binkyboots

mmm... ribs (where's the drool emoticon? lol) if I didn't have chicken roasting for a pie I'd definately get going on the ribs! might not be able to eat solid food these days but gravies/sauces are definately the cook's perk around here! I made a pugliese (inspired by your bread baking adventures) it came out very nice, strongly flavoured, I used an italian chestnut honey, good though.. I've also been experimenting with very basic sourdough bread, so far so good, the results may not be consistently beautifull but they do tatste good. basic white breads are much more what I do regularily, split tin or cottage loaves usually, and challah or kolach for my sister. the durum wheat bread looks lovely, I like a crispy, crackly crust and I find the durum lends the loaf some sweetness.

after following your baking blog with interest I'm looking forward to this! your casserole is gorgeous, I'd be tempted to do beef in guiness (but that's just me, anything with guiness is good) and make a beef pie from it... flaky puff pastry, tender beef and dark, thick gravy edited for spelling.

mmm... torta della nonna ^_^ I recently saw a chestnut topped tart, just trying to think of where, if it comes to me I can pm you the recipe, chestnuts = bliss

so far, fascinating and very helpfull... my husband has cerebral palsy, chronic leg pain and epilepsy (uncontrolled), when he was younger his epilepsy was controlled well and he qualified as a chef and worked for a guesthouse, his epilepsy returned and his confidence took a beating and he seldom ventures into the kitchen now, I'm hoping that this course might help him realise there's a lot he can do! for myself, I had a vertically banded gastroplasty last year and am on a permanent pureed diet, weetabix morning, noon and night (unless I get all crazy and have a protien shake) so ideas for smooth textured (but flavourfull, I'm so sick of bland food) foods are always more than welcome!

strawberries raspberries blaeberries brambles tayberries elderberries (yeah yeah, I really like soft fruit!) crab apples and rosehips for jellies and syrup new potatoes peaches, though we rarely see a good ripe one in edinburgh apricots tomatoes seville oranges (marmalade time!) the smell of christmas cake being mixed, mincemeat too.. my rumtopf being opened in the autumn

28! sounds like a party ^_~ we have a fair few scattered around here, but some of the wardens didn't like the idea of homemade food (because I'm clearly on a mission to poison the elderly with cherry scones) as of today though I have a new baking excuse, oh yes, I have booked a baked goods stall at a market in a fortnight! lol, I'm begging for hints and tips in another thread (didn't want to go ot in this one, lol)

mmm... I can smell tomatoes reading this, you know, wet earth & warm tomato(the best smell after cinnamon buns!) are they hard to grow, I keep reading books that describe growing your own and feel enthused and ready to try, head for my garden centre and get confused and scared by the variety and run away, lol. recipe wise I like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's tomato sauce/chutney recipes in his river cottage cookbook.

hehe, my excuse? I bake and give the results to the old people's home nearby, they have afternoon tea and like a slice of homemade cake/tea loaf/scone to go with it ^_^ I also bake when I lack an excuse, baking therapy?

