some to a few store cupboard ingredients and you have this easy, speedy, cheap and tasty dinner

My father in law is from Sicily where Pasta and Peas is commonly eaten so I figured if I took that concept and combined it with the idea of pea and ham soup I should be on to a winner. Try it yourself and let me know what you think.

Cooking Time: you can easily make this dish in under half an hour.

What you need: 
200g left over roasted gammon, shredded
Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
200g frozen peas
400g pasta of your choice, I used fusilli
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan

What you do:
1. Splash a good glug of oil into a pan and pop in on a low heat. Fry the onion until it is softened and just beginning to colour, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile cook the pasta in a pan of lots of boiling salted water according to pack instructions.
3. When the onions are beginning to colour add the garlic and cook for a minute longer.
4. Add the peas to the cooked onions and continue to cook for a few more minutes until the peas are hot. Add the ham and warm though. Season well with pepper.
5. Drain the pasta well and stir into the ham and peas.
6. Serve with a good grating of the grated Parmesan.

I'm always looking for new pasta dishes as my husband would happily eat pasta most nights so I was really pleased to come up with this combo. It went down a treat with my tribe.

Cassie xx

Dished Up: Broccoli and Bacon Salad

I adore barbeque season. The joy of eating outside combined with a plate loaded with different flavours is my idea of heaven. And our family sure know how to do a bbq! I love to try out new recipes for both salads and desserts but there is one dish that we bring out every year; Broccoli and Bacon Salad.  Just this salad alone provides sweet, salty and tangy delights and 3 of your '5 a day'. Our church provides some mean catering for weddings and this salad is often on the menu. A friend brought the recipe over from America so it's original source is unknown. If the dish is good enough for weddings is definitely good enough to grace your menu this summer.



What you need:
3 medium broccoli, cut into florets
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1-1.5lb bacon
1/2 cup of toasted flaked or roughly chopped almonds
3/4 cup raisins, soaked in water for an hour or overnight
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup vinegar






What you do:
1. Blanche the broccoli in boiling water until it is tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Chop the bacon into cm cubes and fry it until crisp.
3. Put the broccoli and bacon in a large bowl with the chopped onion, toasted almonds and soaked raisins.
4. For the dressing mix together the sugar, mayonnaise and vinegar until smooth.
5. Just before serving pour the dressing over the salad. Gently fold the dressing through salad mixing the ingredients and covering them in the dressing taking care not to break up the broccoli. Serve immediately.

If you're allergic to nuts the almonds can easily be substituted with pumpkin seeds.

Our Mum made the broccoli salad in the photos and I was on pudding duty so I made a chocolate and coconut banoffee pie from the BBC Good Food website. If you like sweet desserts you should try this but read the comments as getting the coconut cream thick enough can be challenging. we had it alongside a lemon cheesecake and some summer fruits. One dessert sometimes simply isn't enough.
Cassie xx

Dished Up: Chocolate Malt Biscuits

I made some malt loaf recently. The aim was to make something that I'm not that keen on so that I wouldn't be tempted to eat it. Unfortunately it turned out that my family weren't that keen on eating it either (I did find some kind friends who helpfully finished it and assured me that it was in fact nice malt loaf). Nonetheless I was left with most of a jar of malt extract, a curious substance that I bought from a health shop that in form is very like runny honey and in smell is unsurprisingly reminiscent of malteasers. I figured if I substituted malt for honey in a recipe I could use the extract. Honey can be used in many things but I didn't think that 'Malt and Mustard Chicken' would be too much of a hit so I pulled out an old faithful cook book to see what honey biscuit recipes I could find. Well you could knock me down with a feather but the old faithful had a recipe for Malt Biscuits! Naturally I didn't leave the recipe completely untouched but the basic ingredients are the same.

The original recipe is from Australian Women's weekly Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits and makes around 45. If half of this is enough then you can freeze some of the dough after step 4. When you want to make the rest, get the dough out and leave at room temperature until you can slice it and then complete the rest of the steps.

The whole process including chilling can be done in an hour if you are pretty speedy and use the freezer. If you like more leisurely baking then give your self at least on hour and a half although hands on time is a lot less than this.

What you need:
125g Butter
110g Caster Sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp Golden Syrup
2 tbsp Malt extract
375g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar
200g Plain Chocolate

What you do:
1. Beat the butter, sugar and egg in a freestanding mixer until smooth. Add the syrup and the extract and mix until combined.
2. Sift in the dry ingredients and beat until the mixture comes together as a soft dough.
3. Roll some clingfilm out across your work surface and place the dough on top.
4. Shape the dough into a long sausage (or two shorter ones) about 5cm in diameter, wrap the film around it and place it in the fridge for 30minutes or the freezer for 15minutes. (The dough is very sticky so you may find it useful to do some of the shaping when the film is already wrapped around the dough).
5. While the dough is chilling heat the oven to 160 celius and line some baking trays with non stick paper.
6. Take the chilled dough out the fridge, cut the sausage into 0.5cm slices and place them onto the prepared trays a couple of cm apart. Bake for 16 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays.
7. When the biscuits have completely cooled melt the chocolate gently and dip half the front of each biscuit into the chocolate. Place the biscuit back on the non-stick tray and leave to set.

So far these are going down a lot better than the malt loaf. Cassie xx

Dished Up: Top Hats

For my daughter's birthday I was keen to make a little treat for her to give to the children at preschool. Naturally she was keen to help! So together we made some Top Hats. These are not a new recipe but something that Zoe and I had as children. They are really easy to make but quite delicious whether you are 3 or 30!

What you need:
200g Chocolate
35 Marshmallows
35 Smarties
mini cake cases

What you do:
1. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan a barely simmering water. Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water. When the chocolate is all melted turn the heat down but leave the chocolate over the pan and stir it often.
2. Place about a teaspoon of the chocolate in a cake case. Push a marshmallows gently into the chocolate.
3. Dab a small blob of chocolate on top of the marshmallow and top with a smartie.
4. Repeat until you run out of chocolate and leave to set. If you cant wait to eat them then pop them in the fridge to speed up the process.

The recipe should make around 35 Top Hats which give you just enough for a class of children with a few spare for you to enjoy with a cuppa. Cassie xx



Dished Up: Houmous

Houmous is a favourite in our house. It is always thought of as a treat when we have pitta bread, cucumber and dip for lunch. Not that long ago I catered for a friends wedding and had some tins of chickpeas left over. When I say some, I mean 20! As you can imagine I've been trying all kinds of creative things to use them up. Making houmous therefore was a no brainer. I tried a couple of recipes and wasn't happy with the finished result so threw together a few different things and came up with this recipe.

I guess most people would know that houmous is made with chickpeas but the other distinctive flavour is tahini, or sesame paste. You should be able to get hold of tahini in most major supermarkets. The one I have bought looks like a jar of peanut butter. All the other ingredients are store cupboard basics. It's super easy to make and not only is it packed with flavour, it lasts longer than the shop bought ones. They always say eat within three days and seem to go 'fizzy' very quickly.

What you need:
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp tahini
Smoked paprika (optional)

What you do:
1. Heat 1tbsp oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and soften until translucent, 5-10 minutes.
2. Put the remaining ingredients in a food processor with the rest of the oil. Add the cooked onion and whizz to a purée.
3. Put in a serving dish and sprinkle with smoked paprika if using. Enjoy with some crudités or slather in a sandwich with some roasted vegetables.

Easy Peasy! Enjoy.
Cassie xx

Dished up: Chilli Beef Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a favourite in our house. For us they are a welcome alternative to pasta, rice and potatoes and are nice and easy for our children to eat as they are essentially a fancy sandwich.

I first discovered them on BBC Good Food site. They are traditionally a Mexican food so the fillings reflect that but the ones I first made were filled with sweet potato, feta and chorizo and were absolutely delicious. Often I'll use a cooked chicken, as I did in the chicken and spinach lasagne and throw it in with some onions, peppers, spicy BBQ sauce and some cheese. You really can fill them with anything. Most recently I followed a recipe for a chilli beef filling and it was one of those times that while I was eating I found myself thinking, I could do a much better recipe than this.So here is my attempt.

What you need:
8 tortilla wraps
500g beef mince
Olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1tsp paprika
1tsp cumin
1tsp chilli powder (hot if you can handle it)
200ml beef stock
250g passata
100g cooked sweetcorn
200g cheddar (coarsely grated)

Just a little note on the wraps for those of you in the UK. Tesco do some excellent value wraps. They are just as good as the normal ones but a little smaller. For this recipe they are perfect. If you buy the slightly more expensive ones you may find you only have enough beef to fill 6. If you're feeding 4 adults it will save arguments if you have 8 so make a little more!

Prep time: Give yourself an hour to make the sauce and assemble the quesadillas. This isn't all hands on time. Mince is a cheap cut so cooking it for longer always does it good. Even better, make the sauce in the morning or the night before to allow the flavour of the spices to develop.
Cooking time: 10-20 minutes depending on how big your griddle pan is.

What to do:
1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low heat. Soften the onion so it is cooked but not coloured. About 10 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and cook for a further minute.
2. Turn up the heat and add the beef. Break it up with a spoon and turn it over until all the meat is browned.
3. Add the stock and the passata and bring the sauce to a simmer. Leave over a low heat for 40 minutes or until your sauce is quite dry.
4. Season really well and stir through the sweetcorn. Remove from the heat.
5. Lay your wraps on your work surface and divide the sauce between them, spreading it out to cover half of each wrap. Meanwhile heat up your griddle pan. (A frying pan works fine but you won't have any fun stripes on your quesadillas.)
6. Sprinkle the cheese over the meat on each wrap and fold the wrap in half giving it a good press to stick it down.
7. When your pan is really hot, dry fry the quesadillas for a minute or two on each side, fit two in the pan at time if you can. Cut them in half to leave you with quarter circles and serve with a salad, potato wedges or both!

 

If you do have any left over though they are great for lunch the next day. Cassie xx

Dished Up: Homemade Marshmallows and Hot Chocolate Recipe

Marshmallows are one of those things I always fancied having a go at making. So when I stumbled across this recipe on the Good Housekeeping website I decided there was no time like the present.

The recipe is pretty straight forward and if you have a sugar thermometer and some patience then they results are delightful! Now I've made some I'm not sure I'll ever want shop bought marshmallows again. They were great fun to make and watching a dark sugar syrup transform into white foaming marshmallow was a treat in itself. But treat they definitely are! I've always felt quite comforted knowing that marshmallows are fat free but after making some I now realise quite how calorific they must be. 

I followed the recipe closely, as it was such a specific method but decided to toss about of the third of the cut marshmallows in cocoa powder rather than icing sugar. These one's were my favourite. The contrast of the bitter cocoa against the sweet marshmallows was just yummy.

But of course it would be wrong to make marshmallows and not have them with hot chocolate. I'd like to shake the hand of the person who came up with that combo! So below you'll find my recipe for homemade hot chocolate. Please understand that this isn't the drink you want to have every night before bed as it is super indulgent. But for a night in with some girl friends it is the perfect treat.

What you need per serving: 

200ml Milk

2tbsp Double Cream

25g your favourite chocolate (I had some 74% cocoa chocolate left over from a dairy free dessert. The drink was on the bitter side but worked really well with the marshmallows. I would normally opt for something around the 50% mark)

Marshmallows (optional)

What to do:

1. Mix the milk and the cream in a heat proof glass or mug.

2. Heat the mixture in the microwave for 4 minutes on medium, stirring halfway through.

3. Break the chocolate into small pieces and add it to the hot milk.

4. Stir until the chocolate is melted and well mixed in.

5. Indulge!

Cassie xx

Dished Up: Chicken and Spinach Lasagne

With food prices going up and up, I'm always looking for tasty but cheap sandwich fillings for the husband's pack lunches. One thing I do quite often is roast a chicken at the beginning of the week. Half a chicken is enough to feed us as a family so I use half for a meal then shred the other half and use for lunches. One of the meals I make with the chicken is this tasty lasagne. To keep the cost of this meal down I have used dried lasagne but this requires precooking for this recipe. If your budget stretches to it then use fresh lasagne. If your time stretches to it then make your own!

I think this recipe could feed four adults if you serve it with some garlic bread or something like that. We had it with a tomato salad dressed with some yummy Blonde Balsamic Dressing which was a really nice contrast to the creamy lasagne. If you think you'd still be hungry then the recipe is easily doubled.

Prep Time: If your chicken and lasagne are already cooked then the prep should only take you 10-15 minutes
Cooking and Rest time: 40 minutes

What you need:
Half a cooked chicken, shredded
380g tin of spinach
Reserved juices from the chicken, fat skimmed off
300ml reduced fat crème fraiche
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
Salt and pepper
Approx 250g lasagne, cooked
50g freshly grated parmesan

What to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Drain the spinach really well and squeeze out all the excess water. Put this in a large bowl with the shredded chicken and mix well.
3. Mix the chicken juices with the creme fraiche. Add the grated nutmeg and season well.
4. Spread a couple of spoons of this over the bottom of an oven dish and add a layer of cooked lasagne. Reserve a couple more spoons of the cream for the top.
5. Mix the rest of the cream in with the chicken and spinach and spread half of the mixture over the lasagne.
6. Add another layer of the cooked pasta, if you're feeding hungry people then double up the pasta to fill them up.
7. Spread the rest of the chicken mix over this and top again with cooked lasagne.
8. Spread the cream you reserved earlier over the top and sprinkle the grated parmesan over the whole thing.
9. Pop it in the oven for 35 minutes. When the time is up take the lasagne out and let it stand for 5-10 minutes. This will help the layers to stick together and make the lasagne easier to serve.

