North East thread 4: Fingers crossed we catch the Angel bus!

[Someaddedsugar]

Just thought I'd start a new thread for the north east lot as number 3 is getting pretty full!

@PennyDreadfuI hope you're ok and hope you don't mind me picking the thread up!

Meera Sodha is a cookery writer I use a lot @Someaddedsugar - she has three books - Made in India, Fresh India, East - the latter two are vegetarian.
Her website is meerasodha.com/recipes/ and she writes a vegan column in the Guardian www.theguardian.com/profile/meera-sodha

Some dishes of hers I make regularly - baked onion bhajis, channa masala, bunny chow, dan dan noodles, mushroom keema, sprout nasi goreng, vegan caramelised onion and chilli ramen.

Some will be on the guardian page/her website but if any take your fancy - happy to post a photo of the recipe on here!

@MrsEWeatherwax Very true - I will remain proud of my achievement today! Tomorrow I'm going to tidy out the cupboard where our vacuum cleaner lives as it's become a bit of a dumping cupboard. I've decided on a gradual spring cleaning approach for this year.

@PickAChew I realised cleaning was needed when I climbed onto a chair and put my hand on the cupboard to reach and get something else and my hand came away covered in dust 😳.

@myrtleWilson yes please for the baked onion bhajis!

It's always sticky dust, too 🤢

I have made in India and the recipes are really straightforward. Even Ds2 ate the tamarind chicken thighs - I'm doing them again tomorrow.

Sainsburys magazine always has some good recipes, too. A mixture of easy to throw together stuff and some more involved stuff. I have my eye on the railway egg curry from this month's (I eat a lot of curries!) and maybe the carrot and buckwheat cake.

I’m proud of you Someaddedsugar.
I’m not very good at housework, the house is clean but not mumsnet clean. I watch cleaning videos on YouTube, but still don’t bother
I really need a skip, and the charity shops open. I have crafts 5 years old, I’m never going to do them.
I’m going to check out baked onion bhajis.
Enjoyed my shopping trip. On my journey home saw that someone has planted a Xmas tree on some grass, made me laugh. First time the council cut the grass it will be run over

Baked onion bhajis -thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/baked-onion-bhajis-pyaz-ke-pakore

I forgot another recipe of hers I use a lot is kale paneer - the kale is blitzed to smithereens in a food processor so it becomes almost spinach like. I get a Riverford box every week and when kale turns up I inevitably do this or Nigella's kale, ndjua pasta
jonoandjules.com/2020/03/13/paneer-tomato-and-kale-saag/

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/baked-onion-bhajis-pyaz-ke-pakore

Thanks myrtleWilson, I have bookmarked that recipe. Will pin it later, love a bit of Pinterest. That’s full of pins I’ll never make too.

Wow. Most of the recipes I make are based on a shit load of onion, a shit load of garlic and a shit load of ginger but that is a whole bag of onions!

Definitely going to make it, mind. I forfeited a bag of bread flour to order some gram flour from waitrose, last week.

I see beamish museum are taking orders for afternoon tea www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/beamish-museums-afternoon-tea-deliveries-19840073

Oh - also don't know if anyone has noticed the new Angel bus livery. Martjn Gilbert, current GNE MD doesn't like vinyls blocking the view, so the current design doesn't! images.app.goo.gl/dbnyWoPMxUSvU6rX7

The new angel livery is nice. I’m going to order a Beamish afternoon tea for my DP’s as a treat. Looks lovely on the Facebook page, they even have someone dressed old fashioned delivering it. Think is only £20 with local delivery and enough for two. I will have to phone DP’s to tell them to answer door and accept, because my DM would probably send them away. She once nearly sent a flower delivery away a couple of years ago, but they insisted on leaving!
If is nice might order one for us as a treat.

This is the tamarind chicken, BTW. It's easy enough to adjust the heat. www.studyandspice.com/post/tamarind-chicken

Definitely always sticky dust @PickAChew!

I like the new angel bus too!

I also could do with a skip @MrsEWeatherwax - maybe we should get a communal NE Mumsnet skip . I've asked DP to message all of the local food banks on Twitter to see if they'll take donations of clothing as we have loads of toddler clothes that are in decent condition but they're just sitting in a bin bag until the charity shops open.

I will be trying that recipe next week @myrtleWilson - looks amazing! And I'll also be keeping an eye out for the Sainsbury's magazine! I also like a curry @PickAChew although haven't made that many myself other than the recipes from the Gousto boxes we've had.

The Tamarind chicken looks amazing!

Also off to look at the afternoon tea at Beamish - this is why I'm not losing weight 😂. There's always something nice tempting me to buy/eat it!

DS has asked if I'll take him to Broom House Farm this weekend to buy cake and I said yes without even thinking as it's cake - why would I say no 😂

Tamarind chicken was absolutely delicious and we have some left for a lunch, this weekend, since Ds1 will be having his regulation sausage sandwiches. Disappointingly, we didn't get the spicy roast taties I was craving - I have yet to get the smell of the bag of rotting spuds out of my nostrils 🤢

Love Broom House! That tamarind chicken does look so delicious - I have a surfeit of tamarind in the house and some chicken thighs in the freezer so may well be making soon!

I love Broom house farm too, normally go every week. The cakes always look lovely and sometimes fall into my basket. The carrot cake is very nice. Often get a cappuccino when we go. They have a great loyalty card deal.
PickAChew that chicken looks amazing!
Someaddedsugar, there are some really good walks around Broom house farm, then you can tell yourself you have walked off the calories. Not that you need to you, you deserve it, just for being you.
Does your DS like visiting the pigs 🐖. I like seeing the goats and the hens. The pigs are too smelly for me

Haven't been to broom house farm for ages. One of the problems with not driving. Don't fancy it with Ds2 on a weekend and dh is just too busy with work, in the week. And still don't fancy it with Ds2!

@MrsEWeatherwax unfortunately we always have to go and see the pigs!

I do like the idea of the walk though - it’s says on the Facebook page something about a circular walk so we’ll be doing that after our cake (all helps to make me feel like I’m sticking to the diet despite me having a treat day 😂)! It’ll be nice to be out of the house for a bit too!

@PickAChew if it wasn’t for lockdown I too would avoid in the school hols and at the weekend! I’m hoping the weather might still be keeping people away as it’s meant to rain at some point! The chicken looks so tasty - I will definitely be using that recipe.

Hope you bought some cake if you went to Broom House farm. Went today and car park was quite busy. Looked like lots of people went on the circular walk. Shop was busy too.

We did @MrsEWeatherwax - we got there just after the coffee shop had opened and there were a few cars in the car park. A couple of people sat at the tables so we got our cake and I got a coffee and then did the circular walk (we took the cakes home to eat - Kinder Bueno brownie, cherry flapjack and lemon drizzle cake). It was lovely if a bit muddy! Hope you had a good visit too!

@Someaddedsugar was the walk 5 miles?
Glad you enjoyed it, especially as you missed the rain!

I think it could have been - we did two miles as we cut back onto the main track back up to the farm as I didn't want to end up carrying DS! It looked as though you could make it as long or as short as you wanted as there were gates onto the main track at a couple of points. We spotted lots of rabbits and birds on the way too.

Sounds like you had a lovely walk. I can’t wait for the lambs, won’t be long now. We normally go to their lambing days. Your son will now be perfect age, it’s amazing seeing the lambs being born.
I love lambs, not lamb chops though.
Weather really nice today.

Feels like spring, today. I even have washing out!

DH off yo the bowling centre to give blood, in a bit, but I think I shall do some much needed weeding and pruning, when he gets back.