Culinary Cravings with Amanda Ward

 

Bangers & Mash

 

serves 4

 

12 really meaty sausages.

12 white potatoes peeled

Salt & Pepper

Butter

Milk

4 onions

Sliced mushrooms (optional)

Frozen peas or baked beans

Gravy mix

 

Method.

 

Preheat the oven to Gas 6/180C.

Place the sausages in a baking tray with the sliced onions and bake. For an indulgent twist, add knobs of butter, salt and pepper to the onions. After 20 mins remove from oven, give the pan a shake and put back in until the sausages are cooked through.

Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft.  Drain the water and give them a good mashing with the salt, pepper butter and milk.  Don’t make the tatoes too creamy though.

 

Serve the meal with fried mushrooms and either peas or baked beans.  Remember to drizzle gravy over the mash and enjoy!

One of my kids favourite meals.

 

As an added twist there are many types of sausages around.  Why not try a chili flavoured one or game sausages?

 

 

It's true, picking up a teenagers' underpants for the umpteenth time can lead to a mid-life crisis. Widow Pann Haggerty, an Englishwoman of a 'certain age' decides to leave her life in England behind for a trip around America in an RV in search of new experiences maybe even love.
Filled with a notebook full of ideas from the movies and television shows, Pann is addicted to, she arrives in New York determined to walk barefoot in the park and eat an English breakfast at Tiffany’s. 
Disaster awaits for Pann in every state she visits, but with her on this journey is her knight in shining armor 'average' Joe Harper.  Her protector and guide in this new and exciting country.   He is there to save his country from this quirky, impulsive, yet loveable woman, who is hell bent on taking the States by storm, and perhaps even his heart!

Sweet Cravings Publishing

I love the Seaside- Amanda Ward

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside.

Knickerbocker glories, ice cream cornets, fish and chips, scrambling for the umbrella as the rain starts.  Fond memories for me as a child during the 1970s.  We went to Brighton for 3 weeks every year to stay with my great-aunt, and also had a week in the Isle of Wight or Camber Sands in Kent.  These were the days when it was easier to take your child out of school for a week in June.  The aroma of bacon and tomatoes frying in the pan. Egg sandwiches, crisps and blackcurrant and lemonade served with a curly straw.  They were wonderful holidays.  Something weird and silly used to happen during those weeks, and we talked about it for years after. 

Fast forward thirty years, and now I’m the mum. It’s me making the bacon and tomtoes for breakfast, the sandwiches for lunch, and making sure we pack everything (including the kitchen sink). Listening to the dulcet tones of “I’m bored, I’m hungry, I need the toilet and are we there yet?” this is all before we’ve managed to drive out of our road.  During the past ten years, I have had possibly the best holidays since my childhood, and for some reason something odd has happened during it.  We always have fish and chips though on the last day, either at the beach, or beside a lake.  It’s our family ‘thing’.

Take for instance last year.  We spent two weeks in a tiny village in Scotland.  Fantastic cottage, stunning scenery, and a beast of a road to drive down to get to.  Anyway, as always during our holidays, our wedding anniversary and my birthday fall within the time we are away, so the outings on those days are extra special.  We went to a village on Loch Ness called Drumnadrochit, and I fell into a boat.  Thought I had twisted my ankle, so strapped it up and carried on for the rest of the two weeks.  Hubby was kind enough to buy me a walking stick for my 42^nd birthday.  It was only when I got back, that an x-ray showed I had broken my ankle, and was then laid up for several weeks.

This year, we are venturing not quite as far.  We are staying in a village called Haworth in Yorkshire.  This is where the Bronte sisters lived. I wonder what fun and games are awaiting us.  So, what is your holiday memory? What sticks out in your mind?

Have a super summer

Amanda

Amanda Ward is the author of The MisAdventures of Pann Haggerty available from Sweet Cravings Publishing.