Becky Bakes…

You might have noticed that we shared two videos this week so you could make shortcrust pastry and use it for a savoury flan. There was just too much content for a single video so we had to decide where to make the split. I’m sure many of us had a whole morning or afternoon at school for lengthy tasks like this, which were classified as “basic skills”, but the young people of today have less time to spend on such activities. All this leads me to think that whilst it’s a skill, it certainly isn’t basic. It may also be the case that being able to reach down a pack of ready-made pastry from the supermarket shelf is good enough – but it isn’t. Commercial shortcrust is rarely good enough, in my experience. Hence the video. Quite often I will use a pack of ready-made puff pastry and only last week a friend asked me to explain the differences between puff, rough puff and flaky. It’s all about how the large proportion of fat is incorporated into the dough. Puff has frozen butter flattened between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper, rough puff has all the chunks added at once and flaky has it added gradually making it the easiest to handle. Another skill that isn’t basic. So we made another video to show you how to make flaky pastry. Choose a day when you’ve asked yourself “What shall I do next?”, then make and freeze your pastry to chill it and improve the texture so that the next time you make a sausage plait or pesto puffs you can use your home-made block of pastry. Remember to thaw it overnight in the fridge and layer the scraps (if you have any) to re-roll and make some cheese whirls. x

Last week seemed to fly by – not such a bad thing perhaps if it means another week towards the end of the current restrictions. There wasn’t much in the diary ( we already have several videos ready to share) so the long -awaited arrival of the new sewing machine was a welcome sight. It makes all sorts of noises and has lights that flash, reminding me of a programme our children enjoyed, so it may be known as Bertha. During the week I also enjoyed several long chats with friends far and near. Thank goodness for phones and now Zoom too with technology being all that some people have in order to maintain contact with others. Better weather and the thawing of all the snow allows for time looking for weeds and admiring primroses and early bulbs. At one point I was asked if I was bored. That B-word has rarely been used in our house, instead we prefer the question of what can be done next? There’s always something to move on to whether it be knitting, crochet, sewing or a book to finish…you get my drift. Not only craft projects, but some friends are working as volunteers, helping find empty car parking spaces for those arriving for their vaccines, for example. Unsung heroes, all of them. People finding something very valuable to do and certainly not complaining of being bored…………….Have you noticed the changes to the website over the past few days? The Wizard has been busy too!

For some years we lived in a small town between Milan and Lake Como. The appearance of snow on the mountain peaks heralded the start of winter – and my goodness, it was cold. Adjacent to our house was a small apartment block with shops on the ground floor, one of which was a tiny artisan mozzarella cheese maker. Every Monday and Thursday morning, at around 7 o’clock a milk tanker would arrive and pump its water buffalo milk into their enormous stainless steel troughs. Rennet and other mysterious ingredients were added, then heat was applied so that curds and whey would appear. The curds were stretched to create the characteristic stringiness of the mozzarella, then balls were shaped and left to float in the whey. When the process was finished a klaxon would sound, usually at about 11.30 am. and from nowhere, customers would appear, mostly ladies and smartly dressed. Some would arrive on bicycles and if it was raining they would hang their handbag on the handlebars, hold an umbrella and pedal in a sedate manner.The cheese would be ladled into a plastic bag with enough whey to keep it moist, a knotted handle created and the cheese would swing from the brake lever as they rode home. What a sight! Yet we never saw any water buffalo grazing – where do they live? Do they live hidden from sight with their diet carefully regulated, like the cows that produce milk for Parmesan? Now that’s another story.

These weeks between Christmas and Easter offer foodies the best opportunity to make dishes we don’t usually create at other times of the year. Whilst they are linked to the church calendar, everyone can enjoy them. It all kicks off with Epiphany, when the Wise Men were alleged to arrive to see the baby Jesus. We can borrow the French “Galette des Rois” aka Epiphany gateau, two discs of puff pastry with frangipane or marzipan sandwiched between the two. Cherries mixed in can represent the jewels in their crowns plus a “feve” hidden in the filling – a small porcelain figure which entitles the finder to be king for the day (something I’d avoid to prevent the risk of a trip to the dentist!) The French eat crepes at Candlemass, whilst we save them for Shrove Tuesday. I always make mine small and wafer thin, perfect for competitive eating in our house, with the record of 16 still unbroken. Then Valentines day gives us the chance for all things heart-shaped, or pink – hence the chocolate & raspberry kisses this week. Mothering Sunday is synonymous with Simnel cake, although my own grandmother who worked “in service” as a young women never saw anyone given the chance to make one. More likely they gathered primroses or violets on the way home but she was an orphan so had to carry on working. Next comes Good Friday which has to be marked with fish pie and it has to have hardboiled eggs in…quite controversial these days. Easter means roast lamb, hot cross buns, dove shaped Columba for the Italians and chocolate eggs for those who like them too. Throw in a VIP birthday as well…. busy days !

