Archive for ‘Cooking’

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April 10, 2013

Sage and Thrift Cookbook Swap.

On Sunday 21st April, Sage and Thrift  (a project that I dreamed up with my lovely friend Jo) will be holding its first Cookbook Swap!

Sharing is at the heart of all our plans for Sage and Thrift. We want to build a community of like-minded people to come together to share – whether that is food, skills, resources or time. Food is central to that thought, purely because nothing brings people together like filling our stomachs.

The idea for the Cookbook Swap stemmed from my enormous and ever-growing collection of cookbooks. Regular readers of this blog will know that I cannot resist them. The sheer beauty of them together with the promise of perfection lying within each one draws me in like no other kind of book. Even though I know that I don’t have the room for them, it’s only a matter of days since I bought my last one – Simon Hopkinson’s The Vegetarian Option, which is excellent – and I cannot be the only person with this kind of habit, yet without either the money to fund nor the space to house such a collection.

I’ve done Cookbook Challenges, and culled a few from my collection to the local charity shop, but most of them I can’t bear to part with forever. Having said that, I am always happy to lend them out, and know that I would love to try new books for a while in return. Hopefully, other folk will feel the same way.

Too many cookbooks ...

Too many cookbooks …

So, here it is the premise:

Come along to the Cookbook Swap – bring a book with you! One that you either love but have tired of, or one that you’ve never got on with. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a cookbook!

We’ll have a spreadsheet set up on the day, so we can take your details and the details of the book you’re leaving to swap. You need to be happy to lend the book out and know that it might come back a bit more spattered with cooking oil than it went out. If it’s too precious to you, leave it at home.

Then have a browse of the books available. Once you hopefully find one you like the look of, bring it back to us with our fancy spreadsheet and we’ll log that you’ve borrowed it. Take it home, cook up a storm, and bring it back to the next one. If you want to bring us some fabulous food you’ve cooked, so much the better …

One of the things we’re going to do is give out a little ‘passport’ with each cookbook. We’re hoping that people will write a little bit in them, just to say what they cooked and how things went. This will help us to build a record of how each book has been used and a bit of history of the swap.  Plus, we’re getting a stamp made with our logo on, so it’s rather a good excuse for us to get stamping crazy. The passport will stay with each book for as long as that book is part of the Cookbook Swap and then go home with the original owner as a memento of the project.

So, if you’re in Leeds on Sunday 21st April, between 2-3pm-ish and you’re interested, do come along. We’re very fortunate that the lovely folk at Brewbar Espresso (located just underneath Leeds Art Gallery) are letting us host the event there, so bring some pennies to buy yourself a cup of their fabulous coffee, and we hope to see you on the day!

Posted in Baking, Barbara Loves..., Cooking, Food and Drink., Home, Learning, Margot Loves..., Sage & Thrift | 2 Comments »

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February 20, 2013

A meat-free month

I spent January as a vegetarian. Nothing to do with the recent UK scandal about horse meat and food security (which became news after I’d started)  but for my own personal reasons. I’m not squeamish about meat eating – after all, I have long owned a copy of John Seymour’s ‘Complete Book on Self Sufficiency’,which contains the unforgettable line  ’first lure your pig to the killing room’, but it’s the sheer quantity of meat that it seems people are eating that I am uncomfortable with.

Meat used to be revered. Reserved for High Days and holidays, a piece of meat would be cooked – perhaps for  Sunday dinner – and then the left-overs used through the week to make more dishes. Thrifty cooks still do that now, and there are a proliferation of good cook books and websites on thrifty cooking and eating. But what makes my stomach turn is the unthinking way in which meat is eaten all the time – and largely poor quality, untraceable meat, in mince, burgers, chicken nuggets, etc etc.

It’s simply not sustainable for the planet for an ever increasing population to eat meat in the quantities we do. Huge emerging middle classes in quickly developing countries are now eating more like the UK or USA, when previous traditional diets were largely vegetarian. Great swathes of rain forest are getting cut down to graze beef cattle. Field after field of grain is grown – not to feed people, but to feed animals that will then feed people. The difference in resources required is enormous.