intersting questions... hmm, we're a family of four adults (one who can't eat solid food, purees only) and a five year old girl, she's my niece, my sister lives with myself, my husband and our mum. 1. In your family, do you cook dinner every single day of the week from scratch, or is there one or two days set aside each week during which time you prepare food in advance for the week? If you prepare things from scratch, are you able to prep some things in advance? I cook dinner every night, most nights from scratch (I dislike the amount of extras and chemicals in prepacked foods) though if I'm off colour or short on time I sometimes resort to ready made pizza/pasta dishes. also I often make dishes that can either be eaten two nights running or a portion can be frozen for a speedy dinner in the future. in the morning when I'm home alone I prep the ingrediants and sometimes (if it's something that reheats well) cook dinner. I can't eat solids so I'm easy, I usually have soup or weetabix type cereal. sometimes I just have a protien shake (milk, pb, bannas & honey = yum) 2. In your family, who determines what to have for dinner? How frequently does this happen? To what extent are likes and dislikes taken into account when planning a menu? Will you go out of your way to accomodate food preferences such as vegetarianism? fortunately we share many likes and dislikes, no celery, ever, eww.... my sister diesn't like cinnamon which can make baking/pudding hard work (who doesn't like cinnamon x_x) we eat 80% vegetarian meals, my husband would revolt if we had no meat. if a recipe includes an ingrediant that is easily picked out (chickpeas in a tangine for instance) I just make it, anyone who doesn't like will have to pick around them. of course I don't plan menus that I know people wont like, it woiuld be a waste of time and money, lol. 3. Do you have a set repertoire from which to draw your meal ideas from? Do you routinely explore new things and ideas to expand your dinner repertoire? When you go food shopping, are you a coupon clipper or are you an impulse buyer? Do you shop for food once a week, or do you shop for ingredients as you need them? I get my recipes from my cookbook library.. right now mum and sister are dieting so I'm mainly cooking from my low cal cookbooks (though I find a lot of the dishes are unimaghinative and often add some spice) I have a serious cooking magazine addiction, so once a month I treat myself to the new issues and make a point of cooking a few things from them over the next month. mum and I (and anyone else who wants to be involved) get together once a week to talk over the menu for the next week and make a shopping list, I do try to clip coupons and take advantage of offers/loss leaders, but only when I can really use them. usually I need to pick up extra milk/veg oart way through the week. 4. What gets discussed at the dinner table? Are there any topics that are considered off limits? we have family news time, sometimes we just eat quietly, generally we dont talk about big worries/family problems at dinner, just because it doesn't make for a settled feeling, we try to give natasha as much of a feeling of stability as we can. 5. Do you have a set dinner hour, or does it vary from evening to evening? When your family has dinner, does everyone join in at the table, or will some have dinner elsewhere in your home? How often are kids (or relatives, or neighbors) over to have dinner at your home? How often do you have guests (nonfamily/nonfamiliar) over for dinner? How often do you have dinner parties? Do you like to entertain? When you entertain, do you involve your children or not? we have dinner around 6-7:30 most night with a couple of later nights when teresa (my sister) works. when we eat we all eat together, at the dinner table, mike (my husband) is often to sick to eat so he might stay in bed or in the livingroom watching tv. I eat my weetabix with everyone else, unless my stomach's feeling rough in which case I just have a glass of water. we rarely have guests for dinner, occasionaly a friend and her daughter come over to visit, but it's very informal, they just have whatever's on the table... 6. How often do you introduce new food to your kids? Do you disguise it in such a way as to make it appealing, or are you pretty blatant about it? Are you a stickler for trying things out, or do you usually let things slide? I don't have kids, but natasha cooks with me and has done for a year or so now, she's very good and open to trying new things (even if they look a bit odd!) she trys everything once and as she isn't a picky eater I believe her if she says she doesn't like it, she's as likely to not like the pudding as her main course so I have no reason to suspect her of lying/being fussy. she likes haggis, though she's not too clear on what it's made of yet. if she doesn't like her main course she's encouraged to eat the bits she does like, sometimes with an extra slice of bread to bulk it out. 7. If you have any dinner table traditions in your family not covered above or elsewhere, we'd love to hear them. we have a candle on the table, it's lit before everyone comes in and stays lit until we're all ready to leave the table.

ooh... cookware finds, how I love them! some of my (recent) best, from carboots and charity shops... kenwood stand mixer, 1970's brown/orange version, about $35 sunbeam mixmaster stand mixer (with mincer, juicer and a bunch of other stuff) $7 lots of brown bag cookie art/pampered chef cookie molds, including a lovely square shortbread mold with flowers/fruit around $4 each a mixed bag of silver plated cutlery inc two sets of shell spoons and servers $4 a canteen of cutlery (various mismatched bits) $3 a really cool old spoon with embossed fruits on the bowl and twirly cake tester $.75 silver plated biscuit server with twirly handle $.40 3d mickie mouse cake tin, like the lamb cake tins (which I'm desperately searching for, anyone know a source in the uk?) lol, not sure about this, it may be a good thing or just more trouble than it's worth for a 3d mouse! $.90 I have a serious thing for old cutlery.... just love sitting polishing it, no, you're right, I don't get out a lot, lol

cauliflower crisps!

wow... just wow having read this thread and the recipe several times I finally made it tonight, just the basic recipe, it's amazing, and that's coming from someone who turned her mother's hair grey over my refusals to eat veg! it got all brown and scrunchy round the edges, as with most foods the bcb (burned crispy bits) were the best!

