136/1038 - Brown lentil salad

Let’s face it, lentils do not have a great reputation. My family will eat them but there is certainly not much excitement displayed when they are presented at the dinner table.

With this in mind I halved this recipe remembering all too well the times I have been the only person ploughing through lentil leftovers. Well actually it’s me and the chickens, who inevitably end up with the final scoop or two that I can’t quite get through.

Something I didn’t see coming was the salad being almost completely demolished by me during the writing of this post - it was that good! I am sure the boys will be thrilled.

135/1038 - Barbecued chicken wings

Let it be said that the boys in this family like chicken. I mean they REALLY like chicken. So tonight's dinner was seen as an extra special treat that will keep me on the family pedestal for many days to come. Of course it also means happy boys and lots of hugs for me so a win-win situation!

The wings were cooked in the oven, tucked in a dish and slathered in a heavenly mixture of oil, hoisin, soy, sambal oelek, tomato paste, garlic, ginger and stock.  

I was literally playing with fire as they cooked, leaning into the oven with the tongs and turning them every so often. The oven was so incredibly hot I was actually yelping as I did it until my (wise) 8 year old advised that I “really should be wearing an oven mitt to do that job.” Smart kid I have there.

I was very well behaved and only ate one wing, although I think I could have happily devoured a plateful. The boys managed two each and I have been smothered in kisses since the plates were stacked so hooray for Stephanie yet again.  

134/1038 - Sweetcorn brunch fritters

I used these corny fritters as another interesting way to serve up a vegetable with our dinner tonight.

The first job was to grate the corn cobs and I was thrilled that I managed, after recently surviving three quite decent knife cuts, to complete this task without a scratch. Unfortunately for me there was still some collateral damage with my hair and walls ending up spattered in bright yellow corn juice. At least I know the corn was fresh!

They were cooked in the same fashion as pancakes, turning them over when little bubbles appeared on the surface. Response from the family was positive but not overwhelming. Next time I will make sure we have some maple syrup and bacon on hand to make eating these a truly special experience. 

133/1038 - Asparagus with coddled eggs

Coddled eggs in our house are usually served with salt, pepper and sage (me) or heaped with freshly grated parmesan (my youngest). My eldest is an experimenter and tends to change the contents of his around a bit. But after today I have a new favourite combination!

Much better than boiled eggs, the coddled variety have extra ingredients added to them prior to cooking which means plenty of flavour in the eating. Coddled eggs à la Stephanie are AMAZING! A spear of asparagus is dipped into the egg and then rolled in herbs and toasted, buttery breadcrumbs. And did I mention the dash of cream that was added to the cooked egg?

I said goodbye (temporarily) to my healthy eating regime whilst consuming this mid-afternoon snack...but it was worth it.

132/1038 - Wilted cucumber salad

This book is crammed full of hidden, healthy treasures if you know where to look.

I am on day two of a healthy eating regime and am feeling quite pleased with my progress so far. I know it seems a little early to be patting myself on the back but willpower is not one of my strong points and so I have learned to celebrate every victory, no matter how small.

After eating a bowl of left over pumpkin soup for lunch, I made myself this healthy salad as I was craving something with crunch. I didn’t have any borage flowers on hand but my herbs are amazingly bushy after all the sunshine and rain we have been having so I happily tossed in a large handful.

Mid-way through demolishing the salad I decided to add a sprinkle of Spanish paprika which was mind-blowingly hot but just the bit of added flavour I was seeking. Given that it was too late to take a picture of the salad with paprika on top I thought I would add one of the paprika tin instead.
        

Wouldn't supermarket shopping be more enjoyable
if there was more of this fabulously daggy
James Bond-esqe packaging to be found
 on the supermarket shelves?

131/1038 - Herb and pumpkin soup

After overloading on way too much food over the last few months I am on a mission to cook myself light, healthy carb-free meals. Only for a short while of course, and only until I shrink down to my regular size, pre eating frenzy.

Stephanie's herb and pumpkin soup was the first healthy cab off the rank. This recipe produced a HUGE quantity which should cover me for a few days worth of lunches and snacks. Don't be fooled by the drool-worthy garlic croutons you see in the picture. They were made for my boys who are definitely not watching what they are eating and would be devastated if I removed carbs from their dinner menu.

When I blend my soups I like to leave at least some texture remaining to keep things interesting, and so as we ate tonight there were still lovely little pieces of potato to be found. Now if only I could figure out a way to keep my mind off that garlic bread...

