Christmas confessions......

Am I the only one who HATES it when the supermarkets change their ‘seasonal aisle’ to Santa’s Christmas Food Grotto? In fact I’ve been a bit late to post this as our supermarket has been all decked out with their Christmas nuts for about 5 weeks....how do they judge when to put things out? Do they wait until they see 75% of the population with a tan and think ‘Ha... can’t have them too happy and relaxed after their summer hols, lets increase the pressure and get more money out of them ....time for the Christmas lines!’

I studiously avoid going down said aisle as it a) makes me feel cross that I’m being manipulated by the supermarkets into thinking about Christmas in September and b) makes me manic as I think I’m going to forget something, and I have too much choice ....'should we have Roses or Quality Street or Heroes' c) I worry that their going to run out of stuff by the time I buy it (which they have on occasion because I’ve purposefully left it late – I can tell you that increased the worry the next year). They obviously have very clever marketing departments that know how to push the buttons of most shoppers, either that or I’m super gullible and their perfect customer!

I always leave it late to buy Advent calendars – I can’t really see the relevance of Bratz dolls and chocolate treats to the nativity but hey I’m sure there’s a connection there somewhere. One year I left it so late we ended up with a ‘Proper’ Advent calendar, that just had pictures of the three kings, lambs and shepherds behind the doors. As parents we thought it was wonderful and it gave us a little flash back to the good old days but we had a job to persuade the kids, even at the ages of 18, 16 and 12!

I have this year broken my cardinal rule and ventured into the Christmas Food vortex in September, but only to buy a couple of boxes of Turkish Delight. A favourite of mine and my youngest. We have however already polished off one of the boxes I bought, so I can see a return visit for some more before they sell out....supermarket Christmas sale 1- Indignant Grumpy shopper 0

Empty Nesters

I know that I'm the last of this current years Empty Nester's, and actually my nest isn't quite empty. I still have one little chick, although being a teenager and having just reached 6 foot I just know he'll cringe if he finds out I've referred to him as a small fluffy cuddly thing....

My 2 eldest are about to disappear for the new term at Uni, and although their particular uni starts very late the time in the lead up has been very well spent preparing for Freshers Week. The curse of the new Student Mum! Our first born is entering her last year at Uni now so we're quite familiar with the whole routine of last minute dashing around to buy those student necessities - I think a new pair of winter boots came high on the list of priorities and I'm not talking sensible thermal wellie-like affairs. These boots will be impossible to walk on in the snow and the ice.....but what do I know? The big difference for us all is that she is very kindly taking her next in line sibling with her.....with strict instructions to keep a subtle eye on him but nor to embarrass him in public.

We've been going through food and meals and what to eat, and what not to eat too much of and hoping that at least some of it has sunk in. He's at an advantage because he's in catered accommodation which means access to breakfast and cooked suppers 5 nights out of 7. He has the express intention of going to his sisters to make sure he has 7 out of 7, but I know she has other ideas. Just wondering how I preside over sibling bickering from 200 miles away....

Anyway, they're both armed with student cook book ,and every kitchen utensil know to man (pizza cutter was high on his list - I use a knife!) and a large stash of vitamin tablets which I hope will see them through to Christmas break!

Happy cooking

We're back!

Huge apologies for not posting on here for such a long time....I'm trying to think of believable excuses but shall we just put it down to lack of creativeness....Actually we've been so busy upgrading the website and making it FREE that I've been completely neglectful of our blog. It has absolutely nothing to do with my holiday of a lifetime (I practically ate my way around Brisbane, Singapore and Phuket) as wots4supper was uppermost in my mind when I was stuffing my face.

This is just going to be a quick blog for now but I have no doubt that I'll have loads to share with all the wonderful, Autumnal fruit and veggies that are about.

I have finally managed to persuade my hubby to watch a cookery show with me, without compaining or wingeing. He doesn't cook and has no interest in learning and is the most uninterested viewer of cookery shows. The Great British Bakeoff has tapped in to his love of puddings (and mine too). If you've missed it, try to catch next weeks - they're in Cornwall with the final 4 competitors. Who knows I might even make a pudding at the weekend!

The growing season is here!

Those of you who are gardeners as well as cooks will share my frustration in the weather I'm sure! I've managed to get out and plant a few seeds in my poly tunnels and the veggie beds are starting to spring into life, but it's so chilly at the moment that the last place I want to be is outside! We are still harvesting vegetables from last year though, by some miracle my chard seems to have come through the winter and the purple sprouting broccoli has been saved again from the pigeons. I bought some patriotic bunting from our local Co-op which is now adorning the brasicca cage!!They're a bit clever our local pigeons, they'd worked out that when the netting was lower they could sit on it and happily tuck in to the delicious young broccoli. I wish my teenagers were quite so keen on it...

I'm also taking advantage of a delicious glut of rhubarb in my veggie plot, and i made a delicious (even though I do say so myself) rhubarb and ginger cheesecake - very simple but really yummy.

