Crazy Days Challenge - Day 48 - Cooking the Books _ End of Challenge Round Up

So I cooked my way through one recipe from each of the books.

Chosen by:

Joy

Judith

Marlene

Sooze

Bumblebee

Heather

Maeve

Chrissie 

and Margie

Trying foods new to me,

and unexpected.

Most were delicious, as the scones from this book for instance.  Wow lemon drizzle scones, sticky but gorgeous, and well worth having to have a damp cloth nearby for sticky fingers.

I cooked from three of Jack's books, all with the results promised.

In fact the highlight recipe of the week was from Jack's second book 'A Year in 120 Recipes' and was the Autumn Pudding.  How can stale bread and frozen fruit taste so good.  This is definitely going to be a regular on my menu from now on.

Some recipes had lots of ingredients ...

... and some just had a couple.  But I managed to cobble together everything I needed from what I had in store.  I am still determined not to shop and to follow the Stay at Home rule.

I rounded off the Challenge with a recipe from this book yesterday and it has made me want to read it all over again.  What a pretty book to look at both the cover and the photographs inside and it's full of such tasty recipes, which no doubt I will be making over the course of the next few days.

So thank you for following along, thank you so much to those of you who took the time to write comments.  It's nice to know I wasn't completely alone in this.

See you soon with something completely different ... when I think of what it is.

Sue xx

Crazy Days Challenge - Day 47 - Cooking the Books Challenge - MARGIE'S CHOICE

Margie's Choice:

Book 17 = Deliciously Ella Every Day by Ella Woodward (Mills)

Page 42 - Two Minute Toast, Two Ways

I decided to make the second way, which seemed the most sensible option as basically the first one might kill me, or at the very least make me seriously poorly ... I'm allergic to avocado!!

Well I definitely had the ingredients to this little recipe if you count my peanut butter instead of the specified Almond Butter as a 'right' ingredient.

Although my bread was on the thin side and not the sort of 'fancy toast' that this recipe should no doubt include.  I imagine it would be so much better on a couple of slices of crusty toasted sourdough, or a homemade loaf.

Anyway I cracked on and made it for breakfast.

I thought my small banana might be too small, but once mushed up and with the peanut butter added and then spread over my thin as thin could be toast it was actually a very generous amount.

It was tasty, and it definitely needed that little sprinkle of salt to bring out the flavours and also to take the edge off the sweetness.  Will I make it again ... in this format I don't think so.  I think I would rather just have slices of banana rather than it be all mushed up, it looks so much nicer and is a nicer texture to eat when sliced.

This is the final day of the Cooking the Books Challenge, thank you to all of you who took the time to give me the book and page numbers you wanted me to cook.  I'll be back tomorrow with a little round up and recap.


Sue xx

Crazy Days Challenge - Day 46 - Cooking the Books Challenge - CHRISSIE'S CHOICE

Chrissie's Choice:

Book 3 = A Girl Called Jack by Jack Monroe

Jacks third random pick this week but all from different books.

Page 3 had no recipe, so I went instead to Recipe 3 = Sunshine Bread

I sort of  had the ingredients for this one.  

Some self raising flour to top up my lack of plain flour and I had some chopped dates, that I chopped up a bit smaller to make up for my lack of sultanas.  My tin of pineapple pieces was twice as big as the one specified so I had to play a bit guessing how much of the liquid to use ... and finally my carrots had a bit of mould so I used the best bits of two of them, peeled and carefully checked over.

I followed all the instructions and ended up with a squidgy bread dough, it feels very strange kneading even lightly a bread dough with little bits of wet pineapple in it.

This amount of dough was supposed to make a one pound loaf but as you can see from this photo my ball of  dough even before the first 15 minute rising was already bigger than the tin.  So Alan who was passing said 'Why not make two one pound loaves then.'  

What a good idea. 😃

Sunshine Bread rising in the sunshine ... how very appropriate.  

I did cover it with a tea towel after this photo for the short second rise of 30 minutes.

Out of the oven bang on time and the little loaves looked and smelled wonderful.  The good thing about Jack's recipes is that they work every time.

We had a couple of slices each with lots of butter while it was still warm from the oven as suggested in the book, and then later we had a couple more toasted as it also suggests in the recipe.  Well it's important to do as you are told with something as yummy as this.  It is lovely tasting and a strange mixture of a bread and a cake.

I'll definintely be doing this one again.

Oh. and I remembered to re-label my now re-filled flour jar.

Come back tomorrow for the final day of Cooking the Books and  Margie's choice of Book 17, Page 42.