130/1038 - Onion and cheese tart

I love it when I cook something and the result is quite unexpectedly wonderful!

The pastry for this tart was made from scratch and I am pleased to report that it turned out perfectly - all buttery and soft and melt-in-your mouth good. But the filling! So soft and light with lovely, sweet onions and the gorgonzola creating just enough bite so as to be tasty but not overpowering.

I was chatting to one of my friends about Stephanie and we both agreed that she must be at least a little bit French. All that butter and cream she uses – it really is quite amazing how much of it we have gone through in this house since this challenge began. 

The only downside to this challenge is that my rapidly expanding repertoire in the kitchen is slowly being matched by my rapidly expanding waistline! I do believe it is time to seek out some more of those healthy vegetarian recipes that I just know are hiding in the book somewhere.

129/1038 - Dill pickles

I happened upon some lovely little cucumbers this week and picked them up with this recipe in mind. I have loved dill pickles since I was small and so I am particularly excited to see how these turn out.

It will be two weeks until the cucumbers are properly pickled and so now we wait...

128/1038 - Chocolate and almond cake

This cake was the fulfilment of a promise I made to the kids for something sweet tonight. Apparently it is based on the French classic reine de Saba or Queen of Sheba's cake which of course sounds incredibly exotic and made it very hard to resist giving it a try.

I made the almond meal and the castor sugar in the Thermomix although as per usual I over-blitzed the sugar and had a lovely sugary cloud following me around the kitchen. 

The end result was lovely and gooey and very, very decadent. Sweet cravings satisfied!

127/1038 - Rosemary and polenta pan bread

The boys (all three of them) loved the cornbread I made in November for Thanksgiving so I am assuming they will also appreciate this pan bread which will be served with dinner tonight.

I decided to make the variation of this recipe which was to use yoghurt and milk instead of buttermilk. The recipe count for this challenge does not include any of these variations or side-note suggestions and I have been wondering lately if I might be tempted to complete all of those once this initial recipe challenge has been achieved.

Anyway back to the bread! It came out of the oven smelling wonderfully of rosemary and has an unusual texture, much like a cake but quite coarse. I am predicting some smiling faces at the dinner table tonight!

126/1038 - Fettuccine with gorgonzola

My children eat an amazing variety of foods but I thought it might be presumptuous to serve blue cheese to them without warning. With this in mind, I made two versions of this pasta dish tonight. The first I made with an incredibly creamy and lovely imported gorgonzola that I picked up from Cardamone's in Fairfield. The second version was put together with mozzarella (also lovely and also from Cardamone's) which produced a meal only children could love, with a big gooey hunk of melted cheese swimming in sauce.

The great news is that everybody enjoyed their meals. The even better news is that the boys tasted the gorgonzola and loved it! My learnings from today – never assume, and run the taste test before cooking!

125/1038 - Praline

Having a tray of left over caramel and some banana ice-cream from previous cooking adventures, I decided to make some praline and turn these three elements into a dessert.

Toffee was boiled and poured over a pile of toasted almonds. Once set, it was chopped into pieces of a respectable size. It took quite some willpower to resist the urge to curl up on the couch and scoff handfuls of this sugary goodness until I was light in the head. But resist I did, and the praline helped to create a very neat, and oh-so-sweet little dessert. Of course I still have praline left over and this, paired with a severe lack of willpower means that couch session could still be on the cards.

124/1038 - Anchovy butter

At Stephanie's suggestion, I served some toast with anchovy butter alongside our cucumber soup tonight.

Anchovies are a fabulous way to divide a group and as expected half of our party was in the "I love anchovies" camp and the other half were firmly in the camp that performs vigorous head shaking and screwing up of noses at the mere mention of this little fish.

I was a gracious host and allowed for plain butter to be spread by the non-believers, but I was personally thrilled with how this little butter turned out. It was whizzed quite well due to my trusty thermomix and so there was only the occasional anchovy lump to be found. A smooth texture is wonderful but I imagine I should label the container carefully. It is a lovely butter but probably not so good if accidentally spread with vegemite or jam.

123/1038 - Cold cucumber soup

With friends coming for dinner on a 38°C day it made sense to give this refreshing cold soup a try.

Complete with absolutely loads of dill (my poor little dill plant may never be the same again!) this soup was flavoursome but not overbearing. Sour cream and egg yolks gave the soup a lovely creaminess and sherry and lemon zest added to the depth of flavour.

This one was a hit with only one of the kids (out of a very critical group of four) but the adults loved it so I am happy to call this one another success.

