Becky Bakes…

Isn’t that the tune played by ice-cream vans and maybe even the Pied Piper? It’s become something of an ear worm for me lately and sounds reasonable in the bathroom! Long suffering members of my family are often treated to my renditions of various favourite tunes, although my brother wasn’t so keen, I remember. This weeks’ wandering took us to Snape, famous for the acoustics in the concert hall. Originally a grain store and maltings it was transformed by the Gooderham family to create an interesting mix of shops with an art gallery amongst the delicatessen, clothes and homewares as well as dining opportunities. I used to drive by it many years ago when my mother was involved in the delivery of Meals-on-wheels and could never have imagined it’s potential. Now the home of Aldeburgh Festival it has become internationally famous yet still encourages schools to hold their concerts there. In spite of the weather this week there were young people rushing from practice rooms to the stage door, clutching their instruments, shrieking about the snow. We hurried too, but only after spending a leisurely morning wondering at the range of local produce available – jam, chutney, bread and cheeses – leaving with a box full of goodies. The staff couldn’t have been more helpful, happy to chat and wrapping breakables carefully. Lunch in the Plough and Sail pub was delicious, a great birthday treat!

This week was far too busy to go a-wandering on Wednesday. Instead I managed to catch up with the cleaning and ironing that was patiently waiting. There was also research to be done before recording a conversation with Rob on Felixstowe radio – this time it was about root vegetables. You might be wondering why that topic…. in fact one of our local MP’s, a government minister, had declared that in view of the current shortages of tomatoes, cucumbers etc., that we should eat turnips instead. Very Marie Antoinette! So I visited the local greengrocers and one shop in particular was extremely helpful, allowing me to take pictures for reference purposes, so much easier than paper and pen. All of this has lead us to buy a greenhouse. Not an enormous one, but big enough to ensure an early supply of tomatoes. I really enjoy all the different varieties and ours are usually late to ripen outside. I might even sneak in a pot of freesias, but don’t let on will you ?!

This Wednesday whilst my plan had been to visit Lavenham or Long Melford, I was instead drawn to a small village near Bury St.Edmunds. We came across an ancient thatched barn and several other buildings, most selling antiques and collectables, with one called “The Cosy Cabin” selling fabulous fabrics, thread etc. Alliterations aside, I was very impressed by the ambience and spent more than I should have on beautiful textiles. Lunch found us in a nearby pub where the accompanying salad defied all expectations – cucumber, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, radishes, peppers… you name it, it was there and set me thinking. We are currently experiencing shortages of many hot-house foods with some supermarkets rationing them. I’ve heard a number of reasons why, but they all come back to the increased costs of fuel. Growers in Kent have delayed planting crops as they can’t afford the massive cost of heating their green houses. As an example, whilst cucumbers are on sale at 75p they actually cost £1.50 to produce. That sounds much the same as the problems of producing eggs, milk and many other foodstuffs… we must be prepared to pay more for our food, maybe buying less and wasting less. We hear Spain and Morocco are experiencing extreme weather situations but surely we shouldn’t be relying on producers so far away? We need to support our local growers and eat what is in season. Asparagus from Peru, strawberries in February? I think not.

Now that Spring seems to have sprung I feel like tentatively coming out of hibernation. Lighter evenings are a joy, as are the irises, aconites and camellias blooming beautifully in the garden. Looking at my regular commitments it’s only Wednesday that has nothing written on my week-at-a-glance diary… no phone calendar for me! For the last couple of weeks we’ve managed to have lunch with two of our favourite young people and this week found a lovely pub in East Bergholt, after chatting with Rob Dunger for two hours on Felixstowe radio in Studio 4. Having talked about life and the universe, including the unpleasantness of some social media posts, I was ready to sit and unwind. Thirsty you might think – but no! Twice, while a pre-recorded segment was playing, we nipped into his fabulous kitchen to make cups of tea. I’d taken ginger cake, so we had a jolly old time. Thinking about next Wednesday’s wandering… Lavenham, Long Melford….who knows?

