Meat Pie. That's right, pie....

Why did pie go out of fashion? Food snobbery? Health? Fashion? Well, it's back. Radio 2, Celebrity Chefs, Supermarkets - all reporting a return to the humble pie. And we say why not.

So, buy your pie or make your pie? Buy it if you're happy where the ingredients come from (or if you care), but we would encourage you to have a go. The meat on the left is shin beef - and enough to feed 4 hungry adults. It cost us £2.34 from our butcher who knows where every single animal originates from (& they're all ethically sourced). So this is good cow.

And the pie? We browned the beef in a little oil in a cast iron casserole, added a chopped onion, 2 medium chopped carrots and once all browned (about 5 minutes) I added water to cover, salt, pepper and herbs (well, a bay leaf and a sprinkle of dried thyme). Then simmered it all for about 1.5 hours, let it cool and chucked it on a plate lined with pastry. Topped it with some more pastry, played with a pie funnel (you don't need one - it's just us), brushed it with milk and baked until golden. All in all, about 80p per person.

It was champion....

Ham. Proper Ham....

We love ham. Can't get enough of it. But we're fussy. (we would be..) Ham has to taste of ham. And look like it was once a pig. You know where this is going don't you? The stuff that comes shaped like the plastic packing it comes in is pink and savoury. But where's the pure joy of salty, chewy, sweet smelling meat gone from our supermarket shelves? It's there. You just have to look for an extra 30 seconds to find it.

This ham above is British outdoor reared ham. As before, not organic, but nevertheless traceable and you can take some assurance from the fact that it's not several bits from several pigs squashed into a neat square and processed, but a joint from a pig that has been happy for at least some of it's life, before landing on our plates.

So, for £11.57 of ham, boiled on the stove top with a chopped onion, a bay leaf, some pepercorns and a few scattered cloves (no salt though - enough in the porker)we were able, once cooled, to slice it into enough portions for 10 people to eat a hearty meal. What's out point?? Have a go. It's great value (£1.16 per head), it looks and smells great and the taste is just no comparison to the square stuff.....

A Happy Fat Chicken....

We shop on a budget. But that doesn't mean we don't eat well. We're omnivores and like a nice fat bone to gnaw on. Moving swiftly on...

We simply can't buy into the notion of cheap meat, eggs and dairy, but are not judging anyone that does. But for us, it's simple. We won't eat untraceable animal produce wherever possible. Take poultry. We'll leave it to Hugh and Jamie to tell you about animal welfare, but we just believe this: It can't ever be a good thing to eat a £2 chicken....

So we eat it once in a while and make use of it. This fine fat bird above cost a whopping £12. It weighed 6.5 lbs (3kg ish)and is a supermarket free-ranger. It fed 8 people (four adults & four teenagers) for a roast dinner, then there was enough left for a chicken pie to feed four, a huge pan of chicken and vegetable soup (2 people ate very well, twice) and then the bones made a fabulous stock that will flavour 8 separate dishes (frozen in bags). Now, forget the stock, but by my feeble reckonings, that £12 bird, divided by the amount of meals it made = £1.34 per meal per person.

It wasn't organic. It didn't come from a farmyard with 1 or 2 hens scratching around on a summer's day. But it's a happy compromise.... and with a bit of bacon slapped on its breast and some generous seasoning, it was jolly tasty.

A kitchen with heart....

Magazines are full of beautiful kitchens. And often beautiful houses. They're usually huge, stunning to the eye and beautifully lit. They've never been to see the Home Stuff Team.... Ahem....

We believe in real homes.... We want you to make the most of what you've got! (We do - because, frankly, we have to.) So look at this picture. A mess at first sight, but this is last Saturday's dinner in the making. Roast belly of pork with mashed potatoes, gravy made from roasting the pork on a bed of cheap and cheerful chopped onions, a bay leaf and salt and pepper, with a bottle of cider chucked in to lift all the gorgeous crispy bits, followed by pear and almond pastries with a light custard, made by rolling out a sheet of shop bought puff pastry, mixing equal quantities of ground almonds, icing sugar and butter and spreading it on the rolled pastry leaving a 1 inch border and topping with sliced pear before baking in a medium hot oven until brown and bubbly. (see top pic)

It's more exhausting to type the recipe than to make it - and they went really well together. All made in a tiny, ordinary kitchen.... And scoffed. By real (hungry) folk.

A Trifle at a Trifling price.....

Okay. So we wanted to start with something that would appeal. Striking? Homely? On a budget? EASY!!!!!! Trifle fits the bill in so many ways. you can make a huge one for everyone to dig in, or individual ones - you can use your ordinary glasses, wine glasses - hell, throw convention out of the window and use a cup and saucer - it's your trifle.....

This is one version above in pretty Cath Kidston glasses (about £3 each....)

It's as cheap as chips. Here goes:

For each one:

2 tinned peach halves
4 boudoir biscuits or random slice of leftover sponge
approx 6 tablespoons of juice/syrup out of can
a splash of amaretto liquer or similar. Or leave out.
2 good heaped tablespoons of whipped cream
1 chubby fistful of toasted almonds, or sprinkles of your choice.

Method:

Mix the juice with the liquer. Break up the sponge and soak in the liquer. Tear up one peach half and put in bottom of serving dish/glass/random vessel. Add half of the soaked sponge. Add 1 heaped spoon cream. Repeat. Add toasted almonds/sprinkles of your choice.

It's really that easy and and cheap. And really rather tasty.

An empty page....

Welcome to Home Stuff.....

We're like-minded people who jiggle busy lives with work, friends, family and home life.

You know, housework and stuff.....

Like a lot of blogs, this will be a place to splurge our opinions, but also a resource for those who simply want to share what's worked for them. We want to encorage you to share recipes, successful or not, review books, share your top tips - whether that be your grandmother's thrifty ways with an old sheet, or what to do with leftover pancakes (in our house that means eat them as soon as there's enough room in our bellies.....). Whatever - we want to here from you.

Okay, I'm a bit peckish now. I get bored quickly.....