122/1038 - Stir-fried okra and prawns

I would like to officially thank Stephanie for introducing me to okra!

Apparently the mucilage that oozes out of the okra when it is sliced is a turn off for some people but not for my family. Complemented by spring onion, prawns, chilli and garlic this was a quick little fry up that was gobbled up in minutes.

Highly recommended as a tasty snack or entrée.

121/1038 - Warm spinach salad

I had a beautiful bunch of spinach delivered to me this week and tonight I decided to turn some of it into a lovely salad. I quartered the recipe to make an individual serve as the boys were busy chowing down on pizza and were not at all interested in joining me.

The spinach was tossed in a pan with oil and champagne vinegar and then put together with crispy bacon and a boiled egg. Seasoned only with cracked pepper, I was thrilled with the taste, not quite believing how quickly I had put my dinner together.

120/1038 - Quick yoghurt marinade for chicken or lamb

The best thing about having souvlakia for dinner is that I look after the preparation of ingredients and then pass to my husband to finish on the barbecue when the guests arrive!

I must admit I was a bit sceptical about using a yoghurt marinade for my lamb and was quite surprised at how much I liked the meat done this way. It took on a completely different texture and was very tender and almost creamy tasting. Of course compliments must go to my husband for being an absolute barbecue whiz.

I recently had the misfortune of eating a particularly disappointing take-away souvlaki. After tonight I am pleased to report that my faith in this very popular, and in this case very unconventional, dish has been restored.

119/1038 - Tzatziki

I decided to make souvlakia for main course and what is a souvlaki without home-made tzatziki?

I particularly liked this version because the seeds are not removed from the cucumber and the result was nice and chunky with plenty of flavour.

*Note: Looking back, my musings were so very short and the photos quite dreadful! Apologies to any readers of these earlier posts...

118/1038 - Sweetcorn soup with spiced butter

We had friends coming for dinner tonight and with one of them pregnant I was on the hunt for recipes that fit the "non-listeria" criteria.

This sweetcorn soup seemed like an appropriate and simple first course. Apart from spending what seemed like an eternity pushing the soup through a sieve, it was quite straightforward to make. The effort was worth it, the result was a beautifully smooth creamy soup and the spiced butter was a lovely addition.

Very, very yummy!

117/1038 - Banana ice-cream

Valentine’s Day brought beautiful home-made ice-cream to my family for dessert tonight.

With no cooking required (except to make the sugar syrup) all of the ingredients were simply blended together and then poured directly into the ice-cream churn. This simple process and almost no effort produced the most beautiful banana ice-cream I have ever tasted.  

I am quite sure I will never look at a Barney banana the same way again.

116/1038 - Coriander peanut pesto

I realised this morning I was in danger of an entire week passing without a challenge recipe being recorded, hence the creation of this extremely yummy little pesto.

Whilst I admit I do not have firm plans for this creation, I am thinking pizza or pasta topping and/or maybe a spoonful over some steamed vegetables. I also suggested to my youngest that he might like a pesto and cheese sandwich for lunch tomorrow and once he had a taste he enthusiastically concurred.

The roasted peanuts make this pesto so tasty I just know I will be making it over and over again.

115/1038 - Country-style crusty bread

I love the smell of baking bread but not nearly as much as I like the taste of a freshly made loaf. As per usual I cheated and prepared the dough in the bread maker but then followed the recipe from the first knocking back of the dough.

We devoured a number of slices with dinner tonight and feedback from the family was unanimously positive. The only disappointment was that I halved the recipe and ended up with only one loaf which has now all but disappeared.

Lesson learned!

114/1038 - Marinating paste

A leg of lamb is one of my favourite things to eat even when it is not covered in this yummy marinating paste! Dijon, flour, olive oil, rosemary (of course!), pepper and soy sauce. Yes, you heard right - soy sauce!

I followed Stephanie’s method of roasting the lamb straight on the rack with a baking dish of water below to catch the fat. This worked well for the roasting, not so well when I forgot it was in there, opened the oven door and caught a face full of steam. OH&S is clearly not a focus in my kitchen.

As I have mentioned before I tend to leave the roasts to my husband and so I can honestly say this is the best roast lamb I have ever made.

113/1038 - Rum and macadamia brownies

These tasty little morsels were fabulously easy to make and were even forgiving of the extra rum I accidentally added to the recipe. Note to self - never measure out ingredients directly over the mixing bowl!

The only downside to this recipe was that I had to deny the boys their traditional licking of the mixing bowl due to the rum. No matter, I am sure it was my turn anyway!

