Blog de la Bouffe

The Post-Shopping Blues

Sarah Peyton — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:37:32 +0000

I’ve gone and done it again.

I’ve been food shopping today. The cupboards are chock-a-block with groceries, the fridge is heaving, the freezer will barely shut and I have absolutely no idea what to do for dinner tonight. Happens every time….

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m spoilt for choice or if I just can’t be bothered!

Carrot Cake

Sarah Peyton — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:36:21 +0000

Diddy made carrot cake today….in an attempt to quell the boredom of a rainy day.

We got the recipe from our kids cookery book….The Junior Cook, published by Murdoch Books, an Australian publishers, (ISBN 1 8977 30 49 7). It’s a firm favourite, with simple, easy to follow recipes, it’s ring-bound, enabling the book to stand up on the worktop, with no need to turn the pages with sticky fingers, step-by-step instructions and colourful illustrations and photos.

Unfortunately, we had no marzipan to make little carrots, so she sprinkled it with ball-bearings and pink sprinkles.

Result: an entertained and very chuffed girl and a tin full of yummy cake!

Squishy Flapjacks

Sarah Peyton — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:36:30 +0000

I made squishy flapjacks yesterday….something to keep the troops happy!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

80g brown sugar

60g butter

40g margarine

250g porridge oats

Salt..pinch

Banana….mashed

2tbs Golden Syrup

Method

Melt butter and margarine gently in a saucepan.
Add the sugar and golden syrup and stir well.
Mix in the oats, adding gradually, covering well.
Add a pinch of salt
Stir in the mashed banana until fully mixed.
Spread the mixture evenly over a non-stick baking tin.
Place into a pre-heated oven gas mark 5 and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes and then score with a knife into portions.
Cover the tray and leave for a few hours before removing the flapjacks.

Lovely with a cuppa on a rainy day!

Tinned Tomatoes Are Flying Off The Shelves

Sarah Peyton — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:19:24 +0000

In this post a few days ago, I mentioned that families may be resorting to eating and cooking more frugally with the Credit Crunch in full swing.

Seems I spoke too soon, according to this article, in The Telegraph today. There has been a run on tinned tomatoes in the supermarkets, as people cut down on their food bills by making their own meals and not relying on ready-meals.

Spag bol anyone?

Le Bourru est arrivé

Sarah Peyton — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:28:27 +0000

I had my weekly French class yesterday and with it being the vendange at the moment, most of our discussion centered on the burgeoning grape harvest and the wine industry.

We talked about ‘le bourru’, which is a drink to be found in all supermarkets at this time of year, in vast quantities and with much excitement, akin to Beaujolais Nouveau. It is a plain-Jane of wines, in basic bottles or lowly plastic cartons and very, very cheap. I have often wondered about it, so asked lots of questions. When would it be drunk? In what sort of quantity? With what sort of food?

It is the first drawings from a barrel of fermenting grape juice, so not yet wine. It is of low alcoholic content, fizzy, sweet and can be drunk as an aperitive, as wine, or like cider. Traditionally it is drunk with chestnuts, as the flavours ‘marry’ well.

So, I got some today….felt obliged to really. I missed it to start with as I was looking in the wine section. But it is stored in the fridges, stopped with a plastic bung with a hole in it to allow the gas to escape. It was white too, which I was surprised at for some reason, I was expecting red. It had all sorts of gunk in the bottom aswell.

We raced off home, with our ticking time-bomb between The Boys knees. I carefully avoided any bumps in the road and opened all the windows to keep the temperature down. I felt like a bank robber with a cargo of nitro-glycerine. Placed it in the fridge very gingerly and opened it before tea as an aperitive.

Didn’t so much as faintly pop when I opened it, which was a huge relief and a vague disappointment, but we drank it with our chestnuts and thoroughly enjoyed it. A bubbly, sweet, unfinished flavour but very enjoyable.

Jam is good for you!

Sarah Peyton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:38:56 +0000

In this article, out yesterday, it is claimed that jam can help to curb the process of cancer.

Apparantly, the pectin found in jam causes the cancer cells to ‘commit suicide’ (apoptosis), thus reducing tumours, up to 40% in some instances.

However, the sugar content is still a cause for concern and it is recommended to stick to the daily allowance of a few dollops a day.

So unless you take the pectin supplement available at health stores, I’m not sure what use it is.

Credit Crunch Cuisine

Sarah Peyton — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:36:29 +0000

Well, it looks as if we’re all feeling the pinch now and the supermarkets have been quick off the mark in responding.

I can’t imagine getting by on £32.68 a week as has been suggested by Sainsbury and their ‘Value range’….if it is possible, it makes me wonder what on Earth I’ve been doing wrong all this time!

Maybe next time I go shopping, I’ll limit myself to the equivalent in euros and see how far through the week we get before I’m Old Mother Hubbard.

Will be interesting to see if our eating habits become healthier as our purses get lighter….I remember reading once that the nation was at it’s healthiest during the rationing years. I, for one, hope it doesn’t get to that! It’s bad enough hearing Grandad reminisce about it, let alone do it!

Name That Veg….

Sarah Peyton — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:11:19 +0000

Can anyone help me to identify the above vegetable?

Even the woman in the shop had to get confirmation from a colleague. She did tell me, in French, but now I’ve gone and forgotten! And I’ve lost the receipt too.

I know it’s from the squash/gourd family, looks like an anaemic pumpkin that got sat on by an elephant, but beyond that, I’m stumped.

And if you have any ideas what I can do with it, I’d be very grateful.

Not sure really why I bought it…..it just looked nice, I suppose!

FuelMyBlog Blog of the Day Award….for Blog de la Bouffe

Sarah Peyton — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:51:29 +0000

Ooh, how exciting!

I just got back from the grind of the weekly shop, put it all away, had lunch, made a cuppa, sat down in front of my PC to check my mail, to find that I have been nominated FuelMyBlog Blog of the Day award!!

What an honour indeed.

Thank you to FMB and Richard at La Vie en Foussais for introducing me to them through his blog.

I have made a new category for the occasion…the Made My Day/Chuffed To Bits category!