Becky Bakes…

Not a journalist, or a ride out on your horse but a “trick” apparently. This week has been so wet that I found myself watching daytime television more than I’d like to admit. One programme featured a well-known chef cooking on a rooftop in Provence who made some interesting dishes as well as visiting mushroom growers and wine makers. One of his dishes featured two “hacks”…apparently adding stock cubes to add extra flavour to a sauce is considered a culinary trick (Hmm…) Then to thicken the sauce he added slaked cornflour – isn’t that something we’ve been doing frequently? He went on to make the most unappetising omelette I’ve ever seen using three eggs, seasoning and no filling. It was still very runny when he started to eat it – I wonder if he finished it 😉

The Great British Bakeoff was required viewing for us right from the early days when Mary Berry was a judge and the dishes created were recognizable and not very sophisticated. Fast forward a few years and Mary’s place was taken by Prue Leith, a lovely lady who I once met at the Felixstowe book festival. We had a long chat about what I should do next, after retirement as well as getting some great photos of us at the book signing table. All was well. Skills were tested and judged fairly, in spite of the distractions of Mel and Sue. Lately I’ve not been such a fan as the recipes have been more difficult to relate to and seem to need quite a level of professionalism which is tricky for amateur cooks. No wonder some of the winners have become TV celebrities and authors. But the latest change is a step too far for me as Prue is retiring, deservedly, and a replacement has been announced – Nigella Lawson. How will Paul cope with her heaving bosom and sideways glances? Will the competitors get a look in? I might have to watch a couple of episodes but it won’t have the same appeal to me 😉

Not my favourite month to be honest. It starts off so dark and dreary, but thankfully the evenings are getting lighter already. I just realised that I have forgotten to post a picture of today’s #cakefriday offering which was Lemon Bakewell, at the request of one of our beleagured shopkeepers. Believe me, they need some moral support at the moment. The town is very quiet with few people out shopping. Whether that’s because of the weather or because January is a five-week month, I’m not sure, but many people were paid before Christmas and won’t get another payment till next week. Thinking about this, we’ve made a video of Leek and Potato soup which is so economical and quick – it just might help families with a tight budget. Look out for it at about 11a.m. tomorrow. It really is worth trying, minimal ingredients+maximum flavour 😉

Earlier this week I thought I’d be clever and share a memory from Facebook. I added my comment and pressed the GO button but the picture didn’t appear, just my words which without any context made no sense at all. Technology – bah humbug! The “memory” was that four years ago we uploaded a video called “Celeriac three ways” – roasting slices, cooking it with potatoes and mashing them together and also cooking cubes of each in garlic oil on a baking tray. It just so happens that I’d bought a celeriac at the weekend and used it in a slightly different way. This time I lined a medium sized baking tray with greaseproof paper and used 2 halves of a fennel bulb along with finger-size chunks of celeriac, chunks of red pepper, cored tomatoes and peeled garlic all to roast together for about 50 minutes, having been sprinkled with olive oil and seasoning. They need to be turned over after about half an hour but are perfect with a roast chicken. Sometimes I put sausages on top of the vegetables for a one pan meal. Celeriac isn’t the most attractive vegetable, it’s hard to cut and tricky to peel, but well worth the effort. I met a lady in the supermarket today who let me have the last one – not something she wanted to buy as her husband hates it!

The Christmas tree has been persuaded back into its’ box and hauled into the cupboard. Some of the decorations are destined for donation to a charity shop – not yet though. I’ll save them until October as I’m sure the shops don’t really have the space to store them till next autumn. Epiphany has passed me by – no Galette des Rois this year. Candlemass doesn’t get celebrated, nor St. Agnes Eve (“…ah bitter chill it was. The owl for all his feathers was a-cold. The hare limped trembling thro’ the frozen grass and silent was the flock in woolly fold”- Keats) so our next festivals will be St. Valentine’s day and Shrove Tuesday, only three days apart this year and both chances for some edible treats. Hopefully by then there will be signs of Spring, Winter just isn’t my favourite season. Stay warm – and dry! x