112/1038 - Stuffed eggs

Beautiful sunny weather means an abundance of eggs from our lovely chickens and so I thought I would make this oh-so-seventies dish as an appetiser for the family tonight.

I used sour cream rather than mayonnaise and chose dill, oregano and parsley as my herbs of choice. Blended with beautiful white anchovies and hard boiled yolks the result was sensational. My youngest is absolutely not a fan of anchovies and so I was pleased to find that even he was excited by the taste.

I realise the mixture was supposed to be neatly piped rather than shoved in with a teaspoon but there is only so much mess I can justify in the making of a family snack I know will disappear in seconds.

111/1038 - Mum's cherry sago

It was only my eldest and I who were keen to try this cherry dessert tonight and so I used water to cook the cherries rather than wine or port.

We both liked the finished product very much and had a lot of fun spitting the pips out as we ate. If I made this for guests however, I would be inclined to pit the cherries prior to cooking, purely for decorum's sake.

A very small bowl of this dessert is enough to satisfy a sweet craving and so we are looking forward to a repeat performance tomorrow night with some vanilla ice-cream to change things up a bit.

110/1038 - Prawn cakes

What says Australia Day better than steaming prawn cakes on the Varoma? Maybe it doesn't have quite the same ring to it as tossing a shrimp on the barbie but it definitely worked for us. 

My favourite ingredient in these little balls is the coriander root which I cannot believe I used to toss away! As if fresh coriander was not already a wonderful herb, its root has the most amazing smell and adds an incredible flavour to a dish. 

We ate the prawn cakes dipped in soy sauce and sambal oelek and even though I doubled the recipe we were all disappointed when they were gone. Maybe to distract themselves from their empty plates, this snack kicked off an amusing round of the boys attempting to catch flies with their chopsticks, Karate Kid style.

Definitely an unconventional Australia Day!

109/1038 - Walnut afternoon tea cake

Stephanie says that this cake does not look spectacular but that it tastes wonderful. I am inclined to agree. I made this to satisfy a ridiculously strong craving for cake that came over me after dinner tonight. As I have mentioned before, I generally prefer my cakes without icing and this one was so moist I was more than happy to eat it plain.

Being flourless it had an incredibly spongy, light texture which if I am honest had me heading back for a second piece much earlier than would be considered polite in certain circles. 

108/1038 - Pineapple and rum pickle

I recently bought a lovely bottle of spiced rum. Given that it is not yet cold enough to start drinking hot buttered rum, I thought I would make this pickle instead.

I can not yet report on the finished product as it needs to sit for at least a week so I will add a post script on here once we have had a chance to taste it. It smells great though and I already have the ham steaks in the freezer ready and waiting.

Yo ho ho.

Post script 25/1/12: I served the pickle on ham steaks tonight and it was very nice! Probably the first time I have really enjoyed the ham and pineapple combination.

107/1038 - Basic brown lentils

Brown lentils were another of my purchases from the Vic market last week.  

Starting at the beginning always seems like a good idea, so it was basic brown lentils for dinner tonight. Nothing too fancy, the lentils were boiled with onion, garlic, a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme. Once the herbs and vegetables were removed, the lentils were combined with salt, pepper, lemon juice, a splash of olive oil and some chopped parsley.

A very tasty little pile.

105&106/1038 - Pancakes with buttered apple

I have officially found my favourite pancake recipe!

It seems the trick to a creamy, lump free mixture is warming the milk before it is added; a technique I had not thought to try before. I also followed the instruction to bring the mixture back to room temperature prior to cooking which I have also never bothered to do. The pancakes were lovely and thin and absolutely worth the wait. Except the first one of course which everybody knows will always be a disaster no matter what you do!

As I was cooking them, I could have sworn I had thirty children rather than only two. Every time a pancake was finished, I had a child standing beside me holding their plate out waiting for the next one. The apples for the filling were cooked with butter, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. A very decadent start to the day! "Best breakfast ever" according to my youngest. 

Can't argue with that.

104/1038 - Tomato soup with basil and croutons

This is one of the few recipes in this book I have made on a number of occasions. I adore the buttery taste that is left over from sautéing the onions and the sweet finish that is partly due to the removal of the tomato seeds.

The croutons were made from day old sourdough which was painted with oil, grilled and then rubbed with garlic.

Heaven.

103/1038 - Brain fritters

This was not a quick meal by any stretch of the imagination, but was certainly one of the most interesting we have had.

