Spaghetti and Meatballs

Hello beautiful people :)

Spaghetti and Meatballs... Simples! Another pasta dish, I know. I said this was gonna be a basic cookery blog :P No, this is not just an ordinary meal. Did a little altering. Do we have any Dragon's Den fans in the house? I added about some Reggae Reggae sauce to the bolognaise and OOOH it was to diiiiie for! Also, tried the new Co-operative Beef Meatballs, they were on offer - £2 for 25 balls. Hehe... Anyways, my boyfriend was being really picky last night and couldn't be bothered to pick the pineapple off a Hawaiin Pizza. So we went to the Co-op and saw that there was a little offer going on: Meatballs + Spaghetti Pasta + 2 Sticks of Garlic Bread + a Jar of Sauce +£4. Not too shabby, huh?? But, like I said, my boyfriend's VERY picky. So we ended up buying a basic Dolmio sauce that wasn't in the offer, and I thought we had garlic bread at home. But we didn't. Fail. Long story short, it was an epic meal that I will definitely try again. The meatballs are a great alternative to just regular mince. Want the recipe? Here goes:

Ingredients:

1 Jar of Tomato Pasta sauce. I know, I'm lazy and could've made it from scratch with onions and tinned tomatoes etc. But I don't like onions or tinned tomatoes. So Dolmio it was :)

1 packet of Dried Spaghetti

1 tray of beef meatballs. Alternatively, make your own! Just get minced beef, mix in a bowl with a little olive oil and roll into balls on a floured surface.

Optional:

5 tbsp of Levi Root's Reggae Reggae sauce.

Garlic Bread to Serve.

Method:

1) Heat a little oil in a frying pan, and boil a kettle full of water.

2) Transfer the boiled water into a deep saucepan and turn on the hob to keep it boiling. Add in your spaghetti. Don't worry if it sticks out of the pan, it will relax as it cooks and drop into the pan itself.

3) Add the meatballs to the oil, fry until brown all over and cooked right through.

4) Pour the contents of your sauce jar into a jug. Add your Reggae sauce (if using, optional but freaking amazing!) and stirrrr. This was the part where I also SEIVED my sauce for my picky-ass lad. He doesn't like any onions or whatever either. So, yes I seived the sauce. Quantity went down quite a bit then!

5) Pour your sauce over your balls.(:P) Let it simmer until the sauce gets a bit bubbly, then you know it's ready.

6) Your pasta should be cooked by now. With spaghetti it's easy to tell if it's cooked because it's not straight like when you took it out of the packet. Drain it and spoon a hearty amount onto each plate.

7) Dish out your meatballs to each plate, then add any remaining sauce. Serve with garlic bread if you have chosen to chuck some in the oven :)

Kirsten x

Forgive my Ignorance..

Hi y'all...
Just a quick note to say that I am still new to the blogging world, so forgive me if you've been following me and I haven't as yet returned the favour :P I know it says I've been blogging since February, which indeed I have, but those posts were actually copy and pastes from my WordPress blog. You see, I had to start up this blog as part of my University course (I study Media Production, web practices comes in handy...) and they set us up with a rubbishy WordPress account. However, the beautiful and talented Abby told me that this was easier, and I could customise my blog more personally here. Of course, my best friend has helped me immensely along my blogging way, so I have to give her credit for being amazing :) Go follow her, god knows she's been great in advertising my blog... She knows what she's talking about on her site, so get on there!!!
So yeah, that's about it. I'm gonna do a giveaway when I reach 75 followers. Seems like a good number :) It'll most definitely include the Cupcake recipe book I've mentioned previously, so watch this space.
P.s I never made the cupcake tier-cake for Mothers's Day :( Didn't have the time or money! But the wheels have been set in motion for the planning of my boyfriend's 21st Birthday and yep - the cake will be coming from yours truly! Keep a look out for that one in July...

Kirsten x

Birthday Cupcakes

A few weeks ago was my mate Ry's 20th birthday. Although he was sad that he would never be a teenager again, I gave him reason to act like a child by baking him loads of Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream. "Mmmm," I hear you say? Of course, everyone likes buns. Everyone should have baked buns once in their life at least. My boyfriend's mum made me positively drool at Christmas when she gave me a Cupcake Recipe Book - written by the owners of the Primrose Bakery in London. YAMMY! Even though I don't like recipe books, you MUST buy this one, the pictures alone are enough to whisk you away to the till with two under each arm. It doesn't just have recipes for basic cupcakes, but also tells you how to make birthday cakes, different types of icing (Peanut Butter, White Chocolate, Peppermint!!) and even a cupcake Wedding Cake!