How are you feeling? I really have lost track of the days and suddenly realised it’s Friday! We have had a lovely time with family enjoying time together – getting everyone here is a challenge and happens rarely, so you can imagine the levels of excitement and noise as our adult children and their spouses (spice?) caught up with each other on Boxing Day. Hubby and I had enjoyed a delicious piece of Topside from our favourite local butcher on Christmas day and then it just had to be turkey for our family on the evening of Boxing day. I particularly enjoy eating the cold meats with pickles and chutney, but we try to send the young people home with whatever they’d prefer from the leftovers 😉 The freezer is also looking pretty empty right now as some of them went home with boxes of minestrone and also tomato soup so I think a restock is needed. We’re all out of mince pies too, thanks to the beleagured shopkeepers…but it’s the New Year..and we look forward to it and hope you do too ;

Not a sonic boom, but something of a shock no less 😉 During the course of each week we keep a constant eye on the website and YouTube in case there are any red dots – that means someone has commented or asked a question. Obviously they need a prompt response, so I try to deal with them as they arise. Imagine my surprise when I checked the website on Monday. Normally there might be a dozen or so views on any given day but there were 276. Quite a shock! That lead us to check YouTube which had a similar spike of views for Mincemeat Slice. I was worried in case I’d said something inappropriate so watched the video myself, but it was fine. Drilling down further into the stats it was instantly apparent where these views came from…South Korea! Looks like a Western Christmas treat is heading East this year 😉 x

Thankfully Hubby is now much more mobile and very pleased to be able to drive again. I’m wary of him carrying anything too heavy, but, rest assured, he’s behaving and doing as he’s told 😉 Before his surgery we wrote The List. The Master List, you understand. With all the stuff we needed to acquire before the big day. I’ve been working my way down it, but panicked about the bird flu situation and bought a frozen turkey. Usually we have a fresh crown from M&S but they aren’t cheap and often are a bit indifferent. So to keep this one moist I’ve put a dozen rashers of smoked streaky bacon from my favourite butcher’s shop in to the freezer, trying to avoid too many last minute purchases. I still haven’t made any mince pies as there’s barely any room to store them, so having promised them to the Beleagured Shopkeepers next Friday, I might make a batch on Thursday and then more for the family during the following week. Next job on The List is to get some decorations up…tomorrow maybe ?

After a busy morning yesterday, I came home to make cake for the beleagured shopkeepers – #cakefriday. Because some of our local young friends aren’t too well I’d decided to make a double quantity of Ginger cake – it’s soft, sticky and has a great flavour to tempt their tastebuds. So, ingredients and equipment ready, I began…lots of flour, sugar, bicarb etc and also water. As I poured the mixture into the lined tins I just knew something wasn’t right, it wasn’t wet enough. Looking at the recipe it dawned on me that although I’d doubled the dry ingredients, I had forgotten to double the water. So I cooked them to the point of being solid, then had to jettison that batch and start again. This time, less distracted, it worked as it should have and it’s been delivered today. Phew! Earlier in the week I made Braised Red Cabbage to freeze ready for Christmas. Going through the method I realised there was no mention of the Bramley apple . So that’s been amended. I need to concentrate to avoid basic blunders… we all make mistakes, let’s hope they aren’t too costly!

This is not my favourite time of year. I much prefer long, balmy summer days when I can potter in the garden, stroll by the sea and hang washing out to dry. Instead it’s a quick nip to empty the bin, with coats, scarves and gloves any time I venture to town on these short, dark days of winter ( which arrived suddenly this year I feel). However it’s the perfect time to be making soup – our freezer is full! We all like my Tomato Soup with its’ hidden vegetables – red pepper, carrot, potato etc, but our real favourite is Minestrone. When we first moved to Milan I was amused to find “Minestra di Verdure” in Esselunga, the local supermarket. It’s a mixture of veggies, perfect for soup. This time, though, I hadn’t bought a cabbage but had an untrimmed cauliflower, so decided those outer leaves might work just as well along with the leeks, carrots, tomatoes etc. It made ten portions, so five 2-person boxes to find room for. We really need a bigger freezer! 😉