Nostalgic snowy/winter day meals.

[GiddyRobin]

So, as it's snowing where I am, and I knew it was coming...I've made a giant pan of lentil soup. This was what we always had as kids when it snowed or got really wintery.

Also colcannon, veggie cottage pie, or a meatless hot pot. I remember smelling them all cooking when I'd walk up the garden path as a child, kitchen windows fogged.

I also love just big thick pieces of toast with loads of butter and a hot cup of Yorkshire tea. Preferably mid afternoon or late evening when it's cold, the fire is warm, and you just want to warm up from inside.

What's your go-to as soon as the weather goes super cold? Even better - when it's snowy? An extra point if you've a favourite activity! Mine is wrapping up with a book or a boardgame once I'm suitably warm.

If you hate winter, please don't have a bun fight. It's light hearted and nice!

Ooohhh I'm just as torn as you. You can't beat sausage, mash, and gravy. Buuuut...that lasagne sounds hearty. I'd be tempted for that considering you had a gravy meal tonight. But onion gravy. 😍 Sometimes I am a complete filth and just have some in a cup.

We're WFH too, it's bloody freezing but we've got to get out for the animals so I am very very jealous if you get a hunkered down day! DC school sent out an alert saying it might be shut so we'll have to see about that too. I'm making @buffyspikefaithangel 's soup for tea, but then I'm wondering if we can also do soup for lunch! Or maybe really cheesey and extreme toasties.

There may also be red wine. It's warming. 😁

@GiddyRobin - I've decided and got the mince out to defrost Lasagne tomorrow and sausage & mash Thursday- with onion gravy. It's not getting above 3c daytime all week here so a week of hearty teas for us
I'll make my old mum a couple of portions of the lasagne for her freezer while I'm at it. DH and adult DS work out of the house- DS gets the bus so has walking boots, woolly hat scarf and gloves out ready for the morning. DH will be switching the heated car seats on- he only has 20 ish mins to drive and we are urban not rural so roads will be cleared and gritted (motorway mostly)
I will be firmly staying in tapping away at my laptop.

@GiddyRobin Tesco’s own brand vegetable suet is gluten free

Old school home made French onion soup with caramelised onions and gooey, cheesey croutons floating on top. I’m also coeliac @GiddyRobin, so can assure you that this can be done with GF bread. (Tbf, it’s one of the few things that can make it edible. Try making the croutons with a bit of herb oil first for a bit of pizzazz) BTW, if I’m not going old-school, this is what I make when I need to get rid of the contents of the onion drawer. It’s often made with caramelized red, brown, white, green, leeks & spring onions as well as shallots. You can slice the onions with a mandolin, chop the rest and whack it in the oven drizzled lightly in olive oil for a while until it’s roasted and sticky. Not traditional, but equally delish. I freeze it and use it for the base of stews and other soups like -
Potato & Leek (ish) Soup. Big blob of sour cream or creme fraiche and some crumbled bacon or toasty prosciutto if we’ve been decadent. All the yum. Can also be made with cannellini beans and toasted chorizo for a change.

@mrsfollowill Oh that's going to be delicious. Big long day of freezing your toes off (I've got heating on and a hot water bottle. It's still cold as soon as I move! 😂), and that'll warm the cockles right up! I want a portion haha! I'm thinking I might copy you. If this carries on, which is looking likely, then I might enforce strictly nostalgic (for me 😁) dinners and get everyone's ribs well and truly primed for winter. My dad used to bake an onion with mash and gravy. Lovely sweet ones, and the liquid that came out!

