Cookery Book Challenge :: Friday Catch Up

Hello there, I hope you are all well. The first Friday of the month means another Cookery Book Challenge. I'm challenging myself to 'use' my cookery books and not just leave them sitting on the bookshelf. Do join me if you want to. Just chose two recipes or maybe one meal and something sweet  to show on your blog 

Fisherman's Pie

First up is Fisherman's Pie. I've cooked several versions of fish pies over the years, using different recipes. I've used frozen fish, fish cheeks and cooked them with or without prawns. Many years ago, I purchased a cookery book from the Co-op. I remember it being on offer if you had a store loyalty card, I didn't, so a lady kindly lent me her card. Lovely lady. 

This recipe is a rich mix of white fish, smoked fish, salmon and prawns. I cook the fish for 15 minutes in wine with herbs, pepper and mushrooms. Meanwhile cook the potatoes, mash and set to one side. Drain the cooked fish, check for bones, make the sauce with butter, flour and add liquor. Assemble in buttered dish, arrange prawns (I use king prawns) over the top and top with creamy mashed potato. 

The recipe says to grill golden brown, I usually place it in the oven for around 30 minutes to brown. It's delicious with vegetables. If you eat peas, you could add them to the fish mix, before topping with the mashed potato. 
 

Pumpkin & Carrot Risotto

The second recipe here, is designed for the Low Fodmap Diet by Alana Scott - A Little Bit Yummy. Her website, Facebook and Instagram account are very helpful. Onions have been replaced with leek green tops only and mushrooms are replaced with carrot and butternut squash. The peas have been replaced with spinach. I served this for our dinner, everybody enjoyed it.
I decided to buy Alana's book as she has delicious recipes without lots of ingredients that I can't eat. If low fodmap cooking is a need for you, I'd recommend following A Little Bit Yummy and signing up for Alana's emails. She'll send you a small booklet on email with recipes, a few that aren't in the book. On her website, I found a Christmas booklet to download. Sadly for me, a lot of the recipes contain high fibre ingredients. Though, not a fodmap issue, they still cause issues for me.   

This recipe is in two parts - softening the carrot and squash in the oven with oil and seasoning, whilst frying the other ingredients in a large Sautee pan. When the stock is nearly absorbed, add the spinach, grated lemon rind, lemon juice and cheese.

The dish is colourful and full of flavour, we served ours with leftover gammon from the Sunday roast.   

Dinner tonight

Cheese and potato pie, though not from a cookbook. The butcher sells packs of bacon mishaps. I cooked the bacon, cut off the fat and placed them in a greased dish, topped with cheesy mashed potato and tops of spring onions. Then browned under the grill. 

A few gifts from the boys for Mother's Day.

The daffodils were from the Mother's Day service.

These chocolates were a gift from Morrison's supermarket. I took my son with me shopping after church. The checkout operator asked me, if he was my child. Thanks Nat, you helped me gain a box of chocolates. 

That's all for now, take care. Do add your link to join the Friday Catch Up and or Cookery Book Challenge.
Cx

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Cookery Book Challenge :: Friday Catch Up

Hello there, I hope you're well. It's bright, sunny and a little chilly here as I sit writing this blog. 
You'll notice something a bit different today on my 'Friday Link Up Party.' It's not a Five on Friday link up, instead it's a 'Friday Catch Up'  I've been thinking about this for a while now, as I usually post more than one photo in each of the 5 categories.

I'm hoping it'll be more freeing to post about subjects without the need to find extra things to make up the five sections. To give an example, if I post about craft I would post 5 lots of knitting (as I'm only knitting at the moment). This would look like - a finish, and 2 projects that I'm working on (I only work on two projects at once eg a garment and a small project such as a washcloth), I would then add 3 other knitted projects that are waiting. 

I could of course add other subjects, eg a book, a recipe, a craft etc but I don't want to stick to a rigid framework. I do love the Friday catch ups, if you comment or leave a link to your blog, I'll visit you. I hope you'll continue to add your link and visit other's that have joined in too. 

Let me know what you think, and of course if you wish to continue your post as a Five on Friday, that's absolutely fine. At the end of the day we are friends 'catching up' together on a Friday. It's all good.  

