Christmas Song Quiz (pt 1)

Guess the Christmas Carol or song from the initials of its title, first or key line. Eg JBJBJATW would be Jingle Bells…

WIAWW

WSGSUTC

WSWTFBN

SNHN

LCIGYMH

FTWLTKIC

YBWOYBNC

THATI

RATCT

OLTOB

CTMAW

OIRDC

Good luck! - Here is part two : )

Here are some seasonal things for kids



For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Salads

Hi,

These are links to salads on my blog

: )


Feta, mozzarella, basil and tomato salad

Salsa Salad

Spicy Prawn Salad



For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Salsa Salad

This is good at any time of year.

We usually have it with grilled chicken and tortillas to make wraps; it also goes nicely with tuna steaks or salmon fillets and new potatoes.

Serves 4

Finely chop one or two green chillies (I usually stick my hand in a sandwich bag, cut the stalk off, cut in half lengthways, scrape the seeds out and then use a rocker-chopper (mezzaluna) to chop without getting covered)

Chop finely a good big handful each of fresh parsley and fresh coriander (again I use the rocker-chopper as it's quicker)

Slice a bunch of spring onions, thin slices for the white bits, short lengths for the green bits.

Grind in some black pepper then add some lemon juice, about a tablespoon or two, you want it moist without being sloppy.

(If you are making it in advance, stop at this point and put it in the fridge. It will get too soggy if you add the cucumber and tomatoes too early)

Cut a cucumber in half longways and scrape a spoon along to take out the wet seedy centre. Then chop into small chunks. (I cut each piece into three or four lengthways and then cut across)

Cut a box of cherry tomatoes in half. (You can use big tomatoes chopped too, but they tend to be a bit too chunky if you are doing wraps, so I would serve on the side if this is what you are using)

I know this amount of chopping seems like more effort than a salad should be, but it really is worth it!

Quantities are very adaptable, it's not going to suffer if you only have two or three spring onions or fewer tomatoes for example, and the amount of chillies, parsley and coriander is very much to taste.



You might also like spicy prawn salad

Ribbon Salad

Spicy chicken drumsticks

Barbecue Ideas

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Seasonal things for kids

Hope you don't mind a non-food post.

As that time of year approaches, I thought I would share some resources for kids (because let’s be honest, children and quiet get along like nature and vacuums!)

This is quite a good free personalised video message from the man himself http://www.portablenorthpole.com/home (There is a charge on the iPad app, but it's free on the website)

The NSPCC do a nice letter from Santa for a suggested donation of £5 http://christmas.nspcc.org.uk/santa

(You can also get a free one here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/free-santa-letter-video ) 

These singing and dancing reindeer that you can control appeal to small people (headphones recommended!) http://www.icq.com/greetings/cards/66/ (This link no longer works - am trying to find another)

Those of you who do Twitter, may be aware of @MooseAllain ; he has drawn an advent calendar to colour in here: http://www.worldofmoose.com/products/world-of-moose-advent-calendar

Mix up some washing powder with a bit of water to make a thick paste, it's great to clag on to a window to create a snow scene (sledges, snowman hats et cetera made out of card or foil stick well to it and you have lovely sparkling windows in the New Year when you scrape it off and wipe them down!)

NORAD Santa Tracker http://www.noradsanta.org/ has some good games and activities for the run up and of course watching his progress on Christmas Eve (especially if they need a bit of encouragement to go to bed as they can see how close he is getting!)

There's a winter scene made out of ice cream here, with other cooking ideas http://tyne-teas.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/cooking-with-kids.html

Make a Yule Log - cut the end off a swiss roll at an angle and stick it on the side of the main bit to look like a branch, then cover the whole lot in chocolate butter icing (4oz butter/marge creamed, 6oz of sieved icing sugar and 2oz of sieved cocoa powder). Use a fork to drag bark markings on it. You can also sieve some more icing sugar on to look like snow

Make Christmas Tree cakes (ordinary cupcake/fairy cakes) but with butter icing with green food colouring piped on in a swirly cone and then add ball bearing sprinkly things to look like decorations

Reindeer Hand Biscuits
http://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/graham-campbells-reindeer-hand-cookies.html 
(you can do these any time of year, varying the decorations to other animals)

Right – that should be a start to buy some hush, feel free to share yours!


(It's more for grown-ups, but you might also enjoy my Christmas Song Quiz)



For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Leftover roast meat curry

Finely chop an onion and soften in a tiny amount of oil/spread. Add some curry powder (I use about three heaped teaspoons of 'mild') and stir. Stir in leftover gravy made from homemade vegetable stock (no thickening is needed, as the gravy already is) and gently bring to boil.

