Becky Bakes…

There have been numerous occasions during the course of this week when I’ve felt compelled to sit and watch TV. Not normal daytime stuff – Escape to the Country, The Bidding Room etc – but the events unfolding in Balmoral, Edinburgh and then London. Many times I’ve been close to tears, as have most of us I’m sure. Operation London Bridge has been in place for much longer than we were aware of it, but the plans are being revealed to us on a daily basis. How incredible it was to see and hear the proclamation of the new King at St. James’ Palace – a protocol of which I wasn’t aware. I shall certainly continue to watch each stage of the events, possibly with a large cup of tea to hand. We loved seeing the Queen enjoying tea with Paddington Bear, tapping out the rhythm on her beautiful teacup. So with a gentle nod to their mutual appreciation of marmalade, today we are bringing you a bonus recipe. Take a look at the Recipe Page on this website where you’ll find Marmalade Cake. x

We are deeply saddened by the death of our Queen.

Earlier this week I found myself queueing to buy cups of tea for some of the “Cake Friday” merry band, in a bakery/coffee shop/sandwich bar famous for it’s sausage rolls. I’m sure you know what I mean 😉 Standing in line behind several other customers I noticed a sign stuck to the perspex screen but had to really lean forward to be able to see it, much to the consternation of the person in front of me in the line. It seemed to announce a change to one of their sandwich ingredients – mayonnaise. Due to the war in Ukraine they were unable to source sunflower oil and had switched to rapeseed oil. Immediately that raised a red flag in my head. A young friend of ours is very allergic to rapeseed oil as well as the pollen produced every year causing the flu-like symptoms of severe hayfever. Other people we know have allergies which are much more dangerous and can result in hospitalisation. Accurate labelling is absolutely crucial to protect everyone with any dietary issue. So well done and thank you to Greggs for making it quite clear. Let’s hope other producers maintain safe practices.

I was surprised to hear on Radio 4 this morning that Suffolk had experienced extreme downpours this week. I’m not sure that’s absolutely accurate – it might have been wiser to say that some parts of the county had heavy rain, because we certainly didn’t see it here. There have been a couple of showers since last weekend, but not enough to make a significant increase to the levels in our water barrels. The grass is now so brown that it will be nothing short of a miracle if it revives. Some plants are losing their leaves already and even the roses have stopped flowering to conserve energy. We are still getting plenty of ripe tomatoes as they are getting the last of the rain water and I was pleased to give away the excess earlier this week. I will put some in the freezer today – even though they are mushy when they thaw, they will be added to soups, bolognaise and casseroles during the winter. On that note, I shall be making plenty each time in preparation for the winter ahead. It’s going to be a challenging one by the looks of it and we’ll all have to be economical in whichever way we can.

It’s been quite a while since we’ve had any significant rainfall in our part of sleepy Suffolk even though there have been torrential downpours just a few miles away. The grass is so dry that our cats are reluctant to walk on it as it hurts their feet; many plants are wilting and drying out before they even flower. We’re being careful with water, even letting it cool in the washing up bowl to throw onto the beans and sweet peas as well as the hibiscus and anything else that’s started to droop. All this reminds me of an assembly given every year to the pupils in the New Barnet school where I worked many years ago. A colleague called Gus would tell the children of the importance of water to all aspects of life, that it’s a resource we need to use with care. His advice about toothbrushing comes back to me every day – to turn off the tap whilst brushing, that way we’d all be doing our bit to preserve this precious commodity. After nearly 40 years I can still hear his words – “Just turn it off !”

