Conference Pear...

Anyone that knows me will know I tend to like making loaf cakes. They're easy to bake, easy to transport wrapped in a bit of foil if I want to take them into work and also easy to cut and serve.

So I fancied doing some baking on my day off and decided the pears in the current Super 6 at Aldi would be the best thing to use. I did a bit of searching and saw a few different pear cakes but they either needed ingredients I didn't have or I just didn't fancy them. I eventually found one to use as a base and then changed it up a bit to make it my own, and of course, into a loaf cake recipe!

I took one into work on Friday (#CakeFriday, which I totally think we need to make a thing at work!) and it seemed to go down pretty well! :) I've been told it's yummy, has the perfect amount of sugar and have been asked for the recipe too so here it is!

Swede...

It has turned quite cold all of a sudden *shivers*. On Saturday evening I had to de-ice not only the outside but also the inside of my windscreen after having dinner at a friend's and it wasn't even 11pm! I'm so glad I've decided to walk to work rather than drive these days as getting up earlier just to de-ice the car is not my idea of fun.

I'm currently trying to empty out my freezer so I have space to start buying some bits toward the Christmas dinner. I actually have less meat in there than I thought so hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have been able to work my way through that draw at least. 

The cold weather just calls for comforting food and todays offering definitely falls into the category for me! I'm using the swede from the Aldi Super 6 in this one.

The new Super 6...

The new Aldi Super 6 went on sale today and they're 59p each again. There's a good selection I think this time and they're all things I would eat or cook with so I'm feeling good about the next two weeks! I might use more than one of them in some dishes so might not post 6 recipes this time but we'll see how it goes :)

So what do we have to play with?
Green Beans
Baby Maris Peer Potatoes
Red Onions
Swede
Leeks
Conference Pears

I've actually already got cracking with a recipe as I already had 2 of the Super 6 in so no having to wait until Sunday this week! :)

I finally got round to collecting my Crockpot Slow Cooker from my parents house today and decided I'd test it out for the first time today.

Persimmon...

So finally I've made it to the last of the Super 6! Yay! It has be a very few weeks and it's very hard to get these all done but I'm so glad I did! :)

So Persimmon, aka Sharon Fruit, I have to be honest and say that I still don't like them. I may try using them in a cake if they're in the Super 6 again but otherwise I think I'll stick to not buying them.

Parsnips...

So I thought I should share a bit more about myself with you all today.

There are a few foods you will never see featured on this blog as I really do not like them at all and won't even allow them to be brought into my house!
The first is Lamb, I don't like the smell or taste of it. I've been known to send back a meal in a restaurant and change it for something else as it had lamb gravy on, it is something I will never like.

The second, and probably the worst for me, is Mayonnaise, I would go as far as to say that I actually Hate mayo! Trying to find 'food to go' when you don't eat it can be a total nightmare, it's actually surprising how many things contain the horrible stuff.

Anyway...Time to add a recipe using Parsnips!

I had lots of different ideas for these but ended up trying a pie as I had some pastry in the freezer and I liked the sound of this recipe as soon as I saw it.

Baking Potatoes...

So on Saturday I cooked steak and it's probably one of the best steaks I've ever cooked! I made a peppercorn sauce to go with it which was pretty good too but the recipe, if it can be called that, for this post uses the baking potatoes from the current Super 6. This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and it worked perfectly for me!

Large Flat Mushrooms...

So I've had a busy week and weekend and I've struggled to find time to sit down and write but I have managed to make 3 more dishes so just one more to go, yay!

My friend convinced me to go see Spectre with them at the cinema yesterday, I've never watched a Bond film in my life and really didn't think it'd be for me but I must admit, I did actually enjoy it...That doesn't mean I'll sit down to watch the rest though!

I've also started shopping for bits towards Christmas dinner and am really pleased that Aldi have currently got in a good selection of non-alcoholic fizz. They 3 non-alcoholic Muscat's, Red, White & Rosé, a Mulled Punch and Raspberry, Apple & Cranberry Fizz with poppy corks. My household will be dry this Christmas as most of us either can't or don't really like to drink but the selection of slightly fancier or 'special' things to drink is very limited so I'm really looking forward to giving all of these a try :)

I cooked the following recipe on Saturday and it turned out to be a success, I adapted it from a recipe I found whilst looking for mushroom recipes. It's really simple but yummy and I'm looking forward to making it again :)

Cox Apples...