Oh heated car seats though...that sounds bloody lush. We're primitive people who sit with hot water bottles like fools. I'm going to complain. DH is from a cold country, he should be far more prepared to keep me in luxury with his choice in car. Selfish! 😂 I've just looked outside and it isn't stopping. There's a very mournful Irish wolfhound glaring at me from the back door, as though it's my fault the world is white. Poor lamb. 😆

@Evenstar Thank you SO much! I'm so going to convince the Norwegians that I'm Dumpling Queen before 2025. 😁

I'm SE, so its rare to have sitting snow for long, but when we do, I recall meals we've had when skiing.
I have a raclette which sometimes comes out when we have a friend around. Various cheese, new potatoes and sides. Similar to fondue, but each person has their own tray and add their own cheeses.
We also had a non-cheese fondue in Italy which was a broth. Similar to a Chinese hot pot, but different flavours. We added thinly sliced meat/veg to the broth then had various sauces, but it might work with fish too.

Otherwise, I love home made pea/ham soup. A thick, stew made with just veg is satisfying too with crunchy fresh bread and butter 😋

Oh, you're an absolute bloody genius! I love French onion soup so much, but I've put off making it because we all know bread can be a bit up and down, even when you make it yourself. I'd never thought of doing it as croutons - I always had in my mind that big wedge of bread/toast and thought...it won't work. This is delightful.

Okay, so it's soup week now. Tomorrow spicy lentil, the night after French onion as I have all of it. And I always make way too much so this'll be my dream broth for other soups! It's so hard sometimes finding alternatives, I'm about 12 years in now but I still struggle because some stuff I just can't imagine - and I consider myself a decent cook. This is going in my recipe book. (And on my blackboard in the kitchen, because I'm a total ponce! 😆)

This sounds gorgeous! I'd love a raclette, I might possibly have to order one after this. 👀 Is it quite easy to use? Chinese hot pot is a huge favourite, I love the Italian style idea and I can actually see that working with fish. Maybe some nice chunks of cod, or those little sprats that cook so quickly.

I can do Japanese really well as I taught a lot of Japanese students when I was younger, and sometimes took payment in food. My usual cooking style though is a bit haphazard and "that'll be nice" as I add things, so I'd quite like to try out some new things!

Also, bloody love skiing. I'm terrible at it but that's what makes it even more fun!

I love soup so much too. I could live on it. My tummy’s happy place is Vietnamese Phõ, but that’s a bridge too far for DH who finds brothy soups too “dishwatery” to deal with. He believes soup is a starter, not a meal anyway, the poor, deluded soul. After 25+ years you’d think he’d learn. (I can turn anything into a soup. I have threatened to get all Grimm’s Fairy Tales on him in my old age if he gets annoying.)
Also risotto, but I don’t know about you, I get a bit sick of it.

Phõ is amongst my top 10 favourite foods. Have you had a go at making it? DH (surprisingly!) likes that, which is odd because the man thinks a sheep's head is prime delicacy. It's funny how blokes see soup as a starter though, whenever we have it both he (and DS) need a side. In a bowl of broth laden with noodles and fish! (And to be quite fair, if a woman is deprived of soup...who would blame you for going a bit Grimm? I'll be your alibi.)

Agree, risotto is very nice once in a blue moon but I find it a bit..dull? It's maybe how it looks, but I've never had one that doesn't remind me of sludge. They do taste nice! And I enjoy making them - but sometimes I sit down and think "urgh, why did I cook that?". DH curries things a lot. He got into Indian cooking last year, and he is really good...but last week he curried tuna from a can and I just couldn't do it. He sat there with labrador eyes, mortally wounded. 😂

I have a couple of other recipes saved which might be up your street even if a bit off track

Easy cheese and broccoli soup

www.instagram.com/reel/CpN-ufgI5SV/?igsh=MWZoZGpncDF0dzNxZA==

These avocado halloumi taco things that I ate for about 2 weeks straight

www.instagram.com/reel/C_GNE6MI8v-/?igsh=MWV2ZWNrYzRlOGJxcA==

Bookmarked this to try with veggie sausages

www.instagram.com/reel/DAvDcFPIWIH/?igsh=a2dzZ294aGM0bTV0

I made a really nice chilli tonight with a hint of cinnamon in for festive vibes 🤣. Lovely with rice or jacket potato. I have coeliac too and it's so rubbish how many childhood favourites are off limits now. For example packet crofters vegetable soup. To be fair I tried it again just before I was diagnosed and it was not that great but I remember it from school days. Tomorrow's lunch will be chilli leftovers. Not sure if I will be at work yet due to snow.

