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On a recent trip to visit a friend in Surrey I took a detour and stopped off at a Pick Your Own Farm to gather up some strawberries for jam making and a few other supplies. The place was called Garsons farm and just outside Esher. It was huge and as with many farms overflowing…
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After all the rain in the UK this spring our gardens are wonderfully green and brimming over with foliage not to mention an abundance of herbs. Do not miss this moment  to gather up herbs for preserving and for use during the rest of the year. There will be another opportunity to harvest your herbs at the…
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 Aubergine – A food by many names What a a profusion of  names have been given to this beautiful and shiny food. It is known as the aubergine in Europe, eggplant in the USA and Australia and the Anglo Indian name of Brinjal is also used by South Africans,  Asians  and West Indians. Other names for the…
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I am just having a Shakespeare moment. I love horseradish. It seems you either love it or loathe it. I am a marmite person too. So I was rather disappointed to find that my aunt barely mentions this fulsome root vegetable in Let’s Preserve It. Dried horseradish, horseradish and beetroot relish and horseradish and tomato…
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Do you have an in-house fourteen year old? Leaving aside the moods and slammed doors and weird clothes, there are times when having a techno savvy teenager around the house can be very useful.  Installing apps on your computer, organising the privacy settings on your facebook page or just explaining instagram,  for example, is all in a day’s  fun…
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Easter is nearly upon us and with it all the fare of Hot cross buns and Simnel cake and Roast Lamb and not to mention Easter Eggs Beyond these traditional Easter foods there are a whole range of favourite fun foods and platters – with or without preserves -that children can not only enjoy in the holidays and…
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We must thank Elizabeth Raffald (the Mary Berry of the mid 18th century) for introducing the term Piccalilli to the English in 1769 and for including a recipe for this Indian pickle or Piccalillo in her book The Experienced English Housekeeper. Now is the Piccalilli making time of year and here is one of the preserves that must be…
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What a great idea to have a National Breakfast Week and here it is from January to 24th to 30th.  I just love the idea of National Breakfast week. It is my favourite meal and then marmalade,my favourite preserve, comes into its own. So this week is a winner. All day breakfast for me. Breakfast comes in…
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It is that time of year when Seville oranges arrive on the stalls. I still aspire make a trip one winter to the orange groves of Spain and the renowned Ave Maria Seville orange farm For now, the time has come to transform these fruits into that wonderful tart and bitter golden preserve. Marmalade has many more uses, however, than just…
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With a few days to Christmas, chefs are adding  their final tips for seasonal cooking. Nigella – and thank goodness she is back, well she is on my television at least, with all the finger licking – has given us all turkey in brine.  I must think about that next year. Jamie Oliver has come up with his…
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