Fish pie for the daddy and the husband

Fish pie for tea.

Mr Lardshow is writing today's blog as Mrs Lardshow is feeling very rough. So....all week she has  been telling me that she has never made a fish pie before...so im here to say for a first attempt it was amazing!

We managed to get a fish pie mix from our little supermarket from the reduced section (wasn't even close to it's sell by date so no idea why it was in there) and we chose to make enough mash potato on Sunday to top it off. Now I'd love to tell you all how she made it but it was done while I was at work. I know it involved poaching the fish in milk, turning this milk into a white sauce. Put the fish into a bowl while you make this sauce then pour the sauce over it all. Top this with the potato (grate some parmesan over to taste) and bake for 40 mins at 185 degrees.  This bit I know as it's the bit I did!

Then you sit back and tuck in. Defend the pie at all times from Finn but make sure you save him some at the end!

P. S. Daddy enjoyed his too.

Welsh Lamb Stew With a Soggy Bottom

Greetings readers,

Here in the little white house we like to pretend we're living in 1940 and that we're still on rationing. We scour the supermarket for reduced items and whatever goodies we get our meals are created from.

Today Mr Lardshow found some Welsh diced lamb so instead of soup for his lunches this week he's had stew. As a stroppy, non vegetable eating vegetarian I can't think of anything worse but apparently this is good grub for the husband.

So to the stew...I think I did it right but I was not really sure what I was doing. First of all you sit on your big high chair that your husband has cleaned the cat sick off and put a new cover on without letting it dry (hence the Soggy Bottom). Then you coat the lamb in flour, salt, pepper and a sprinkled up stock cube. Put it in a hot thick bottomed pan with some olive oil. Brown off the lamb until the pan has a nice covering of almost burnt bits. Take out the lamb and add the onion to the pan. As you cook the onion scrape the bits (you do not want to miss out on this flavour apparently). Gradually add whatever vegetables you have starting with the root veg,  these will take longer to cook. Next splosh in some red wine and Worcestershire sauce. Let the alcohol cook off for a bit and then add enough water to cover the veg. Ooh remember to put the lamb back in at this point (I nearly forgot!)

Then put the whole lot in the oven with the lid on and leave to stew away while you go and see your daddy in hospital (this bit isn't compulsory).

Come home, stir and get the husband to taste. Enjoy. Love. Love. xBx

Vegetarian Lasagne

Hmmmmm...I can hear you saying it at the thought of veggie lasagne. I spent most of yesterday saying the same thing.

You see I've been a vegetarian for 22 years and apart from bacon butties I've had no desire to eat meat. I never really liked the taste or texture of meat and I don't really like meat substitutes like tofu or Quorn. However a certain husband to be has had a hankering for lasagne and so yesterday I took the plunge and bought some Quorn mince *shudder*. 

Here's how to make it...

I browned the mince and while it was burning nicely I chopped up a carrot and half an onion into the teeny tiniest pieces imaginable and added these to the mince. Once the onions had softened I popped in a squished up garlic clove and a handful of basil and a tin of tomatoes. 

While the mince mixture was bubbling away I made a white sauce...I did add mustard and a generous handful of cheese to it so it wasn't a true bechemal sauce but it was tastier. ..

Now to the construction.  You put a layer of mince, cheese sauce and lasagne over and over again until you have run out of ingredients.  Try to finish off with a final layer of sauce and a generous sprinkling of veggie parmesan. 

Bake, serve and enjoy xBx     

A kitchen covered in flour

Hello all my loverducks,
Just a quick post. Today is a new day. Start of a new life. That's what Mr Lardshow told me this morning. Yesterday was hopefully the last of the scary days and to celebrate and give me something to do to keep me from crying we made pasta again.
It was much more successful this time! Hurrah!
Fresh homemade pasta literally takes seconds to cook and tastes amazing. Suddenly your supper becomes about the pasta and not the sauce. I can't wait to make it again. Hopefully next time I won't cover the kitchen, the cats and me in flour nor will I drop half the tagliatelli in the cat food! Darn my clumsy hands.
Enjoy the pics.
Love Love xBx

Thank You Biscuits

Just a quick post to show you all the biscuits I made today with the brilliant letter cutters that we got from Portmeirion.

