Cheesy Crust Fish Pie

Firstly I must apologise that it's taken so long for me to add more recipes to my Easy Peasy Everyday Recipe File. Lots of people have asked recently for more, so here goes!

These next few recipes are already in the file so if you have a paper copy of the file, then you already have them. I will give you a 'shout' when I upload some totally new ones. I promise I will soon!

I often cook a luxury version of this pie over Christmas when I have the family staying. It tastes quite special with a mixture of fish and shellfish and wine. Also I can prepare it in the morning, so cooking needn't take me away from time spent with the grandchildren.

Of course if you prefer, you can top the filling with cooked mashed potatoes (and a little grated cheese) before cooking in the same way.

You can download my recipe for Cheesy Crust Fish Pie here

I need to confess that the picture at the top of the post not my own but a similar looking picture taken from the Internet, curtesy of Jo Pratt. This photo is just temporary, I will replace it with my own next time I make the pie.

I hope you feel encouraged to have a go and make this pie just how you like it. Let me know how you get on by leaving me a comment.

Judith xxx

Lasagne

We all like lasagne in our house. I particularly love it if you've left it in the oven just a little too long or you've reheated it and it goes nice and crispy round the edges. That's when you'll find me after the meal, in the kitchen with a spoon scraping off and eating the crispy bits from the sides of the empty dish!

Lasagne is a great meal to make when you've got lots of people round. Its cheap to make and you can stretch the filling out a long way with vegetable and pulses. Of course lasagne doesn't have to be made with a mince bolognese base, you can make your filling with anything you like: vegetables, salmon, chicken?

You can cut down the time it takes to prepare the lasagne, by using bolognese sauce you have made previously and frozen.

You can download my easy-peasy recipe for Lasagne here

Happy cooking!

Judith xxx

Southerner's Scouse

When I first moved from the south of England to the north west fifteen years ago, I had no idea what Scouse was. When I asked people I met, they all had different ideas of what should be in it. I guess that it's the same for lots of favourite regional dishes, everyone has their own variation.

To me Scouse is the same as the beef stew I remember from my childhood only my mother could not afford to buy beer to cook with (that's my adaptation!). I always look around the supermarket shelves for the cheapest bottle of ale I can find.

I love to add suet dumplings to my stew, making it really hearty and filling. I use Atora Vegetable Suet and just follow the recipe on the side of the packet. They're very easy to make; just mix suet, flour, mixed herbs and a little water, roll into balls and drop on top of the meat for the last 30 minutes of cooking. When they cook they swell up and taste yummy!

you can download my recipe for Southerner's Scouse here

Hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know your variations for this regional dish. Leave a comment below.

Judith xxx

Christmas Sewing School

I'm really excited to announce my new venture. I've been talking to the lovely ladies at Love Stitch in Heswall and they've asked me to teach some classes as part of their Sewing School programme.

Before I tell you all about them, I will fill you in on whats been happening in my world over the last few months.

Just over a year ago after feeling dissatisfied with teaching for some time, I was finally pushed to jump when I was made redundant. Over the next year whilst covering a maternity absence, I came to the conclusion that what I really wanted to do, was something more worthwhile and rewarding; teaching has become a rather thankless job (those of you who are teachers may identify with this). I had been a volunteer with Safe Families for Children for a while and in July a part-time paid position on the team came my way. It was a wonderful answer to prayer when I got the job and I'm loving every minute. I no longer wake up on a Monday morning and count the number of days and weeks till the next break. I work with some fantastic people and lots of truly amazing volunteers.

For those of you who have not heard of us, Safe Families for Children is a Christian organisation that has a growing base of volunteers from local churches supporting local families, who are going through difficult times.

Working part-time is perfect for me, it means that I can return to some 'proper teaching'. By that I mean teaching others who want to learn practical skills to make things. Love Stitch is a lovely little haberdashery shop in Heswall on the Wirral where I live. It is a small independent business, which is rare on our high streets these days. It is run by a group of lovely enthusiastic ladies who make time to take care of their customers. The sewing school offers a range of classes to suit different interests and abilities. They also have a coffee shop serving delicious homemade cakes. There is a coffee and crochet group that meets there every Friday.

At the moment I have three classes booked in the run up to Christmas (there are others available too with different tutors).

The first class is on 12th November when we will be making this cube shaped cosmetic purse in Tilda fabric. The class will include the skills of patchwork, quilting and inserting zips. Follow this link to Love Stitch for more information.

The second class is on 21st November when we will be making this pretty wall hanging. In this class I will be introducing free-motion machine embroidery. For more information and to book a place follow this link to Love Stitch.

The third class is on 9th December when we will be making this large Christmas stocking incorporating free-motion embroidery. If you want to know more, follow this link to Love Stitch.

It would be lovely to see you at any of these events.  As I look forward to the future, I am full of ideas for other classes I could run as I try to inspire others to explore their creative side!

Until next time

Judith xxx