Thursday date night

We have the Bear’s granny visiting for a few days and took the opportunity to nip out for a quick drink at our local pub after dinner. The Bear was tucked up in bed fast asleep with Gran minding her.

The pub had a nice vibe to it for a Thursday night. Not that I’d know what it is like the rest of the week as I can count with one hand the number of times we’ve been here since the Bear was born. There were estate agents (we recognised one), couples, the Hubby was convinced there was a property mastermind group and solo drinkers perched up at the bar. I even spotted a miniature schnauzer!

It was nice to catch up with the Hubby.

I told him I was feeling nostalgic about Ireland. We visited a few weeks ago and I met up with friends I worked with 20 years ago. I’m also reading the second Aisling book as recommended by a friend, it takes me right back to when Dublin was my home. I get very melancholic in the months leading up to Christmas….

It wast a short date, about an hour out and we were right back at home. The Bear none the wiser in her cosy bed.

Homegrown apples

A few years ago, whilst browsing through a gardening catalogue, I fell in love with a patio apple plant and ordered it immediately. Today, for its maiden harvest, I plucked all three apples from the plant.

Aren’t they beautiful?

Slightly tart, I promptly tossed them into a crumble, along with some frozen blueberries.

The crumble went down a treat after Sunday roast. No better way to end a weekend.

Sunday roast

My family does enjoy a good Sunday roast. When we were in Ireland recently, we had the best roast lamb dinner served with tasty sides, including cauliflower in cheese sauce.

There’s absolutely no effort that goes into said cheese sauce. Equal parts of butter and flour to make a roux. Add milk to make a white sauce, followed by grated cheese into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Job done.

The potatoes were boiled until tender then finished off in a pain with some butter, whole clove of garlic, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper.

Everyone enjoyed today’s roast. Especially given that we are making a big effort to eat at home more.

Saturday baking

Parents are a child’s first teachers. I am constantly wrecked with guilt that I am not fulfilling my responsibilities to the Bear in this regard.

We are ardent fans of cooking shows on telly and often hear of how people were inspired by childhood memories of cooking with their mums/nonnas/dads etc. Apart from making memories, I’d like the Bear to know the basics of cooking.

With this is mind, we attempted a simple pound cake recipe with an Asian twist.

Note: Pandan leaves are widely used in Southeast Asian sweet and savoury cooking. For this recipe, I used flavourings from a bottle, bought from an Asian grocer.

Pandan Pound Cake:

Ingredients:

• 225g salted butter (I never use salted)
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp pandas flavouring (it is also green which provides the basis for colour)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius
2. Grease the base and sides of an 8 inch springform baking tin
3. Line the base and sides of the tin with parchment paper
4. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy
5. Add an egg, mix until combined and repeat for the remaining eggs
6. Mix in the pandan flavouring and vanilla extract
7. Add in the flour and gently mix to combine
8. Pour mixture into the baking tin and place in the middle rack of your oven
9. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove cake from the oven and gently stick a toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, leave to cool on a baking rack. Otherwise leave the cake in the oven to cook for a further 5 minutes
10. Once cake is cooled for 10 minutes, gently remove the springform and tin and leave to cool further on the rack before serving

Friday evening

As with most families, we find ourselves rushing from pillar to post during weekdays. This isn’t conducive for stress levels and consequently find ourselves at the end of our tether most days.

Come Friday evenings, I make a conscious effort to have a meal at home, whether it’s a takeaway pizza, fish and chips, or meatballs from the butcher. It’s casual, fun, ketchup on the table with a G&T for the grown-ups and juice for the Bear.

Tonight, after the Bear’s ballet lesson, we sat down to a simple dinner of lamb burgers (with chickpea and apricot, from Waitrose), sliced cheese, salad and sweet potato fries (also from Waitrose). I may have been slightly heavy handed with the Jack Daniels barbecue sauce on my burger patty.

Thumbs up all around.

What is your Friday night dinners like?