 I think they may be one of my favourite baking gadgets I've ever bought. Such a simple, effective idea. You use the 'open' end of the cutter to cut the basic shape then push the letter imprint into the dough. 

When the biscuits are baked you're left with these fabulous letter shapes that are just begging to be filled with icing. I love the fact that the letters are all different.

I use little squeezy bottles that we got from hobbycraft to do the very precise icing. I start off with the lightest shade and then darken the icing each time i start a new set of letters.

The finished biscuits. I did three different shades of blue this time. I think they look really effective.

So these biscuits are for the ladies at Pain Management. It's the last day of the course tomorrow and I just wanted to say thank you to them for all the amazing things they've taught me. Most importantly they've made me realise that life can go on, you can have a wonderful life with pain. Your life won't be easy but you are entitled to a beautiful life and you can get there with a bit of pacing...They are the best medicine I've ever been prescribed. xBx

Yorkshire Puddings To Die For

You don't get yummier than this...

Hello there my lovelies,
Well it's finally happened, the rain has stopped, the sun is out and I hate it already. I'm already missing my three layered outfits not to mention my knee high socks. The cold will be back soon won't it? Tell me it will, I miss it. It's nearly winter time, it must be!

So To help us all feel that little bit warmer I thought I'd write about one of mine and Mr Lardshow's favourite dishes. The honourable, deliciously proud Yorkshire Pudding. NOM!

Now Mr Lardshow likes to pretend that he is a Northerner, but in truth he's just an East Midlander with a funny accent. When it comes to Northerness I think I have the edge as my Paternal Grandmother was born in York and grew up in Leeds. That's proper Northern that! You don't have to have a little bit of Northern in you to make and enjoy Yorkshire Puddings but I don't think it can hurt, can it!?!

So to the recipe, very simple, nothing fancy, just a few key things and you can have perfect puds every time...

Ingredients

(Makes 4 puddings)

100ml milk,
2 eggs,
70g plain flour,
Pinch of pepper and salt,

I like to make my mixture in a plastic bowl that has a lid. I weigh out the flour and make a well in the middle. Break the eggs into the well and mix in until you have a thick, lump free batter. Then gradually add the milk until you have a thin single cream consistency.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Interestingly, Mr Lardshow's mum says that the heat from the pepper is what gives the pudding a kick and the heat from the kick is what makes it rise and go pop in th'oven.

So once the mixture is made, pop the lid on the box and put it in the fridge until you are ready to cook the yorkies. If I'm super organised I'll make it in the morning, the longer it's had in the fridge the better the puddings seem to turn out.

The puddings take a good 20 - 25 minutes to cook and you can't open the oven door once you've put them in so you need to be organised with your timings. We tend to put them in when we've taken out Mr Lardshow's meat to rest, I put the plates in to warm at the same time as the puds.

I put the tray in the oven to get it warm and then when it's time for baking I take the tray out and put it on top of the hob. I hate gas so we use an electric hob. Turn the hob up to the hottest setting, pour some oil into the pans and very bravely watch until you see smoke coming off the pan. As soon as you see the smoke pour the batter into the pans. The smoke will continue but DO NOT PANIC this is what you want. Once all the batter's in, gently put the puddings into th'oven and leave them. Pour yourself a glass of pretend wine and wait for the sloppy liquid to transform into the most delicious pillows of goldeness.

Enjoy my lovelies...

P.S if anyone has any ideas for me to blog about please let me know, Mummy Dearest has come up with a lovely idea that I'm going to get started on but lots more ideas would be very welcome!

Blueberry and Lime Drizzle Cake

Delicious Drizzle

Hello all,
Still feeling a bit rough here but I'm insisting on carrying on. We've just done cake club and here is the cake I made for it. It's my second attempt at a drizzle cake, my first attempt was a brick, used as a doorstop for a while! This was a much greater success though. The recipe made a huge cake that I have to say is absolutely delicious, thankfully there's loads left so Mr Lardshow will be taking some to work tomorrow. apparently some of his colleagues want to join cake club. Who am I to say no? I used some of the duck eggs we got the other day and they really have made the cake light and fluffy but not too rich.

So the cake is made up of 250g caster sugar, 4 eggs, 250g plain flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, zest of 2 limes, 200g blueberries and 225g butter all those beautiful, magical ingredients that when whizzed up together in the kitchenaid turn into gorgeous goodiness (Yes, I know it's not a word).