This has been a busy week. Following Manic Monday, we made a video on Tuesday which just wasn’t very good, it’s only the second time we have had to discard one thankfully but left me feeling a bit deflated. So I sat down to do some crochet and watch “Escape to the Country” when the phone rang. It was someone from Radio Suffolk who wanted me to chat with Lesley Dolphin on Wednesday afternoon. That put me in a spin – I had discovered it would be “live” so no room for error. What would she ask? I probably ought to listen to some of her programme too! So Wednesday we remade the troublesome video, during which time the husband was on door-duty in case the postman rang the bell and he walked around with the phone in his hand…just in case! Lesley’s producer rang at the appointed time, so enthusiastic and clearly grinning from ear to ear (!) Then we were off. I’d made notes so I could tell her about the 20 countries that have appeared on our statistics map, the nearly a thousand people who looked at the website on Monday and anything else she asked. She was tickled that I’d messaged Mike to explain why he had problems with his biscuits. We chatted for just over seven minutes, amazingly. Phew. And the postman? He brought me flowers from a lovely young friend. X

Well. Where to start? Yesterday was quite a day. A message came early in the morning, out of the blue, from Mike at the BBC. I wasn’t rushing to start the day but in no time at all I was ready for the zoom meeting and recording, spending the rest of the day feeling anxious about how it would come across. Since very soon after the news finished my computer has fairly buzzed ending the day with over a thousand views of the fork biscuit video, which Mike tried out. So welcome to all the new subscribers and thank you for taking the time to watch and/or download some recipes. I will continue to offer reliable recipes from my kitchen to yours. As usual a little teaching might sneak in – we need to understand why we do certain things, whether we are new to cooking or not. During the course of the day my “tech team” also launched a new Facebook page to be another way to get in touch – see the little apron symbol at the bottom. Meanwhile we’ll be filming soon, as usual, and another video will be uploaded tomorrow. As always, stay in touch and please send me pictures of your “makes” for us to share. Bx

The weather here last Saturday was truly horrible – rain, sleet and icy winds. One of us had to be out in it all day and would be needing a hearty meal that evening, so a roast dinner was planned….potatoes, vegetables, gravy to go with the inevitable chicken. Then what about some stuffing to enhance the flavours? A search into the depths of the cupboard (under the stairs, so precarious towards the back) led to a small box of Paxo. Now, in truth, I had no recollection of buying it so decided, out of curiosity, to see what the “Best Before” date was on the box. Many times I ignore that if it’s fairly recently expired. If it’s a “Use By” then I’ll adhere to it as it is usually on items containing a dairy ingredient, or it might be salad leaves washed in spring water, or meat, so is an instruction, not advice. After a thorough search of the box I eventually found the date and it was quite a way in the past. I hummed and haa’ed, eventually deciding not to use the stuff. Now my granny always made stuffing so I trawled through the handwritten scraps of paper in an old cookery book that belonged to my mother and found what I needed. Just a couple of slices of bread made into crumbs, an onion fried with a little garlic (opt) and some dried sage, all mixed together, add an egg and seasoning and that was it. Put in a dish with a bit of butter then cooked for 20 mins, it was delicious. I won’t be looking for Paxo again in a hurry. Oh, and by the way, this will appear as a bonus recipe pdq x

Over many years I’ve always emphasised safety in the classroom kitchen. Since I’m hopeless with blood I’ve always warned of the dangers- sharp knives, graters, peelers, food processors- you get the idea. My insistence on cutting vegetables using your fingers like a bridge is an obvious example. Being able to illustrate the dangers using real people and their accidents is always a hit with children who often have a penchant for the gory details. Technician Linda is legendary! She was washing the food processor blade when the phone rang. She hastily dried her hands and disappeared into the office to deal with the call. When she came back she plunged her hands into the washing up bowl…….you guessed. She hurried off to see the nurse who dealt with her wounds. Another time, my cleaner Simon had filled the staff room sink with dirty cups and glasses. As it filled with water and suds he pushed the dish cloth into a glass and it broke. Even the nurse couldn’t deal with that and she took him to A&E…..Then there’s the stick blender. A friend forgot to switch it off before wiping the cream off the blade. A jacket potato exploded in another friend’s face when her daughter had forgotten to stab the skins. A&E again. Sharing these mishaps may have prevented some nasty accidents I’m sure, so now you have the background to my safety obsession and as a wise friend observed, all of these happened to grown-ups!

You might have noticed that the last two videos have been soups. There really is nothing else which warms you up quite so well on a chilly winters day. They are so economical as they usually contain very little meat but a lot of vegetables in a tasty broth and many recipes allow for flexibility of ingredients. They are healthy too, with plenty of vitamins and minerals packed in and a good dose of fibre. There’s a series of books I enjoyed reading in the U.S. called “Chicken soup for the soul” – and lots of variations on that title. They are full of heart-warming stories and really have that sensation of just “doing you good” to read them. So 3 soups to choose from so far and I still have more up my sleeve 😉

Like most people I really hope it will be different from 2020, not just healthier but better in so many ways. The roll out of the vaccine can’t happen quickly enough for me, so I can hug my friends and family without fear and talk without a mask so we can all see each other, properly able to gauge the response. Also, having a son now recovering from Covid makes it so much more real – too close for comfort even though he is thousands of miles away. I’ve never been one to make resolutions, they can be so hard to uphold, but honestly I think we all just need to appreciate what we have and cherish those around us. Let’s hope and pray it’s a better year than 2020 has been. But whatever life throws at us this year, we will deal with it and be there for each other. (Oh, I might also do more housework too….)