If it is for leftover roast chicken, I usually stir in some tomato purée (about two or three teaspoons). I tend not to if it is for leftover roast beef (There is no good reason for this, either tastes fine!)

Serve with slices of leftover roast chicken or beef and either boiled rice or toasted naan bread.

(If you add the meat to the curry sauce, make sure you heat it through thoroughly before serving.)

Sometimes if we have eaten all of the meat or have used it with a cold meat salad, I make the same curry sauce from the gravy, but make meatballs to go in - see Kofta Curry


You might also like:

Kofta Curry

Things to have with Poppadoms

Potato and/or Cauliflower Curry



For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Gravy from home made stock

I usually start some stock off the day before or in the morning if I am doing a roast dinner for a lovely rich gravy (that probably could qualify as a vegetable in its own right!)

This isn't a fixed list of ingredients or quantities, more of an average and great for using up vegetables that are no longer at their optimum. (But think about how the vegetable tastes and what it will add though; I avoid sweet stuff like parsnips or bitter veg like savoy cabbage, even if they will be part of the meal)

Remember everything is going to be boiled up and mashed, so chopping does not need to be delicate!

Chop a couple of onions and two or three carrots. Cut the stalk off broccoli (only if you have it, not essential) and chop. Add a softening tomato or two if you have some. Add four or five black peppercorns, a bayleaf and some parsley (dried or a good way of using up stalks of fresh).

Just cover the veg with water (a tall thin pan is better than a wide one), bring to the boil, put a lid on and leave on a very low heat to simmer for maybe an hour or so (it is surprising how firm carrots can still be after an hour; it makes me wonder how long my Gran cooked hers for to get them so squishy!). If you are making this in advance, turn off the heat after about half an hour and leave it with the lid on as it will continue to stew.

How involved you get next is up to you...

- you can either just pour off the liquid and use this

- but there is a lot of liquid in the veg, so you can also take a potato masher to them and pour some more off

- or it can be quite satisfying pushing the veg through a sieve for a really thick stock

(If you are roasting some meat, then pour off any fat and add the meat juices to your stock.)

Then just thicken the stock to make gravy in your usual way, with whatever seasoning and herbs. (I either use some yorkshire pudding batter, or some flour mixed with water; and add a bit of stock to this, stir smooth then add back to hot stock and whisk and bring to boil. Or cornflour)

I usually turn any leftover meat and gravy into a curry later in the week




For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Kofta Curry

Serves four

Not authentic, but a great curry-in-a-hurry

The Sauce

Finely chop an onion and soften it in a small amount of butter/spread.

Stir in just under an ounce of plain flour (I don't measure it out, either a flattened tablespoon or rounded dessertspoon is about right) and curry powder to taste (I use about three heaped teaspoons of 'mild'), then slowly add while stirring about 3/4 pint of liquid (water is fine, but if you have any apple juice to hand it is richer using up to about half juice), bring gently to the boil and while simmering add a big dessertspoon of chutney (whatever you have or fancy, mango, branston pickle, homemade...). It is nice to peel and grate an apple in to the sauce too. Simmer for about five minutes. I sometimes add half a beef stock-cube, depending on what else I have added.  If it's too thick for your preference, it goes without saying to just add a bit more liquid.

Either add the meatballs while it's simmering, or let the sauce cool to reheat while you quickly make meatballs the next day. I think the flavour improves for leaving it.

I usually serve it with either rice or naan bread

Meatballs

As they are going into a tasty sauce, I make really lazy unseasoned meatballs in the microwave. This takes most of the fat out and you get meatballs which hold their shape in the sauce.

Divide a pound of minced beef into however many meatballs you want to make (I usually chop a slab of mince into quarters, half each quarter, and then split each piece into two to make 16 fair sized meatballs)

Place evenly on a microwaveable dish and microwave for two minutes (this will release a fair amount of fat from the mince, so don't use a shallow plate).

Turn them over (if some of the ones at the centre aren't as cooked, you might also want to swap them with ones at the edges) and cook for probably about another 30-60 seconds.

They should look brown and still be a bit springy. Don't over cook them in the microwave; they are going into a hot sauce and so will continue to cook.

When they are cooked, add to the sauce while you are waiting for the rice or naan bread.

(You can also pour the fat off and add any meat juices to the sauce if you like.)


Things to have with poppadoms

Potato and/or Cauliflower Curry

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Chilli Prawn Curry

Spicy Prawn Salad

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Stuffed Peppers

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )