Spaghetti Carbonara plus Champers

Last night I made a delightful spaghetti carbonara - a very easy pasta dish that I love. Always reminds me of my mother - I'm proud to say I've never used those horrid jar sauces and never will! So much easier and most of all CHEAPER to create it yourself. This was also acccompanied by a bottle of my favourite champagne as I got promoted yesterday and The Scouser was being amazing as ever!

Anyway I digress. I'm afraid there are no pictures as I was in late after a dash to the hairdressers. However to make the carbonara, you need:
Sauce - 5 eggs yolks, 100ml of cream, parmesan (cheddar will do if you're on a budget!)
Also - pancetta, spaghetti (or penne is good too)

Mix the saucy ingredients together in a bowl - including a big handful of the cheese - make sure you use the smaller holes on the grater, as you don't want flakes of cheese in the sauce and it will melt quickly. Meanwhile, cook the pasta and the pancetta/bacon - make sure the bacon gets cripsy.

When the spaghetti is done, drain and then throw the pancetta/bacon, sauce and spaghetti back into the pan and mix it like a crazy person. The heat cooks the eggs and coats the pasta. Serve it up with lashings of parmesan (if you are as much of a cheese fiend as me). That's it!

Now promise me you won't use jar sauces again?

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Sausage n' Mash!

The venison sausages and spring onion mash were both a success. Sausages were quite thin so quick to cook and very tasty. I added a clove of garlic crushed raw into the mash for a little extra taste. The Scouser was, as ever, very complimentary. Below is the before shot - I like getting everything organised before I start cooking...

And here is the finished product. I love mash so I always make too much and end up feeling way too full. It's not that exciting but I tell you, it was tasty.

So tonight it's Spaghetti Carbonara - definitely not out of a jar! Does anyone make proper carbonara sauce? It's much better with fresh eggs and cream - much cheaper too.

I'm also looking for some inspiration for the weekend, because I have to work all 3 days at home so will be cooking to keep myself amused.

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Tonight's Dinner

This evening I'm cooking venison sausages. I haven't had them before, but they looked amazing on the shelf. I do love sausages - I never used to as a young 'un. Now I always keep loads of packs in the freezer, especially as The Scouser likes a sausage and bacon butty for breakfast.

I'm also making mashed potato - a proper fave of mine - and will be adding spring onions at The Scouser's request to make it 'more interesting'. I have a potato ricer, which is absolutely fabbo for making smooth mash. Imagine the play-doh machines you played with as a child. I use loads of butter - proper butter - and olive oil too.

Final ingredients tonight are red onion marmalade and mustard.

You may now be realising that we aren't that healthy in the Barchester Kitchen!

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Why, hello there

Here we go then, my food blog. I'm obsessed with food - eating it, talking about it, spending too much money on it and enjoying it as much as possible. I blame my mother for this, she's an amazing cook and both of my parents had me eating all kinds at a very young age. My dad force-fed me oysters once, which I now LOVE.


I love to cook at home - much to The Scouser's delight (my boyfriend) - and have been known to spend the whole day preparing a feast.

I'm planning to write about what I cook at home, what I buy from the supermarket / markets / farm shops / butchers, what I eat when I go out and ideas for future culinary successes or disasters.

I'll post some pictures too, as long as I can stop The Scouser eating it all first.

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