4oz ginger-nuts, crushed
4oz digestive biscuits, crushed
4oz melted butter

1lb stewed rhubarb (cooked and cooled in its own juices with a good helping of caster sugar)
250g creamed cheese
8fl oz double cream
2 tbsp sweet ginger sauce
3oz caster sugar

First of all, make the base by melting the butter and mixing in the crushed biscuit crumbs. Press down firmly in to a flan tin and pop in to the fridge to set.

Then whisk the double cream until soft peaks from and beat in the cream cheese (you can keep whisking if you want). Mix in the sugar, ginger sauce and the stewed rhubarb - I always mix in the rhubarb a couple of tablespoons at a time and taste as I go. You want to get a good hit of that rhubarb tanginess but with a hint of ginger and its heat coming through.

If you have any rhubarb left over you can always sieve it and make it into a sauce to serve with the cheesecake or just spoon it over as it is.

Hope you're all enjoying the spring weather and I'm sure like us you can't wait for the summer to arrive!

Happy cooking

The w4s team

Chrsitmas time already

Again another delay in posting the blog...I think we all know what one of my New Years' resolutions is going be! I will try harder and blog regularly.

Such a lot has been going on in the last few weeks...so I'll begin at the beginning. Annette and I had another company day out, this time to the BBC Good Food show. We went together a couple of years ago when we were at the beginning of our wots4supper planning when we thought that the launch of our site was imminent. It's a useful place to make contacts and also to do a bit of culinary shopping! This time we came back with some delicious curry pastes and pickles for Indian Meals - one of the things we always do when we've tasted something like that (a ready made paste/sauce) is try and unravel the spices and ingredients that have been used, we're always looking for new ideas and recipes and this helps us research new ones!

At the moment I'm looking out of my study at an incredibly snowy scene. In our part of the country the snow has decided it's not going anywhere - which is fun but (and now I'm starting to sound my age) ever so slightly disruptive! Isn't it funny though how with the cold weather you just want lots of filling, warming dishes - comfort food.

I am so looking forward to Christmas dinner, all the turkey and stufffing, little chipolatas with their bacon jackets, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes too if you're my Mum, all those veggies - although to be honest I can take or leave the brussel sprouts. This year I've grown my own and am feeling ever so slightly smug about it, however I'm taking them to my in-laws and am hoping for a little Christmas miracle - that the sprouts won't have any form of bugs in them! I've been saving myself for my annual Christmas pudathon. I LOVE IT! It is just as good gently fried the next day in butter with a sprinkling of icing sugar. I try not to have puddings in the run up to Christmas just so I can overindulge, I know binge pudding eating is probably not good for me but I can't help it. Then of course there's all the other food that we gorge ourselves on, turkish delight, chocolates, mince pies - sometimes I feel like I could eat enough for the year in one week. I do also love the fact that the clementines are at their best , when you peel your first one in the run up to Christmas doesn't it just transport you back to the days when you found one rolling around in the bottom of your stocking? Who can resist a pomegranate? I know there are lots of recipes now with them in salads etc but my greatest pomegranate memory is sitting next to my brother who painstakingly deseeded his onto a plate and ate them one by one with a pin (health and safety nightmare - my brother and pins), I had scoffed mine already, with a good helping of the bitter pith but it was still delicious. Funny how there are so many memories caught up with food...I can see another blog topic coming up for the New Year.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

The wots4supper team.

It is such a long time since we last posted on our blog, but so much has happened to keep us busy and away from blogging.

I just heard on the radio that a survey concluded that mums get stuck in a rut of nine meals, and off the top of my head I'll try to remember them...spag bol, cottage/shepherds pie, pizza, curry, roast dinner, another pasta dish, meat and two veg ( I assume a variation on the roast and two veg..,casserole or stew, sausage and chips/mash.. Don't think there's anything new there then! That's just why we're here to provide people with recipes easily, and to show them it's not hard to cook different meals from scratch. I did notice there wasn't any fish in there.... not that I've become the fish police or anything. Also, and here's just a little thought to mull over...it doesn't take much thought and not a huge array of extra ingredients to turn that casserole or stew in to a delicious tagine, with lamb and apricots, gently spiced with a Moroccan influence. (We've got such a dish in the menu this week!)

I love this time of year, not least because it brings everybody back home, and I find it a great delight sitting round the table with my family, having a meal and discussing what's happening. Topics range from the ridiculous, to the political, we also do the odd bit of teenage myth de-bunking ( the last was how long it takes alcohol to leave the body and when it's safe to drive after you had a beer or two - we decided never, especially when you're 17 and only just passed your test, his friends - not him). The best thing about eating together is that you keep up a connection with your kids and they with one another, and you laugh a lot!

We've come across some wonderful new dressings and essences, the range of flavours are brilliant and they are amazingly versatile - you can use them on salads, to marinade meat or as a topping for ice-cream! If you want to take a look, the web address is www.suzannesvinegars.co.uk.

I promise to blog sooner next time, Christmas is coming and the preparations will soon be in full swing, but just for the time being I'm still avoiding the seasonal aisle!