This week I ventured a little further afield to do some grocery shopping. Not because I’m unhappy with our local shops, but for a bit more variety and in the hope of a bargain! My list was short and vague, allowing for some impulse purchases – that’s never difficult. What I found strange and somewhat disconcerting was that several shelves were completely empty. So no granulated sugar, no Homepride flour (P&SR) and no greaseproof paper. There was no member of staff to ask, so I had a quick moan to another customer, but I suspect the blame would have be laid at the door of “supply chain problems” which probably covers all aspects of running a large store. Job vacancies are posted everywhere I look – I wonder how long it will take before we return to a normality? Ironically the sugar and flour I was looking for were both available in my little local shop. Was it worth the trip down the by-pass? Yes, in spite of my complaints… a change is as good as a rest 😉

We’re all familiar with pork pies from Melton Mowbray, pasties from Cornwall, cheese from Stilton and the famous puddings from Bakewell and Yorkshire. This week I was challenged by our local radio host to investigate the unfamiliar Felixstowe tart. Now, in the depths of my memory there was just a slight feeling that I’d heard of this and for some reason hadn’t researched it. So, taking up the challenge, I delved into its’ history and discovered that it was apparently popular from the 1890’s to the 1930’s. There are two versions of it – one is a pastry case filled with stewed fruit then topped with meringue. But it was the alternative version that peaked my interest – a sturdy cake base which had jam spread on the top and a sprinkling of almonds, then a cloud of billowing meringue with extra sugar and flaked almonds. It was delicious, rather too much for us to eat so we shared it with neighbours and friends. It was probably the invention of an enthusiastic cook who accompanied her employers for their summer-by-the-sea in Victorian times, when our town became the resort we now enjoy. Who knew it even existed? I can assure you it’s well worth a try and will feed 6 to 8 people…… the recipe is going to be on the website if you fancy making it. Maybe it will now enjoy a renaissance?

Here in our easterly part of Britain we haven’t had any significant rainfall for weeks. The grass looks like straw, plants are wilting and the rain barrels are emptying with that precious water only being used for the neediest plants. By the shed we have our tomato plants – quite a lot of them as we use a lot and enjoy the wonderful flavour of home-grown varieties. This week I saw a huge platter of heritage varieties grown by a friend and we marvelled at the range of colours, from purple to pink with incredible shapes too. Our beans are also deemed worthy of precious water and they are producing as many as we can eat, but no glut this year. Our young friend is gathering peas and freezing the excess for another day. Local farmers are now being warned to ration water which will inevitably have a direct impact on yields and prices of their harvest. We ‘re managing to keep our small crops going, but a jolly good shower wouldn’t half help.

If you’ve watched the video, you’ll hear me mention that I found this being made in the restaurant of a Swiss motorway service station. Now I’m not sure whether we’d find food being cooked freshly at a service station on a British motorway, so this has stayed in my mind as being quite a find! We were driving northwards from Milan towards the Channel Tunnel and making the journey more exciting by stopping off at some lovely places on the way…. Lucerne, Strasbourg and Luxemburg to name a few. Imagine our surprise to find a chef in his whites, standing in the middle of a circular work station with bowls of prepared pasta, meats, fish and vegetables from which we could choose whatever we fancied to build the dish. Delicious. With three children to please you can imagine their delight at having so many choices! So this is a dish that I’ve made frequently since then – now an old favourite in our house, emminently variable and economical too. I hope you might find combinations of flavours that work you x

Having grown up in a household where gardening was one of the most important pastimes I soon learned of the importance of watering tomatoes regularly and burying newspapers under the runner beans to hold moisture for the roots. Flower names became embedded in my brain and I’ve always had to have a camellia somewhere in the flower beds or borders. So when a young person develops an interest in anything garden-related I’m just delighted. This week we heard from a young friend who had applied for an allotment several years ago and now had received the news that one was available – such excitement! Having been to see it and send us photos it appears to be half a plot, so an “alittlement” perhaps? Still lots to do as it appears to have been left for a number of years. Tall grass masked the mature apple and pear trees and hid the raspberry canes so the first task was to clear some space. Since then an ingenious plan has emerged – to construct wooden frames to lay on the ground. Next put in a layer of cardboard to suppress the grass then a generous layer of compost on top. Almost a raised bed, just not very high. We are promised regular updates and look forward to the posts on Instagram as well as seeing the harvest. As those of us who are able to grow our own know, there’s nothing like home-grown produce, from plot to pot in minutes.