Killermama's blog: "BEWARE"

2 lbs cooking apples, peeled,cored and sliced 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 lemon, zest and juice only 3 tablespoons light brown sugar 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted 8 thin slices brown bread, crusts removed 1 Pre-heat oven to 375°F. 2 Put the apples, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice and sugar in a saucepan. 3 Cover and simmer gently until pulpy, stirring occasionally. 4 Beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon, then cook, uncovered, over a high heat, stirring continuously, until any excess liquid has evaporated and the purée is very thick. 5 Brush the butter all over the slices of bread. 6 Line the base and sides of a greased 6 inch deep cake tin with the slices of bread, making sure that they overlap. 7 Spoon in the apple purée and cover with more over-lapping slices of bread. 8 Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown. 9 Serve at once, turned out and accompanied with real custard or fresh cream or clotted cream to pour over it.

8 ounces plain flour 1 pinch salt 2 teaspoons icing sugar 1 ounce cornflour 4 ounces lard 2 ounces margarine, mixed with the lard 1 egg yolk 2 tablespoons cold water Filling 1 lb black cherries, stoned (or pitted if you prefer) 4 ounces icing sugar 2 eggs 3 ounces ground almonds, finely ground 3 to 5 drops almond essence 1 Set oven to 400F or gas Mark 6. 2 Make the pastry- Sift the flour, salt, cornflour and icing sugar into a bowl. 3 Rub in the mixed lard/margarine and bind into a dough with the egg yolk and water. 4 Knead the pastry lightly and roll out. 5 Grease a 9 inch pie dish and line with the rolled out pastry. 6 Bake blind for 15 minutes. 7 Reduce oven temperature to 325F or gas Mark 3. 8 Remove pie shell from oven. 9 Arrange cherries in the pastry case. 10 Mix the sugar, eggs and almonds together with the almost essence. 11 Pour the mixture over the cherries. 12 Bake for 50- 60 minutes until firm and golden. 13 Serve hot or cold with cream and/or ice cream. 14 NB Baking blind is to place s piece of baking paper in the shell, then fill the shell with split peas (or other appropriate filling). 15 The peas and paper are removed when the shell is cooked. 16 This causes an even heat to be distributed and at the same time prevents the bottom and the sides of the shell from expanding too much and appearing'lumpy'. 17 It also helps give the shell a pale colour so that when it is baked later with a filling it does not go black.

1 lb fruit, any type 3 to 4 ounces granulated sugar, depending on the sharpness or tartness of the fruit 6 ounces plain flour 3 ounces unsalted butter 2 ounces caster sugar 1 Preheat oven to 375°F. 2 Prepare fruit according to type. 3 Place the fruit in a 1-quart oven-proof dish in layers with granulated sugar. 4 Sift flour into a bowl. 5 Rub butter into flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 6 Stir in the caster sugar. 7 Sprinkle the crumble mixture thickly and evenly over the fruit. 8 Press down lightly with palm of hand then smooth the top with a knife. 9 Bake for 15 minutes. 10 Reduce the temperature to 350°F. 11 Cook for a further 45 minutes or until top is lightly brown. 12 Serve with fresh double cream, crème fraîche, or real custard.

Apple Filling 3 large cooking apples 1 tablespoon water 3 cloves or 1 teaspoon allspice Crumble 1/4 cup self-rising flour 2 tablespoons softened butter 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons rolled oats 1 Preheat oven on 200 degrees celcius. 2 Peel, core and cut apples into smallish pieces. 3 Place cut apple, cloves and water into a small casserole dish. 4 Cover and place in microwave on high for about 5 minutes. 5 In a small bowl rub the butter and flour together. 6 Them stir in oats and sugar. 7 Put the crumble mixture on top of the apple and put into oven for around 5 minutes or until crispy and brown on the top.

Gingerbread 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup sour milk 3 cups flour 3/4 cup molasses 3/4 cup shortening, melted 2 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ginger 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt. In a large bowl combine eggs, sugar, shortening and molasses. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon in another bowl. Add alternately with milk to first mixture. Beat until well mixed. Bake in a greased 9 x 13 in. pan at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

6 oz shortcrust pastry 8 oz golden syrup finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon 3 oz fresh breadcrumbs beaten egg, to glaze Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use to line an (8 inch) fluted flan dish. Reserve trimmings. Chill for 30 minutes. Bake blind at: 375°F for 15 - 20 mins. Meanwhile, to make the filling, warm the golden syrup in a saucepan with the lemon rind and juice. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the base of the pastry case, then slowly pour in the syrup. Make strips from the reserved pastry trimmings and place these over the tart in a lattice pattern. Brush the ends with water to stick them to the pastry case. Glaze with a little egg. Bake in the oven at: 375°F for about 20-25 minutes until the filling is just set.