And as for fish, it is a worry that the humble mackerel, once the king of under-appreciated fish, has now made it’s way onto the MSC‘s list of unsustainable fish. I’d say the MSC is the best place to look if you’re interested in making good choices about the fish you eat.

I’m not suggesting that the world turn vegetarian. Though it would help, and it will be interesting to see what impacts the recent horse meat scandal has on the long term eating habits in the UK – though really I suspect very little. What I’m suggesting is that, by reducing the amount of meat we eat, choosing it carefully when we do eat it, and really enjoying it, instead of mindlessly buying another burger, we might help reduce the impact on the planet’s resources. I know that it is something of a middle class answer to talk about ‘making friends with your local butcher’ as not everyone has the luxury of either the time, money or indeed butcher, to make that decision, but choosing to eat less meat is within everyone’s grasp.

So, I shall climb down from my soap-box now.

What I’ve realised after a month of vegetarianism is that it can be much cheaper. A bag of lentils as a source of protein is far less expensive than even the cheapest cut of meat. I wanted to spend the month cooking proper food, not heating up vegetarian pre-prepared stuff, and I found that everything I cooked was cheaper than a meat containing equivalent.

I ate more vegetables too. I realise that this sounds obvious but I do not think for one second that a vegetarian diet is immediately healthier than an omnivorous one. After all, crisps, sweets and chocolate are meat-free, and I have met vegetarians in the past who have existed largely on chips. But when I’ve taken the time to cook new vegetarian dishes, it’s felt really positive, and not a second rate option.

I have a goal to try one new vegetarian dish each week for the year, and I’m keeping a little record of what I’ve cooked. I have been using Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘Veg Every Day’ and Sarah Raven’s ‘Garden Cookbook’ a lot, and also the recipes which come from Abel and Cole. My veg box is a place of ever increasing interest because of this shift in my eating and I can only hope that my allotment will be too.

I said that I’d had a month of vegetarianism, and since the end of January I have re-introduced meat into my diet. I’ve eaten meat twice. On both occasions, it was a really considered choice, in places with a strong provenance. I didn’t regret my decision, and thoroughly enjoyed what I was eating. Mindful eating definitely is a key, in my mind, to that decision. Apart from those two occasions, I have remained meat free and I am likely to carry on eating like this for some time.

(Incidentally, if you’re looking for good articles on the recent horse meat scandal, and the UK attitude to eating horse meat, try Them Apples)

Posted in Barbara Loves..., Cooking, Ethical and Environmental, Food and Drink., Gardening, Margot Loves... | 5 Comments »

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November 28, 2012

A ‘Sage and Thrift’ Supper.

I’ve always envied the Americans for Thanksgiving. Not for the origins or history surrounding it (which I remain largely ignorant of, but suspect, like most history, it is a mixed bag of truths) but the fact that it’s a great excuse to get together with people you love, to eat, drink and share a bit of gratitude for the good things in your life.

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving and having been inspired by the wonderful Kinfolk magazine, this weekend my dear friend Jo and I held the first of what we hope to be a regular small gathering of people, sharing food, music and thoughts in the comfortable and relaxed surrounding of home. Snuggled on sofas and with the laid-back eclectic sounds of Fip (French online radio) in the background, we happily worked our way through a communally produced supper of the best French Onion soup I think I’ve ever eaten, Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, which was healthy, yet utterly decadent (from the amazing  Veggie Runners. You need to visit their website, they’ll be adding the recipe soon!), various cakes and several pots of tea.

 

 

And it worked really, really well. With no standing on ceremony allowed, I am hoping that these gatherings will help deepen friendships and create new ones, develop ideas and plans, share projects and enable us to spend a bit of ‘slow’ time in good company. Saturday’s subjects included natural skin-care, producing smartphone Apps, knitting patterns, running and plans for a 2013 surfing trip, which for someone with an almost endless list of interests, was a great way of spending time!

