Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae with Honey Syrup Poached Pears, and Blackberry Compote, darling. And a crumbled flake on top.

Wooaaarrgh what a big juicy chuffer of loveliness this one was. Start with a layer of chopped madeira cake, top with 2 or 3 pear halves (poached in syrup made with honey and brown sugar, which is why they went a bit golden) THEN some blackberries, cooked and squashed a bit in a splash of water and some sugar to sweeten, THEN home made vanilla ice cream (out of the Ben & Jerry's ice cream book ... great book) and FINALLY some chocolate. Buttons, sauce, flake, up to you.

Future additions, could be, some toasted chopped hazelnuts sprinkled in somewhere. I also considered making some nutty crumble topping (on its own, I mean) and sprinkling that on. Imagine that.

Chicken & Ham Pasta Bake

A huge and delicious bake of orichiette pasta (like little flying saucers) with chicken and ham. I wanted to feed seven hungry mouths and have some leftovers for the next day .. I used the meat from a whole roasted chicken and a boiled ham joint. I made a big pan of bechamel, using all the chickeny juices and adding a bit of cheese. I also used about 750g of pasta and mixed it all in a big dish (actually it was the big roasting tin I do the turkey in at christmas). Finally, some breadcrumbs, and into the oven to get crispy and bubbly.

We had it with roasted tomatoes and garlic bread.

Eve's Slow Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic

Thanks Aunty Eve for the big bag of toms you gave me from your greenhouse glut!

I halved these (across the equator, not through the poles..) and put in the dish. Then I pushed thin slivers of garlic into the seeds. I added salt & pep of course, and a drizzle of garlic oil.

They roasted quite slowly for 1hr 30mins. We ate them with the pasta bake in the next post .....

Brown Rice Salad with Sesame and Lime Dressing

I did some brown rice in my new Zojirushi rice cooker (see previous post) and made a salad with it for my lunch box tomorrow ... all I did was, mix in chopped cucumber, yellow pepper and sliced baby tomatoes, then some salt, a drizzle of sesame oil (you really do not need much) and the juice of half a lime. Mix gently, chill in fridge. You should taste it but not too much or you'll have none left, it tastes lovely.

My New Fuzzy Logic Zojirushi Rice Cooker

This piece of kit is generally held in regard as the Mercedes Benz of rice cookers .... quite hard to get hold of in the UK, then I found this amazing website called Yum Asia, and got it from there. Cooks rice perfectly and especially without burning it on the bottom! You just put the rice and water in, switch on and forget it. It employs something called "fuzzy logic" technology, which I do not understand at all, but it bloody works. Love it.

Creamy Tomato and Lentil Soup

This'll smooth you right over..

Baked Beans Pizza! (on ciabatta crust)

The dough came from a packet of ciabbata bread mix, made into a dough in my bread machine. I made it in a rough square on a big baking sheet, and added tomato sauce, beans and cheese. Finally, baked in a hot hot hot oven for 15 mins.