Brussels Sprouts & Bacon Pizza

Still got sprouts kicking around?

Fancy doing something different with them?

Seriously ... why not try this Brussels sprouts and bacon pizza?

I've been meaning to share this recipe for ages, I know it may sound a bit random, but really, its pretty darn good ... and if you don't fancy the topping, I know you'll like the pizza base recipe as its just so easy.

The topping is a bit of an adaptation of a recipe that I found on a blog that I follow here.

Martin then discovered a fab pizza base recipe that has no actual yeast in it but always works an absolute treat. It's a Good Food recipe.

Pizza Base Ingredients
To make two medium sized pizza bases

• 300g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 300g natural yoghurt

Basically you mix together the flour, yoghurt, baking powder and salt. We tend to do this with the electric mixer, with the dough hooks on, till the ingredients are all well combined.

Martin then kneads the mixture for 5-10 minutes until its a a nice smooth ball of dough.

It is quite a wet mixture but don't worry, just use plenty of flour for dusting when kneading and all will work out well.
We then tend to leave the mixture for about an hour to 'prove', though it won't double in size as there is no yeast in the dough.

Once you are ready to use the dough then just roll and stretch it out to the shape that you want.

The thing that surprised us with this recipe, apart from there being no yeast, was the fact that you bake the pizzas in a 200c fan oven for about five minutes until they begin to rise, before you add any topping.
Then you remove them from the oven, turn them over and add your toppings before putting back in for another 5-10 minutes.

We have found that a just a couple of tablespoons of pizza sauce topping is plenty for each pizza and actually less sauce makes the pizzas hold together better when eating and all of the toppings don't just slide off.

Brussels Sprout & Bacon Pizza Topping Ingredients

• 2 tbsps BBQ pizza sauce
• 1/2 red onion finely sliced
• About a cup of Brussels sprouts cut into 1/4s
• 3-4 slices bacon, chopped
• Grated cheese

Fry off the chopped up bacon, then add the quartered sprouts to the pan and fry until crispy.

When the pizza base has been cooked on the one side, as described above, remove from the oven, flip over and add your toppings.

We used a BBQ flavoured pizza tipping, from a jar I'm afraid, spread over the top of the pizza, topped with the fried bacon and sprouts, then raw thinly sliced red onion, before sprinkling with a liberal layer of mixed grated cheese.
As I said at the beginning of this post ... it might sound a bit random, but it always works out a treat and ... so pretty too.  Give it a go and ... enjoy!

Birmingham's Rag Market

A week or so ago I had a trip into Birmingham to suss out the Rag Market, looking for suitably priced fabric for making bunting.  From working out how much fabric I needed to make a decent length, I had decided that doing it with fat quarters just wasn't viable.
I hadn't been into Birmingham on the train for ages and I was pretty much blown away by what they've done with the concourse at New Street Station  and the old Pallisades, now known as Grand Central.  It took me a while to get my bearings, but I soon managed to find my way to St Martin's Church, where I was meeting mum.

It was a glorious bright sunshiney day and the city looked impressive.

Now, you may ask why we didn't travel together ...Well, it's all to do with free transport!  As the wife of someone who has worked on the railway since the year dot, I get a certain amount of free rail travel each year and, as a pensioner, mum gets free travel on the bus.  Hence, in the name of frugality, whenever we go anywhere on public transport, we each make our own way.

We headed into the Rag Market, where we knew we would have a long, slow browse of all that was on offer, hence leaving dad at home.

























I was dead excited to be greeted by one of the owl sculptures that I had missed seeing last year.  Not sure how it ended up here, but I was really pleased to get to see it.






There weren't as many fabric stalls as I expected, but there was a really good choice of fabric that would hit the spot for £2 a metre, which is a really good price, compared to what I've seen elsewhere, even on the Internet.

There were lots and lots of other stalls selling all types of crafty bits and pieces and I couldn't resist a stack of zips, of all different colours and sizes for just 10p each and some decent sized square cushion pads for just £1.50 apiece.

As well as looking round The Rag Market its also worth a wander around the outdoor market, where we picked up some more fabric, and the meat market, which has a really good craft stall right at the back.  It's not all about meat, though if you're squeamish, you need to avoid looking at some of the stalls.
Laden down with our purchases, we decided to have a quick pitstop and we ended up in the cafe in St Martin's Church, which was actually quite nice, and was absolutely fine for a sandwich and a quick drink.