Oh my God, those tacos! The way he fried those eggs! And the beans! Okay, let me see. I've been that ravenous since I got flu I literally went back on Instagram just to find recipes. Let me see what I've got saved you might like:

I'd just use tinned beans for this one tbh:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAsYYBIoMyz/?igsh=OXUxd2FzbGF1ZGsw

I'm obsessed with potatoes so this is just 👏

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_sHpoyNLVT/?igsh=cjF5Znp5am02Y3l3

This is good because there's not much faffing:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_gEwIdofuu/?igsh=MW82Nzd3bjJteW0=

This one looks like a pain but I tried it and it was actually really nice, I just had to sit down to slice because I wasn't feeling great!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8_apmXvw-e/?igsh=MXA3eDUxOTM0cWd2

OP- I bought my raclette device from John Lewis, only because I had vouchers to use. I've since seen them at either aldi/lidl once, but amazon and possibly The Range might sell them.

Raclette is technically the name of the cheese which was traditionally heated near a fire then skimmed off the large cheese round and served. Our device is easy to set up. It has a hot plate on the top. Each person has a little scoop device, you can add in what you want and top with cheese, or just add the cheese in there to melt underneath the hot plate.

I buy a mix of pre-sliced cheeses, although you could slice it yourself. Its a bit trial an error, because some like a smoked cheese don't tend to melt the same as a cheddar. I cook boiled potatoes and have pickles, olives and pickled onions on the table. I also have thinly sliced meats which we cook on the hotplate, but asparagus, peppers, onions etc also work well. The prep is all beforehand, so its handy when we have a friend/s visiting for a casual meal.

@GiddyRobin alsp pescatarian - you can get vegetable suet for dumplings. Highly recommend for a vegetarian casserole 😋

ps also snowing here and this is the meal I’m dreaming of.

Ooohh what was it like with the cinnamon? I love cinnamon in things, I'm always nervous of adding too much but it can really bring out other flavours! Same as nutmeg! Urgh Crofters soup, I miss that so much. And Sayers pasties - it's a NW thing but they're like Greggs but creamier. Everyone says they don't taste the same now but the smell makes me weak when I walk past a bakery! Baked spud with chili is the best though. With cheese. Even cottage cheese, I actually loved that years ago but haven't tried it in ages! I hope you get an easy day if the snow is heavy!

Thank you! I might try The Range because I need to go there this week anyway. We're hosting a few small get togethers in December so if I can get it now and have a go, then it'd be so easy for food. I get a bit tired of cooking meal meals for guests in December because it's so busy, so this would be perfect.

There's a nice cheese shop near here so I might actually pop in when it's quiet and ask what would work. Your sides are spot on and I am copying that down to a tee, with additions of maybe some fish. Or maybe just a cold side of seafood actually.

Thank you so much! You've just made my December 1000% easier! 😂

@SeriousFaffing Is it heavy where you are? I just went out because the dog needed to do his business and it's thick here. I don't think we're going anywhere tomorrow so I'm glad I did a shop. You definitely need your discombobulated cottage pie, warm your cockles!

I'm so excited to try dumplings. 😂 DH thinks I've lost it because I keep showing him photos hahaha!

@GiddyRobin haha! I’M excited for you to try dumplings too. I prefer them finished in the oven personally, rather than just steamed. Make sure to use as little water as you can when making.

We’ve got a decent covering, but not really thick. We’re in West Yorkshire.

