A new ice cream … a summer treat!

This new ice cream combines my old favourite, the basic vanilla no-churn recipe, with an added surprise folded through.

The vanilla ice cream recipe is repeated for ease of reference, later on, but first comes the element that needs to be made ahead. Toasted, salted pecans, dipped in dark chocolate.

Toasted, salted pecans

75g unsalted butter

100g pecan halves, blitzed to a crumb

sea salt flakes

Heat a small knob of butter in a pan and when foaming, tip in the pecans with a pinch of sea salt flakes. Stir over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes or till toasted – you will smell them when they are ready. Tip the nuts into a bowl and leave to cool.

Here's a photo of blitzed toasted, salted pecans :

ready for the chocolate!

You'll need :

150g dark chocolate, minimum 50% cocoa solids

¼ tsp measuring spoon

a baking sheet lined with parchment

But first a quick reminder about melting chocolate.

You can melt your chocolate in a microwave – I prefer to create washing up by melting it in a large, squeaky clean glass bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. It's important that the simmering water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. It should be the steam from the water that melts the chocolate.

Resist the urge to prod and stir, leave it be. You can use a heatproof spatula when you can see that the chocolate is melting. Taking care to use oven gloves, lift the bowl onto a heat resistant non-slip mat – you may also find it useful to lay a tea towel on top of the mat so that you can dry the bowl – leave the chocolate to cool slightly.

Next up – dipping the chocolate and choices

The real thing … Tuesday morning breakfast

or is it brunch?

Remember me telling myself at the outset to “get a grip”?

I'm out shopping and excited at the thought of the kids' visit. As usual I have my list or should I say lists!

Picture the scene – I'm in front of the racks that hold the pre-packed bread, staring at the Warburton's thick sliced white when fear strikes and I have a pixie on my shoulder, whispering in my ear … do you have enough food? How many loaves of bread do you need – one or two?! Seriously I stood in front of the racks for what seemed like an eternity and I couldn't decide whether to buy one or two loaves – really! Yes, really.

Common sense prevailed and I bought two – how pathetic!

I made the right decision. After arriving on Sunday afternoon the kids were hungry and I made them sandwiches. On Monday, after going out for breakfast they needed sandwiches at lunchtime and … on Tuesday morning I made them Croque Monsieur without the ham! Plant based spread can be used in cooking so perfect instead of the traditional unsalted butter to lightly fry the Croque Monsieur. I spread the Warburton's bread with a dairy free Dijon mustard – Grey Poupon and then added the Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese, lightly fried the sandwiches on both sides and served. A note about the cheese – cheese with trace levels of less than 0.5 grams of lactose such as Cheddar or Parmesan can be digested by many people who are lactose intolerant. The more mature the cheddar i.e. “extra” the better.

The Croque Monsieur may not have suited the purists out there but who cares – rules are meant to broken – or adapted.

I don't mind admitting that I was stressed – it's a long time since I felt pressure and really it's nothing compared to what, in my case, I've always done. It just goes to show how hard it has been and it's going to take a while to get back in the saddle.

Can I make a suggestion – when you're thinking about entertaining give yourself a break and keep it simple, very simple – you won't be sorry.

Exhausted!

P.s. A message from Cheryl … just wanted to say that I have eaten more fried cheese and mustard butties since being at yours than is probably healthy but soooo good.

My reply … hey, they're a favourite here too – you could add finely diced onion – delish!

Ooooo!

Up next … a new ice cream

The real thing … Monday evening dinner

 and it's pie night courtesy, once again, of M&S Plant Kitchen.

I think you've got the idea here, a lactose intolerant vegetarian, vegetarians x 2 and a meat eater – a perfect time to road test pies!

The boys had the “No Steak Pies” the girls had the Mushroom Pies. I said nothing to H - the only meat eater. After he'd eaten his meal I confessed … it was really good and I'd definitely eat that again. If you have a very fussy meat eater – by that I mean a person who doesn't want to see any visible sign of fat on meat, just tender morsels -

here's the answer!

