How to make Vegetarian Bacon, Cheese and Tomato Toastie and Other Ideas

 Where would we be without the toastie maker. We first got the Breville snack and sandwich maker years ago - it was released in 1974! and I am sure that many of you out there have one lurking in the back of a cupboard somewhere too! Toasties are a real standby and are amazing with a little side salad and a small pot of coleslaw. The best thing is that you can put almost anything on one. Here we used cheese and tomato which is a classic! Cheese and vegetarian bacon, cheese and mushroom, but you can also do chilli cheese, cheese and red onion,  put curry on it, veg ham and cheese, anything. Students have probably filled them with Nutella and Marmite too, though not together of course, and probably cheese and jam! If you still haven't got a toastie maker now is the time and they are available here

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How to make a Celery and Carrot Soup (Vegan friendly)

 This celery and carrot soup only came about on account of my late brother calling in one night around 9pm as he was passing. He hadn't had chance to get his tea, and when I looked in the fridge all we had was about three sticks of celery and a few carrots. The shopping was due to be delivered the next morning! So I just threw together a potato, an onion, the celery and the carrot, some oxo vegetable stock, plus some cornflour and ground black pepper and hoped for the best. When he tried it he said this is really good and finished up eating the whole panful. Not before I got a chance to have a quick taste though! And for an accidental soup it really does taste delicious, possibly one of the best. Ask your guests to see if they can guess what is in it - I bet you they can't and neither could he!  

Here is the Recipe

How to make Fresh Vegetable Soup (Vegan friendly)

 This is a very simple fresh vegetable soup, no cornflour involved and still the taste is good. Just courgette, onion, red pepper, celery and carrot, oxo vegetable stock, and black pepper of course.. This is more of a summer soup as it is very light and the carrot gives it the sweetness. I wouldn't change the vegetables for this as the sweet (carrot) salt (celery) bitter (red pepper) bitter (courgette) sweet (cooked onion) all balance out. The crusty bread mops up all the juices. 

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How to make Extra Special Fruit Starter With Ginger Relish (Vegan friendly)

 Everybody needs a show stopper fruit starter and this is it! For ours we used the three melons, watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew, with strawberries, orange segments and pineapple, but don't be restricted with this. You could throw in different coloured grapes, kiwi, cherries - any combo. Always finish it off with a mint sprig for effect though. Mint is easy to grow at home too, plant one and off it goes... The tulip glasses that we serve this starter in make it look extra special too. The ginger relish is supermarkets own usually in the home baking department. 

Here is the Recipe.

How to make Butter bean, fennel, courgette, leek and carrot Vegetarian/Vegan Casserole

 This particular dish started out as a basic recipe from a book. It had far too much courgette in it and other vegetables when I tried it out. But it had potential, and after altering the veg quantities and the spices it came out like this. It is like a Winter warming broth and the cinnamon stick cooked with it makes it taste amazing. It also contains a fennel bulb, and fennel not only improves brain function but seems to warm you up right down to your toes as well. Try it and see! It also contains ginger and that is another warming spice, and cinnamon which is antibacterial, and carrot - vitamin A so good for your eyes too. So a good health tonic all round. I just serve it in a dish with a simple side salad.

Here is the Recipe

 

How to make The Perfect Milkshake

 The secret to a perfect milkshake is to add a teaspoon of ice cream to it when you are shaking it up in a container or stirring it up in a glass. Try it - it's so chilled then and refreshing. Vanilla ice cream is the best....

Her is the Recipe

How to make Bonfire Toffee

 Having never made Bonfire toffee before mum's friend who was a confectioner gave me a recipe for the hard Bonfire toffee. I asked if I wanted to make it softer and she explained how it worked. So i had a go at a fudge type chewy one and this is the result. One of neighbours young lads who came to our Bonfire night party tried some and said, "We got some from a well known supermarket before and this is better!" High praise indeed. NB only bring to the boil then simmer when milk is added like on the video - don't keep boiling it oops! You don't need to keep it in the fridge if you wrap it in greaseproof paper and keep it in a sealed plastic tub. It never lasts that long though funnily enough....

Here is the Recipe