What Waffle: An Afternoon of Baking & Cooking

4 tasks for one afternoon and I'm going to blog as I go;
No1 Bread - a lovely milk loaf
No2 Smokey Sausage Chowder
No3 Lasagne
No4 Eccles Cakes

No 1 did not begin the afternoon well - is a very simple white dough, that is nice and sweet as it is made with milk. Though the dough was rather tough as I was trying to knead it, and I realised I'd forgotten to add the water - pesky recipe only puts it in the instructions, not in the ingredients list - grrr. So, back it went into the bowl with the forgotten water, and made a nasty sloppy mess that has taken aaaages to work in. Sigh. But, eventually got to a lovely smooth and springy dough which is now rising.

No2 - the chowder, which I am going to make to take for lunch this week.
I'm using smokey sausages called Small Silesian Sausages - they smell delicious! Have chopped them into small rounds, and fried them gently, before adding a large white onion, chopped, and a couple of bay leaves. Have diced some spuds ready to go into the pot.

No3 Lasagne - this is for supper, and will probably be enough for tomorrow night too. No instructions here, as am sure all make lasagne in their own way.... or see my other blog.... not a traitor I promise... Interestingly (for me anyway), I am making it with pork mince, to see if it works.

No2 onions are nice and soft, so in go the spuds, just till their warmed through, then in with chicken stock, meanwhile onions garlic sweating, pepper and courgette chopped ready, meat about to go in...

No1 Bread dough is rising nicely..

No 2 - Soup has been left to bubble away happily, with the addition of some sweetcorn when the potato is nearly cooked

No4 Now that lasagne and soup are at leave alone stages, I'm getting fruit ready for eccles cakes - sadly only raisins, peel and ginger available - with a bit of honey and butter. Am making it way ahead of time so that it can cook and go sticky before being put into the pastry.

No1 Back to bread - dough has rised, and I'm going to knock it down and put it in a loaf tin to prove

No4 Now time for the pastry for the eccles cakes - quickly made and popped into the fridge.

Washed up....

No2 Milk added to chowder, and once it's hot, soup off and left till cool to tupperware for the week

No1 Bread into oven - sherry into glass, husband home

No 3 - White sauce for lasagne being made, then am going to build up the layers and grate cheese on the top ready for the oven - bread staring to smell yummy, husband not happy with furnace temperature of flat

No3 Bread out, Lasagne into oven - pastry out of fridge and rolled

No4 Building eccles while lasagne in oven - small circles, filled with fruit, and placed on their seal, a couple of holes in the top and brushed with milk (as have no eggs) - only one word, appalling. If this was the bake off I'd be going home!

Completion - Eccles into oven.....