Cheat's Banoffee and nougat

Has it been over a month since I last posted? Shows how much cooking I have been doing! Been a little busy having a baby. BOD2 made us wait the full 42 weeks and then came out through the sunroof anyway! Little EEROD was born on 28 August at 12.22pm. She weighed in at 3.74kgs (whopper) and was 51cm long. A two day stay in St Helliers and we were home and doing well. LOD is being a bit more 'testy' than usual although that seems to be calming down. I am completely shattered and feel like a dairy!

EEROD 28 August 2012

 So, in cooking news.....

Nougat
Well, I finally attempted nougat and am happy to report it worked well. I used Rachel Allen's pistachio recipe and added some vanilla to the eggwhite because a quick perusal of recipe reviews revealed that the addition of vanilla and honey improved the flavour. It was a hit and the recipe quantities made 35 pieces of 1.5cm squared nougat. I will be making this again.

Cheat's Banoffee
This is from the fish tray bake recipe in JO's 30 min meal book. Having the in-laws over gave me an excuse to make it. I halved the quantities and also had to blind bake the pastry case as the local Sainsbug and Co-op didn't have pre-baked ones. It all worked and was tasty but.....not sweet enough. I think I stuffed up a bit on the caramel as when I added the banana and milk mix, the caramel cooled too quickly and stuck solid to the pan. So, I ruined a pan and also then there wasn't enough caramel in the pud. Will need to rewatch it online to see how JO does it. I forgot to take pics....

In other news:

• EEROD 2 weeks old today and still not back up to birth weight so taking Fenugreek tablets (????)
• Had some more good runner beans, sugarsnaps have been pulled out and apples almost non-existent this year. If the weatehr holds there will be lots of tomatoes
• We are thinking of removing the apple tree when we redo the garden...hmmmmmmm
• We took LOD to a funfair which she loved. I was worried she would just climb out of the rides but she was brilliant and enjoyed her rollercoaster rides (does not take after father....)
• Back churning out banana bread on a regular basis
• Been offered the chance to do a job share in a new role when I go back next year. Am thinking about it.