The supper also gave us the chance to trial our  first Cookbook Club. Many people, like me, have an irresistible urge to buy beautiful cookbooks and as a result, and despite best efforts, have an enormous collection gathering dust. Our solution; a monthly swap. Anyone wanting to join in brings a cookbook that for some reason they’ve not been using and swap. At the end of the month they have the option to continue with another swap or withdraw themselves and their book until next time. It’s a great way to try out lovely new recipes without spending any money or having to find more space on your bookshelf. Each cookbook will be given a logbook as a swap diary for people to write about what they chose to cook and their experiences, which will be returned to the cook book owner, alongside the books themselves.

We’ve decided that we want to develop a little creative, collaborative community, and we’re calling it ‘Sage & Thrift‘. It’s not remotely set in stone and we reserve the absolute right to change our ideas at will. But I definitely think that these suppers will remain a part of what we do. I’m already looking forward to the next one…

Posted in Baking, Barbara Loves..., Cooking, Food and Drink., Home, Margot Loves..., Sage & Thrift | 7 Comments »

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May 28, 2012

Cookbook Challenge

Recently I made the rather startling discovery that I’ve amassed a collection of 64 cookbooks. They sit on shelves in the kitchen and sitting room gathering dust, while I reach for a jar of pesto again and again.

Cookbooks are clearly something of an addiction for me. The sheer beauty of them, the gorgeous photography and styling and the promise they offer of a slightly better life, if only you try some of their recipes, draws me in time and again. Yet, I rarely cook anything different. Partly because of a lack of time, partly because my kids are stuck in a place where they refuse to try new things to eat and partly because of the ease with which I get stuck in the pasta pesto routine.

So, in an attempt to make my ownership of 64 cookbooks seem a little more sensible (and urged on by some lovely Twitter friends) I’ve started a mini-challenge, which is to cook something from each of my cookbooks. Originally, the deadline was to cook 35 new things before the end of my 35:35 challenge. However, as I’ve realised that there is a distinct possibility that  I’m going to fail in my challenge (something I’m not thrilled about, but hey, that’s life) I have now given up on that self-imposed deadline and now I’m just going to try to cook something from each of them.

To record this, I’ve set up a Tumblr account which will just have a photo each time I cook something, together with the information about the book it is from.

I’m hoping that this will re-ignite my interest in food, get the kids to try some new things, improve my diet and health a bit and make far better use of my lovely organic veg box and home grown fruit and vegetables. I’ve completed about half a dozen recipes now, and I’m really enjoying it. I’m hoping to focus my attention on things that are relatively quick to make, so I can easily cook them in the evening after work, rather than only making an effort every so often. I want this to be the start of a longer term change in my cooking and eating habits and I’m hoping it will have a positive effect on the rest of my household too!

One thing I’ve noticed though, is how many books about baking I have and how weighted in favour of a handful of authors my collection is. I seem to have every book that Nigel Slater has written, and a fair collection of Nigella, Rachel Allen and Jamie Oliver books too. However, I have not a single book about Thai, Chinese or Malaysian cookery, something I only realised after searching in vain for a Beef Rendang recipe the other day. So, perhaps once I’ve legitimised my collection by actually using it, I can start to add to it and fill the gaps – starting with a book about Asian cookery.

If you’ve got any cookbook recommendations, do let me know. I’d love to hear from fellow cookbook addicts!

Posted in 35:35 Challenge, Baking, Barbara Loves..., Books, Cooking, Food and Drink., Home, Learning, Margot Loves... | 3 Comments »

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February 22, 2012

Rhubarb, rhubarb.

I couldn’t resist a giant bunch of Wakefield forced rhubarb at the market. Such a cheery bright pink, it’s too beautiful to leave behind. Of course, then I had no idea what I was going to do with such a huge amount once I’d got it all home. A dessert of some kind is usually in order, and rhubarb crumble with custard is an obvious winner.

