Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 55 Comments

Apple pie

It’s the Great Bloggers Bake-off this weekend. So here goes, time for a bit of homemade apple pie, made with home grown super sour apples. From this very rainbow tree.

After some very careful editing of which part of the pie to show you, it kinda looks edible.

And the official taste test….

“It’s reasonably decent but are you going to give the first attempt to the birds….” Shush… let’s not mention the first try.

Yes the birds will feed well tomorrow.

For all the latest on the Bloggers Bake-off go over to Mel’s great site.

https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/blog/

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 40 Comments

Crumble

It’s Autumn here in Yorkshire and Autumn means lots of really sour apples from our creaky old tree. What to do with them….

A few years back I would descend on my mum’s with bags laden with apples. She knew exactly what to do with them…. Make the most perfect apple crumbles.

So why not.

Not as good as mums but not bad at all. It’s amazing what difference shed loads of sugar and honey can make.

If I can do it…..

It’s the Great Bloggers Bake-off real soon.

Why don’t you have a go…..

You can find more details at Mel’s wonderful blog.

https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/2022/10/01/two-weeks-to-go/

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 88 Comments

Is the world crumbling

An apple crumble. One of my apple crumbles. Actually not a bad one at all. Very tasty.

Unfortunately not all crumbles are the same. Certainly not mine. Like the one I made a couple of nights back. All seemed on track. Apples picked from the tree. Apples cored, peeled and cut into pieces. Placed in a bowl and seasoned – generous helpings of sugar added – these are sour apples. Then a fine gluten free crumble was made and applied lovingly to the pie dish. The crumble was cooked at the right temperature and for the right time. A beautiful custard was prepared. Just perfect. What could possibly go wrong.

“Dad I can’t taste any apples. In fact I can’t find any apples in my portion!”

Nonsense must be there Hawklad. Your just imagining that……

Oh hang on I can’t find any apples in my portion as well, just crumble and custard….

**** So I went into the kitchen and there on the table was the unused bowl of apples. I had made Apple Crumble Surprise. The surprise being that it contained no apples. ****

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 93 Comments

On the edge baking

The apples are starting to form. It’s so wonderful having a little Apple tree in the garden. But wow does it produce fruit with a kick. I think the word I am looking for is – sharp. They definitely benefit from a heap load of sugar.

It’s all about patience. These apples won’t be ready for picking until October. Any sooner and even sugar can’t make them edible. Somethings are even beyond sugar.

Last night I tried to make myself a Moroccan stew from one of my cookbooks. Cooking when your beyond tired is always a tad risky. Especially as I produce weapons grade food at the best of times…. I tried to carefully follow the ingredients. Second last ingredient rather surprised me. 200g of sugar. In a stew …. OK….. the chef will know what he is talking about. And the final ingredient vanilla essence. Clearly chef knows best but really. Don’t need to read the preparation details. Bung it all in the slow cooker, stir and leave it.

Well 6 hours later and the stew was ready. It just tasted so odd. Basically a very sweet, strange tasting stew. This can’t be right. So I got the recipe book out and looked to see what I could have done so wrong. How can this be. No mention of sugar or vanilla. I surely didn’t imagine those things. All I can think of is that when my back was turned the recipe book page flipped over and shifted to something like a cake recipe. So I basically tried to cook a Moroccan Stew and Cake combo. Maybe it’s the future of cooking.

Maybe that’s a game changing idea for the upcoming Great Bloggers Bake-off. Start baking a cake recipe and then half way through the preparation stage I randomly change the recipe page. That’s on the edge baking…

The Great Bloggers Bake-off takes place in July (18th & 19th). But if you fancy it, please start baking as soon as you feel the urge. Clearly I have….

Remember to send in your creations (you can start early) to Mel so that they can be featured in the Great Bake-off.

crushedcaramel@gmail.com

Let’s see if we can literally blow Mel’s socks off with our creations and monstrosities.