Blanket Sneaky Peek and Ruth Mott's Cheese Pudding

I don't know if anyone else remembers the excellent Wartime Kitchen and Garden series that was broadcast in the early 1990s. I loved the series and I'm sorry it has never been released on dvd, although it can be watched on YouTube. I have the book of the series and there are several recipes in there. Whilst clearing out and reorganising my freezer a couple of weeks ago I came across lots of bread crusts so decided to make a version of Ruth's Cheese Pudding. I have made it in the past, but not for a long time. 

Here is the recipe from the book:-

I doubled the recipe but added a bit more cheese and substituted an extra medium egg for a little of the milk. 

This is my version:-

8 oz (225g) Fresh Breadcrumbs (approx 1/4 large loaf, Aldi - 49p, so about 12p)
Just under 1 pint/ 1/2 litre Milk (FarmFoods 2 litres/4 pints for 66p on their 3 for £2 offer, so 1 pint or 1/4 bottle for 16p)
3 Aldi medium Free Range Eggs (box of 6 for 79p, so 40p for 3)
3 oz (75g) Aldi Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese (£1.59 for 350g, so approx 34p for 75g)
2 oz (50g) Aldi Buttery Spread, melted, plus a little for greasing (89p for 250g tub, so approx 20p)
Salt, Pepper, dried or ready made Mustard to taste (approx 10p)

I used bread crusts made into crumbs in my food processor. 

I mixed the cheese, mustard, salt and pepper into the breadcrumbs, whisked the eggs, milk and melted butter together and then mixed the wet ingredients into the breadcrumbs and stirred well to combine. 

I well-greased a deep, round casserole dish, poured in the mixture and left it to stand for 30 minutes for the crumbs to soak up the milk and eggs. It was then baked just above the middle of the oven on Gas 5 for 45 minutes.

I was going to serve it with small boiled potatoes and veg but there was so much of it that I just served it with the veg.

Total cost for the pudding was £1.32 or 33p per serving for 4 large portions. I served it with approx 750g mixed peas, sweetcorn and green beans adding approx 75p or 19p a portion. Another frugal meal at approximately 52p a serving, and extremely yummy.

I'm feeling a bit better today, much more 'with it'. I'm still knitting away at the border for my blanket and laid it out on the table earlier to see how much more I had to do. The blanket is bigger than I remembered and I seem to have knitted miles of border, but I am nearly there. Approximately another yard of knitting and I can start stitching it on. Here's a sneeky peek at the blanket. 

In the spirit of frugality it is made from lots of odds and ends of yarn, some that I've had for years and years. The close up pic is of the final square I knitted using all the tiny lengths left over from the other squares. I think I might show it off by putting it over the back of the sofa for a while once it's done. It will brighten the room. I'll post more pics once the border is on it.

Although the temperature was supposed to be a couple of degrees higher today, to me it felt colder and there was still a lot of frost on the ground at 9.30 when I went along the road to Aldi. It is supposed to be warming up a bit over the next couple of days, but then rain is forecast for Friday.  Never satisfied, that's me.

Have a good evening everyone. Love, Helen xx