A classic fish cake is a winner for weekday suppers in our house. Served with a big dollop of Greek yoghurt and either salad or veggies – my children can’t get enough of them.

I think if I were making them from scratch every time we’d have them far less often but I make a huge batch every few weeks and freeze the majority so they can be whipped out and reheated. When we have salad growing in the garden Milla and Monty will pick and wash the leaves ready for supper while I set the table – exactly the kind of relaxing scene I wish played out every evening.

I’ll often cook the fish and potatoes ahead of time and let them sit in the fridge overnight. Getting all of the elements lined up in advance is essential as once you start dipping there is no way to keep yourself clean!

I use a mix of fish and try to choose sustainable fish (find a list of fish to avoid here) and for this particular batch I used a mix of pollock and trout. There are so many lovely fish available it is well worth stepping away from the comfort zone and choosing something different.

Fish Cakes Recipe

600g of fish

1.2kg of potatoes, boiled (can use a mix of white and sweet potatoes if liked)

1 big bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

For the coating: three bowls filled with plain flour, beaten eggs (about 2) and breadcrumbs respectively.

Oil and a small knob of butter for frying.

• Cook the fish (wrapped in foil for about 15 minutes in an 180°C oven) then flake it using your fingers so you’ll find any bones.
• Mash the potatoes, if you have one a ricer will make swift and fine mash.
• Combine the fish, potatoes and parsley and mix well to combine.
• Shape into patties, nice and fat about the size of a child’s hand (as modelled by Monty in the picture above).
• With each fish cake you are going to coat it first in flour, then in egg and finally in breadcrumbs – I normally do this by rolling them around in the bowls.
• Heat the oil in the pan – it needs to be sizzling hot before you get cooking or the breadcrumbs will just soak it all up. If you’re using it add your knob of butter when the oil is hot.
• Fry the fish cakes on each side until golden.

Makes approx 20 – 24 fat child-sized fish cakes

To re-heat from frozen: pre-heat oven to 180°C. Place frozen fish cakes on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

With thanks to Mr Kat for the pictures.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

After showing you all the terrible mess in our attic and spare room it is only fair I share the progress. Now if wanted to wait until it was finished or even just tidy you’d never get to see it so this is what it looks like right now.

The little velux window faces South over the village which can prove to be a rather distracting view at times.

This is the widest shot I can get with my camera. The room is pitched on three sides and the ceiling isn’t much higher than my head. To the left is Mr Kat’s desk which is actually my Dad’s desk which has followed me around from place to place over the years. To the right is my desk which looks over the bannister and stairway.

I got the desk and chair from eBay. Although you can’t tell in this picture, the desk is quite scratched and is in need of some kind of attention soon.

Aside from the mess and cables I have some faux flowers on my desk. The smaller pot are some fabric pansies in a vintage French honey pot and the larger ones are tulip lights in a Champagne bucket from our wedding.

After some excellent advice from Louise at the British Chiropractic Association event I attended I invested in a monitor so I’m not sat hunched over the laptop – such a difference.

So there you have it, our chilly little attic office. It may not be much but oh my is it good.

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Eating Watercress Soup.

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Covent Garden

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Trafalgar Square.

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Milla and Betsy Sharing a nap on the sofa.

That’s where I feel I am right now, buried under a mountain of work. In the last couple of weeks I’ve had to undertake some training and attend meetings in the evenings and losing that little bit of time has been tricky to manage.

I thought I’d been smart in scheduling some recipes for last week yet something went wrong with Friday’s Seville Orange Marmalade recipe and it’s going to need re-writing this week.

So while I surf through the post-festive surge of work, I hope you’ll forgive me for being a little quiet here this week. I think it is an end of January funk kind of week and like last year I’ll be sharing some pictures while I work my way through the to do list.

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A most lovable pickle.

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About half way through cooking our goose I decided I was going to create something other than the plain cranberry sauce I had planned. Ordinarily we’re so busy so a long lazy day of cooking is the perfect time to try something different.

I took a look around for a few flavours I thought would go with the meat and season and come up with a fruity combination of rhubarb, cranberry and satsuma. Luckily for me this is a marvellous combination which produces a sharp, sweet and delicious sauce.

Cranberry and Rhubarb Sauce

400g (a punnet) of cranberries

454g rhubarb, chopped

200g caster sugar

1 small satsuma, squeezed

120ml water

• Put all of the ingredients together in a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the mixture to a simmer.
• Simmer gently for an hour stirring from time to time.
• The rhubarb should break up and the cranberries should pop.

Can be served warm or cold.

Makes enough for a feast and lots to go with leftovers.

To save either store in the fridge in an airtight container for a couple of weeks or pour into sterilised jars when hot and seal to keep for longer.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

That photo is for everyone who has ever sent me an email asking me how I ‘get it all done’. The truth is there are things I simply never get around to dealing with and they all end up in the spare room or attic. But no more!

The plan is that Mr Kat and I will have a proper home office in the attic room and Monty will move into the spare room to be joined by Betsy when she is ready to leave our room.

Of course before any of that can happen there are a lot of things to find new homes for. Quite a bit of it will need to be accommodated in the house (don’t ask me where) but the majority is going to leave the house one way or another. The attic formed part of our storage and as you can see I can barely get in there to photograph it at the moment.

I have spent this weekend sifting through the mass and listing items for sale on eBay. This week my mother is visiting to help us get through the clear out as quickly as possible. The aim is to create the office first and clear the spare room for decorating.

I am sad to see the baby things go if I am honest. We have pretty much every piece of equipment and clothing which has ever crossed our threshold and saying goodbye to it will give us our house back. Doesn’t make sorting the tiny babygrows to be passed on any easier though.

I know that with every goodbye there is a new chapter. It feels right to be opening that chapter now. To focus on our home and finally get around to many of those jobs which have been waiting five years for attention.

:: I am so excited about decorating these two spaces and breathing new life into our home.

:: I am excited about moving my workspace from the sofa to a desk.

:: I am excited about moving into the next stage of our life.

:: And I am excited about sharing all of this here, with you.

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Yesterday we headed to the beach to run around and make the most of the last day of the holidays. Things have changed quite dramatically around here in the last month and some time sitting listening to the waves and watching clouds was much needed.

As you may recall, Mr Kat’s employer stopped paying him last summer and that didn’t change much. I would love to share with you the details of what happened, nothing better than a gossip over the back fence, but it is not for me to tell. Suffice to say Mr Kat has leapt and set up his own company with one of his colleagues.

It is quite liberating to be free of that situation but more than a little nerve wracking being out on our own. In truth: I’m trying not to think about it.

I am working away at bringing in more digital work for me. While housewives of yore may have taken in ironing or gone out to char I have been running social media accounts, writing blogs and creating websites for small businesses. I’m not selling cakes from the back door but advertising space and little by little I’m making my income count.

By no means is the year ahead certain and I have no doubt it will be hard work and scary at times but I am excited by what lies ahead.

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