Becky Bakes…

In all of our house moves we’ve never inherited a greenhouse. There have been sheds of varying shapes and sizes but not a greenhouse. This week we finished the big build and have our very own at last. The base was completed several weeks ago but the giant Meccano pack was quite a challenge, not to mention my apprehension about all that glass. I needn’t have worried though as the Scandi-style pictograms seemed self explanatory so the structure went up quite quickly. But the glass… gloves were mandatory and working out all the different sizes was tricky but the little clips worked well supporting the upper pieces. Spring clips were so tough. Well, after a couple of cut fingers and three replacement panes bought from our local hardware shop, it’s done! The tomatoes plants are going in today, along with courgettes and peppers. My pot of freesias will creep in too…don’t tell anyone 😉

Hints of red, pink and green – not garnets, rubies or emeralds, but rhubarb! Our single crown of rhubarb has gone crazy this year and produced more stems than ever before. Maybe it sensed the demise of the asparagus. We had eight crowns of that and only one produced anything this year so they have been dug up. But rhubarb is a bit like Marmite – people seem to fall into 2 distinct categories, they either really like it or really, really dislike it. Technically it’s a vegetable and was originally used for medicinal purposes but now we more commonly use it in pies or crumbles. This week I used it in Sugared Rhubarb Windows for the Cake Friday brigade (the recipe is on the website and there are pictures on the FB page). The stems aren’t difficult to pull away from the crown, then the leaves need to be cut off as they are inedible containing high levels of oxalic acid. Eaten raw, the stems are very sour, but I remember dipping them into sugar as a child and munching merrily on them! A tall terracotta bell jar can be placed over the early shoots to force their growth…I’ve got one but always forget to use it!

This week I was astonished when a complete stranger ranted vehemently at me about the Coronation. Her biggest gripe seemed to be about the cost, allegedly some £250 million which she claimed could be put into the economy. Well, excuse me, but that’s exactly what’s happening. The hospitality and tourism industry are predicted to get a huge and badly needed boost – try finding a hotel room anywhere near London this weekend! All the many extra police, not to mention the far greater numbers of back-room people who have delivered crowd barriers, pot-a-loos, cables, screens and those who have had to get rid of all the rubbish need to earn and pay their bills too. It’s a big event where those who want to see the King and those who want to protest need to be kept safe, so extra police are an inevitable consequence of the times we live in. CIIIR has done a huge amount of good whilst waiting for this role and while previous events may mean he’s disliked by some, his reign won’t be as long as his mothers’ and then it will be William’s turn. He may well be the one to modernise and slim down the “firm”. So let’s enjoy the spectacle and marvel at the ceremony which will be seen all over the world thanks to the hard work and long hours of the back-room boys and girls!

When I was teaching I chose not to have a Facebook page of my own, preferring to use my husband’s, signing each post with my customary Bx. Nowadays I have two pages, my personal one and one for Becky Bakes. Several times a week “Memories” come up, often cake or garden related, with textiles and sewing too. Imagine my surprise when my husband was reminded of an occasion 10 years ago when I’d made a video for our local TV station. In the first section I’d interviewed the butcher at the top of the road, then went on to use some of the lovely local chicken to demonstrate a chicken and bean casserole. Apart from the green and orange wall tiles of our kitchen back then, it could have been last week! We laughed at how I sounded just the same as I do now and was banging on even then about being safe – cutting onions carefully still matters! Have I ever cut myself? Not that I remember….

This week my attention was first drawn by an article about slow-cookers. It’s a piece of equipment I use quite often and there are three recipes on the website, our favourite being the braised lamb dish. There was a suggestion that might revolutionise the way we use the slow-cooker so my interest was piqued. It seems that some people are putting their ingredients into roasting bags, sometimes putting two sets in individual bags therefore maximising the energy saving benefit of an already low cost cooking method. Now, here’s my worry…what if the bags melt or split? I’m not convinced that’s a good idea. Another alleged benefit was that it would make washing up easier. Mine isn’t difficult to wash, it’s light and non-stick. So that idea won’t be happening in our house. I’m not planning to make the Coronation Quiche either. The combination of cheese, broad beans and spinach doesn’t sound great (broad beans aren’t in season yet so a strange addition). As if that wasn’t enough, Mary Berry has been brought it to champion the offerings of 5 professional chefs with the public required to vote for their choice. Am I alone in thinking this is all a bit odd?