</ delurks> hiya, I've been watching (and admiring) all the baking here but have held back from joining in because I don't have bwj, but I figured I might as well have a go.... anyhow, from a couple of weeks ago here's my attempt at challah.. the braiding wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, though it was only three strands I'm up for an Easter themed thing next weekend, though I'd have to find a recipe for whatever it is online, lol, my cookbook fund is at low ebb (though my birthday is coming up, lol)

for tommorow I'm making a palm sunday fig cake from an old farmhouse cookbook I found in a charity shop... for easter, simnel cake with pistachio marzipan, cherry/almond cake, and a pie for easter monday. oh, and hot cross buns!

last night: quiche lorainne salad garlic bread tonight: split pea and onion soup cheese and onion bread some sort of pudding, still undecided

last night: roast tomato tart (still working on that pastry resolution!) big salad with basil etc tonight: homemade pizza on a honey wholewheat base salad fruit soup with sour cream

tonight: lentil soup (cooked with smoked ham ribs) tomato scones lol, plain stuff.. I feel like I shouldn't post my decidedly boring dinners... but hey, I'm catering for 6, it has to be easy, cheapish, tasty and acceptable to a five year old who won't touch spicey food and a 39 year old with a hatred of cinnamon

tonight: spiced red cabbage with apples and red wine bratwurst boiled potatoes cheesecake (plain but served with bramble puree) last night: pork chops barbecue beans (sort of o_0 apples, molasses, pinto beans....coke)

tonight: cold roast chicken leftovers salad with walnuts and apple chunks homemade wholemeal bread yesterday: onion soup toast with gouda cheese

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? we lived in the scottish borders then in edinburgh. scottish, very scottish, we had mince 'n tatties, mince 'n doughballs, spagetti bolognese (mum had slightly more adventurous tastebuds, but had to cater to dad's very definate ideas about food) roast beef/pork/chicken once a week, soups (especially potatos soup, golden or white) stews, sausages 'n tatties, haggis occasionaly as a treat. Was meal time important? sometimes we ate together, we did try to, mum and dad fostered disturbed teens and felt that having family meals helped them feel more stable/settled with us. Was cooking important? not as important as it is to me, though meals were simple but delicious. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? good table manners were encouraged from an early age, elbows weren't an issue, however if you started talking on a subject my mum considered rude she'd hiss "eskimo" at you o_0 Who cooked in the family? mum, always. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? only for funerals and weddings. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? at bigger family gatherings, yep, just because of the volume of kids. When did you get that first sip of wine? wine, hmm.. can't remember, about 8/9 I would think. Was there a pre-meal prayer? we said grace when I was little, but dad wasn't religious and didn't let it continue long. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? nope, though there were favourites that cropped up more often than others, mince 'n doughballs for instance. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? some? a little, I cook with an emphasis on fresh veg, organic where possible, grains, pulses... we (that is my mum, husband and I) live together, my sister and niece frequently join us for meals and we eat together at the table every night. I do all the cooking, bake our bread, shop, prepare etc... mum usually does the washing up. we say grace at dinner time. we had very few traditions as I grew up, and I feelk the lack of them even now, I always wished as a child that I had been Jewish, or had come from any culture with strong traditions. I'm starting to work on creating our own traditions, we have a cold christmas breakfast, yoghurt, fruit (dried and fresh) cheese, a fruit soup, cold cuts and a sweet bread (a brioche type topped with pearl sugar) in the afternoon we have soup and bread and a light pudding/cake (not a fruit cake)

well trancribed from my diary here are my 2004 kitchen goals... 1, become better at working with pastry, bake more tarts/pies 2, bake 95% of the bread we eat at home 3, more veg, more learning about veggies. 4, find a baking course at my local college so far so good since new year I've baked five tarts (two lemon/almond, one lemon meringue, one apple, one custard) I've only bought two bread products, I'm baking almost all our bread at home now. soup, more variety, more salads, roasted veg... I'm definately starting to work on resolution #3 *sigh* have not as yet found a course I want to do...

tonight's dinner... spinach, garlic and potato soup herb salad leftover bread (one honey wheat & the left over feta walnut - need to clear the bread bin for tommorow's baking) and pudding (hehe, weekend treat!) home made lemon meringue pie.

following suit, my first post here too! last night was salad (romaine, walnut, pear mostly with a little spinach), cypriot bread (well, fiddled with) feta and walnut instead of feta/olive & chicken thighs (just plain, cooked with garlic/lemon/olive oil)