6oz shortcrust pastry (could use Pepperidge farm sheets or pie crusts) 2 tbsp raspberry jam 2oz margarine 2oz caster sugar 1 egg 1oz self-raising flour 2oz ground almonds 1 tbsp milk Few drops of almond essence To decorate: flaked almonds Roll out pastry. Line 20cm (8in) pie dish. Trim edges and reserve pastry. Spread jam over base of pastry. Cream together margarine and sugar. Beat in egg, fold in flour, ground almonds, milk and essence. Spread mixture evenly over jam. Roll out pastry trimmings and cut into 12mm (1/2in) strips. Lay criss-cross over tart, seal edge with water. Arrange flaked almonds between pastry strips. Bake until golden brown. 375 F 20=30 mins 200°C 20-30 mins.

2 1/3 c All-purpose flour 1/2 c Enriched Corn Meal 1 ts Salt (optional) 1/3 c Margarine or butter; plus 2 tb Margarine or butter 1/3 c Vegetable shortening 6 oz Shredded cheddar cheese 1/2 c Ice water 8 c Peeled, sliced apples (about 8 medium apples) 2/3 c Sugar 3/4 ts Cinnamon Combine 2 cups flour, corn meal and salt. Cut in 1/3 cup margarine and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheese. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring lightly until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough into 2 parts, 1 slightly larger; shape each to form ball. Wrap securely in plastic wrap or wax paper; chill about 30 minutes. Roll large ball on lightly floured surface to form 11-inch circle. Fit loosely into 9-inch pie plate; trim. Roll remaining dough to form 12-inch square. Cut into 12 x 3/4-inch strips. Heat oven to 400 F. Combine remaining 1/3 cup flour, apples, sugar and cinnamon; spoon into crust. Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons margarine. Weave strips atop filling to make a lattice crust. Trim even with outer rim of pie plate. Fold lower crust over strips; seal and flute. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is light golden brown, shielding edges with aluminum foil if necessary. Cool slightly. *NOTE: To make a double crust pie, roll remaining dough to form 10-inch circle instead of cutting strips. Prepare filling as directed. Place top crust over filling; trim. Turn edges under; flute. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.

INGREDIENTS 2 LB Lamb Fillet, cubed 2 LB Potatoes, diced 10 Shallots, peeled and chopped 12oz carrots, diced 2 small leeks, chopped 2 celery sticks, chopped 1 pint Chicken Stock Half Level teaspoon dried Rosmary Half Level teaspoon dried Sage 2 Tablespoons olive oil Salt and Pepper INSTRUCTIONS 1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan, add lamb and fry until brown. 2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in frying pan, add carrots, celery and leeks, fry on low heat until light brown, add to saucepan and mix with lamb. 3. Stir in chicken stock, add seasoning and herbs, bring gently to the boil, stirring continuously. 4. Reduce heat and simmer for approx. 60 minutes until lamb is tender. 5. Add the potatoes and cook for a further 40 minutes until all vegetables are cooked, stir intermittently. 6. Serve immediately.

4 ounces Plain white flour 2 Small eggs 1/2 teaspoon Salt 10 fluid ounces Milk 4 (100% pork) sausages Essentially, this dish is Yorkshire pudding with sausages in it. Preheat the oven to 450F. Saute the sausages briefly in a pan to draw off excess fat. Reserve this. Cut the sausages into chunks. Put the fat in a small roasting pan (a metal 9X9 cake pan is perfect): add a little oil, if necessary, to bring the amount of fat up to about 4 tablespoons. Heat the fat, either in a hot oven or on the stove, until smoking hot. Meanwhile, prepare the batter mixture. When the pan and fat are *very* hot, pour in the batter mixture, scatter the sausage chunks onto it, and put the whole business into the hot oven. Bake for about 5-10 minutes at 450F, then reduce to 400F and bake until the Yorkshire pudding around the sausages has puffed up nicely and is a deep golden brown. This may take as long as 30 minutes or as little as 20: keep an eye on it. Serve immediately when done. Warning: the pudding will deflate if kept waiting. Variants on this dish can be made with chunks of leftover roast beef, or almost any kind of meat, just so that you alter the cooking time to take into account whether the meat being used has already been cooked adequately when it goes into the pudding.