Sue xx

Crazy Days Challenge - Day 45 - Cooking the Books Challenge - MAEVE'S CHOICE

Maeve's Choice:

Book 10 = BISH BASH BOSH! - Henry Firth & Ian Theasby

Page 100 = Dough 3 Ways

The basic recipe for the dough doesn't call for many ingredients, and of course I didn't have the main one, Strong Bread Flour.  But I did have enough plain flour to give the recipe a fair shot.

Of the 'three ways' I decided to go down the pizza base route, to make it into a meal for our tea.

First rise going on under a tea towel on the work top while we went to pick up a prescription and have our daily exercise walk around town for a change while we waited for it to be prepared.  There were a lot of people around, so it was a very zig-zaggy walk.

When we got back I knocked back and then shaped the pizza bases.  I decided to do us one each and told Alan he could pick his own toppings from anything in the fridge.

I really did not expect him to add strawberries though!!

Alan's was a Tomato Based Mixed Salad, Mushroom and Strawberry Pizza ...

... topped with cheddar cheese.

While mine was a Green  Pesto based Red Onion and Applewood Smokey Cheese Pizza ... with no fruit except a few tomato slices!

I do have to admit that Alan's pizza looked amazing, and tasted brilliant too he said.  I expected the strawberries to cook down to a mush but they came out looking just the same as when they went in.

Mine was yummy too, but in a much more ordinary looking way.  It was a nice change to have a green pesto base instead of the usual tomatoey one.

The bread recipe made for a lovely base, nice and thick without being stodgy in any way, and I will definitely be doing this again.  We had a very successful evening meal ... and it was very filling, so perhaps I'll turn it into three bases next time, one each for us and one for the freezer.

Come back tomorrow for Chrissie's choice of Book 3, Page 3.

Sue xx

Crazy Days Challenge - Day 44 - Cooking the Books Challenge - HEATHER'S CHOICE

Heather's Choice:

Book 23 - VEGAN(ish) by Jack Monroe

Page 23 = Apricot and Sunflower Seed Granola

I almost had all the ingredients for todays recipe ... just not the required apricots, so I used up the last of my currants and sultanas, even picking out the ones in the fruit and nut mix to make it up to the required 200g.

I also didn't have quite enough oats, so I raided this bag of Muesli Mix.  Looking at the date on the bag I think I will make up a batch of basic muesli too, with the now sultana-less mixed nuts.  Might as well get things in use before they get too old.  🤣

It was a sticky, sticky mixture, but it tasted and smelt divine just as it was.

I left it in the oven for a couple of minutes too long so it is very dark and crunchy, but it is delicious  and will be so tasty with the vanilla yogurt that I have in the fridge.  So that's tomorrows breakfast sorted then, and a few more after that.

Tomorrow it is Maeve's choice of Book 10, Page 200 ... and there is a real surprise involved!!

Sue xx

Crazy Days Challenge - Day 43 - Cooking the Books Challenge - BUMBLEBEE'S CHOICE

Bumblebee's Choice was:

Book 8 = The Secret Life of Scones by blogging buddy Suzy Bowler

Page 9 - unfortunately wasn't a recipe so again I went to the 9th recipe in the book which is:

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

I had the basic recipe ingredients, or as Suzy calls it in this brilliant book ... the Genius Recipe.  There is one scone recipe which you then adapt in a myriad of different ways, a book full of different ways in fact.

What I found I didn't have was the lemon or the poppy seeds.  Pretty important you would think in a Lemon and Poppy Seed Scone!!

 But I cracked on nevertheless.

I had this lemon juice in the fridge, dated Best Before  April 2018 ... I've been using it with no ill effects for ages now so I knew it would be fine.  This recipe used the last of it, so I can move  on to my newer bottle from the cupboard ...  I've just checked and the date on my new one is Best Before February 2019 ... oh well at least I'm catching up.

What this Challenge is obviously proving good at is using up things that have sat in my cupboards or fridge for far longer than they should have. 😄

I followed the recipe.

To the letter.

I just ignored the bit about lemon zest, and got my lemon drizzle ready instead.

Ooh ... look at the recipe that comes next  😃

Once out of the oven and while they were piping hot I brushed and brushed all of the lemon drizzle mix into the scones.  The smell of warm lemon syrup wafting around the kitchen was amazing.

So of course we just had to have two each for an afternoon snack, a very filling afternoon snack at that.  There are two left but I have a feeling someone will be wanting scones for his supper  😄

Suzy's blog - Sudden Lunch is always on my sidebar if you want to look at more of her recipes and inspiration.  And other her books are available on Amazon.

Come back tomorrow when it will Heather's choice of Book 23, Page 23.

Sue xx