A seasonal bouquet from Morrisons. I love flowers and thought these looked so cheerful. The hyacinths fill the room with their scent. Tulips are one of my favourites, I'm waiting for the tulips in the garden to flower.

The first week of march, in the words of Simon & Garfunkel... 'slow down, you move too fast'.
I thought I'd make this a Cooking Book Challenge post, using a recipe from one of my many cookery books. I've de-cluttered lots but there are still plenty more books on the shelf. Maybe I need to go through them again!
Penny from Homemade Heart used to host these the first week each month, but sadly like many blogs they've stopped and gone to instagram only. I think Penny's original challenge had two dinner recipes and no puddings, cakes etc. For me, it will be whatever I cook and more importantly remember to photograph before it's eaten. I'll try and use a different book next time, if I've not de-cluttered it! That will be a challenge in itself. 

For my Cookery Book Challenge I made a pie using leftover roast chicken, I decided to add sliced potato instead of the usual pastry top. 

Adding some finely chopped vegetables, a cuppa soup (no need for extra seasoning). I usually add mushrooms in meat pies, either fresh or tinned. 

Top with sliced potatoes brushed with cooking oil.

Bake the top recipe for 30 minutes in a hot oven. This recipe uses asparagus cup of soup but a different cup of soup of your choice is ok, I use mushroom or chicken and vegetable.  

This cookery book, was my first Christmas present from Mark. 

Top right, a photo of the pie made with pastry. 

Do you have a favourite way of cooking a pie? 
For Steak and Kidney Pies, I love Delia Smith's Suet Crust pastry on top. That method is ideal for Gluten Free baking too. The suet pastry stops the cardboard texture. 

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'January-ing' :: Five on Friday

Hello there, I hope you are all well. The temperature in the UK dipped to frosty again today. We've been lulled by the mild wet days recently, it's nice to see the sunshine though. Yesterday at Knit & Natter, it was roasting hot in the pub's sunny conservatory. Such extremes of temperatures. 

On today's Five on Friday I'm wrapping up the month with an 'ing' post... all the things mixed together and happening this week!

1) Enjoying :: beautiful flowers in my kitchen. A gift from Nat and his fiancée. It's been a while since I got my camera out, note to self - remember the camera. The camera takes much better photos than my phone. Sometimes it's easier to load photos up from my phone during the week before I forget. Either way, natural daylight is definitely better for taking photos. 

2) Cleaning:: and de-cluttering. It's taken a while to settle on a suitable cleaning method for me. With low energy levels, thanks to underactive thyroid and Ibs complications, I also help a few lovely 80yrs ladies to clean and de-clutter their homes as needed. The last thing that I want to do when I get home, is get the cleaning going. However needs must... I heard a podcast by Gemma Bray, The Organised Mum talking about a lady on her Facebook group, she takes 2 weeks to do 1 week of housework. Phew! I can probably manage that. Having a Goldie means that the Hoover is out everyday anyway.

De-cluttering:: I've been following along with Orjenise on Instagram De-clutter One Hundred items for January. I've still got Jewellery and some magazines to sort through but so far I have de-cluttered 

74 items. I'm taking that as a win, whoo hoo! 

These children books were the last 9 that I had stored in the bottom of my wardrobe, I'm pleased to be rid of them. I started selling Usborne books for about 4 or 5 years, when the boys were small. I then dragged them out a few times a year to sell them at half price, it was a slow painful slog. Mark is relieved not to have to attend sales opportunities with me too. 

3) Cooking:: Baking Sourdough & the menu plan for this week. The Sourdough recipe is from Elaine Boddy's  book She's on instagram and her youtube video's are helpful too. There are lots of experts online but this recipe works, so I'm happy with it. I may try another lady's method on instagram, as she uses some Spelt flour in her recipe and it looks good. I've tried baking sourdough with spelt flour and ended up binning it, as it was very flat.  

