My best friend coming to stay and why we’re off to Scotland!
Join me for the last of the summer weekends filled with friends, family, food and flowers!
The past weekend was so special. My oldest and best friend came to stay and it was completely perfect. There is nothing like an old friend who knows all about your past, is a part of your present and is there for your future! It was so wonderful to spend it all together as the summer comes to a close.
I cooked my famous lasagne and key lime pie, which you can find the recipes for below.
Lasagne:
For the bolognese:
1kg mince
2 finely chopped onions
2 finely chopped sticks of celery
2 cloves of crushed garlic
2 oxo beef stock cubes
2 bay leaves
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
200ml red wine (optional)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
A large handful of fresh basil leaves torn into small bits
Heat the olive oil in a very large saucepan. Add the chopped onions and cook for 8-10 mins on a medium to high heat stirring occasionally. After 5 mins add the chopped celery and crushed garlic.
Add the mince and stir occasionally until browned all over, you may need to turn up the heat a little.
Once all the mince is browned, add salt, pepper and stock cubes to 200 ml of boiling water and add to the mince.
Add the bay leaves, tinned tomatoes, red wine (if using) and torn basil leaves.
Stir and bring to the boil. Once boiling simmer on a low heat for 2-3 hours, I use the simmering oven of the Aga for this.
For the white sauce:
150g butter
150g plain flour
large pinch of sea salt
large pinch of ground black pepper
1000ml milk
100g grated cheddar cheese
Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over gentle heat.
Once melted add in the plain flour and whisk together. Add the salt and pepper and cook on gentle heat for approximately 1 minute.
Slowly add the milk about 200ml at a time and keep stirring with your hand whisk until smooth. Add some more milk and keep repeating until it's all used up. Lastly, add the grated cheese. You might need to turn the heat down so keep an eye on it!
*White sauce freezes really well so if you have leftovers pop it in the freezer for another time!
For the lasagne:
125g mozzarella chopped into small pieces
10 lasagne sheets
130g grated cheddar cheese
You will need a large dish approx. 30 x 22cm.
Place 3 lasagne sheets on the bottom of the dish, they can overlap. Spoon some of the bolognese sauce over the pasta so it's evenly spread out. You want this layer to be about 1-2 cm deep.
Add another layer of pasta over the bolognese sauce. Sprinkle half the chopped mozzarella over the pasta and spoon some of the white sauce over the top. Evenly spread it out, then another layer of bolognese sauce.
Place another layer of the pasta over the top covering as much as possible. You can break the sheets to fill in any gaps!
Sprinkle over one last layer of mozzarella followed by an even layer of white sauce.
Finish with the grated cheddar and place in a hot oven 180c for about 40 minutes.
You can freeze it at this point to cook later.
*I also always double this and make one for the freezer! If I double I only use one extra stock cube in the bolognese sauce so use 3 not 4!
Key Lime Pie
300g digestive biscuits
1 tbsp cocoa powder
75g unsalted butter
50g chocolate chips
1 x 397g condensed milk chilled
175ml fresh lime juice
Lime zest to decorate
300ml double cream
1 square dark chocolate grated to decorate
1x23cm x5cm deep fluted tart tin with loose bottom
Put the biscuits, cocoa powder and butter into a food processor and process to a dark sandy consistency, then add the chocolate chips.
Tip the mixture into a fluted tart tin, press into the base and up the sides then place in the fridge to chill.
Add the lime juice to the condensed milk and whisk together.
Add in the double cream and whisk together until thick, then pour into the chilled base and place in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours.
To serve, remove the fluted ring but leave the base, decorate with grated chocolate and the lime zest.
I also hit the kitchen garden hard for my vegetables, fruit and flowers. The kitchen garden is my pride and joy and after waiting so many years for it to come to life, enjoying its produce is one of my greatest pleasures in life!
I then talk you through our trip to Scotland, to take Archie up to his new school in a place that holds so much of my heart. Archie is beyond excited, and was so eager to get up there! Of course, Sigh and I have been apprehensive and it was one of the toughest decisions we’ve had to make, but he is so excited and it’s absolutely the right place for him.
We tried showing him closer schools to keep him nearer to home, but I’ve been hanging onto my Aunty Margaret’s words of wisdom; “If you let them fly, they’ll want to come back”. It’s such a wonderful opportunity and of course, we would never want to stand in the way of his ambitions and dreams.
The whole decision has been driven by him and his strong desire to attend school up there. When we visited for the open day last year he didn’t want to come back! The education offered is different in the most wonderful way, filled with a whole plethora of extracurricular activities such as hikes, sailing, skiing and so much more. The opportunities are endless, and it’s going to give him not just academic education but also so many life skills and lessons.
Scotland is very dear to my and my family’s heart. Sigh and I both spent a lot of our childhoods up there and we are very lucky to have so many connections and places to stay should we need to. The house won’t be the same without him but we couldn’t be prouder of our young man and are incredibly excited for his bright future.
Lastly, I chat a little about my potential upcoming in-person day events. I used to hold demos at my home and absolutely loved them, so I’d be really interested to know if you’d be interested in something like that in future! If so, what kind of structure of day do you like? What would you like me to cover? Let me know and I’ll see what I can do!
I hope you have the most fantastic weekend,
Love, Charlie x
Featured:
Leigh Linton’s Matcha Tea
don’t forget to use my discount code for 10% off - CHARLIE10