Leftover Cheese Sandwich Pudding

The title of this sounds a bit gross I know and I have to say when my mum first suggested it I thought she had gone nuts but it was totally yummy and has now made me believe that any form of leftover can be made into something delicious. Which is true to a certain extent. I made cheese, ham and cucumber sandwiches for Ned's first birthday party (along with lots of other things) and there were some leftover which I was determined not to throw out. I ate the ham for lunch but really they would have been lovely in this but I was hungry. So there.

This is a hard recipe to write up as the amounts depend on how many sandwiches you have. It would also work well with lots of other kinds of sandwiches - ham, tomato... probably not cucumber... so don't feel restricted by the fact that this recipe is mainly cheese. You can also add whatever you like - my husband doesn't think something is cooking if it doesn't involve an onion. Garlic would be nice too but this is the basics - do with it as you will.

Leftover Cheese Sandwich Pudding

Leftover cheese sandwiches (I had about 20 which were quarter squares on a mix of white and brown bread)
2 eggs
¼ to ½ pint of milk
Cheese (preferably something tasty and melty - cheddar, red Leicester etc)
Parmesan
Salt and Pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5 and butter an ovenproof dish that will suit the amount of sandwiches you have - you want at least two layers of sandwiches in the bottom and enough room for this to rise a bit.

1. Layer the leftover sandwiches in the bottom of your buttered dish and squish them in a bit.

2. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the milk. Beat a bit more and season with salt and pepper.

3. Pour the egg/milk mix over the sandwiches and leave to stand for half an hour or so.

4. Grate cheese over the top (I even splodged on some cream cheese that I wanted to use up) and cook for about half and hour or until the cheese is starting to go golden and it has puffed up a bit.

5. Serve with a salad and some chutney. It was delicious.

Leftover Cheese Sandwich Pudding

Chicken Noodle Soup

My sister-in-law came to supper last week. I had chicken thighs that needed using and I've only every seen her eat soup - so soup it was. You probably don't need a recipe for this but sometimes I find a recipe a reassuring starting point so here's my incredibly easy recipe for chicken noodle soup - adapt at will.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4

1 litre good chicken stock
450ml stock cube stock
6 chicken thigh fillets roasted (or leftover roast chicken equivalent), torn into pieces
Oyster or shitake mushrooms
Straight-to-wok Udon noodles
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
star anise
coriander
3 baby pak choi, torn into strips and washed

1. Pour the good chicken stock into a large saucepan and gently heat through for about 15 minutes adding the star anise, ginger, soy sauce and sugar.

2. While the stock is heating up, tea the mushrooms into strips, melt some butter in a small frying pan and gently fry the mushroom until golden. Then remove from the heat and put to one side.

3. When the stock is hot add the strips of  chicken, mushroom and pak choi and the noodles.

4. Add stock cube stock to taste (I ususally use most of it) and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

5. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with coriander.

There are sugarsnap peas in this soup.... I wouldn't bother next time

Pickled Cucumber Salad

In my family there's really nothing (well nearly nothing) we like more than a lunch of 'deli foods'. This does not require a trip to an actual deli, though that is a bonus, but should include some of the following: cheeses, salami, smoked salmon, pate, bread, tomatoes, pickles and chutney. Birthdays are often a good excuse for a deli foods lunch and my mothers birthday last Friday was no exception. However, even though this is the easiest, (though not necessarily the cheapest) option for whoever is hosting the lunch, in this instance me, I always like to have something homemade. More than a salad but not necessarily something as extravagant as Heston Blumenthal's Quiche Lorraine. I was incredibly short on time, thanks to an earlier incident with a much-hated aubergine, and thought now was finally time to try out the Pickled Cucumber Salad recipe I'd written down six years ago and have failed to make ever since. Goes very well with fish.

I know some people are iffy on pickles but I LOVE THEM. So deal with it.

Pickled Cucumbers

Serves 4-6 as part of a picnic

2 medium cucumbers
2 cups white wine vinegar
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper
3 tbsp finely chopped parlsey

1. Peel the cucumbers and cut into thin slices.

2. Place the slices, with a sprinkling of salt between layers, between two plates with a weight on top (I used a couple of cans) and leave to stand for about an hour.

3. Pour off the juice that has formed and put the slices in a salad bowl.

4. Mix the dressing of vinegar, sugar, pepper and parsley.

5. Pour the dressing over the cucumber and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Hampton Sun SPF 70 for Kids

Slightly scary photo - still working out my new camera!

We have just been on a much needed holiday in France and, as Ned has inherited my fair skin,  I was really worried that he would get sunburn and so spent some time hunting around for suitable sun creams for children under 12 months. There's a lot to choose from and I took a couple with me but my favourite was definitely Hampton Sun's SPF 70 for Kids. It's not cheap at £33 (but you really can't put a price on your child's health) and the ease of the spray on application and the lovely smell made that rather steep price tag totally worthwhile.  In fact it was so easy to apply he was positively giggly about having it put on which made a nice change from the angry shrieking that usually ensues and it was so much quicker.

I reapplied this at least every 80 minutes when he was outside and we used it on nephew sometimes as well - there was still some left over and no evidence that he'd been in the sun at all (not a nappy tan line in sight). Highly recommended - I'm going to buy a bottle of this at the start of every summer.

Giveaway Winner - Burts Bees Starter Kit

Finally a winner has been chosen by the completely unbiased Ned... thank you so much for your patience. Katie Skeoch please email me your details and I will send this out asap. Thanks to everyone for entering. I'll try to do another giveaway soon. Thanks to www.biggreensmile.com for the prize.

There will now be a slight pause...

I'm so sorry, very rude to stop mid-giveaway but I'm afraid my father-in-law died on 4th August so I am just helping arrange the funeral and generally doing family stuff. Once I have a moment the delightful Ned will pick the winner of the Burts Bees giveaway out of a hat and normal service shall resume xx