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Recipes

TEENAGERS AND PRESERVES AND ENTREPRENEURS

A variation on the selling lemonade and the USA right of passage

Just a little motivation ? It seems that once they have reached their teenage years and feel safe using a hob and oven, some teenagers may need  just  a little motivation to start cooking. Making preserves offers lots of scope . For a start, cooking to impress their friends may include knocking up a Tomato…
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SCHOOL HOLIDAY BLACKBERRYING and SAFE FORAGING

Go blackberrying

If there is just one MUST DO OUTING to enjoy with your children in the summer holidays it is to go blackberrying. By the end of August the hedgerows will be heaving with dark shiny berries and I cannot wait to collect them and then sit back and enjoy a plain bowlful. And then some for puddings, cheesecakes…
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SCHOOL HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES – COOKING WITH PRESERVES WITH THE YOUNG

With Jam and Coconut Slice for all ages

When my daughters were small and would come back from school at about 3.30pm they were generally absolutely famished and often totally ratty. A small sandwich would smooth everything out until their evening meal. By the time they were aged about six or seven, I would put out the sliced bread, spread and filling for them…
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A JAM COCKTAIL – WHATEVER NEXT?

AND HERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN TRY AT HOME

I think I was lured unsuspectingly into the Jam Tree. It was about a month ago after my younger daughter Olivia had just run her first half marathon. I was so impressed with her achievement and I suggested she deserved a celebratory drink and bite to eat for lunch. That is when she said we…
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THE PECTIN PURIST

ARE YOU A PECTIN PURIST OR SOMETHING OF A FRAUD?

I AM A PECTIN PURIST Pectin purists love that the fruit and pectin  are to be found together and all ready for that preserving moment. Pectin is sitting there in the skins of the best fruits and so just combining some of the high pectin fruits with low pectin fruits ensures a perfect set – the…
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THE GREAT PESTO GENOVASE

How to make it and the many ways to enjoy it

ANOTHER GREAT ITALIAN GEM Those of us from the baby boom generation, raised in the post war years of austerity in the fifties and sixties were barely aware of other than English food. Dishes of other cuisines, say Chinese or Greek or Mexican, were never seen at home. My mother could knock up a great curry but otherwise…
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Welcome Quirky Pineapple

Pineapple Relish - A quick and easy accompaniment to baked ham, cold meats or hotdogs

  Welcome, welcome O Pineapple! Your season is here. How can you have too much of this quirky looking, all singing all dancing, multi purpose, vitamin C packed fruit? It is delicious raw but do not forget to count the leaves at the outset *see ritual below. Cut in round slices or sliced from top…
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BRACE YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE TO TRADITIONAL EASTER FARE

Try sundried tomato butter with your scones and mint chutney with roast lamb

I think of myself as quite a creature of habit and I look forward to many of the seasonal traditions. But this Easter I have decided to break out – well just a tad. It started a couple of weeks ago on Mother’s day when my daughters took me out for a delicious afternoon tea…
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SOUTHERN INDIAN FISH DISH WITH A FABULOUS CHUTNEY

With coconuts to start the Spring

This week I have invited Preti, the daughter of Meera Taneja, to share one of her mother’s fish curry dishes together with a fabulous coconut chutney. Both recipes are from Southern India. I know that my aunt, Beryl, who was very fond of curries, (and I have great memories of the aromas coming from pans on…
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TRIPLE PEEL – THE CROQUET PLAYERS MARMALADE

A trip to Fortnums and Masons Food Department to hand in my Dalemain competition entry

     WHEN MARMALADE MEETS CROQUET This is the l time of year when marmalade, which  I consider to be the best preserve of all, meets the game of croquet sometimes referred to as the king of games or the queen of sports in the TRIPLE PEEL MARMALADE  – The best preserve of all Probably more…
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