Week 6 and we are into February already with our blogger series! I have to admit this series has me excited about being in the kitchen again – I am loving all of the recipes that are shown and its taken me out of my comfort zone to try some new things! Have to admit I am glad to see another cheese and gin lover in our featured blogger this week – introducing Jane!
Hi there, I’m Jane and I’ve been blogging since 2013. My blog is HodgePodgeDays and I blog mostly about family lifestyle, crafts and food. I have a 7 year old son, a long-suffering husband and a big daft dog.
I have always enjoyed cooking. I was lucky enough to have a pair of Grandmothers who were excellent cooks who both loved to cook with me and teach me what they knew. My Grandma was a Head Cook and made exceptionally good patisserie. I’m very lucky that she spent so much time with me, teaching me about baking.
I’m a have-a-go kind of cook, I’m not afraid to try new things. I’ve been cooking for my family since I was ten and I try and cook wholesome, tasty family meals which they will enjoy.
If I had a whole day to myself I’d spend it batch cooking lots of things for the freezer and getting myself fridge and larder organised. I try and meal plan and have a few things which I can quickly and easily throw together for dinner, but I never seem to have enough time to properly organise myself.
I’d probably batch cook some cauliflower cheese soup, beef in red wine, some pasta sauce and chicken casserole. If I was feeling kind, I’d do some baking too, maybe a coffee and walnut cake and some flapjacks.
This question is too hard! If I’m going away for a break then I’d probably be really boring and organised and take trays of homemade lasagne, or tubs of homemade pasta sauce to throw an easy meal together. I love being in my kitchen, but I don’t want to be stuck in a holiday kitchen when I should have my feet up with a good recipe book.
Having said that, I couldn’t be happy in a kitchen if it didn’t have a good spatula, fish slice and wooden spoon collection and I have a Kmix hand mixer which has probably saved me hours of cake mixing over the years.
I’m veggie but I cook a lot of fish and meat for the family. My husband would probably say my fish pie or my beef in red wine. My son would probably say my baked fish with pesto and I think it’s my coffee and walnut cake.
Often and always. Baking is such a science that I sometimes get things badly wrong. I wish I was better at icing cakes. For my son’s 6th birthday I had an idea for a pirate birthday cake that went so wrong I threw 6 tiers of sponge cake into the bin, had a cry and then went for a simpler plan b. Pirate cakes are my nemesis!
I think my first cookbook was a Delia one, but I’m not overly keen on her. I think my food hero is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I’ve been to River Cottage three times now, I’ve got almost all of his cook books and I adore his food. All of his recipes seem to come out perfectly for me and some of the best food I’ve ever eaten has come out of the River Cottage kitchens. His books are my go-to if I find an unusual ingredient in my veg box or if I just need a bit of inspiration.
Twitter https://twitter.com/HodgePodgeDays
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Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/HodgePodgeDays/
Thank you Jane, I am a huge Hugh FW fan myself too and hope one day to cook in his kitchens! Very jealous!
XOXO
Debbie
I wish I had more time to cook, sadly I tend to just cook quick meals these days!
What a fabulous series. I love learning more about the people behind the blogs.
I hope Jane’s feeling kind today because I’d love some coffee and walnut cake hehe!
I love, love, love getting to know more about the people behind the blogs. I hope she one day makes that pirate cake! 🙂 x
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