Enjoy with a salad and if you want some garlic or crusty bread. Cassie xx

You can find this post and many other over at Snippets Of Inspiration here.

Dished Up: Leek And Potato Soup

Being a mum of three young children one luxury I indulge in is grocery delivery. Mr Tesco's arrives at my door with my weekly shop and all I have to do is put it away. Mostly this is a wonder but occasionally things don't quite go to plan. A few weeks ago I ordered 3 leeks, or so I thought. Turns out I had actually ordered 3 packs of leeks, just a couple more than I needed! Whoops. So what better to do in the bleak mid winter than whip up some tasty soup. I made leek and potato and crumpled some crispy bacon on top but the recipe can be adapted for any vegetables you have hanging around which I usually do after Christmas. 

What you need......

• Veg oil
• Knob of butter
• 500g leeks
• 1 medium potato
• 1.5 litre hot vegetable stock
• 100ml double cream (optional)
• 3 rashers streaky bacon

How to make it.....

1. Half the leek lengthways and slice it thickly. Wash it thoroughly and shake off the water. Peel the potato and and cut it in to 1cm cubes.
2. Put the butter and 1tbsp of oil in a medium pan with a lid and place it over a low heat until the butter has melted. For the record the oil is to stop burning and the butter is for flavour.
3. Throw in the leeks and give them a stir then put the lid on. You want to soften the leeks like this, they will sweat in their own juices. It will take about 10 minutes and all you have to do is stir them every couple of minutes just to make sure they don't burn.
4. Take off the lid and add the potato stirring for one minute then add 1 litre of the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile put the bacon in a dry frying pan over a high heat. Cook it until it's really crispy. Cool it on some kitchen towel and then crumble it.
6. When the potato is really soft turn off the heat and use a stick blender to purée the soup. Season well with salt and lots of black pepper. If the soup is too thick then add in some more stock and if you're feeling indulgent stir through 100ml double cream to serve.
7. Share it between the bowl and sprinkle the bacon on top. Serve it with some of you favourite bread.

You can make this recipe with any root veg. Chop and soften an onion and then add 500g of whatever you've got (except potatoes). Add the stock and simmer until the veg is soft. If you're brave you might want to throw in some spices when the onion is soft then add the veg when it becomes fragrant. 

Play around with it. Sometimes it will be delicious, other time it may not be such a success but it's better then throwing away your veg and if you make it without the butter and cream it's a great healthy lunch to start the new year with.

Cassie xx

Dished up- Salmon and Broccoli Pie

We recently had a great day out at the Wisley garden's taste of autumn festival. My husband and his hollow legs needed a snack half way around so he bought himself a salmon and broccoli pie. Just a snack you know. I had a nibble and I have to say it was yummy and was inspired to make something similar at home. When I had a quick look online I couldn't see a recipe I fancied so thought I'd have a go at one myself.

What you need......

For the pastry

• 110g Butter
• 175g Plain Flour
• Salt

For the filling

• 3 skinless salmon fillets cut into 2.5cm cubes
• A small head of broccoli cut into florets
• 1 pint milk
• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour
• Salt and pepper 
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of half a lemon
• Egg

What to do....

1. Make a batch of Delia's quick flaky pastry and pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes. 
2. While it's chilling preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius, put your broccoli in some boiling water for 4 minutes. The broccoli should be barely cooked otherwise it will be soggy after going in the over. Drain really well.
3. You can use the same pan to make the béchamel sauce. Put the milk, butter and flour in the pan over a low heat. Stir with a balloon whisk continuously until the sauce is thickened. Stir through the lemon zest and juice and season well to taste.
4. While the sauce is still hot stir the salmon chunks into it. The residual heat in the sauce will begin to cook the salmon meaning you don't have to precook it and leaving the fish lovely and moist. 
5. Roll out two thirds of the pastry at gently as you can to about the thickness of a pound coin and line a 25cm pie dish. Line with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes then remove the beans and paper and return to the oven for a further 3 minutes. 
6. Stir the broccoli into the sauce with the salmon. Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the pie with it sealing with egg wash. Trim the edges and decorate as desired with the pastry scraps, piercing a hole in the top to let steam out. Paint with the egg wash and pop it back in the oven for 30mins. 
7. Let the pie rest for 5 minutes before serving.