As the eggs came from a farm I made sure i gave them a good wash before cracking them open.

I thought they'd crack open really easily but the shells seemed really tough.The yolks were huge and such a glorious sunshine yellow.

So you cream the butter and sugar together and then gradually add these perfect eggs, if the mixture looks like it's about to curdle just add a spoonful of flour and it will come back again. You then need to add the rest of the flour and baking powder ooh and the lime zest. I managed to fill the kitchen with lime zest and covered my pyjamas in it, ooh lemony, sorry limey fresh! Make sure you keep back a spoonful of flour to gently toss the blueberries in. This helps to stop the mixture turning grey and keeps the blueberries whole and not mushy in the mixture.

Line your cake tin on the bottom and the sides and plop the mixture in and then pop the cake in th'oven as Mr Lardshow would say. It's a long cook, I struggle with not opening the door all the time to check it's cooked...

While you're waiting for it to bake, get on with the lime drizzle, for this you will need the juice of 2 limes and 100g of icing sugar. Now you should you use a thin skewer to make holes in the top of the cake, however I don't have one so I used a knitting needle...it was clean I promise!

OOH! OOH! TAKE THE CAKE OUT OF THE OVEN!!!!!! 

Sorry, I forgot that part, the cake will take about 50 minutes, you'll know it's done when a fork that you've poked in it comes out clean.

So leave the cake for 5 minutes and then spoon the drizzle into the holes that you've made and leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.

Now make the icing, more limes and icing sugar! 5 tsp of lime juice and 125g of icing sugar. Take the cake out of the tin and plate it up. Drizzle the icing generously over the cake and down the sides if you can. Sprinkle some lime zest over the top. Put the coffee pot on, slice, eat, enjoy. 

Done!

P.S This makes a cake that will last for a good few days under a big glass cloche, a tin went to work with Mr Lardshow for Simon, Marlon and the rest of his work colleagues who are literally wasting away in their office. There's also plenty left for Pain Management Group tomorrow. NOM!

Mash Lollipops

Hello all,

It's been a slow day here, I seemed to sleep through the morning. I say seemed, I did. It's taken me hours to get moving today, I seem to live my life in reverse, I wake up more as the day goes by. Much to Mr Lardshow's annoyance, especially at 11pm!

Anyway, the washing got done and it is out! I know people, out, and it still hasn't rained! Yet...

Tomorrow I'm hoping to find the energy to go back to yoga, I really enjoyed it last week and I really want to get some strength back in my weary, knackeredy body. Then, hopefully, Jill and Sandra from my pain management group are going to come over for some coffee and cake in the afternoon. Can you tell that talk form the dietitian had absolutely no impact on us whatsoever.

We're going to have this;

just out of the oven...

All iced up...I really want a slice...

Almond Tart. Don't tell Mr Lardshow though. He hates almonds. Shame isn't it. We are going to feel duty bound to eat it all up! I really hope they come, we were all talking last week about making links with others in the group and I'd love to find some people to spend time with during the long days.

Dinner tonight is mash, veg and a turkey steak for him...I didn't know you could have turkey steak but apparently so...I haven't really got the energy to make a fancy dinner, I managed to do the mash but that's about as exciting as it's going to get I'm afraid. Would you like to see the mash? here it is...

You just have to have a mash lollipop, it has to be done. How else would one know if it was perfect? Sadly one lollipop turns into seven and then there's hardly any left! 

I'm going to sign off now, there's gravy to be made and mash to be tested. One last pic for you all, this is our lovely, blissful little kitchen. 

The best present my parents ever gave me. 

Thank you xBx 

Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick, Chicken, Lay A Little Egg For Me!

OK I think I need to admit something to the group... *stands up and takes a deep breath* "my name is Beth and I am an egg addict, I need help!"

I fear they want their eggs back!

I am desperate to get some chickens of my own but until then I'm going to have to make do with visiting my fabulously feathered friends at the farm.

Geoff the chicken trying to get in the car with us

Valerie the Bantam

We just happened to pop by the farm as I had gone into 'I've only got 4 eggs left in the house and I might run out' panic mode, I'm the same with milk, you just never know, do you? I got out of the car with my collection of pennies to put in the egg post box and as I looked through the box on the wall to hopefully find some bantam eggs poor Mr Lardshow was trying to prevent a steady stream of chickens from getting into the car!

As we herded the chucks out of the way another car approached, trundling down the lane. The chickens went clucking mad! As the people in the car got out, more and more chickens streamed through a gate. They obviously knew the people in the car!

 

Daddy's home and he's got food!

We asked the farm owners how many chickens they had, they have 'about' 200! can you believe that? But they're not all cooped up in a barn, they're roaming free around the farm, in the fields and outhouses. How wonderful is that? Happy chickens = happy eggs = Happy Betsan!

Happy Eggs

 So the question for all of you out there, hopefully reading this is...Do you think it's possible to have a house chicken? Finn and Berry wouldn't mind would they?

Happy Happy Chucks

I cooked a chicken (but forgot to take any photos)

Good evening my lovely readers,
Well I am cream crackered! It's been a busy couple of days and (don't tell the pain management ladies) I haven't been pacing at all. I've managed quite a few things that I'm really proud of. I drove on my own for the first time in months yesterday, I went to yoga, I did a shop, I went to pain management and today I cooked a whole chicken!

Mr Lardshow's parents have come down for the weekend for the first time so I am in a house full of Lardshows and meat eaters, the cats are in heaven! So after much debate about what to cook for them we decided on a roast chicken. Up to this point I have got away with just cooking pieces of meat but today I bit the bullet (not the chicken) and had a go. After trawling through my cookery books I found a nice simple recipe from the voluptuous Nigella. Mr Lardshow was dispatched to a good butchers and bought a high quality free range chicken. Hopefully the chicken had a happy, clucky life.

The happy chuck was popped in the oven with lemon, potatoes, shallots and a whole bulb of garlic sliced in half with some olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Lots of mathematical doings were done to calculate how long it needed to be in the oven but in the end I opted for going and having a bath and leaving the responsibility of the chicken to Mr Lardshow. As Baldrick sort of used to say 'I had a cunning plan'!

So, by the time I got out of the bath the chicken was done and all we needed to do was put the Yorkshire puddings in, warm through the mash and steam the veggies. Dinner was done! As is now the norm, I spend all of dinnertime staring at people's plates quizzing them on whether the meat is cooked and hoping it tastes ok. Tonight though I had the added bonus of Mr Lardshow senior constantly offering me random bits of chicken to taste for myself...I declined!

Anyway dinner was a success, our bellies are full and we've collapsed onto the sofa to watch the end of the tennis.

It's nearly bedtime now, I'm really tired and I REALLY want to have the energy to go and see the Olympic Flame in Lichfield. I want to be a part of it in my 'Official Team GB' hoodie in spite of the pain. Cross those fingers! Night Night all xBx

Little Candles

Last night I cleared away the bits and bobs that we'd piled high and filled the table room with candles.

I love the way the light has made rays coming out of the holders, like little rays of sun in our rain filled summer.

I'm tired today. I went to pain management this morning from 9:30 til 1:00 but I didn't get home til 2:00. It was really good today but the sessions are so long and it's excruciating sitting on a chair for that long. We had 2 speakers today who had done the course before and had come along to tell us how the course had changed their lives. It's very hard, only 2 weeks in, to imagine how it'll be able to make that much of a difference but I am remaining positive.
The best thing I'm getting out of the course so far is leaving the house and getting to spend time with other people. People like me, who understand why I sit in funny positions with a hot water bottle constantly attached to me! We did exercise today (I know, deep breaths!) and apparently we'll be doing that every week! Every time the course leader said the word 'exercise' I just kept on thinking 'CAKE'. I had a lovely giggle with one of the other girls on the course and it was lovely to feel equal with others.
So no cooking tonight, friends are coming over for curry. Nom! I can feel a nap calling me to bed, I've done too much, i clearly didn't pay any attention to the lecture we had on 'pacing'. I hope you enjoy the candles. xBx

Strawberry Cupcake

I did it, I baked, I jammed, I iced, I plopped a strawberry on the top, I got Mr Lardshow's camera and I had a go at taking some fancy, arty photos, I ate the cake, I rubbed my tummy, I went to sleep. It was good it made me happy.