Monday - Leftover beef joint, mushrooms, spicy creamy coconut milk with rice

Tuesday - Hunters chicken & chips

Wednesday - Crustless cheese & onion quiche, large mushroom and homemade chips
Thursday - Jacket potato, homemade mackerel pate & salad 

Friday - Fish & chips

Saturday - Roast chicken

Sunday - Leftover chicken, chips & salad

4) Knitting:: Flannel / Washcloth for one of my lady's. I gave her a pink one last year, she loved it so much that she's asked for another. She likes green, so as it's my favourite colour, it went to the top of my craft list. I'm also knitting her a shawl, it should've been her Christmas present, oops! Christmas is always hectic and thankfully she wasn't expecting it anyway. 
Before Christmas I was getting up early and taking 20 minutes or so to sit quietly knitting. Nadine Medina Podcast 'Knit Your Stress Away for Beginners (The Knitting Mamas) is on Spotify. It was her idea to carve out some time at the beginning of the day to knit. I need to go to bed earlier and start this 'early habit' again, it's very relaxing.

5) Reading:: Picked up my library books... there was more in the stack but I've decided to return them to the library for another time. The top book is my own book, given to me by a lady at Knit & Natter. I've just finished it, so another for the de-clutter bag. It's part of a series of books I may look out for the others one day. It was a slow gentle read with a dramatic flood, the storyline inspired by the Boscombe flood years ago.
The Agatha Christie Challenge... I've decided to give that a miss this year. I'm keeping the AC The 13 Problems as it sounded interesting. I have a shelf and a half of books on the bookcase that need reading and de-cluttering. That is a far better challenge for me this year. There are 2 non-fiction books to dip into as well but I've not included those here. 
There will be a book for the February book club to add to the pile, it's Verity by Colleen Hoover. 

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How about you, what are you reading or making at the moment? 
Take care and do join me for Five on Friday if you can. 

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Food:: Five on Friday

Hello there, how are you? Last night I sat reading a book, it had several references to food in it. That made me feel hungry. I often feel like eating or drinking all the food mentioned in novels. From crusty bread and oozing ripe brie to Dubonet or Red Bush tea. Sometimes the mentions are dreadful eg Dubonet... never again, other times I'm loving it all. 
How about you, do you want to eat & drink all the things in novels? 

On today's 'Five on Friday' I'm showing you 5 foodie things that have happened recently. Please feel free to join me and link your 'Five on Friday' blog post below. Other's can then visit your blog to read your Five on Friday. It doesn't have to be food related. 

1) Cinnamon Rolls:: For Christmas morning. I made some egg free ones for Christmas 2023 instead of the usual Brioche Rolls from Aldi. Since making Sourdough Bread, I purchased this cookbook to have a go at other things besides bread and pizza. For Christmas 2024 I had a go at these ones, they were a definite hit.  

2) Cheese Scones:: Recipe from the Be-Ro cookbook. I often make these to go with soup, they are delicious buttered. Basically rolled out into a large circle and divided before baking. 

 3) Gluten Free Lemon Shortbread:: I'm used to baking gluten free cakes and biscuits now, though I do eat gluten wheat products. They are less sticky, though modern recipes call for Xanthan gum to be added. This recipe is free of any gums thankfully. Personally I wouldn't want to eat it with any 'Ultra Processed Food' items in it anyway. It is of course more crumbly as it last the gluten to bind it together but I like it. 

4) A cross between recipe:: ha ha, this was an experiment to use up the last of the leftover turkey. It's basically a meatloaf, combining two recipes. The first recipe combines 'Bang Bang Chicken' by 'A Little Bit Yummy' (low fodmap and suitable for IBS), with Coronation Chicken. It was delicious, however if I baked it again, I'd add another egg to help it bind better. I only used 1 egg.

                                      

5) Christmas meal:: With Mark and Johnny. We're sat with Zoe, the church cleaner and my lovely friend Ann and her good friend Pete. We had a lovely time eating our Christmas Carvery, chatting and pulling crackers with those dreadful jokes. After the meal, we looked around the Garden Centre and purchased some last minute Christmas gifts. 

And that's a wrap for today, all food related today. I hope I've not made you too hungry! 

In other news, I've been knitting more on the shawl that is to be a gift. Also a flannel/washcloth for the same lady. I'd given her a flannel (pink) that I'd made a while ago, she loved it so much that she's asked for another. This flannel will be green as she likes green... apart from her leather 3 piece suite, there's nothing around her house to show that she likes green, so I was surprised. 
I love green a lot and buy lots of green things, from Denby China Crockery to my phone case, some clothes, kitchen cupboard doors etc. My last 2 cars have been green but that's more luck than management! 