However, a call was issued to the Twitter hive mind  and my reply (from @gazpachodragon, someone who I only met for the first time on Monday and who I think is amazing) came back. Make rhubarb Bellinis! As the Bellini is traditionally made with prosecco, one of my favourite drinks, it felt a bit like fate.

The recipe originally comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has championed the cause of rhubarb for a long while. In fact, I remember when he guest edited an early edition of of Olive magazine. Although the title remained the same, on each page of the magazine, where it usually said Olive, instead it said Rhubarb…

I’m digressing, as usual.

The rhubarb is simmered in orange juice with some unrefined caster sugar, until it’s soft but not hugely pulpy. In the original recipe, Hugh uses 1kg (trimmed and cut into 4cmi-ish lengths) of rhubarb with the juice of a large orange and 125g golden caster sugar. I think I used roughly that – although to be honest, I didn’t measure it thoroughly! Simmer it until it softens, then take off the liquid. Add one part of this to three parts of prosecco or champagne and you’re all done. If you want to make it pretty, you can add an egg whitened sugar rim to your cocktail glass.

Of course, now is peak champagne rhubarb season. Wakefield in West Yorkshire is the capital of the rhubarb growing industry and will hold the annual Rhubarb Festival of Food and Drink next weekend, Friday to Sunday. I’ve not managed a visit to the forcing sheds yet, but apparently, you can hear the rhubarb creaking as it grows in the dark…

Posted in Barbara Loves..., Cooking, Craft, Luxury | 4 Comments »

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January 30, 2012

Odd food favourites and a bit of nostalgia.

Recently, I’ve been a bit off my food. I know, it’s clearly a first world kind of problem and I am very grateful that I have a fully stocked fridge. It’s just that I’ve spent the past few days unable to taste a bloody thing because of a rotten head cold and so unless I’ve had a really growling tummy, I’ve just not eaten with the same greed as usual! This is probably A Good Thing, but it’s making me a bit miserable. To summon up a bit of enthusiasm for eating (as my lovely husband thinks I need to eat so I have the energy to get better) I’ve been trying to think of my very favourite foods and have been amused at where this thought process has led me. I have some odd food favourites…

I mean, I’ve tried to like grown up food like olives. I really have. One of my favourite things to eat ever is good bread with olive oil and expensive, treacly, balsamic vinegar but I cannot bear olives. I even once had a picnic with an enforced olive tasting session, but it didn’t work. I’ve since realised that trying to train myself to like food that I don’t like is silly, when I am so fortunate to have so many other options. So, no more olives.

The truth is that I’m beginning to think that many of my favourite foods are not really food at all. I mean, beyond having some kind of calorific value, obviously. Take raw cake mix. It’s ace. I could quite happily eat half a cake’s worth on my own. One of the hardest things about baking when pregnant was not being able to eat raw cake mixture because of the eggs. Quite put me off the whole thing. I know that raw eggs aren’t exactly great for little kids either, but I’m not the kind of mum who isn’t going to let them lick the spoon…

Another of my favourite foods is pizza crust. Not the middle, lovely, oozy cheesy bit of pizza. The crust. The bit that half the pizza-eating world happily leave on their plate. If I’m out with people to eat pizza I have to remind myself that stealing the crusts from other people’s plates is not good manners. So it’s a good thing that these days I’m more likely to get take-away pizza ( I have no scruples about stealing from family) or making my own – take a look here for my recipe. I quite like burnt-on cheese too, which often happens when I make pizza at home. You know, that bit of cheese that oozes off the side, sticks to the baking tray and goes all bubbly and crispy. Mmm. You can make Parmesan crisps in the same way. Just grate some Parmesan cheese and then put it in little piles onto a baking tray. Cook in the oven until they do that bubbling, crisping up thing, and then take them out, leave them a bit to go hard and cold before taking off the baking tray and eating. Nice with a cold glass of prosecco.

