Pie maker, pie maker

I bought an AWT Pie Maker in the sale at work (Sainsburys) yesterday, having wanted one for a long, long time. I couldn't justify the £40 that they are usually priced at, but at £23 - I used my Nectar points for it, so it was virtually free!!

Lucy and I have just spent a lovely day together, the last couple of hours using the pie maker. We made cheese, potato and onion pies - I didn't want to use meat whilst I was 'practising' in case I messed up and wasted the whole lot.

I shouldn't have worried - they're lovely !!

I used my usual 1lb plain flour/8oz baking marg and 10 tbsp water for the pastry, which was just the right amount for two lots of four pies. For the filling I used some Basics Mashed Potato Flakes, grated some cheese in and sauted a sliced onion and mixed together. I can honestly say they're as lovely as the cheese pie I used to enjoy at the pub where I used to work.

We also made a few batches of Strawberry and White Chocolate Muffins, and Double Chocolate Muffins as I sent some in to work today (but left plenty for hubby!!), and I tried another recipe from The Takeaway Secret. This time it was Chicken Chow Mein, and everyone said it was absolutely gorgeous! It's a bit of faff whenever I do chinese meals so I try to break it down into stages. First, chop/slice vegetables into one bowl, Lucy made the sauce and I made the marinade for the chicken. I left the noodles in a saucepan ready to just cover with boiling water when Dave was nearly home.

Then when we were ready to eat, brown off chicken, stirfry vegetables, add sauce, finish off noodles, then combine everything together and serve with rice and prawn crackers. It's very fiddly, but well worth it - it's a lot easier when Lucy helps, because at times I had three saucepans/frying pans on the go !!

We also used Lucy's sewing machine to turn some old towels and faceclothes into cleaning mitts. Just folding over and sewing up one long side and one short give me a mitt that's fantastic to slip on a hand, spray on some Flash and clean.

So busy, and this is my day off !!

Clare xx

CFC

Not Kentucky Fried Chicken, but Clare's Fried Chicken. OK, well it was actually baked not fried but you get the picture. I tried one of the recipes out of my new book, the Takeaway Secret for Southern Fried Chicken a la KFC, and it was gorgeous!

To avoid the deep frying, I followed the recipe exactly, except instead of deep frying I oven baked for 20-25 minutes and the whole family enjoyed it. The chicken was exactly the right texture. Instead of the usual drumsticks and thighs I used a pack of chicken breasts from work reduced from £6 to £2. Alongside these I also made potato wedges using the recipe from the same book. Even more successful !!!

I have to admit to one failure though - the prawn toasts that I made for Mickey didn't go down well. Oh well, win some lose some !!

Clare xx