I was all set to make brains for dinner last night until I realised they needed to be soaked overnight. After overcoming my disappointment, I soaked them as instructed and then today spent quite some time removing the membranes. A tricky little prospect but I got it done and looked eagerly to the recipe for the next step. Poach the brains in court-bouillon. It was around this time I announced that we would be having a very special, but rather late, dinner tonight.

Thirty minutes and an unexpected blog post later, I poached the brains in some freshly made court-bouillon. Once poached, I laid them out to cool and proceeded to prepare the egg and fresh breadcrumbs. The entire family came by at this point wanting a taste of the brains before they were crumbed. The tastings evoked exclaims of pleasure, and amusingly a variety of zombie noises from my youngest.

The brains cooled quickly and I dipped and crumbed them and then realised they needed to chill for an hour in the fridge before they could be fried. I really need to start reading these recipes ahead of time! I conceded it would now be a late, late dinner. If truth be told we usually tend to eat like grandmas at around 5pm so in actual fact dinner was on the table by a respectable 8pm. 

Brains have a wonderfully soft texture which in this case was beautifully offset by the crunchy breadcrumbs. I knew I was on a winner when my littlest zombie came sniffing around my plate hoping to steal my last one. 

102/1038 - Court-bouillon

A court-bouillon is a well flavoured liquid used to very quickly poach a variety of foods such as delicate meats and seafood. I thought I would take a picture of mine before it had boiled as soggy herbs are not particularly nice to look at!

All going well I will have another recipe to post shortly which will utilise this lovely smelling concoction.

101/1038 - Lamb shank broth

You know summer in Melbourne is not at its best when you find yourself making soups in the middle of January. We enjoyed a lovely but cold morning at the Queen Victoria market today and a lamb shank is one of the many things I picked up while there.

I made this broth with the intention of eating it tomorrow so it has a chance to develop its flavour overnight. While I am looking forward to my soupy lunch, I am much more excited at the prospect of some warmer weather over the coming weeks.

100/1038 - Garlic and saffron soup

I will admit that the ten cloves of garlic in this recipe almost had me running scared, but my desire to complete my 100th recipe spurred me on!

My very large pile of peeled garlic was simmered with stock, a wonderful array of fresh herbs, cloves, olive oil and a pinch of saffron threads. Once the garlic was soft the soup was to be strained. By this stage my fear of garlic had disappeared and I mashed the life out of it to ensure there was plenty of garlicky goodness to be had. 

We absolutely loved the soup but for the sake of our friends, we think we might stick together as a family tomorrow and avoid all contact with the outside world.

99/1038 - Glazed carrots

My kids were in the mood for pasta tonight (when are they not?) and so I scoured The Cook's Companion for a quick and healthy topping I thought they would enjoy.

It seems that buttery glazed carrots, a fancy way of serving vegetables according to Stephanie, also work quite well as a topping for spaghetti.

Dinner sorted. 

98/1038 - Pumpkin scones

With some pumpkin in the fridge needing to be used up, I decided to try my hand at pumpkin scones today. My mum has always made the most amazing scones (her cheese and onion are the best I have tasted) and so as I began I was mentally crossing my fingers that I had inherited her knack.

For this recipe the ingredients were rubbed together to form a dough which was shaped into a circle and scored with a knife, ready to be split into twelve pieces. Once they came out of the oven, the boys (all three of them) began hanging around in the kitchen waiting for them to cool. Either they didn't eat enough for dinner or the smell was more tantalising than I realised! Once the scones were split and buttered, all twelve pieces disappeared in less than fifteen minutes.

It looks like I may have inherited the good scone gene, although I think I will continue to leave the cheese and onion variety to the master.

97/1038 - Potato gnocchi

Potato gnocchi is something I have been wanting to make for a very long time but have been busy putting off due to an irrational fear that my efforts would produce nothing more than a pile of horrible little rubbery balls.

Today I bit the bullet and had a go. Imagine my surprise when I bit into my first gnocco (apparently the name for a single piece of gnocchi) and discovered that it was tender, fluffy and absolutely magnificent! 

What a wonderful way to kick off the 2012 leg of this challenge.

95&96/1038 - Pizza rustica with potato and rosemary (& home-made pizza dough)

This amazing pizza was cooked in my husband's nifty pizza oven which resides on top of our chiminea. The hardest thing about making it was dragging myself up from a nanna nap to put the dough on in time for dinner.

I think this may officially be my last challenge recipe for 2011. I didn't quite reach triple digits as I had hoped to, but I am thinking that 96 recipes in 5 ½ months is not such a bad effort.