It rarely snowed when I was growing up, but favourite winter dishes for me were cottage pie, minced beef and onion pie, meat and potato pie, rice pudding, apple crumble and custard. We also often just had tinned tuna and boiled potatoes with loads of butter. Yum.

@GiddyRobin Tuna curry would be SUCH a hard pass for me. Canned tuna is cat food imo. (In fact, I only really like tuna sashimi) I’m shuddering imagining the smell in the house. I actually live in Australia now, so most of the “warming” foods are utterly inappropriate for today’s weather. (Hot, stormy, humid as Hades’ armpit.) I could easily live on Vietnamese food if DH was a bit more into it. He does rather like rice paper rolls.

@SeriousFaffing They look so nice finished in the oven, too! I can imagine a nice bit of crisp on them, like hotpot when the potato slices have the gravy bubbling up! I'm making myself hungry and it's not even lunch time. 😂

I bet it looks lovely though! Are you forecast for more? It's quite heavy here but schools still open so the kids have trudged in and they're not best pleased. Told them if it's still heavy later they can build a snowman! Snow days in school are fun anyway, we used to just get a film to watch and crafts!

@Drivingoverlemons Apple crumble and custard is such a nostalgic pudding, I could taste that for a second then! Bloody love buttery spuds. I remember when we'd run out of bread my dad would just boil a load of them up, stick them in a bowl and we'd sit there helping ourselves. The ones at the bottom were best because you could dip into the butter!

@Fraaahnces It came out brown too, it looked like cat food that had been consumed and then unconsumed! I'm fussy with tuna too. I can eat some canned ones, but it needs to be in oil and the steaks - I have memories of flaked in brine and it makes me wince! Tuna sashimi is beautiful. Actually, all sashimi is beautiful. I have a major love affair with Japanese food, and I might treat myself to a cookery book this year.

Oh I can imagine it's uncomfortable when it's so humid! That clingy kind of heat! That's the perfect weather for Vietnamese though. Those lovely big rainbow salads with peanuts. Rice paper rolls are a good start though...he has the taste buds in there for it somewhere! DH used to really hate sushi, but I converted him by getting him to make it himself. I use the same trick on the kids, but he hasn't noticed yet. 😁

You can cook it in the slow cooker! I used to do when my kids couldn’t have cow’s milk. It takes more like the one from tin.

I haven’t had oven baked on since my Mum was well enough to cook which will be over 20 years ago. I’m on a diet now but I may make an oven one over Christmas.

Both of mine had CMPA too, it was so difficult not being able to give them the stuff I remembered as a kid! Slow cooker rice pudding is bloody genius, I don't use mine half enough for some reason so it's going to get a new lease of life with rice pud. 😂

Oh you definitely should. I remember my dad sometimes grating nutmeg or cinnamon in, but I can't remember if that was a frequent thing. Do you like bread and butter pudding? That's another one I remember quote a bit. Also bread and milk...literally milk boiled with chunks of stale bread, butter, and sugar. It sounds disgusting but it was so nice. 😆

@GiddyRobin My kids all adore sushi, but are all very sophisticated 18 & 20y/o’s who can buy it themselves. As for tuna, my mother was very much one of the 70’s “gourmet” types who made “Tuna Mornay” with dried French onion soup from a packet, elbow macaroni, canned tuna 🤢 and milk, cheese and crumbled potato chips on top. The smell of that monstrosity baking in the house would have me gagging.

Oh my goodness, the thought of that alone is putrid. I am so sorry for your tastebuds that endured that. I feel like I got away quite easy with DH's curry experiment! This is the issue with tuna - it's the smell of it when it cooks that gets me. I like a proper tuna steak with a salad, but that doesn't smell as bad. Though I'll never forget when I was little, there'd be a man who came around the street with an ice bag. He sold cockles, prawns, so on. But one day he brought tuna with him, my dad bought it and it was obviously off. The stench. 🤢 It took me years to trust it again, I remember looking at it in my Nicoise salad and hoping it wouldn't kill me!