Phew!!!

I have been on a baking frenzy!! Si is going away tomorrow for a couple of days and it will be just me and the little man. So I thought I would pre-make some dinners and some food for Si to take with him. I began baking at 5pm and have just sat down. Phew!

So on the roll call we have:

4 Naan Breads
2 portions of Chicken Shashlik
12 Lemon and Raisin Scones
8 Mini 3 Cheese, Bacon and Onion Tarts
1 Tomato and Cheese Quiche
1 Tomato, Bacon and Cheese Quiche
8 portions of Ham Soup
4 Thyme French Loaves (from my new favourite book "Confessions of A French Baker" by Peter Mayle and Gerard Auzet)
Fish Pie

And there is still more to make tomorrow:

Apple Rings
Carrot Cake
Gingerbread Men

I think I may have gone overboard! Oh well the freezer will be full again after our pre-holiday pillage and none of us are going to go hungry!

What can you do with a Purple Carrot?

I have been receiving an organic vegetable box for a few weeks now and I LOVE it! They send you seasonal items and the box changes everyweek. There have been a couple of items that I really had no idea what they were - the main surprise item was a squash that looked like a grapefruit/pepper hybrid  and the grapefruit that looked, smelled and tasted like a bright pink orange!! - but it is opening my eyes up to a whole new world of food and cooking. This week was no exception. We got back from our holidays to be greeted by this weeks box, which contained the usual bananas and potatoes along with other veg and fruit. Buried at the bottom though was a bunch of purple carrots. Brilliant!

Now these beauties are absolutely gorgeous. Really pretty, but I don't know what to do with them. I feel like I should do something a little more ceremonious with them other than boiling them within an inch of their lives and serving them sliced or mashed. So I got to thinking and started googling recipes.

The first recipe I stumbled across was a "Carrot Cake" Porridge reicpe, that I spotted on a forum last night. It sounded so obscurely fabulous that it needed to be tried. I am sooo glad that I did. It was delicious and will be making a regular return to our breakfast table!!

"Carrot Cake" Porridge

2 pinches of brown sugar
Sprinkle of cinnamon and mixed spice
30g oats (or however much you want)
Milk (however much you want to use)
Chopped apricot or apple (I used a soaked dried apricot)
1 grated carrot

Mix oats and milk/water and heat up by your chosen method
Add other ingredients and stir. Enjoy!

Now posed the question "What else can I do with a purple carrot?" I decided to roast some using some fresh thyme and rosemary from the garden, along with some potatoes and garlic. Not incredibly exciting but again absolutely gorgeous! Plus what better way to showcase the amazing colour that they have running through them.

I have aready ordered and received my next bunch and am now going to try Carrot and Courgette Bread and a rather interesting Carrot Sandwich Spread (which should be interesting!) along with a Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup and a Beef Pilaff.

Happy Eating!!