Take a look at the No Steak Pies :

I should mention too that there's a meal deal – a main, side and a dessert for two for £8. I have to say that I had one of the mushroom pies and in a word – delicious. Interestingly the pastry, which I fully expected to be leaden and thick was the complete opposite, light and crispy – just the right balance. Well done M&S!

The dessert option I chose from the M&S Plant Kitchen meal deal was Churros with a cinnamon sprinkle and a chocolate dip. Inhaled would be a good word!

Breakfast on Tuesday … or is it brunch tomorrow morning?

The real thing … the pizza

I included the pizza in the Sunday menu because I wanted some feedback on a pizza that I'd actually discovered at my Sister's when I visited recently.

There are two of us in this picture – me and my Nephew Lucas, Editor in Chief, IT Guru and a vegan/vegetarian/lactose intolerant. Confession time … I loved the lunch deal they used to serve in Pizza Hut – the salad bar, loads of pizza choices on the hot plate and a couple of pastas too. That memory evokes good pizza … here it is and the good news … it's vegan, a stuffed crust and a very dangerous product!

I give you Chicago Town Tomato Stuffed Crust Takeaway Pizza – Saucy Vegan with Sticky BBQ Jackfruit – not a scrap left – yum!

Here's what it looks like :

This is the best shop bought pizza I've ever

eaten and I'll always have one stashed in my

freezer. There's only one problem … I eat more

than I should!

Moving on … Monday evening dinner and pie night

The real thing … what happened next?

You'll notice that the menu for both Sunday and Monday evening contains M&S Plant Kitchen products. If you're thinking of sampling vegan ready-meals and products or just want a meat or dairy free option this range ticks all the boxes.

Years of being a vegetarian has taught me that no-one had any idea of what to serve. The “vegetarian” diner was almost like an outcast – if I had a £1 for every bowl of badly cooked pasta with yesterday's tomato sauce thrown over it and served up I'd be a rich girl! Now, thank goodness, there are good quality vegetarian and vegan choices and for those who have specific dietary requirements too.

My plan was to serve Chicken Kiev and No Chicken Kiev – the object of the exercise being that everyone gets the same, but different!

Here are the photos :

The “Kievs” looked exactly the same and, more importantly, they were both excellent and catered for each guest – poultry or not, milk or not!

Then there's the pizza ...

The real thing – the menu continued

The table is booked for breakfast on Monday morning and the plan is normally that afterwards the boys go their way and we girls have a wander whilst it's not busy – just like old times!

Fast forward to dinner, Monday evening :

Monday evening dinner

it should really be called M&S Plant Kitchen dinner!

No Beef Steak Pies

Mushroom Pies

Yet more roasties!

Plant Kitchen Sweet Potato Fries

Steamed veggies – cauliflower, broccoli and carrots

Roasted Rhubarb

Fresh cherries

Plant Kitchen Churros with a cinnamon

sprinkle and a chocolate dip

Tuesday morning breakfast/brunch

Croque Monsieur – minus the ham and using

Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese

… and breathe!

What happened next ...

When the dress rehearsal became the real thing!

In April I wrote about a friend's birthday gift – delivering dinner to her. At the time I speculated about the time when we'd be able to cook for our family and friends again and “do you remember how … the birthday menu is a dress rehearsal”.

Here's the real thing.

The kids (big kids) are coming to visit – staying two nights – yippee and hurray!

Then the light began to dawn – other than planning and cooking the birthday menu I hadn't cooked and entertained guests for the best part of 18 months – gulp.

Get a grip – stick to what you know and plan a menu, from beginning to end and then make a list – or three.

I'm taking my own advice and keeping it simple – they arrive on a Sunday, not quite sure of an eta – I'm thinking early afternoon so I'll be providing an evening meal. We generally have breakfast out too so I booked a table for Monday morning.

Here goes :

Sunday's menu

Roast potatoes

Pizza

Chicken Kiev and “No Chicken Kiev”

Avocado

Beetroot Relish

Roast corn on the cob

Home-made coleslaw

Tomatoes

Lettuce and cucumber

Sweet baby peppers

Warm pitta breads

Fresh strawberries

Vanilla Swedish Glacé

At this point I should explain that my Dil, Cheryl (Dil = Daughter in law) is lactose intolerant and vegetarian.

The menu continued ...