Hello September

I can’t resist making an apple and blackberry pie at this time of year. It’s still warm outside and the berries glisten in the sunshine. How lucky are we to have brambles in our garden! They go perfectly with fresh apples from James mum’s neighbour’s garden (what a mouthful). A whole glut of cooking apples to use and fresh picked blackberries. You really can't beat the smell of crispy pastry and bubbling blueberries straight from the oven. Why does the wait for it to cool down seem so long?

The blackberries were early this year due to the hot weather and whereas the season would normally be just starting, we are using up the last few. We had a long period of no rain, but the garden is looking less parched now after a week of rain. The leaves are still a gorgeous green and aren’t yet showing the signs of autumn. Still a few roses budding and flowers growing. I can’t resist buying sunflowers from the supermarket though. Their beautiful bright colour and big bold faces cheer me up on the rainiest of days.

We managed to get the retro Cabanon tent set up in the garden last night. It took all of two hours to set up. Modern tents are far easier to erect. Once I got the fairy lights in and put up the cute curtains that came with it, it was very sweet indeed. Luke, Alexander and his friend all slept in there last night after enjoying some roasted marshmallows on the fire. James and I preferred the comfort of our own bed. There is something lovely about sitting around a camp fire. I think I might build a permanent firepit for the garden so that we can sit out there more often.

After a fun evening of laughter, a big yummy breakfast is always in order. I made my favourite Jamie Oliver pancakes in the griddle. You can find the recipe here. Separating and whipping the eggs is an added fuss, but its so worth it. 

After a filling breakie, we’ve had a pretty relaxing Saturday afternoon. The boys are playing quietly upstairs and Luke is hunting bugs in the garden. James has been working hard turning our shippon into a habitable fun zone. Still trying to decide how we can round off this fun Saturday with an equally fun evening activity. What are your favourite family weekend activities? Let me know. Have a good one.

Tomato & mascarpone sauce

(sorry about low res image)

Hi everyone. I had a couple requests for the recipe to my Instagram post. Truth be told, I didn't use a recipe. The quickest meat free meal we have in our house is pasta. I really avoid using jar pasta sauce where ever possible, with the exception of pesto. I make all my sauce the same way. The first step is to see what I have got in the fridge. The greenhouse has been so kind to us this summer and with a massive amount of tomatoes coming in daily, I had to pick something to use some of them up. One of my favourites is tomato and mascarpone. I text rich to grab some mascarpone on the way home. So the recipe is as follows.

Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion or two shallots, sliced
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 tbls of olive oil 
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 3 mushrooms or more or none, chopped
• 8-9 tomatoes (small, or cherry), chopped
• 1/2 a tub of mascarpone you can also use plain cream cheese and it's just as nice. 
• broccoli, spinach, green beans (any tasty veg you want really, I used broccoli and spinach as that's what came in the veg box this week)

Method:

Add oil to hot pan and then add onions. Cook until softened but not brown. Add mushrooms and cook until softened. Finally add the garlic and cook until fragrant, slosh in the wine and tomatoes and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. add the mascarpone and your choice of veg and allow to cook until tender. If the sauce is too runny allow to cook longer until desired thickness is achieved. If the sauce is to thin add water (from your cooking pasta). Serve immediately, with hot pasta, gluten free pasta, gnocci, etc.   

That's it. Dead simple and easy for a quick yummy dinner. I had gnocci with mine and cooked separate gluten free pasta for my husband and son (Celiac disease). 

A Couple of Yummy Recipes.

I have been very good eating clean all week, one guilty day of eating half a portion of fish and chips. Which for me is not too bad. I have been for a love long bike ride today in the sun. Mind you the wind was awful. you can follow me on Strava to see my rides and share your own. I thought I would share with you some recipes I love. Have a lovely weekend. 

Quinoa With tomato and spinach:

Ingredients.
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small shallot finely chopped
1/3 cup of Quinoa, rinsed well
1 tablespoon of dry white wine
3/4 cup of vegetable stock
a good handful of baby spinach
6 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon of fresh shaved Parmesan
1/4 of a red bell pepper, cut into small pieces

Method:
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, and red peppers to pan; cook for around a minute. Add quinoa to pan and cook for two minutes stirring constantly. Add wine and cook until liquid is gone. Add broth and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until absorbed. Remove from the heat and stir in the tomato and spinach. Top with Parmesan and serve straight away.

Healthy Satsuma Chicken:

Ingredients.

Marinade-
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
31/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of mirin
1 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar
the juice of three Satsuma's
1 tablespoon of Satsuma rind; cut into thin slivers.

Chicken-
5 chicken thighs
1/4 cup of potato starch
1 table spoon of olive oil
1/2 table spoon of sesame oil
sesame seeds to top (optional)

Method:

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and place into a ziploc bag, add potato starch and shake well to cover. In a bowl mix all the marinade ingredients and stir well. Heat the olive oil in a wok or large pan. Add chicken and cook through 6-10 mins. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Heat the sesame oil in the pan and add the marinade. Cook until it has become a sticky sauce around 3-5 mins add the chicken and cook for a further 3-4 mins. Serve straight away with rice or vegetables serves 5.