COOKBOOKS GALORE

The weather here has been so hot that I decided to make some real lemonade. I used the recipe from Delia's 'Summer Collection' You need: 6 lemons 150g sugar Scrub the lemons and thinly pare the outer coloured zest from 3 of the lemons. Remove any white pith as it will make the lemonade taste bitter. Put the zest in a large bowl and add the lemon juice and the sugar. Pour in 1.4 litres of boiling water, stir well, cover and leave overnight in a cool place. Next day stir again and check for sweetness. Add more sugar if necessary. Serve chilled with lots of ice.

One of the books I've had for a long time but never used is Delia's 'Summer Collection'. I decided I'd like to try her easy one-crust pie, so having bought some apricots, we [my granddaughter and I] made it today. I have to admit that I didn't use the semolina flour or the egg in the tart base, but it turned out fine. Maybe with fruit that are have more liquid, like rhubarb, you should use them.I didn't use the crushed sugar cubes and egg white on the top either - just brushed it with milk. The recipe: for the pastry: 175g plain flour 40g lard 40g butter or margarine cold water to mix for the filling: 750g prepared fruit [rhubarb,gooseberries or really any fruit at all][I used apricots stoned and 1/4d and added 25g flaked almonds] 75g caster sugar 2 rounded tbspns semolina flour for the glaze: 1 egg white 6 crushed sugar cubes Sift flour into a bowl and rub in fat. Add enough cold water to make a smooth dough. Chill in the fridge for 30 m...

When we first came to live in France, we brought 2 Bramley apple trees with us. This type of apple is unknown here. The trees have done well, and this year have been loaded with fruit. What to do with them all? Today I decided to try an apple muffin recipe from Susan Reimer's excellent book 'Muffins fast and fantastic'. It's a nice and easy treat to makeThis is the recipe which I have changed a little. Apple muffins - makes about 10 -12 muffins . 250g sr flour 1 tspn baking powder 11/2 tspns mixed spice 85g sugar 1 egg 150ml milk 170g peeled, cored and chopped Bramley [or any other type] apple 90ml vegetable oil soft brown sugar for the tops Preheat oven 200C/400F/gas6 and grease muffin tin. In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder and spice together. Add the chopped apple. In another bowl beat egg into the milk and add the oil. Mix together well. Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir till just combined. Spoon this into the muffin ...

We came back from out holidays on Tuesday night. Had typically British weather! The caravan in Norfolk was much bigger than I thought it would be. We went to the sea a couple of times, the second time we had rain, but determinedly sat under our umbrellas waiting for the rain to stop - how British! Got back to find the garden growing like the Triffids. No-one had picked the courgettes so one had grown into a huge marrow - 54 cms long. Lots of tomatoes, aubergines and peppers - so a ratatouille is called for methinks.

Apologies to Cliff.....! We're all going on a summer holiday, No more blogging for a week or two, Fun and seaside on our summer holiday, Going to make Rhys's dreams come true in a day or two..... Thanks to Trekkie for this verse ..... You're going where the rain is warmer, You're going where there's swine fluuuu, You've seen it in the movies, Now let's see if it's truuuuue.. Lots of laughter on our summer holiday, Now back where the sky is really blue, Sun and rainstorms on our summer holiday, Managed to survive the swine fluuuuu, But only for a week or two...!! [we're going back!!]

Picked a lot of plums on Saturday so after making a plum torte, clafoutis and stewing some, I decided to make plum ice cream from a recipe on the Good Food site. Forgot to take any photos as I went along, but this is the finished ice cream and it is delicious. Plum ice cream - makes 1 litre 450g ripe plums, stoned and quartered 125g light muscovado sugar 4 egg yolks 125g icing sugar 284ml pot double cream Put plums in a pan with the muscovado sugar and 300ml water. Bring ro the boil, cover and simmer for about 10 mins. till plums are cooked. Pass the stewed plums through a sieve. Chill the puree in the fridge for 20 mins. Put egg yolks and icing sugar in a bowl and stand it over a pan of simmering water. Whisk with an electric beater till the mixture has just warmed through. then take bowl off the heat and keep beating till the mixture hasd tripled in size. Chill in the fridge. Whip the cream with 2 tbspn iced water till just holding its shape. Churn in an ice cream maker or pour ...

I am a great fan of Nigella, so when I decided to make an apricot crumble today, I looked in her 'Forever Summer' book and found this one. It's a bit different from the norm, as she adds grounds almonds and flaked almonds to the crumble. I doubled the quantity of crumble as we love it thick! serves 4-6 750g apricots [or any other stoned fruit] - quartered and stoned 75g butter diced 100g sr flour 25g ground almonds 75g caster sugar [I used soft brown] 50g flaked almonds preheat oven gas6/200C/400F Put the apricots in one layer in a shallow dish. Rub the butter into the flour and grounds almonds till it looks like breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar and the flaked almonds. Sprinkle this over the fruit and bake for about 30 mins. Serve with creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream. From 'Forever Summer' by Nigella Lawson