Friday Fright

Ok, so, have decided that since I love the spooky stuff and spend so much time drooling over it that I'd treat you all to a weekly round up of the weird and the wonderful that I have found... (clicky-clicky the pictures to find out more)

Sticky Ginger Loaf

Oooo made this one last night with lashings of brandy. Kitchen stank to high heaven of booze for a while afterwards, you'd swear we'd been entertaining the town drunk in there but my oh my was it worth it in the end for the yumminess! This was taken from Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall's 'River Cottage Everyday' cookbook, definitely worth investing in!

Things I'm loving at the moment...

I adore etsy, there're so many talented sellers on there and it's so hard not to want to buy almost everything I see!

Drunken Chicken Stew

I chucked this one out for a dinner party recently, didn't have a clue what to cook, was making a starter and dessert as well so I wanted a main course that would just bugger off and do it's own thing, the end result: Drunken Chicken Stew (so named as the chicken is drunk, not just the chef!). It goes without saying that the end result is only as good as the wine that you use, not that I mean you should throw a €100 bottle in but don't use glorified paint-stripper either!

Slow-roast Duck and gravy

I love duck, and I love slow-roasted meats so this is the only way I could consider cooking a whole duck. It gets rid of all that fattiness that you get with duck and instead you have this wonderful melt-in-your-mouth duck meat and astonishingly crispy skin. It does serve four but I cook a whole roast duck for 2 and then use the leftovers for many treats over the following days.

Lemon Butterfly Buns

You cannot fail with these cakes. Everyone loves them, young and old alike. Walk into any room with free them and see what I mean. Everything after that becomes "Om, nom, nom..."

Banana Bread

I love my banana bread. Some people make it with walnuts through but I'm a purist, no walnuts here! If you want to add some though just throw about 50g chopped walnuts through the mixture and stir them in before pouring into the tin. Enjoy!

Scrumptious Chocolate-Orange Cake

I love this cake. Seriously, I want to run away with this cake and live on an island having little cake babies and eating them. It's Terrys Chocolate Orange in cake form and it's divine and I cannot make enough of it. You think I'm mad now but just wait until you have some!

Rich Fruit Cake

I hate fruit cake. Really, I do. I have refused to eat it for years. I came across this recipe, tried it out for myself and it has converted me. Now in fairness I still don't eat other people's fruit cake but definitely I'll eat mine!

Simple Chocolate Sponge

This is basically a chocolate flavoured Victoria sandwich and it's a great one to whip out at short notice. I love cake mixes where everything gets dumped in the bowl at once! A very more-ish cake, it doesn't last long in our house!

Spiced Squash Soup

I adore squash. Seriously, there's nothing that you can't use it for, from starters all the way through to dessert and it's always good! I can't believe I've only discovered it in the last few years. We grew some squash this year in our garden before we moved and it was great to have it there all the time. However, it's so easy to pick up squash in the supermarket these days that you don't have to grow your own, though you will find the varieties somewhat limited. Try your local farmers market though, they will have lots more options for you. This recipe works with all types of squash once you keep the quantities the same.

Coq Au Vin

I love chicken. It's so versatile and delicious. I had been planning on making this dinner for ages, for one of our dinner parties or for when we had people over but every time I cooked something else. Recently one evening I decided screw it and I cooked it just for us, no fancy dinner party needed and it was so good! It is a great dish to serve up to guests but it's equally good as a mid-week normal dinner, economical, filling and no harder to make than a stew!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ah the good old reliable, and one of the Big Guy's favourite dishes! Funny to think that the man wouldn't eat sauces or foreign foods until recently and this was one of the things that won him over. Definitely a delight for the taste buds, and an eternal fall back dinner when we don't feel like making an effort but still want a great filling dinner.

Toad In The Hole

I can't believe it's November already! I've been so bad about keeping the blog updated, apologies! On the upside, I have been cooking everyday (well, I need to eat) so I have lots of yummy things to share with you!

Toad in the hole is ovbiously dependent on the type of sausages you use. Personally I love Nolans of Kilcullens sausages but since they're based in Kildare and not Cork I'm trying to find a good replacement. Of course, you'll always find an amazing selection of sausages down at The English Market, but any normal breakfast sausage will do. You could also try meatballs instead of sausage if you want!