Peach Crumble

Hello strawberry shortcakes, how are you all today? I am just lovely, had a busy but fun day at work and have just eaten a delicious spaghetti bolognese cooked by my own fair hands! Today's post is another foodie one; after making my Christmas cookies in half term last week, I was inspired to try another new recipe, peach crumble, and I want to share it with you all today : )

1) Get your ingredients ready, you will need: 6 peaches/nectarines, 1 lemon, cooking butter, salt, caster sugar, cinnamon, light brown sugar, plain flour, baking powder and one egg. Pre- heat the oven to 200 degrees.

2) Peel the nectarines/peaches (I used my vegetable peeler as I find this easier!), and then cut into similar sized slices. Lay across the bottom of the foil tray. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the peaches and a sprinkling of the lemon zest. Mix one quarter of a cup of brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of cinammon and sprinkle over the peaches.

3) Mix one cup of flour with one cup of caster sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the beaten egg to the mix and stir until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. It may be necessary to get your hands into the mix (remember, remove wedding rings first!) as it is really important to make sure the mixture does resemble crumble, without any obvious lumps.

4) Sprinkle the crumble mix evenly over the peaches. Melt half a cup of butter in a pan and drizzle over the top and then cook in the oven for around 30 minutes.

5) Ta-da! The finished product should look lightly browned on top. Serve with custard or ice cream and enjoy!

 A really tasty and comforting dessert in 5 easy steps! I have to confess I had never made a crumble before and was very impressed with the end result. The crumble was delicious and the peaches were soft and tasty. In future, I am going to try apple or pear crumble as hubby prefers those fruits, and perhaps even blackberry and raspberry!

Hope you are all well, more soon XOXO

My week in pictures

What I ate: Lots of home made, locally sourced food! Being at home is an excellent excuse to indulge my domestic side, and I have been visiting little organic farm shops for all my fruit and veg. As I blogged about here, I made a lovely chicken Korma that went down very well in my household! Today, I made some cupcakes using a recipe from my new Primrose bakery book. They were a light vanilla sponge topped with a rich vanilla buttercream (which I piped using my new piping set from Lakeland) So yum, perfect afternoon snack!

What made me happy: Lots of different things are making me happy at the moment, and my house bunny Woody is definitely one of them! He is the kindest, tamest, loveliest bunny I have ever met and I just want to squish him with cuddles! He is also a fan of my home grown organic veg, and has today been munching on purple sprouting broccoli and carrots! Only the best for my boy! : ) xx

What I am dreaming of: Right now I am dreaming of a trip to Moscow early next year! One of my best friends Anna will be there for 6 months for her second law placement and has invited me and another best friend to visit. Flights are reasonable but visas look set to be more difficult as you have to have a Russian citizen invite you into the country... there are ways round it but its tricky so I envisage a trip to the Russian embassy in London at some point!! Still, I am already dreaming about the Kremlin and the Red square and hope that we do get to go...

What I have purchased this week: Firstly, I am very excited to have got my hands on the heritage tweed jacket from new season H & M that I blogged about here - in London I was unable to locate a small size, but I managed to find one size 8 in the Maidstone branch! Cashback! I also purchased a few little bits and bobs for my nails this week, a strengthening clear varnish by Sally Hansen, a lovely pink shade by GOSH cosmetics and a gorgeous little pink tube of hand cream that I bought for my handbag! Lastly, I bought some bits and bobs for the house, including a little 'home' sign for my hallway wall : )

What I am listening to: Right now, Radio 2! Great mix of classics and debate about current events have kept me amused in the kitchen all day! I have also been listening to hubbys Metronomy album, and re-living memories of the Big Chill festival : )

What I am looking forward to next week: Firstly, I am looking forward to a leisurely lunch and catch up at Rocket in Canary Wharf, London with 3 very good friends, and then some shopping in the afternoon. I am also looking forw ard to going into school to pick up the kids AS and A Level results... nervous as well but they did their exams such a long time ago, I just need to know!!

Hope you all had a lovely week, it's Friday.... : ) xx

Something a little different : )

Today has been a lovely day of time spent with my sister, niece and nephew, shopping and domesticity! Shopping today centred around the home, I purchased some 'needed' items (muffin baking trays x2, new dishcloths and a micro-fibre cleaning mitt!) and some 'wanted' items (a little 'home' sign to hang in my hallway and a little votive for my bookshelf). I love being on school holiday because I have so much more time to browse, completely at ease, no rushing around and dashing from one place to the next! Even food shopping becomes more of a pleasure! On our way home, my sister and I stopped off at a lovely local farm shop called Perry Court Farm where I finished my shopping by buying over a weeks worth of fruit and veg (and all under £9!)

Back at home, I decided to try my hand at a couple of new recipes from one of my favourite cook books: Sally Bee: The Recipe for Life. I also have Sally's previous book The Secret Ingredient, and I love them both in equal measure. If you have not heard of Sally Bee, in a nutshell, she is a survivor of an almost fatal heart attack which she suffered in her 3os - with the help of a nutritionist, she has gone on to devise heart healthy recipes for all the family, and she shares these recipes in her books. I love to make these recipes and have adapted many of my old favourites to the 'Sally' way, with extra healthy ingredients added in. Nutrition and exercise are extremely important to me, and I get a huge sense of achievement out of feeding myself and hubby such healthy, home-cooked food. My latest fad is for home-grown veg, which I am receiving a steady flow of, courtesy of my sister's neighbour and his allotment - this organic produce makes me feel even healthier and quite saintly! I really hope to pass this healthy attitude towards food on to my children one day. I always loved vegetables and still do: I really hope I don't end up with children who turn their nose up at broccoli and refuse to eat it!

Anyway, back to dinner! I decided to make a tomato and red lentil soup as a starter, with enough left over for both our lunches tomorrow. The soup was pretty simple and had a nice kick thanks to the addition of a couple of teaspoons of curry powder. For our main meal, I made Sally's chicken korma with rice.

1) Finely chop a red pepper, courgette and a good handful of green beans. Put these to one side for now.

2) Chop up 2 medium sized onions and set to one side. Peel and dice a medium sized apple (any type will do, I used a golden delicious). On the stove, add a splash of olive oil to a large heavy based pan, and saute the onion and apple for 3 minutes, until the onion starts to soften. Add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and let cook for another minute or so.

3) Add the vegetables from earlier to the pan, and cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes.

4) Add 2 teaspoons of medium curry powder to the pan and stir in. (If you like things spicy, add another teaspoon). Stir in 2 diced chicken breasts, and stir quickly, allowing the chicken to pick up and seal in the curry powder. Let the chicken cook thoroughly ensuring there is no pink left (about 5 minutes)

5) Make up a chicken stock with 3 chicken stock cubes and 350ml of boiling water. Pour this into the pan and add 2 tablespoons of tomato puree and one teaspoon of garam masala. Bring to the boil and then turn back down to a low heat, allowing to simmer for 25-30 minutes.

6) Stir in 4 tablespoons of low-fat creme fraiche. This will make the sauce creamy but will not add too many calories or fat. Cook for another 2 minutes but do not allow to boil. Lastly, add a good shake of black pepper and stir.

7) Serve with basmati rice, and add another tablespoon on creme fraiche on top of the curry if desired.

Just thought I would share as this turned out very yummy indeed, and hubby loved it! The apple keeps everything nice and sweet and you can rest assured knowing that this is a wonderfully healthy recipe too : ) Hope you are all having fun weeks xoxo