Ready to head for home, we couldn't resist a wander round Grand Central, which is packed full of lovely shops like Cath Kidston, The White Company and John Lewis.  There are also loads of cool looking places to eat and some of the patisserie just looked out of this World, I wish I'd taken some pictures.

I was soon back on the train for the short journey home and had managed to walk back home by the time mum was halfway back on the bus!!

I was really pleased with the fabric I bought, it was perfect for bunting and I've even made a patchwork cushion with some of the scraps.

If you are looking for cheap, but cheerful, fabric, I would definitely recommend The Rag Market, it's well worth the trip and I will most definitely be going again, probably quite soon.

Marsden, Yorkshire - Out and About

Other than attending Chris and Jenny's wedding and doing lots of chilling out, we did get out and about a couple of times whilst on our family Christmas break staying in The West Wing in Marsden.

We managed a wander around Marsden, depicted in this sculpture, where the river levels were very high, following the heavy rain we'd had.

We walked on up to the canal and took the towpath to Standedge Tunnel.  There's not much to see at this time of year, as the visitor centre is closed, but you can see the entrance to the tunnel, which was fascinating to us, having looked at the length of the tunnel on Google maps.We also managed a drive out across Saddleworth Moor, where we saw some cracking views before sitting for a while watching hand gliders struggling to take off and stay in the air.
We took lots of photos of the hang gliders ... most were rubbish, these are my favourites ...

And that was that really.  We had a lovely relaxing Christmas break, not doing very much at all, just what we needed before the start of the New Year.

A Christmas Wedding

It seemed that no sooner had we settled in for our family Christmas break in The West Wing, we were heading back towards home, for a wedding that had been a couple of years in the planning.

Our close friends' eldest son, Chris and his fiancee, Jenny, were getting married on 23 December and we just couldn't miss sharing their day with them.
We made it back home with plenty of time to spare and soon got 'suited and booted', which was an interesting experience ... heels and tights for me and a collar and tie for Martin, we were both well outside of our comfort zones!




Though it felt a little brisk, the sun was shining, for what seemed like the first time for weeks and we kept our fingers crossed that the good weather would continue.  The wedding was held at a place called Mythe Barn, not too far from home and we arrived to be greeted by our friends, Jackie and Phil, both looking absolutely fabulous, as mother and father of the groom, and a lot more comfortable in their smart attire than we felt in ours.

















We soon warmed up with a Winter Pimms, which went down very nicely, whilst catching up with Chris, who looked very nervous, his sister, Rachel, my God Daughter, who made an absolutely beautiful bridesmaid and her boyfriend Tom, who was performing Usher duties.
Before long we were called into the room where the ceremony was to take place and we all took our seats. Martin and I both exchanged a knowing look when the Canon in D Major started up for the arrival of the bride, as this was the music that I walked into my own wedding ceremony to.

The three beautiful bridesmaids entered the room first, followed by Jenny, who looked amazing. Rachel did a reading and the ceremony went off without a hitch and it was soon back into the reception area for more Winter Pimms and plenty of canapes, including mini fish and chips, which were very tasty.
Photographs were being taken and we soon realised that something unexpected must be happening outside. We braved the cold to have a look for ourselves to find some surprise guests, which was a real treat.

After this distraction, or should I say disruption, and the more traditional confetti shots, it was time to make our way to take our seats for the wedding breakfast.  
This was held in another room at the venue and it was decorated beautifully, with a huge Christmas tree in the corner and plenty of festive table decorations.

Kicking tradition into touch, the speeches were delivered before we ate and all did really well and were very entertaining.  Having known Chris all of his life, I was so proud of how confident he was and how well he did.  He's definitely all grown up now.
We dined like Kings on Arancini, followed by Beef Wellington, with vegetables and dauphinnoise potatoes, a real favourite, finished off by a very chocolaty dessert. The food was all amazing and there was most definitely plenty of it.
After watching the first dance, it was then time for Martin and I to find a quiet spot to chill, whilst the disco ensued ... Oh yeah, there was a quick change for Martin too, into something just a little more comfortable.
As we had an early start, back to Yorkshire the following day, we didn't stay too late and we spent the rest of the evening catching up with friends, taking selfies and managing to put away plenty of pizza later on ... Well, it would have been rude not to.
It was a lovely wedding and we were really pleased to have been invited to share Chris and Jenny's special day with them.  Everything went really well, the venue was brilliant, I would definitely recommend it.

Martin and I both wish Chris and Jenny every happiness for this next phase of their life together.