Pear Crumble and Ice Cream

Remember a few posts ago I mentioned that I'd got a free sample of Angel Delight ice cream mix? I made it and it's nice! The mix is just vanilla flavour, but I grated some milk chocolate into it and you can put just about anything in.

I got given a large tray of apples and pears from my dad's garden when I arrived back at uni, so for the last two days I've been stewing fruit and freezing it in various quantities and mixtures.

I made all of this! Except the bowl

After my Sunday lunch today (which was very successful - it's the first time I've part-boiled the potatoes before roasting them and it was definitely worth the extra time and effort) I made pear crumble and had some with the ice cream. Delicious.

Back at University

Well, I'm moved in and (mostly) unpacked. I've discovered I've left a few kitchen items at home - my washing up bowl and the whisks for my hand mixer are the biggest problem but I can cope until I get them. And I've cooked my first back-to-uni meal, using some of the spices from my brand new spice rack.

This was a present from my brother - the most delicious present ever!

Potato and Courgette Pancakes

This year has been a good one for courgettes, and I've been looking for recipes which use them. I'm not really a fan of stuffed marrow and although I have tried roasting and frying, both those methods produce more of a side dish than a main meal.

However, I get the Everyday Cheapskate newsletter from Mary Hunt's Debt-Proof Living and every week it features a selection of recipes. One week the theme was courgettes, and I scribbled down a couple of recipes.

A delicious way to eat your vegetables

Tomato Sauce From Scratch

We've got a bumper crop of tomatoes this year (also a bumper crop of courgettes - more on that later) so I decided it was time to bite the bullet and try making some tomato sauce from scratch.

It was surprisingly easy! I had found a recipe from somewhere, although as usual I couldn't tell you where that was, and it only involved five ingredients. I'm a big fan of recipes where I can count the ingredients with one hand.

These were not the actual vegetables used, but a representative sample

Two Delicious Things

Not just one, but two delicious updates today! A successful recipe attempt, which I have to admit is unusual, and an exciting free sample of Angel Delight ice cream mix which arrived through the post whilst I was away.

How to Avoid Soggy Crumble

Fruit crumble is a regular feature in our household - we make one every Sunday and it generally lasts for a couple of days during the week as well. The fruit content will depend on what is in season from the orchard, or what we've got an abundance of in the freezer, but my favourite is probably apple/pear with strawberry.

One problem with crumble is that the juice in the fruit can bubble up and spill over whilst cooking. Although this makes a delicious chewy fruity layer on top of the crumble, it also makes the entire topping go soggy and lose its bite, which to me is the best part of any crumble. If the whole thing is soggy, it might as well just be stewed fruit.

So to get around this difficulty, my mum had a moment of inspiration. Now, whenever she makes fruit crumble she sprinkles a thin layer of oats on top of the fruit before adding the crumble topping. The oats soak up the excess juice and are barely perceptible when eaten. No more soggy crumble, but the fruit juice isn't wasted either!

Easy Cheesy Lentils

I'm back from a summer of varied and disparate activities, and I come bearing food inspiration! To ease myself back into the habit of blogging, I'll start with a very simple but completely amazing side dish. My younger brother, who has been known to have some rather conservative food tastes in the past, raves about this recipe and I have to agree with him.