Company Outings!

In the interests of market research we had a bit of light relief half way through the week, and went on our first company outing.....to the movies! We saw 'Julie and Julia', which is very relevant in so many ways! Firstly, it was about Julia Childs - a very famous US chef/cook, who spent some time in Paris with her diplomat husband, and secondly about Julia Powell, a writer and blogger who set herself a task to cook all of the recipes in Julia Childs' definitive French Cookery book, in the space of a year. Now, I don't think we'd say it would necessarily be of interest of those of you who don't like rom-coms, but it did have some glorious food sequences and some enlightening tips on Cordon Bleu cookery. I was inspired to cook enough to cook Coq au Vin, watch out for it on our menus.

Of course an important aspect of cookery is the equipment, and in particular pans! We use Gastrolux pans, they really are fantastic - you barely need any oil or fat , and when you've finished they wash up easily and come up like new. It's quite a heavy pan, so very good for toning those muscles, you won't see any bingo wings on us!!As with most things that are brilliant, they are a bit of an investment - but will last for along time. We got our first one from a very nice man called Dan, who had a stall at The Good Food Show (another company outing), he runs a business called www.kitchenfanatics.co.uk - a great web-site with lots of cool kitchen gadgets and equipment.

Pumpkins and squashes seem to be everywhere at the moment, and although they make excellent lanterns, they also make delicious soup and other dishes too. Roasted with other Autumn veg or used in a risotto - watch out for them in your w4s recipes coming up, they're always delicious.

This week at w4s HQ

We heard about a brilliant new web site on the radio the other week www.vegswap.co.uk. A great idea if you've been growing your own veggies - if you have a surplus then you register on vegswap and see if anybody close by has anything that you'd like to swap with them (don't talk about runner beans and courgettes in my house). This probably appeals to those of us who can remember Saturday Swap-Shop, it's a grown-up, veg growers version! We're going to try to feature new relevant websites in the blog when we come across them, so if you've any that you think will be relevant send us an email.

Annette and I are very lucky to have a fantastic fruit farm in the village - they grow delicious plums, apples and pears. The apples my family are into at the moment are called Red Devil, a heritage variety. They're so sweet and crispy - I can't understand why they aren't more widely grown.

We've a bit of local media exposure this week, a photographer's coming out to take photos of us in the kitchen. Keep an eye out for it if you live locally, of course we've got our outfits sorted - company T-shirts, just deciding on the shoes!!

My bedtime reading has been a few old cookbooks that belonged to my Granny, amongst them Mrs Beeton. There are some really interesting recipes and ingredients, one that stuck in my mind was cow-heel soup! Yum, yum....

If there is ever a jam shortage I'll be OK - as I'm going to call 2009 the year of the preserves! My cupboard's bursting with damson, plum and blackberry jam. I haven't held back on the chutney making either, red onion, apple and cider and then spicy damson chutney. Annettes youngest loves the red onion one (I'll give her the fiver soon)! I'm toying with the idea of rosehip syrup, who knows it may go quite well with the cow-heel soup.

So here we are - a week and a bit into our website launch. We're busy finishing off our next seasons recipes and weekly plans - it takes a surprising amount of time, but we feel it's important to get the recipes just right and the combination of recipes correct too. It's been a bit odd finalising winter meals when we're going through an Indian summer! We've spent the day cooking and tasting a whole host of fish recipes - you've got a delicious 'Haddock Chowder' to look forward to and we're sure our 'Salmon Fishcake Recipe' is a winner, and if you're fed up with the way you normally have tuna and pasta - just wait until you've tried our 'Special Tuna Pasta Bake'. There's so many Omega 3's going round our systems we're debating whether MENSA's an option!

We're still working with our web developers to make sure the site looks and behaves just as we want. If you've got any feedback just contact us by email, and we'll get on to it as soon as poss.

We're still enjoying the weather, there's been a lot of blackberry picking going on at the weekends - with crumbles, puddings and tarts!!

We're live!

At last we're live and on the t'internet!! If you've come across us on the web and not through the site - come and see us at www.wots4supper.co.uk. We're sure you'll like the recipes and our menu planning, and if there's something you don't like just let us know.

Don't forget, when you've used a recipe please rate it. There's a lot of functionality linked to the site, scalable recipes, personalised shopping list and of course you can change the recipes around as you like!

Annette and I are busy working away at various elements, trying to get the site known - please feel free to tell as many people as you can!

In between all this I've got Damson chutney to make Annettte's overseeing house renovations - but wots4supper is our priority, we really hope it'll make your life just that little bit easier and make cooking that evening family meal a real pleasure!

Hello!!

How exciting is this? Our first ever post after months and months and months of planning, debating, planning, meeting, discussing and planning!

Annette and I have spent an age working out our menus, collating all our recipes and talking to web-designers. We're sure it'll all be worthwhile and we hope you enjoy the recipes and the cooking as much as we do!

We'll post again soon!

Jo and Annette