Chui Chilli Chop

The amazing sons helped me to cook lunch today. Nothing fancy. It is the end of the 2 weeks of half term and I really urgently desperately need to go to Sainsbury's. There is not much 'fresh' food left in the house so we made a bean and lentil chilli with a few carrots and stalks of celery that were languishing in the fridge. The amazing sons' knife skills are definitely getting better. That last sentence read out of context would be extremely worrying.

For extra spice I chopped up a few chillies. It wasn't the gorgeous husband who suffered for his chilli eating bravado this time. Amazing son number one looked more than a bit watery around the eyes it has to be said after crunching through a few of them. He was also heard to say 'I think I prefer mustard, it [the effects] doesn't last as long'. Regardless, I bet he'll be back for more when we have the leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

Cheesecake Conversion

I'm not a huge cheesecake fan. Despite my very sweet tooth it is not a pudding I often eat or want to eat.  Probably due to the school dinner variety that I was offered throughout my education. And until last week I had never made one or had a desire to do so.

I don't know what came over me therefore, but with 8 friends coming for dinner I decided I simply HAD to serve cheesecake. Baked cheesecake. Baked cherry cheesecake. With a soured cream topping. It seems that a recipe for this does not exist on the internet, so I had to combine 2 recipes and add my own twist.

It almost went horribly wrong when I discovered that the foil (above) had failed to keep the water (from the 'bain marie', what culinary sophistication) away from the tin and there appeared to be some seepage. I was imagining a very damp biscuit base but carried on regardless. Thankfully my fears were unfounded and the cheesecake was something of a resounding success.

I served it with sour cherry compote to complement the cherries in the mixture. And even I had seconds. I may be converted to cheesecake it seems. As long as it doesn't have a soggy bottom.

Chuis and Chillies

The gorgeous husband decided to treat us all to an impromptu  meal out last night. One of our locals (there used to be just one which was a definite 'old man's pub', but now we have 4 rather trendy (or trendy enough) bars/cafes within walking distance) has a curry night on a Thursday. The amazing sons loved it although there was some inevitable curry bravado amongst the Chui males as to who could handle the hottest curry. Amazing son number 1 was brave enough to try a chicken jalfrezi (4 chillies on the menu) while amazing son number 2 ordered a chicken korma (not even 1 chilli on the menu, no fun in that). The gorgeous husband had a chicken vindaloo (a whopping 6 chillies on the menu) and suffered a little for it. It is a very rare occurrence to hear him say that something is a little too spicy, but that is (I am sure) what I heard him mutter at some point during the meal. It may have been when he was mopping his brow such was the heat of this curry. It was a simply lovely evening, topped off with mini ice cream sundaes at home. Special times with my favourite people.

Wednesday Sundaes

The amazing sons chose to have their ice cream sundae treat today. Effortless and (thanks to some bargains I spotted in Sainsbury's) complete with proper sundae glasses and spoons. Okay, so the sundae glasses are vivid orange and the spoons equally garish in colour but they were vastly reduced and added to the fun! Ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, bananas, chocolate buttons and whipped cream. All topped off with total silence while the amazing sons enjoyed them. I think we will be making more....

Mocktails, a Movie and Midnight Munching

After a tiring morning filled with swimming and gymming we spent the afternoon making 'mocktails'. We even dipped our glasses in egg white and sugar! They are rather pink and did not really convey the 'James Bond shaken-not-stirred' image the amazing sons wanted, but we had fun. You really don't want to know what went into making these - I wouldn't recommend them for adult consumption as they were very, very sweet but the amazing sons thought they were very, very delicious. But then they are 12 and 8 and would happily eat sugar cubes with maple syrup poured over for breakfast if I let them. Amazing son number 2 was in fact caught sneaking the 'treat' box upstairs for a little midnight munching that same evening. I do feel the amazing sons are making progress in their sneaking of the 'treat' box upstairs. This time amazing son number 2 was only caught by chance as the gorgeous husband went to the kitchen to get a beer. I wish I had been there to see his face! Last time they tried, amazing son number 1 dropped the treat box on his way upstairs. Rookie error.

Sun-dried Tomato and Fennel Seed Bread

I have been wanting to make my own bread for a long time, but the whole kneading thing is simply not my style. I just can't be bothered. I don't mind waiting for the dough to rise (= time for a cup of tea) but I just don't want to poke and prod dough. Therefore, another reason to love my KitchenAid. It does all the hard work for me.

After trying some amazing fennel seed bread at Carluccio's in Nottingham (my favourite place for lunch at the moment) I've been longing to use some in my baking. So with some seeds purchased, half a jar of sun-dried tomatoes discovered in the fridge and a new recipe adapted  I made this:

What You Need:

• 500g strong white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 5g dried yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 320 ml lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp  tomato pureé
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes drained & chopped

What You Need To Do:

1. Mix the dry ingredients in the KitchenAid bowl using the dough hook.
2. Add the olive oil to the flour mixture and combine using the dough hook then add the water, fennel seeds, tomato pureé and sun-dried tomatoes.
3. Mix to a dough consistency on the lowest setting (add a little extra flour if necessary) and then increase the speed to 2 and let the KitchenAid do all the hard work for 10 minutes while you put the kettle on.
4. Cover the dough in the bowl with clingfilm and allow to rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Using the KitchenAid again knead your dough for a few minutes. Remove it from the bowl, shape into a round loaf and place on a floured baking sheet. Dust the dough with flour, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise again for about 60 minutes again until it has doubled in size.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and then bake your bread for 20-30 minutes until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

If you can wait long enough, slice when cool(ish) and enjoy with butter and some homemade soup.

At A Loss....

After a 3 1/2 week term (seriously) the amazing sons are back on holiday for half-term. Most children get 1 week for a half-term, mine get 2. I'm not complaining as I work at their school but for the first time ever I have found myself at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Not that I had got as far as suggesting a game of football. I wasn't that desperate.

A cunning plan has been hatched to keep them entertained and me sane. I have written 'treats' for us to do each day on bits of paper, folded them and coded them with a symbol - sunny day, wet day, big treat day. They choose a treat and we enjoy. Today it was going to the library (they've been wanting to go for weeks) and getting a cone of chips on the way for lunch. Now they are reading books and watching a film they borrowed. Long may the peace last!

I'll keep you updated as to what else we get up to shortly - and may even remember to take a photograph too.