Have you noticed that one of our UK supermarket chains has changed the packaging of their minced beef? It’s now vacuum packed into a brick-type shape and looks more like the ground beef found in the USA. Now, I have no problem with this and used some last week for my slow cooked bolognaise sauce – always handy when young friends are due to arrive at variable times. Admittedly the meat needed more prodding and stirring to break it up but it was so much more “meaty” than the worm-like strands we’d previously dealt with. The BBC homepage had reported on consumers opinions and stupidly I decided to add my two penn’orth. Within minutes there were responses from all sorts of people from all corners of the UK, but I stand by my findings. There is less packaging, the flavour is great and the texture is an improvement. Definitely a change for the better!

Wherever you are and whoever you are with, I’d like to wish everyone a very happy Easter x

Several years ago (certainly pre-pandemic) I was lucky enough to meet Prue Leith. She’d been speaking at the Felixstowe Book Festival and promoting her latest book. Afterwards there was an opportunity to buy the book and have it signed, with photos too. In the course of our surprisingly extended chat I briefly described my career in food education and my subsequent disappointment that I felt I’d failed to make an impact on the children I’d taught. Her response was “keep going”. It was this encouragement that spurred me on when our son needed to keep busy during the pandemic, leading to the launch of Becky Bakes. Just last weekend we saw her again, this time in a local theatre, again promoting her latest book. But what a woman! At 83, travelling widely and telling the tale of her career as a failed academic, successful business woman-turned cook who has advised numerous committees and companies, even the Royal Society. Their magazine was beautiful and so informative, all down to her I suspect. An icon? No doubt. Who else, I wonder?

Many years ago we lived in a house with an enormous apricot tree in the garden. It provided spectacular shade to some of the bedrooms but also bore the most delicious fruit. We enjoyed them fresh from the tree, gave lots away and made jam too. There was also a cherry tree, ignored by the birds – we were able to pick masses of them and used them in clafoutis and jam as well as just having a bowl on the table. Ever the optimist I thought we’d have the same here so ordered a number of trees… greengage and plum as well as apricot and cherry. We’ve managed a few cherries each year but the others have been a disaster, all bearing tiny plum-like fruits with soggy centres. So this week, with the impending greenhouse delivery, one of these sad trees has had a serious haircut. Inedible fruits aside, we needed to do this before the glass goes in and we need to be sure the thing won’t be in total shade. Do we ache? You bet! We’ll be calling for help from some of our young friends when it arrives! 😉

Our weather this week has ranged from balmy sunshine to rain, sleet, snow and ice, with the daffodils and camellias taking quite a battering. With the impending arrival of the greenhouse I felt compelled to seize the best day to clear the area where it’s going to sit. This has been a herb bed and an asparagus patch but all of these are now relocated – although the asparagus has done so badly over the last 3 years it might just be for the chop! There were two large rosemary bushes in the way so the first came out and straight into a pot for a young friend. The second turned out to be more difficult because it was actually two plants intertwined. Why do we have so much rosemary? I often cut tall stems of it to put in with flowers in a vase where it grows roots in no time , then gets shoved into the soil and thrives, although it’s great with lamb too. We have four other substantial bushes dotted around the garden! There’s also mint of all flavours – chocolate, apple, pineapple…..not much culinary use but they were a great teaching aid with year 5. Warned not to disturb the soil too much, I then had to do that silly walk to press the soil down again. I’d had enough by then so gave in to the offer of a cup of tea and perused the seed catalogues!