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From the photo gallery - ing

Hello there, How are you all, thank you for your comments on my last post, it's good to hear from you. 
I've not taken any photos this week except for a few on my phone. Whilst browsing the phone gallery, I saw a few projects that were posted on Instagram. I thought it'd be nice to see them here. 

Looking: a photo of  Angus aged 4 years old, taken last year. He's staring into my eyes, so it must be biscuit time. We've since had a stove fire put in which is lovely and warm. It's great for drying washing overnight and warming sleeping dogs.

Decluttering: This week I've cleared out the food cupboards, I blame the supermarkets stock issues. Most of my shopping is done at Aldi with the poultry shop, butchers and a few other shops in town for the rest. When items have gone out of stock, they've been unavailable for so long. Sometimes items came back in store but quickly sold out again. Eventually the items have filled the shelves but it caused me to grab 3 or 4 instead of 1 or 2. I struggled to find things in the food cupboard or things would fall out into Angus' water bowl. Now the cupboards have less in, I can find things again. I took these 2 bags to the outreach in town, they'll be divided up into food parcels.  

Reading: I've finished a library book, yay! 1 down 9 more to go I think. One is a library ebook - Mercy by Jodi Picoult, that's my next read. The Word is Murder is first in a 4 part series, it was a good story with lots of revelations. I'm going to read the others eventually but not yet! Too many books in the pile just now. 

Looking: this way and that, never at me long enough to snap a picture. I often pass the horses when walking Angus. 

Crocheting: The Willow Square, pattern in this book and first seen on Mitzi's blog. I've got 4 or 5 more matching cotton yarn balls in modern colours. I've always admired this pattern square and wanted to try it. The square will languish in my craft store for now, whilst I complete other projects. 

2) One Skein Scarf pattern on Ravelry, it's crocheted in one thread yellow bamboo yarn and one thread WYS Marie Curie daffodil yarn - bought online with a required donation.  

3) Crocheted Twirley from the church ladies craft night last year. There are some patterns on youtube, easy to do - putting extra stitches in the next rows, the row is pulled round into a twirl. 

                                                                                                               

Knitting: A Katia sparkly shawl, all finished. It took a while to sort out the pattern, it's from a chart with a few sentences and nothing more. An ebook finish from the library, another of Rebecca Tope's Cotswold series. Thea Osbourne is a widow who takes up housesitting to ease her loneliness at home. She takes her trusty spaniel Hepzie to all her different commissions. Bizarrely, somebody always dies in mysterious circumstances on the house sits. Developing relationships in the series makes reading the books in order best.

2) I couldn't get on with this library book, I love Miss Marple, have even knitted 3 Miss Marple scarves, but I'm not a lover of short stories. I read a few and flicked through the rest on a speed read. This blue yarn scarf was a present for my Great Aunt's Christmas present. 

Waiting: Knitting socks in WYS blue lagoon 4 ply yarn. The pattern is another of Winwick Mum's Supersocks.  These are languishing in a craft bag at the moment. I finished Debbie Macomber's The Christmas Spirit book at Christmas time. A job swap to change characters. 

2) Another project waiting in the craft bag, this is another chunky knit cardigan. I knitted a red one a few years ago in James Brett Marble yarn. This one is the same yarn in a different colour blend. I think this will be the last chunky knit I make, as I prefer DK yarn. 

Chipping: I'm going to adopt a top tip I read from Christina's blog recently... consistent 30 minutes a day to chip away at finishing projects. 

                                               

Cooking: Dinner last month, a basic layered dish that I saw on Instagram. Fry to soften your chosen ingredients such as mince to brown, onion/garlic/carrots/celery/pepper, tom puree and tin chopped tomatoes, season and add beans and pulses if wanted or sweetcorn. Cook for around 20 minutes in the pan, then place half in a greased oven dish, take 3x tortilla wraps and spread Ricotta Cheese on them. Lay the first one cheese side down on top of the cooked mince mixture. Layer up with mince mixture and repeat with wraps, the last wrap cheese side up. Top it with grated cheese and bake for 30 - 40 mins at 180'c. 
It's like a lasagne without all the sauce and pasta, very tasty.
You could make this up as a chilli and it will still taste great. I will definitely make this again.  

Thank you for stopping by, do leave a comment. 
Have you any projects languishing in craft bags? 
Ttfn
Cathy x