Cucumber and Mint Raita...

...Mmmm cool, crisp cucumber, zingy mint and creamy yogurt...the perfect accompaniment to the Paneer Fritters and Pea and Potato Samosas...


And so very very simple to make...

Cheat's Saag Paneer...

...well, kind of Cheat's Saag Paneer at least...in that I have used a curry paste to flavour and spice it up, rather than using whole spices...but my excuse is that I've made a Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry from scratch (using whole spices), a Chocolate Fudge Cake Tray Bake, some Herb and Spice Paneer Fritters, some Pea and Potato Samosas and Mint and Cucumber Raita...(the links for everything else will appear as I post the recipes) so I've been a little bit busy!!! The reason?? Friends are coming to dinner - and in fact for the weekend...so we are all set for a Veggie Indian Feast tonight!!!

Weekly Bake-Off Challenge...#1

....I have recently joined in the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge... The whole thing was started a while ago by Amy, who set herself the challenge of working through all 100 recipes in Mary Berry's "100 cakes and Bakes", but rather than take on the challenge alone, Amy challenged others to join in...and that's what many do...including myself now...Amy tweets the new challenge every Monday, and then we have a week to try it and send photos to her...You also have to own a copy of the book, as no recipes are given out...just the name and page number...

So, to this weeks bake, Apricot Swiss Cakes...(which can be found on page 71 of the book)

It's a Busy Old Life...

...so much so, that I haven't baked for a few days, and dinners have been super quick, super easy, and things already shared with you...however over the next few days that will change, as we have four friends coming to stay for the weekend...2 smallish people, and 2 larger ones (one of which is Cath who's blog you can find here)...and they're vegetarians, so forget  my 'Midweek Veggie Meals' we are moving into full-blown veggie heaven this weekend...Ok have to confess, these friends do come to stay about 3-4 times a year, so am used to cooking veggie meals, however...I am going to try a few new recipes out on them this weekend...so they get to be my guinea pigs!!! (This should be where the evil laugh comes...but don't want to scare them off!!!) Oh and there may even be a pudding or two in the mix...so watch this space!!

There is one thing that I managed to get done earlier this week though...

Children's Choice...

After Alex had the choice of what I would bake for the lunch boxes the other week, it was only fair that Emily got to choose something too...so the trusty "500 Cookies" came out to play...and this is what she chose....

We're trying a new recipe...

...from my Mother's Day present...I had taken some salmon out of the freezer earlier to make salmon parcels, but then as I was flicking through my new recipe book...I found the perfect salmon recipe...and that was that...dinner became...