It was a very bleak Wednesday morning when we set off to visit a young friend who works at Norwich cathedral, armed with plenty of Brownie, just in case she overstayed her lunch hour. Lunch was lovely, a light brioche bun filled with smoked chicken from “Bread Source”, then a quick tour of the cathedral. A very keen and knowledgeable guide was happy to tell us about the huge copper font made from two enormous bowls. Although the information card said they’d been used for making chocolate, that wasn’t altogether correct. In fact Caley’s factory had used them to keep toffee soft before it went into the centre of Rolo’s – remember them? After our tour a little retail therapy was deemed necessary and Jarrold’s was top of the list. Pondering the Polish pottery, having chosen a small oval dish, a voice over my shoulder said “Go on, buy one of these, how can you resist them?” The smaller bowls are so pretty I agreed, looking hard at the face I thought I recognised from somewhere….. Julie Reinger, the weather lady from BBC Anglia. What a lovely lady, tiny, bright eyed – she was Christmas shopping! Our final stop was to buy fresh macarons in the Arcade, two pistacchios, one vanilla and a capucchino – delicious. A brilliant day out. Did I take enough Brownie though? I’m sure enough for my little friend to earn plenty of brownie points anyway!

We had fun making our latest video. The recipe was very flexible and quite an economical one, so should have been straightforward. Our cats had a different view! They are very inquisitive and like to be involved in whatever’s going on, so quite often they are “encouraged” to go out to play while we’re filming. But this week they declined to cooperate as the aromas were too tempting. Several times one or the other of them appeared in the kitchen, rattling through the cat flap! Thank goodness our sound engineer wizard was able to edit out all those clunks and clicks. The patient cameraman almost lost it though, with “hang on” being my cue to pause for a minute whilst either Minnie or Tim was enticed away with treats. Never work with children or animals they say – children are great, animals not so much 😉

Not a commonly used term in the UK, but such a useful addition to a kitchen. I don’t have one, but certainly would like one. It’s an overhead cupboard which extends down to the worktop surface to house appliances. My favourite style has a roll-top desk type of door and means that gadgets are hidden away but still easily brought out for use. I was reminded of these handy hidey-holes recently when I had a long chat with a lady needing a cupboard for her food processor etc. Clutter is an issue for lots of us and our cupboards on either side of the chimney breast are the nearest we have to the appliance garage, even having room for two vacuum cleaners as well as the bread machine (rarely used), the sandwich toaster (very rarely used), the Kenwood chef and my little hand mixer (both often used). So, air fryer? No. Car park FULL. 😉

Last weekend we undertook a very short trip to visit friends in the frozen north to celebrate a significant birthday (not mine!) It was lovely to catch up with lots of old friends and acquaintances whilst enjoying delicious food. The event was held in a prestigious hotel in Cheshire, somewhere new to me, but all the faces were familiar. I spent a good while chatting to a lady who’d arrived early enough to enjoy a swim but had declined afternoon tea. When pressed, she opined that she couldn’t see the point of it; she’d had lunch and was looking forward to dinner, this would spoil her appetite. So what is the point of afternoon tea? Originally to bridge the gap between lunch at 12 and dinner at 8, but those timings no longer exist for most of us. So adamant she was, that it made me question the value of afternoon tea unless it’s a booking at The Ritz and only a slot at 1p.m. is left. Remember that, husband? 😉

As a person who enjoys the long, balmy days of summer I find winter quite a challenge, and January in particular. It always seems a bit of an anticlimax after the busyness of Christmas, but this week we saw a glimpse of sunshine so I managed to while away several minutes in the garden. What a treat! Although the weeds are still growing it was lovely to find the little irises manfully pushing their way through. It will be another couple of weeks before we see them bloom. The aconites are usually first here, even before the snowdrops. One of our young friends was thrilled to find a tete a tete daffodil in bloom this week – on the windowsill, not outdoors. Seed catalogues have already arrived and so Husband is milling over them, debating how many packets he’ll order for the veggie plot. A request… not quite as many tomatoes this year please, the mice got to the stragglers before we did! x

…. buy and air fryer? Having bought one as a Christmas gift for a young friend, I had the chance to try it out this week. The accompanying recipe book was excellent, full of imaginative ideas, so I decided to have a go with hassleback potatoes. Admittedly mine were larger than recommended and so took longer to cook, but they were great. They should have taken 25/30 minutes and came out crispy and golden on top. Later in the week I saw a stack of air fryers for sale and paused…..would I regularly use one? Based on energy and time saving evidence, yes. But it’s yet another appliance to store when not in use. Having a tidy kitchen and clear work surfaces matters to me, so I couldn’t leave it on view. Would I be bothered to get it out of the cupboard and put it away each time I use it? The jury is still out but I have to say I was sorely tempted to buy one. Have you succumbed?