Caitriona Redmond: Let's be real, most dinners don't look like they do on Instagram

Instagram dinners don’t always wind up on my plates

I’m a huge pumpkin fan and love to have at least one carved for the big day itself. Unfortunately, the vast majority of pumpkins sold over the next fortnight will actually go to waste despite being perfectly edible.

Perfection is overrated. Let’s celebrate normality in its magnificent imperfection.

We live in a world where the most attractive images and videos of food trend on social media, shared and commented upon. The positive of seeing so many recipes and images is we get to explore different food cultures, find new recipes and inspiration.

On the other hand, when we are serving up a meal that might not be the most attractive looking we can feel self-conscious. We eat with our eyes first after all. Thankfully at this stage of the school year, the number of images of beautifully filled bento lunchboxes has eased online. Similar to feeding babies, ‘fed is best’ is the perfect motto to apply when filling your lunchbox or serving up on the table.

Before you think I’m suggesting you should do as I say, not as I do, I’m going to share some cookery disasters. Even food writers have bad days and I assure you, they are often very, very bad.

A friend was going away for a couple of weeks and gave me fresh food to use up, including eggs. I should have checked when the eggs were bought and how they were stored. I realised my error when I cracked a black and very sulphuric egg into the pan. I don’t think I’ve smelt anything quite like it since a childhood visit to the Dead Sea.

Last month I forgot I had already seasoned a pot of curry and liberally sprinkled it with salt. The resulting meal was inedible and I was so annoyed with myself, I had to go for a brisk rage walk to calm down.

Then there was the time I really wanted to make creme brûlée. This was an exciting concept because I got to employ a small blow torch. Except, I didn’t check it was safe and rapidly discovered that was a bad idea. So bad, I managed to set fire to the hall and called the fire brigade.

As I live in a small town with a retained fire service, it was reassuring and mortifying in equal measure to have people I know put out the fire while gently teasing me about my cookery skills.

Take heart from my experiences before you worry that what you’re cooking or serving up isn’t Insta-perfect, mine rarely is either.

The family still gets fed something edible because if I have accepted failure, there is always beans on toast.

Food News 

A number of people got in touch over the past week because they’d noticed a rise in the price of eggs. I had flagged this in my column a couple of weeks ago and it has now been implemented in all supermarkets. One half dozen of medium free-range eggs will now cost you at least €1.89. Despite this eggs remain an excellent source of protein for families on a budget.

Aldi is once again teaming up with FoodCloud for the “Food For Good” Campaign. This is essentially a food collection of non-perishable food items which will be collected in 153 Aldi stores nationwide until October 29. FoodCloud will then distribute the donations to their network of local charities nationwide.

Tesco is locking the prices on hundreds of products in store until January 2023. This is to give shoppers more ways to spend less and enjoy the festive season. Every product that has been locked will be marked ‘Low Everyday Prices’ and available for instore and online grocery shopping.

Carve your pumpkin at the last minute to make the most out of it.

Money Saving Tip 

Pumpkins are in the supermarkets already and we still have just over 10 days to go to Halloween. I’m a huge pumpkin fan and love to have at least one carved for the big day itself. Unfortunately, the vast majority of pumpkins sold over the next fortnight will actually go to waste despite being perfectly edible.

If you can hold off carving until October 30 or 31 and have a lit pumpkin for just the one day then the innards should be perfectly fine for cooking and eating (once rinsed well and cooked through). Otherwise, don’t carve your pumpkin at all and draw on the skin instead. Pumpkin is beautiful roasted, makes a great and filling soup, and is an excellent weaning food as well.

Roasted Pumpkin

Add to frittatas, salads, curries and casseroles - this is the ultimate make-ahead vegetable.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 1 small pumpkin

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp paprika

• salt & pepper

Method

1. Put a saucepan of water on the boil and preheat the oven to 170°C. Slice the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds.

2. Rinse the seeds under cold water and then place them into the boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes before draining off and patting dry.

3. Cut the pumpkin into half-moon wedges and mix both the pumpkin wedges and seeds with the spices, seasoning, and olive oil.

4. Take two baking trays. Put the wedges on one tray and the seeds onto another then put both into the oven.

5. After 20 minutes remove the seeds and allow to cool before eating as a snack or sprinkling on salads.

6. After 1 hour remove the pumpkin wedges. They should be soft enough to scoop and eat with a spoon.

7. Note: This recipe is perfect if you would like to make a plain pumpkin puree for a sweet pie. Skip all the seasonings and use the olive oil only. Once cooked, scoop the flesh away from the skin and mash to make a homemade puree.

Mug Cake

If you fancy a cake in a hurry the microwave will cook a cake in a very short amount of time and is far more energy efficient than a conventional oven or even an air fryer. The mug is a perfect serving size for 1 person as well and saves on washing up aft

Servings

1

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 2 mins

Total Time

 7 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 1 medium egg

• 50g caster sugar

• 3 tbsp sunflower oil

• 1/4 tsp almond extract

• 75g ground almonds

• 2 tbsp jam of your choice

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the egg, caster sugar, oil, almond extract and ground almonds with a fork. Just mix until you have a stiff batter and you don’t have an oil slick on top!

2. Spoon the jam into the bottom of the mug. Carefully spoon the cake batter on top.

3. Microwave on high for 1 minute 30 seconds. Allow to rest for 2 minutes, then microwave on high for a further 1 minute.

4. Please note I have a 900W microwave. If your microwave is lower wattage you will need to cook the cake for 30 seconds longer each time for 750-800W, then 1 minute longer for 600-700W.

5. If in doubt at all as to whether the cake is cooked, insert a cocktail stick into the centre of the jar. If it comes away clean the cake is cooked. If still in doubt, blast in the microwave for a further 30 seconds.

6. Leave the cake to stand for at least 10 minutes before eating as it will be piping hot.