Summer Salad Season VI

The MacBook is still not fixed, but hope is not yet lost (and I was secretly pleased when the man in the Apple Store referred to it as 'vintage') and so we venture into the final summer salad season post, wonky photos and all. This week's salads are not for those of you who eat lunch in close proximity to your colleagues as the theme seems to be 'slightly whiffy'!

Egg and mackerel on mixed leaf salad

Pesto pasta salad - leave stirring on the pesto as late as possible to keep it tasting fresh, but you can cook the pasta and prepare the salad the night before 

Tomato and mozzarella - can't wait to start growing basil again for the perfect accompaniment to this classic salad

Healthy home made coleslaw salad - mix shredded white cabbage with grated carrot, 2tbsp plain yoghurt and a dollop of mayonnaise

Tandoori chicken - I love how the avocados take the edge off of the spice in this salad (and 6 avocados for £1 in my local green grocer makes this deliciously thrifty!)

Next time, we're onto more hearty autumn salads (and I may have my eye on a few soup recipes too!) but for now, let's enjoy the last of the warm weather :)

Broken Laptop/Instagram Weekend

My laptop appears to have given up the ghost (this may have something to do with it being a veteran of 6.5 years) but I refuse to give up on it. Whilst I attempt to rescue my poor sick computer, here's an Instagram update of my weekend...

I'm trying out this £1 night cream from Tesco and will report back on my findings

I ate far too much delicious triple chocolate shortbread

I spent a sunny afternoon in Cheltenham

I had a free Starbucks coffee with my rewards voucher (a strawberries and cream Frapuccino, in case you're wondering)

I got given a beautiful, freshly-picked pumpkin- looking forward to cooking with it this week

I enjoyed the last of the summer sunshine watching a friend compete in a triathlon

Hope you had a fun-filled weekend!

PS You can follow me on Instagram @thriftylodge

Back to School Blues Cure - Cornflake Cakes

I spent last week in sunny Cornwall and went back to work on Monday, which felt just like the first day back at school, when you accept that summer is over and feel the long year stretching out ahead of you. There's also a chill in the air in the mornings, dew on the grass and my calendar has flipped over to September.

I therefore decided I needed comfort food and made one of the best school-age snacks; cornflake cakes!

I can't call this a recipe, as all you do is melt some chocolate over a simmering pan of water and then stir in your cornflakes (mine had gone soft, which was the perfect excuse to make cornflake cakes!), but I can tell you it tastes delicious and thoroughly recommend you get making right away...

PS I love my polka dot cake cases, but how amazing are these flower pot cake cases from Lakeland?

September Seasonal Recipe: Apple and Blackberry Crumble

The blackberries are ripening beautifully here in The Cotswolds (and especially in my 'jungle garden'), which is the perfect excuse to make an apple and blackberry crumble.

Ingredients

2 cooking apples

400g blackberries

50g caster sugar

Topping:

150g plain flour

75g caster sugar

75g butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180℃/350℉/Gas Mark 4
2. Peel, core and slice the apples and then wash and drain the blackberries
3. Pour the fruit into an ovenproof baking dish and sprinkle the caster sugar over the top
4. Sift in the flour and sugar into a clean bowl
5. Add the butter to the bowl and rub until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
6. Bake in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes or until lightly golden

Apple and blackberry crumble is a classic, but if you want to branch out further into the blackberry realm then Pinterest is full of inspiration as always. How about coconut, blackberry and lime ice cream here or some blackberry lemonade here or if you're feeling really out there, blackberry glazed salmon here.