Anyway, I chose basic Vanilla buns as there was also a party at Ry's house. Vanilla suits everyone's taste buds. I added chocolate buttercream to make them extra-heavenly, and then bought a selection of chocolate treats to top off with; buttons, Smarties Eggs, sprinkles etc.
I won't give you the recipe for this one guys, instead I want to encourage you to buy "Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery." I may sound like a walking-talking advert but you really can't go wrong with these recipes. It's an essential Bible for your kitchen shelf. Happy Baking!

P.s Watch this space. I have given myself an idea for Mother's Day: Floaty, flowery cupcake-tiered M.D cake? My mum will be thrilled :D Stay tuned!

Kirsten x

Apple and Blackberry Crumble

Okay, so literally just minutes ago I posted that scrumptious Roast Chicken dinner I made this evening. Well, you need dessert to follow it up with! And you can't go wrong with another English favourite - Apple and Blackberry Crumble.

Right, so I know Apple is more traditional but we had some blackberries lying around so I thought "Hey? I know! Crumble!" This dessert is super easy (as is all of my recipes on here, bar Croissants... Hmmm) to make and it will get devoured in seconds, so make two just incase.

Ingredients:

6oz Plain Flour
3oz Butter
3oz Caster Sugar
For the filling:
At least 4 cooking Apples (Brambley, from Supermarkets)
1oz Caster Sugar
Optional: Raisins, Cinnamon, Blackberries etc.

Method:

1) Wash your hands. Add the flour and butter together in a bowl. Get your hands in and work the butter in with the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
2) Wash, peel and chop the apples into slices. Transfer to an oven-proof dish. Obviously, the size of the dish depends on the amount of apples you decide to use. Add in any other optional ingredients you might have. If you add cinnamon, stir into the apple slices so it covers the entire crumble. Also, stir a sprinkle into your crumble mixture.
3) Sprinkle your leftover sugar over the apples to sweeten, and then transfer your entire crumble topping onto your apples.
4) Spread evenly over your filling, and bake in the oven at 180C for 30-40 minutes. Cover with tin foil if the crumble begins to burn but the filling hasn't mushed yet.
5) Cool on a wire rack, still in the oven-proof dish. Serve with cream, custard or alone while it's still warm. EAT!

Kirsten x

Traditional English Sunday Roast

Ahh, I feel so full.

I've just made - for the first time! - a full English Roast Chicken with all the trimmings. I don't understand why people think cooking is so hard, it's easy-peasy to make a roast! I just think people can't be bothered with all the peeling, chopping and roasting. Yeah, to be honest, it does take ages. 2 and 1/2 hours for me. That was for three people. I really don't want to bog you down with a recipe for this one, you all should know how to peel vegetables, chop 'em up and whack 'em in a pan of boiling water until you can slide a knife easily through them. (Well, if you didn't, there you go!) We had a medium-sized chicken for roasting, without giblets, so that was easy. Just pop into a deep dish, brush with vegetable oil for crispyness and cook for about an hour or so on 190C. Now Roasties, on the other hand, a lot of people don't know how to make. I'll let you in on the secret for extra-extra-crispy ones:

You will need roasting potatoes.
As many as you want, depending on how many you are serving.

Wash them. Peel them. Chop them down. Boil them. When you can slide a knife easily through one of the potatoes, they are ready to be baked. If you want them crispy, leave them another five minutes. This allows for the potato to become fluffy and break apart on the edges easily. Drain off your 'taters in a colander. Transfer to a deep oven-proof dish and completely cover in cooking oil. Use a cooking brush to really drench the potatoes. If you want, sprinkle some mixed herbs over them to give them a kick. Pop the dish in the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes or until your preferred crispyness. Done!
And here is what I made earlier:

Roast chicken with herby roast potatoes, carrot and swede mash, green beans and sage and onion stuffing. There was a boat of chicken gravy, too. Dessert comes next :)

Kirsten x