Lockdown life, food ...

These simple potato bites are made from mash mixed with cheese and rolled in polenta before frying in a light spray of oil. Some of the cheese melting through the polenta makes the coating extra special. Good use of lockdown leftovers! 

I often make banana cake but found myself short of one banana. I mashed my one banana and grated a juicy ripe pair! Result. This cake was for Matty and Daisy’s 14th birthday as they popped over during their holiday time with Steve. And check out that post jaw surgery bite! I’m still great full!

Did you have an Ester egg this year? We had ours for breakfast, while watching Breakfast @9 live on YouTube! Missing Sausage church, mostly the people of sausage church of course ...

With flour becoming available again, and eggs from our own chicken, waffles have become a usual breakfast staple. It was certainly a good choice to take on the rescue chickens this autumn. 

How about something to drink? I tried my hand a the whipped coffee that’s all over the place, but I think it tastes better once you fold it into the milk a bit. The kids liked it, even Mary who tends not to be a coffee fan, but making this coffee does call for a lot of sugar. I reduced the coffee for us, so blended 4 teaspoons of instant coffee, 4 tablespoons of sugar and 4 tablespoons of very hot water with my Bamix. 

The mixture whipped up pretty fast using the whisk attachment and we spooned it over mugs of chilled soya milk. I felt so good after drinking it I collaged most of a mirror and went out to play cowboys with Mary in the cul-de-sac!  

The Hive Cafe, Weymouth ...

Taking a moment on a nice day to give a shout out to a wonderful place in Weymouth town centre ...

They have a sweet little courtyard for starters, a surprise oasis which the owners Simon and Rachael worked hard to restore and make cozy. 

Everyday they leave their busy bees at home in Wyke and sell delicious honey as well as tasty food in the cafe. Simon let my children taste some of the set honey at the end of a nice family dinner there. 

So many different salads to choose from, you can also have something special to suit your dietry requirements, and no request is too silly as I have come to learn. At the moment for example, I cannot chew cucumber with the braces on my teeth so it's easier to say no thank you! 

If you don't want new potatoes, you can have pasta salad instead. All requests and suggestions are respectfully handled and all food is served with love. More than once when Rachael has placed food before me I have felt that! 

There are no children's menus, but instead you can have adjusted portions to suit which is great as I have always eaten the same food as my children. My girls know what good food is and were very impressed. 

Cake is a must. I love cake. At this point I need to say that all the food is made with love, too. 

Another delishious slice of cake perfect for flagging souls on a hot Weymouth day!

Today I delivered a piece of my art to be displayed in the cafe. I haven't shown you the other bee art there but you can see it if you visit soon. Mention you have read The Raggy Rat blog for a big smile! Enjoy. Xxx

Food - left over mashed potato!

For a quick and easy, and very cheesy potato rissoles how about these? I always put left over mashed potato in the fridge but this time I only had a small quantity. 

Mixing in a generous amount of grated cheese I forned the mixture into 4 burger shapes and coated them all in polenta before placing them carefully in a dry non stick frying pan. 

Place over the heat and listen. The cheese bubbling comes through the polenta and makes a nice tasty outside. I can only imagine adding oil might stop the crisping, but you could use oil if you prefer!

Turn them over once when a little browned and throw them on the plates praying they stay together as you go! Really tasty :-)

Food - something cheesy!

A lot of people share recipies on their blogs, but I struggle with that, being a sort of bucket chemist in my aproach to family food. 

This amazing cheese mattress looks like a soufflé but I don't believe it is! 

It was made using a whipped up blend of fromage frais and three eggs. But it will also work with plain yoghurt. Before it went into a getting-warm oven, I sprinkled finely grated cheese on top. Then I baked it until it looked beautiful. 

It went down smashing with fried mushrooms and grilled tomatoes!

Making dinner!

I am sure this amuses me more than it does the children!

Today I made ...

Lasagne for dinner!



And the children enjoyed some fun story telling ...so did I!

Made food!

Today I made a rather attractive pizza actually!

Once cooked, it was also fabulously fruity!

And we went visiting, too!