If anybody has bought the Sainsbo's mag this month

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I can recommend 2 recipes - the root vege and chestnut pie and the sweet potato moussaka (which is actually a gratin not a mousakka) were lovely. I put finely chopped red chilli in the moussaka and when I make it again will use less cream, as it doesn't need 300mls cream AND a load of white sauce too.

I love cooking but find I repeat the same things over and over, so it was great to have something different.

I love chestnut things as well Remus Do you ever google for recipes? 'cos they've go anything and everything on there

I certainly do!

The chestnut pie was really nice - unfortunately the dds picked all of the chestnuts out of their portions.

You know a brilliant way to make a pie is to use pureed chestnuts the flavour is soo lovely but neutral so it soaks up the garlic oniony flavours and the DDs won't ever know .

I make the most lovely chestnut chocolate cake\pudding type thing that our DD2 who says she doesn't like chestnuts hoovers up. I just say it's a choc. cake!!

My dds are probably too old to con that way, sadly. Tbh if I put anything (even the hated mushrooms) inside a chocolate cake, they'd probably snaffle it up though!

Another way to con the not so little darlings is make a carrot cake but cook the carrots so it just tastes moist and obviously don't call it a 'carrot cake' !

Oh they are happy to devour carrot cake - and courgette cake - and beetroot cake. It's just mushrooms, chestnuts, courgettes, aubergines and peppers they seem to object to at the moment. Mushroom cake anybody?

That sweet potato moussaka sounds yum. Do they have their recipes online?

I don't think it's online. Basically you saute a load of leeks in butter until soft. Then mix them with fresh thyme and crumbled feta and the juice of a lemon. I added a finely chopped red chilli too. Put some into the bottom of a pyrex dish then layer up with thinly sliced sweet potatoes, then a layer of leeks, then sweet pots etc and finish with sweet pots.

It says 300 mils cream and 600 mils milk made into a white sauce but tbh I think it needs less. It says pour over the cream onto the last layer of sweet pots and then the white sauce into which you've beaten 2 eggs. Next time I'd layer no more than 200mls cream in with the leeks and then shove slightly less white sauce over the top. Crumble more feta over the top and bake until the potatoes are soft and it's all golden and bubbly.

It needs a sharp salad to cut through the sweetness, I think.

Thank you so much, Remus. Will work that into next week's menu!

Hope you enjoy it!