We had the pie between 2 adults and two small children but if you serve it with either new or mashed potato and some green beans I think you could easily stretch it to serve 6 adults. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Cassie xx

Dished Up: Jambalaya

Jambalaya is one of those words I've heard a few times but had never eaten and to be honest, I didn't even really know what it was. So when I stumbled across this recipe recently on the delicious magazine website I thought I'd give it a go.

Jambalaya come from New Orleans. The story goes that the spanish were trying to make paella but couldn't get hold of saffron and substituted it with tomatoes. The Caribbean influence in the area led to the edition of spices and jambalaya was the result. As for the name there is an old wives tales that tells of a travelling gentleman who stopped by a New Orleans inn which had little food remaining from the evening meal. The innkeeper instructed the cook, "Jean, balayez!" or "Jean, sweep something together!" in the local dialect. The guest pronounced the resulting hodge-podge dish as "Jean balayez." I don't know if it's true but I love the story so I like to think so.

When I was prepping the dish I just loved the beautiful array of ingredients. Just look at the colours! This recipe actually does use raw prawns but my recommendation would be to always by prawns raw. They take moments to cook and are so fresh and tasty, that for me it's a no brainer. 

The dish was yummy. It went down a storm with the family. Not too spicy for the children, who kept stealing prawns from my plate! Definitely one to make again.

I even remembered to serve the garnish with it. I can't tell you how many times I've gone in the kitchen to clear up after dinner and found a little bowl of something I was supposed to sprinkle on at the end.

So if you ever pop in to see me just call me 'Jean' and I'll balayez something for you. 

Cassie xx

And a Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers in the USA from both of us! xxx

Dished Up: Rabbit!

When I watch TV cooking shows I find myself confused. I watch 'Come dine with me' and end the show thinking I am the best cook in the world. But then I watch 'Masterchef' decide actually I know nothing about food.

The other thing that Masterchef never fails to do is inspire me to try cooking something new. This time it was rabbit. I found a recipe on BBC Good Food website (I get a lot of recipes from here) for Braised Rabbit Pappardelle and popped to the butcher to pick up a bunny. Any butcher should have rabbits in stock although you may find they are frozen, mine was, so take account for that if you are planning to serve it on a particular day.

The recipe, which you can find here, suggests you get the butcher to joint your rabbit but where's the fun in that? I found this video on YouTube and followed the instructions to cut the rabbit up. It was pretty simple and if I ever want to go on Masterchef, I'll have to know how to do these things, he he he.

It's not a quick recipe so I prepped all the ingredients and braised the rabbit in the early afternoon while I was home. That way I could rush in at half 5 after the tinkers swimming, cook the pasta, reduce the sauce and serve up a hopefully delicious meal at 6. 

 

After a couple of mouthful the husband complimented me on the delicious meal. It was really tasty! However his eating did slow down when he found out which mammal was on his plate. For me, although the sauce was scrummy, the rabbit was quite dry and tough which was surprising after braising it for an hour. So I wont be rushing out to try rabbit again in a hurry but might have a go at the recipe with some chicken or maybe duck next time. Cassie xx

Dished Up: A Whole Lot Of Apples

Today we welcome Cassie back to Tadpegs. You have met her before when she wrote about the crocheted camera case and this is the first in a series of posts Cassie will be writing about food we are calling 'Dished Up'. Enjoy!

I am a girl who LOVES summer so it is really good for me to be reminded of the joys of autumn to ward off those post summer blues. A friend helped with this recently as she gave me a lovely large bag of apples from the tree in her garden. So one beautifully sunny afternoon I sat in my garden and set to work peeling them.

The husband loves stewed apples so I just threw most of them in a big pot with a glass or two of water and cooked them down. I like my apples quite tart so I didn't add any sugar until they were all cooked and then added some to taste. make sure you keep an eye on the apples though and stir them regularly other wise they will catch on the pan.

I filled couple of tubs with the apple and put them in the freezer ready to pull out and whip into a crumble when we're entertaining over the winter. Some was reserved just to eat that night and I even had some cream in the fridge for the more decadent (and fast metabolismed) in the family to have with theirs.

I also used some of the apples to make a Squidgy Spiced Apple Cake. You can find the recipe here. In fact I made two. It was really easy to make and came out deliciously moist and tasty. I served one at our church house group and it went down a treat. The other is in the freezer all ready for our Nearly Christmas Mini Craft Fair which you'll hear about in a few weeks.

Thankfully there was a piece left for me to sit down after a morning running around with the tinkers and enjoy with a cup of tea. Cassie xx