I admit it:  I got a bit cocky.

Having eaten mostly toast for the last 10 years or so, I’ve discovered that I actually enjoy cooking when someone else is eating with me (and when they are not very fussy at all, so always manage a convincing job of appreciating my efforts).  So although I still revert to toast on the evenings when it’s just me and Norman, I can now be found throwing together the likes of chicken biryani, pork and lemongrass meatballs and Mexican chilli with a cheeky apple salsa when it’s me and Himself eating together.  I know, right?  Who would have thought it.

I got a bit too confident though.  At the weekend my Mum and Dad offered me and Himself some fresh rhubarb.  It turns out that Himself is partial to a rhubarb pie, so I thought I throw one together when I finished work on Tuesday.  I didn’t think through the fact that Mum taught me to make pastry and to make a quiche, but I had no idea how to put a lid on a pie and make it look pie like and avoid a soggy bottom (I couldn’t let Mary B down – she has played a big role in the creation of this chef Pog persona).

So basically I made the bottom bit, baked it blind, popped the rhubarb in and then….had a bit of a strop because I didn’t have enough pastry to cover the top properly, it kept breaking anyway and it was almost 8pm so I wasn’t about to make more pastry – I just wanted to get the bloody thing cooked.

And that’s how I ended up with this mess:

BUT….it was really rather tasty, proving that you shouldn’t judge a pie by it’s pastry :o)