Quilting
I recently went to a biannual quilting exhibition. A local group exhibit their work and my goodness, they are so skilled! I loved this one with the clever placement of the colours.
They always have a competition for their members, and this time, it was a business card. SO minute and clever. My favourite was the daisy head one.
And I really liked this one too.
The Olympics
Are you watching the Olympics? I was happily watching the tennis mens final when it was suddenly switched to gymnastics and I couldn't find the tennis anywhere. Not happy!
I've watched simply masses of sport recently. Wimbledon, then the Olympics. I've loved it and have watched stuff I would not have chosen to see. Things like BMX and skateboard, shooting and sailing.
There has been a lot of channel switching whilst watching something. I'll be watching something on BBC1, and told to turn over to BBC2 because they are going over to a different event. And then 20 minutes later, it might go back to BBC1 again. Must be difficult if you're trying to record an event whilst you're at work!
When I was working in an office, we had a gym in the basement, with a coach, and I did a lot of ergonomic rowing and even took part in competition at one point and was 2nd in the UK in my age group - a proud moment. So I like to watch the rowing events. So many people to cheer for!
Still, the lack of ability to watch the tennis made me get out to the kitchen and do the washing up while I pouted.
Then I got the menu planner out and started working out what I'd be cooking next week.
I'll be using up a head of broccoli, probably making some fritters.
Got some n'duja in an Italian deli which my husband likes, and need to use that somehow
And I've just been out in the garden and picked LOADS of tomatoes and the runner beans have started to produce. I'm thinking I might confit the tomatoes as I quite fancy a deli platter one day this week. Got a couple of artichoke hearts from the deli to use, and some olives I've had a while so just need some bread to have with it. Maybe I'll make a focaccia, Mike loves those.
Birthday Celebrations
It was my birthday this week, a rather unbelievable high number, scary how quickly time goes.
My husband asked me a few times what I would like but I had no idea, we both tend to buy what we want, when we want it. I had recently bought myself some new, expensive, tech, so I wasn't really expecting anything, which I don't mind at all. But he did really well. He got me a lovely glass thing, I love glass, with a battery 'candle' tom illuminate it from behind. It's really pretty. I think it was partly to replace a piece that got broken recently.
And a cookery book, one which I hadn't got, which is pretty miraculous seeing how many I buy myself!
On the actual day, Mike and I went to a lovely French brasserie in Tunbridge Wells. Their food is always wonderful and I got a free pudding as it was my birthday. Lovely! I had chicken liver pate to start, then a really good chicken salad for mains with a beautiful dressing. And that free pudding was a choux pastry filled with pastichio cream and dried raspberry shards. They also do a really good decaf coffee.
The pudding came with a chocolate sauce which I had to explain I couldn't have as it gives me a migraine. The waitress said that the pistachio cream had white chocolate in it, which was helpful of her, but I don't think she thought I was being quite straight with her when I said that was fine it was the cocoa that I can't tolerate. Not all chocolate is the same!
Then I was allowed to go into Waterstones which is my happy place. I buy a lot of books, not usually at book shops admittedly. It's more likely to be charity shops, swapsies with friends or one of the online second hand sellers.
Our u3a Treasurer has a family member that works in publishing and gets huge amounts of proof copy books which can't be sold or donated to charity shops. So she brings big carrier bags of them to our monthly meetings and I get a lot of interesting stuff from there, read it and take it back again for someone else to read.
So new new books from a book shop is a big treat and I indulged in a mere six of them !
After that, there was a little visit to an Italian deli. Mike loves their home made tiramisu and gets a double portion of it for himself. I got the n'duja and 4 beautiful artichoke hearts.
On Saturday, a family party of seven went to the Red Lion at Brede to be treated to lunch. I had a sharing platter of seafood, which I had to myself, but two people had some of it as well as their own mains. And I took the leftovers home and enjoyed them for lunch today. It was beautiful!
And another pudding, a raspberry cheesecake. I do love a cheesecake. No more puddings for a while now. Don't want to get back into that habit.
I missed my late daughter at these celebrations. I talk to her sometimes on her Facebook page. Usually ends up with me being tearful, and I'm currently feeling really guilty about all the things I could have done better and things I wish I hadn't done at all. It's quite painful. All part of the process :/
So, to some recipes
Savoury Baked Oats
I love baked oats and have made many a different variation of a baked oats recipe. Having tried a dozen or so sweet versions, I began to wonder about savoury baked oats. A bit of Googling later and I realised that it wasn’t really a big thing. However, I was convinced they would taste good and determined to try them, and I really loved them!
Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding
Easily made vegan as there are no eggs, this delicious old fashioned pudding really hits the chocolate spot for my husband!
A rich and delicious chocolate sponge and a gooey sauce underneath. I make this for Mike now and again as he loves chocolate.
Deli Platter
A deli platter, just like in a fancy pub ;). I'll be doing something similar this week with various bits and pieces.
Chickpea and Mango Curry
This lovely curry came about when I had some large tins of mango to use up. A successful experiment!
I published an ebook for meal plan 1 in August 2021 and am delighted that many people have thought it was worth getting. I repriced it again in June 2022 and it was still holding on, even in these scary times. Now we are in September and prices have shifted again and I've managed to get my head around WooCommerce so I can feature it on the blog and you can find it here.
I was busy recooking, photographing and updating the recipes for Meal Plan 2 and putting them into an ebook as well. The meal plan was first written in 2013 and still prices up, which is fabulous and that is finally complete. The book is done now too, prices seem to be stable enough to do it.
I've finally completed the e-book from the Stretch A Chicken To Last A Week series. Took me absolutely ages to finish it off!
Do come and say hello on the Fantastically Frugal Food Facebook group, or the Sensational Slimming Sustenance group. I'd love to see you. Lots of useful tips, recipes and ideas. The over 17,000 membership are brilliant, brimming with talent.
And don't forget Thrifty Lesley, where there are 800+ recipes of fantastically frugal food and many weekly meal plans. And Cheap Family Recipes where you can find all kinds of delicious things that don't cost much, with two family monthly meal plans.
I've also got a few YouTube videos up, not many yet, but I'm planning to do more. I've done a couple more, need to edit them now. So much to do, so little time!
With all best wishes, until next time
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