It's back to work for me today which means I probably won't see much daylight until Saturday. I don't mind winter but I do start to miss daylight a bit, one the 'perks' of working in an area that doesn't have many windows in.

So I decided I'd do something with the Cox Apples on Monday and fancied some sort of apple tart or pudding and found this recipe. I've changed a few things as it had some bits I didn't like or that I didn't have in the cupboard but I think it still worked pretty well.

I also discovered when I'd already started making it that I don't actually have a baking sheet! I'd been looking at them in poundland earlier that day to and it still didn't click! I ended up improvising and used my gill pan/tray thing from my oven turned upside down. It seemed to work but I think I might have to ask santa if he could bring me one for Christmas, oh and a pastry brush too as I don't have one of those either!

Lettuce...

So I went shopping on Sunday and managed to get all bar 1 of the Super 6, the Persimmon (Sharon Fruit) was out of stock but I'm hoping they'll have them back in next Sunday, we will just have to see though.

I decided I'd start with one of the harder Super 6 and went for the Romaine Lettuce. I found that in America it seems to be popular to 'Grill' aka BBQ these, sadly it's just not the right time of year to be doing that so I carried on digging. I ended up finding a recipe for stir-fried romaine and was intrigued.

The current Super 6...

So the new Super 6 went on sale in Aldi on Thursday, they're all 59p and I've got to be honest, this is going to be a challenge me for as there are a few items I wouldn't normally buy, eat or cook with but I will give it a go and see what happens!

So what is on offer?

Cox Apples - one of my favorite types of apple but I tend to just eat them as is but I've seen a few recipes I could try them out in so will see how it goes, and I'll no doubt make some apple crisps with them too!

Baking Potatoes - I like a good jacket potato, although I don't buy them very often at all, but let's face it, that's just too easy to put as a recipe so I'll try come up with something else for them.

Parsnips - I love roast parsnips, I used to hate them as a kid but really look forward to them now! I buy them if I'm doing a roast but I've got a few other ideas for these already that I'd like to try :)

Large Flat Mushrooms - Not something I'd normally buy but I do like them so I'm sure I can make something with them.

Romaine Lettuce - Now this one is going to be a bit harder. I don't buy any type of lettuce very often and it's not really salad season for me either so who knows what I might do with it?

Persimmon - AKA Sharon Fruit - Personally I'm not really a fan on these. I like most fruit but this is one I've just never really grown to love. I'm not really sure what I can do with it but I'm sure the internet will provide me with some information and inspiration!

I'll be going shopping tomorrow but as I already have some parsnips in I'm going to get cracking with them now!

Wish me luck!

Em x

Mushroomy...

Well today was much better than yesterday! An engineer came out and checked my boiler and it is totally fine so he was able to turn the gas back on! Yay! So to celebrate I decided I'd attempt to make some jam for the first time, as you do, this was Plum jam to make the most of them being on offer in Aldi. It looked like jam when I'd finished so hopefully it'll taste ok too. I guess only time will tell and I'll just have to wait and see what my family say when I test it out on them.

(I'll jazz up the jars a bit with labels and lid covers once it's cooled fully)

Tomorrow will bring the new lot of  Aldi's Super 6 Fruit & Veg offers and I'm keen to see what it brings this time but first I need to finish off the last of the current Super 6 and today it's Chestnut Mushrooms!

Plumy...

So I've had a bit of a rubbish day today, when having a gas and electric meter upgrade the engineer found 2 faults in my house! One ended up being not a huge problem and they were able to deal with it and make it safe for me but the second could be a slightly larger problem and has resulted in my gas being capped off so not heating, hot water or cooking for me today :(

Thankfully though I made a cake yesterday and after sharing it with my family and some of my mum's colleagues and volunteers I feel a little better as it got some good reviews! :)

"This is the best cake ever! It's even better than chocolate cake!" - My Niece, Age 4!

Kaley...

On Saturday me and my niece finally got round to decorating the Halloween Gingerbread House I'd made. I'd picked up the 3D Gingerbread House cookie cutters in Aldi the other week, along with some other Christmas themed cookie cutters, and really wanted to try them out so this became the perfect excuse! I thought I'd share our 'creation' with you all, hehe.

We had fun doing it!

I'll be doing a post on building a gingerbread house closer to Christmas when I make one again. Hopefully I'll be able to practice my decorating skills a little by then too! I will say though that having cutters to make it was great, and they're dishwasher safe too which is always a bonus!