Day Thirty-Five

91 days and 84 recipes to go

Monday
Stir-fried Chinese Greens with Ginger, Oyster and Soy Sauce

Tuesday
Spicy Squash Risotto with Thyme and Mascarpone

Wednesday
Custard

Friday
Meringues

Today
Borlotti Beans with Olive Oil and Lemon Juice

Well it's been a busy week and we haven't had time to write. I made a decision this week to replace some of the recipes in the book with some from other Jamie cookbooks. I just didn't think I could cook a bunny! Also my sister doesn't eat much meat so it makes sense to replace some of those recipes with things she can eat. Anyway, this decision meant that I got to make custard (from Jamie Cooks) - Mum reckons it's the best custard she has ever had, probably ten times as fattening as the bought sort but tastes ten times as good. With the left over egg whites we made Meringues - its hard to believe that six egg whites could make that much meringue. They are yummy and tomorrow I think I will make Eton Mess using the meringues.

Day Twenty-Eight

98 days and 89 recipes to go

Today's menu
Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic
Spicy Roasted Squash
Roasted Red Onion with Thyme and Butter

Day Twenty-Seven

100 days and 92 recipes to go

Yesterday's menu
Radish and Fennel Salad
Warm Salad of Raddichio, Gem and Pancetta

Today's menu
Parpadelle with Dried Porcini and Thyme, Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce

Mmm the salads were pretty intensely flavoured - the radicchio is pretty bitter - but they were ok. Today's pasta was great - the porcini smell a bit potent when you soak them but they taste nice in the sauce.

Day Twenty-Five

102 days and 95 recipes to go

Yesterday's menu
Snap Bread
Cottage Bread

Today's menu
Creamy Aubergine, Cannelini and Ricotta Soup

Day Twenty-Two

105 days and 98 recipes to go

Yesterday's menu
Seared Encrusted Tuna Steak with Fresh Coriander and Basil
Green Salad

Today's menu
Everyday Quick Pasta Recipe to make...
Mixed Cheese and Basil Tortellini with a Fresh and Chunky Tomato Sauce

Yay! We cracked the 100 mark - that means I've cooked 38 recipes in 22 days - whew!

The tortellini was heaps of fun to make and tasted heaps better than any cheese filled pasta that you get at the supermarket. Our pasta machine is a bit dodgy though so we're going to see if we can find a new one.

Day Twenty

107 days and 102 recipes to go

Yesterday's menu
Twister Bread
Beetroot with Marjoram and Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Today's menu
Baked Fruit

Day Seventeen

110 days and 106 recipes to go

Today's menu
Papardelle with Sweet Leeks and Mascarpone

I love pasta - so we decided that, as it is a school night, we wouldn't make our own pasta for this dish. Mum found some really nice traditional made ( with eggs) parpadelle at the supermarket and we made it with that. Making it this way makes it a really quick dish - about 15 minutes from start to finish but super tasty.

Mum also made a chocolate steamed pudding with the leftover cherries and syrup from the Black Forest Cake she made on the weekend - it was good - and Mum surprised herself a bit with her good idea!

Day Sixteen

111 days and 107 recipes to go

Yesterday's menu
Pizza

Today's menu
Fragrant Green Chicken Curry
Chunky Coconut, Tomato, Cucumber and Lime Relish

Yesterday we had my birthday party - a few of my friends came over for lunch. In the morning we made a batch of dough and made pizza bases. We put out a selection of meat and vegetables and we all made our own pizzas which Mum baked for us. They were great. We had Black Forest cake topped with Chocolate Ganache for my birthday cake - mmmm!

Today I whizzed up the paste for the curry in my new whizzer. It had heaps of leaves and herbs and smelled good. My sister attacked the coconut with a hammer and helped get the meat out of it. I made a salsa to go with the curry. My sister thinks this is the best recipe yet!

Day Fourteen

113 days and 110 recipes to go

Yesterday's menu
Mushroom Risotto with Parsley, Thyme and Garlic

Today's menu
Braised Cabbage with Smoked Bacon and Peas

It's been a busy week, it was my birthday on Wednesday so Mum cooked me pasta - I love pasta. Last night we made risotto, lots of stirring but always worth it in the end. Tonight I made another batch of Homous. I got a new stick master pro mixer for my birthday so I used that to whizz it up - that homous is sooo good. We made some mashed spuds and Braised Cabbage which we had with some meat and homous.

Day Eleven

117 days and 112 recipes to go

Yesterday's menu
Basic Steamed Pudding Recipe - the Chocolate variation

Tonight we went out for dinner, so I had a night off, which was nice.

Last night we ate our leftover meatballs - they were just as good second time around. We made a steamed pudding for dessert. We didn't own a pudding basin (the last one got broken) so Mum took me to the kitchen store to buy one. The lady tried to sell us a metal one with a lid, but Mum bought a stoneware mixing bowl which she said would do the job and was half the price. Mum said it was like a miniature version of her grandmother's mixing bowl and brought back happy memories of her grandmother's kitchen. We put the the pudding mixture in the bowl, covered it with greaseproof paper and tied it with string, lowered it into the pan of water and let it cook for two hours. When we pulled it out and turned it onto the plate, it made us smile because it looked so good. It tasted as good as it looked too. We'll be making this again.

Day Nine

119 days and 113 recipes to go!

Today's menu
Humous
Roasted Tomato Salad

Today we cooked up the chick peas that we put on to soak last night. While they were cooking we mixed some lovely ripe tomatoes with some herbs, garlic and olive oil and put them in the oven to roast them a bit. Once the chick peas were done we put them in the food processor with a dried chilli, cumin, garlic, lemon juice and tahini. While I did that Mum grilled some chicken breasts and heated up some flat bread. When it was all done we sat down and spread the lovely humous on to our bread and added chicken, the roasted tomato salad and some lettuce - wrap it up and yummo! My sister was really pleased that we were having humous - it is one of her favourite foods - she is going to have it on toast for breakfast tomorrow! Mum was pleased too because making the homous was heaps cheaper than buying it and pretty simple too!