Walking in Eastbourne
Mike loves to walk in Eastbourne, along the front usually, and he has a favourite Italian restaurant there, Gianni's.
Mike loves their gelati and always has to have three scoops, no matter how full he already is! Usually Rum & Raisin, Chocolate and Mint Choc Chip.
We also particularly like a flatbread called Cacio e Pepe, topped with mascarpone and Pecorino cheese. I've had one go at it, but I mixed the cheese into the mascarpone and used too much, it tasted like cheese on toast!
So I'll be having another go at that this week. I think I need to spread the mascarpone on the pizza base and just sprinkle a little Pecorino over the top. I'll let you know how it goes.
I've managed to reproduce another of their recipes - Melanzane a Funghetto. Seriously good! I've gone a bit mad on aubergines at the moment and am using them a lot.
Early Christmas
We're having an early Christmas this year, next weekend in fact, as one of the family is very sick.
It seems very strange to be planning a Christmas menu in early October, although I know many people plan things well in advance.
Are you a planner, or do you leave things until December as I normally do?
An Indian Summer
It's so lovely to be walking in warm sunny weather. Having an Indian summer makes the cold and dark winter so much shorter by comparison. I'm really enjoying these late sunny days.
Although the probable reasons for it are not so good.
Swan Lake
Yesterday, we went to a local cinema and saw the Matthew Bourne production of Swan Lake. It was magnificent!
The plot of the ballet revolves around a young crown prince, his distant mother, and his desire for freedom, represented by a swan.
The lead male swan, Will Bozier, was fantastically rude and dirty, very sexy!
The music is superb and has extra resonance for me as when they were little, my girls had a couple of story tapes on cassette. One of them was Sleeping Beauty, and the music played behind the narrative was parts of Swan Lake.
What I've been making in previous Octobers
French Apple Jam
I keep most orange peels (in the freezer) and when I have a few, I simmer them in a little water until they are tender, then blitz them. They are incredibly tasty in all kinds of things. I often have some to flavour yogurt, or porridge, and they make a cake something special too.
I thought a little in the jam would be interesting, just a little, to give an under flavour
And it was! Absolutely delicious! I expected to get a very firm set, but it actually came out a very soft set, which still works fine. The flavour has a delicate citrus undertone which is just what I was after.
I used 2 tsps of cardamom seeds, which I thought seemed like a lot, but gave a subtle flavour. Next time I might use ground cardamom as I’d like to see what it’s like with more of that taste
Gingery Soy Sharp Apples
These are amazing! They are very savoury and although both soy and ginger are robust flavours, the taste of the apples shone through.
Raw Carrot, Apple & Cashew Soup
For the soup, you just put everything in a blender, with about 350ml water and blend until very smooth, adding more water if it needs it. I had a few cashews in the end of a packet, so I tipped that in along with the salt that collects at the botoom of a packet, then topped it up to 50g using a new packet. Because of the salt in the old packet, I didn’t need to add any extra salt at all.
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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