Little Miss Leftovers...that's me that is!

A bit of a theme seems to be developing with food in Moogshouse this week.


Inspired by the lovely Abel and Cole cookbook, that I just had to order after seeing Lucy's post,and by the latest dose of Hugh's wisdom, we have spent the past few days enjoying leftovers.

With a bit of heavy tweeking, I turned the Abel and Cole Cornish pasty recipe into a somewhat fishier - but extremely tasty - version, using leftover salmon, leftover Anya potatoes, onions, chopped up boiled egg, leftover creme fraiche and loads of homegrown fresh herbs.



The leftover pastry trimmings from the pasties were turned into cheese straws....but disappeared before I could photograph them!

Sunday pudding was made using the last of 2008's frozen fruit - wild New Forest blackberries that we picked for free, with stewed apples given to us by mother-in-law...free from her friend's garden, made into the most delicious blackberry and apple Brown Betty, using leftover stale bread made into breadcrumbs.

Served with leftover vanilla ice-cream, this was a big success and far less stodgy than crumble!


The juice from the blackberry and apples was too good to waste, so I poured it into lolly moulds and we had them today, after a hot walk home from school.

The verdict from Sausage Monster was 'the best ice lollies I have ever had!'.




The theme continued into Sunday tea.

First off there were flapjacks, made with leftover dried cranberries.....



.....and then there were strawberry jam tarts, made with pastry left from making cheese and onion flans for tea.



I've even managed to carry on the leftover vibe today by having leftover smoked salmon and prawns in my lunchtime sandwich.....and have just munched on a bit of toast made with leftover homemade tomato and garlic bread.

I think the thing that has struck me the most is how much fun it's been to make the very most of the leftovers. Coupled with a rather smug sense of achievement of course :-)

That, and the fact that it's all been very very tasty and very very cheap.

Spurred on by all this domesticity, I have even managed to turn my hand to the onerous task that is the annual clear-out of the conservatory! This little room is our dumping ground. Whenever Moogsdad is DIYing the conservatory ends up full of whatever bits of c**p need a temporary home.

Apart from the microwave (that I never use but the man himself won't get rid of!) and the box of accident damaged motorbike gear on top of it, the room is now looking more like a room and less like a squalid tip.



There's even a floor in there!

Who knew?!

xxxx