Happy New Year to all. x

94/1038 - Potato salad with bacon and sour cream

I like potato salad but I do not love it. This potato salad however, was such a lovely pile of decadence I found myself going back for a third helping! 

Not being a big fan of mayonnaise on potatoes, I think my favourite element was the sour cream. The bacon fat, two types of mustard and red wine vinegar helped to finish off a potato salad that not only looked inviting but was also very tasty. Sadly I don’t have chives in my garden at the moment so there was no sprinkled greenery to give the impression that this side dish might have been even a tiny bit healthy.  

I am not sure if I will be doing any more challenge recipes over this busy Christmas/New Year period but if not, this would be a great recipe on which to finish the year.

93/1038 - Buttery leeks

This recipe is for anybody who likes the idea of taking a healthy green vegetable and turning it into a fattening pile of buttery goodness.

This 'fondue of leeks' is cooked in rather a large amount of melted butter and then sprinkled with pepper, salt and freshly ground nutmeg. I use AA grade butter which was perfect for this recipe as it is beautiful and white and made only of pasteurised cream and salt. This was a very decadent side dish to the unbelievably good Portuguese-style chicken cooked by my husband on the barbecue tonight.

If we continue to eat like this I may be in danger of putting on those Christmas kilos slightly earlier than expected.

92/1038 - Home-made fettuccine with bug meat and roasted tomato sauce

It was Moreton Bay bugs for dinner again tonight. A very different experience from the citrus marinated bugs, this dish was one of those extra delicious experiences that actually evoked groans of pleasure from the family as it was consumed.

I was kicking myself when I realised the tomatoes had to be peeled because I bought mini romas to use for this recipe which almost quadrupled my peeling duties. To peel tomatoes I score a cross in the skin and dunk them in boiling water which certainly does make the job easier. Once skinless, the tomatoes were roasted for an hour with onion, garlic, thyme, chilli and an enormous glug of olive oil.

The incredibly rich roasted tomato sauce was added to the freshly sautéd bug, lemon juice and zest. Coupled with freshly made fettuccine, this meal was absolutely fantastic. Actually it was so good I am pleased to report that my youngest has now been converted to the wonderful world of bugs.

91/1038 - Yam goong (salad of bug meat with mint and lemongrass)

My youngest was completely grossed out when I announced that we would be eating bugs for dinner and to be honest, remains sceptical of the whole Moreton Bay bug caper. He came home after the bug had already been sliced and marinated and so was convinced that the little pieces on his plate were individual wiggly bugs.

I was personally thrilled with dinner tonight. The marinade for the bug meat was a combination of mint, fish sauce, lemongrass, chilli and lemon juice. What we ended up with was a lovely light summery meal that went down very well with a glass of sparkling Moscato.

Hooray for Summer!

90/1038 - Angie's lemon cake

We are off to our first official Christmas do tomorrow and I thought this lemon cake would be a lovely dessert to take along. I obviously haven't tasted it yet as it would be rude to present it to the hosts with a slice missing, but judging by the lovely lemony smell that was emanating from the oven, I am fairly sure I am going to like this one.

As soon as it was taken out of the oven, the cake was doused in lemon syrup which very quickly disappeared as the cake soaked it up like a sponge. I am rather hoping we will get to enjoy a first and second slice so fingers crossed the kids at the party don't like it!

89/1038 - Melita's skordalia

Before making this skordalia, I checked the calendar to make sure I was not seeing any close friends the next day. I am never sure if anybody can tell when I have eaten loads of garlic the previous day, but am fairly sure it is better to be safe than sorry!

This yummy dish is basically mashed potato with plenty of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, milk and some freshly ground salt and pepper. We may all be stinky tomorrow but it was yummy enough to be absolutely worth it.

88/1038 - Gougères

These little French cheese puffs were made to be eaten with dinner, but I also think they will be an interesting addition to the kids' lunchboxes. I was feeling a bit lazy and so didn't pipe the dough onto the baking trays as instructed, but instead fashioned neat little circles with a spoon. They turned out quite round as I had hoped so no harm done.

I particularly like the slightly burnt cheese on top and can see a couple of these disappearing before the boys arrive home today.

87/1038 - Papaya and banana smoothie

This smoothie was supposed to be made with papaya (hence the title) however as per Stephanie's suggestion I substituted the papaya for mangoes. We had friends drop over bearing mangoes yesterday and so it was smoothies all round for breakfast this morning!

After another weekend of party food I think this may have been just what the doctor ordered.