Frills 'n' Spills

There are a few things that you can expect to see on a regular basis over at Frills 'n' Spills, ridiculous poses are up there, bright colours are always popular, but food and recipes are always a given.  I got the Leon 'Family & Friends' cookbook for Christmas and this is the first recipe I have made from it and as ever, Leon have not let me down. Mark and I made these cakes last weekend and they are a lovely light treat to eat whenever you fancy something sweet. (I'm a poet and I know it...) Thanks to the courgette I think you could also count this as 1 of your 5 a day too* - bonus!

There's nothing I love more than roasted vegetables and the other night for tea, I wanted something to go with some rather tasteless half fat sausages (don't do it kids!) I used parsnips, potatoes, onions and aubergines but if you've got it, beetroot is really nice!

This dinner came about after realising that we had a load of food in the fridge that needed using up. As it turned out, this was far too much food for the two of us and we had to save it for another meal but for 4 people, this would be perfect.

Recently I have been trying to be a bit more healthy and eat food that is tasty without being full of rubbish. The problem is, in the week when I am at work, I just want something quick and easy which is where the problems can creep in... I picked up these mushrooms when I went to my first car boot from a local grower and they tasted amazing. I simply blobbed a bit of basil pesto (technical term there!) onto the top of the mushrooms and sprinkled a bit of cheese on the top (hey I said I was trying!) and put them under the grill for ten minutes with some chopped up mushrooms and cherry tomatoes until the cheese started to bubble. 

Inspired by Gem's oh so delicious looking spaghetti recipe, dinner tonight consisted of rocket, watercress and spinach salad topped with home-grown French and green beans, king prawns, smoked bacon, tomato pepper and mushrooms.

Now we finally have some hotter weather again, I felt it was time to share one of my favourite summer puddings: roasted peaches. I love peaches cooked on BBQs but these are a fab alternative which you can cook in the oven, indulgent and yet vaguely healthy because it contains fruit- that's my kind of pud!

I am a big fan of the BBC Food website and when I saw this recipe featured last week, I knew what I was making this weekend! I have to say, I used shop bought pastry (boo hiss!) as I find it impossible to make [blame my warm hands!] but I bet it would taste even better if you made your own...

When Mark and I moved out, one of the things I was most excited about was having our own bread-maker. For about 7 years now my family have had homemade bread and it is always much nicer than shop bought. The problem is, when there is 2 of you, rather than 7, a loaf doesn't get eaten fast enough. Recently I have been all about tear and share bread which is SO easy to do and really makes even the most uninteresting meal seem special...

The Cosy Club in Bath wins the award for the most eclectic mix of decor I have ever seen...