My last favourite food that’s not really food is scraps. By which I mean those bits of fried batter that you get from the fish and chip shop. I’m sure they have lots of other names depending on which part of the country you’re from. Once of the reasons for this is nostalgia though. When I was younger I had a pony. ( I know!) I started horse riding when I was seven, after my mum took me to a local stables. I’m fairly sure she just thought I’d be interested for a bit then give it up, but it stuck. She always says it was the most expensive decision she ever made.  I went there every weekend and spent all day doing stable duties in return for a free lesson each week. Then, one day, they announced they were closing down. My lovely grandad had given me some money that had been put into savings and so I was allowed to use this to buy a pony, on the condition that I looked after her properly and worked as much as I could to keep her.

And so, I became the proud owner of Lisa (not named by me, I hasten to add), a Welsh Section D chestnut mare with a blaze and a flaxen mane and tail, and the rather less-than thrilled employee at both a local fish and chip shop and fruit and veg stall. I worked on Friday nights in the chip shop with another woman. We used to amuse ourselves when it was quiet by trying to fry the biggest scrap in history, which we then used to eat in a bread-cake. Seriously, my arteries are ruined. RUINED, I tell you.

Still, it was worth it. Look at how beautiful she was. Sadly she died when I was at agricultural college and it broke my heart. Still makes me cry now. As does looking at my hair in this rather vintage photograph…

Posted in Baking, Barbara Loves..., Cooking, Home | 9 Comments »

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November 28, 2011

Easy Peasy Family Pizza

Family Sunday often involves making food with the kids, who, like many others, are pretty fussy when it comes to food. One thing I have noticed, is that the more involved they are in the making of the food, the more likely they are to eat least try some of it once it’s ready for eating!

The one thing that always goes down well with everyone is pizza. I’ve made this lots of times now, for adults as well as children and it always gets a good reception, plus by knowing exactly what is in it, you can be reassured that it’s far better than shop bought ones.

To make the dough:

400g strong white flour (bread flour)

200ml warm water

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt (you could use a little less if you’re worried about salt content, but don’t leave it out, there is no salt in the tomato topping, which reduces overall amounts to less than shop-bought pizza)

1 and a 1/4 teaspoons fast-acting dried yeast. This comes in little 7g packets in the supermarket.

3 tablespoons olive oil.

A scattering of semolina for the outside – sprinkle this onto the work surface when you’re rolling/stretching the dough out.

Add all the ingredients together and mix until you have a firm dough. I use my trusty (best Christmas present ever) KitchenAid with the dough hook on, but I have made it by hand in the past. Once it’s all come together, you need to turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for about five minutes. Use the heel of your hand to push the dough away, turn it at a right angle, fold over, and turn it away again. You will find that it doesn’t take long to come together in a nice, stretchy ball of dough. The put it into a large bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave for about an hour. Smear some more olive oil on the inside of the clingfilm in case the dough rises enough to stick to it.

After about an hour, the dough will be roughly double it’s original size. Take it out, and give it a quick knead again before breaking into chunks for individual pizzas. This amount of dough makes about 4 pizzas. Be warned, the gluten in the dough means that as soon a you stretch it out, it springs back again, so you have to persevere with stretching it out – I usually just use my hands to flatten and stretch it out, rather than a rolling pin. You could always have a go at being a proper pizza chef and do a bit of twirling in the air!

Once it resembles something like a pizza base, you’re ready to add the topping. For the sauce, we heat through some basic tomato passata, with a little extra tomato puree and a dollop of ketchup or sprinkling of sugar to take the sharpness away. Add a few dried herbs – oregano or an Italian mix and a grating of black pepper. Leave it to cook through, raw tomato puree is horrible! Make sure it’s nice and thick.

Then the fun part can begin – the building of the pizza. We usually chop a variety of vegetables, cheeses, meats into little bowls and then let everyone choose their own toppings (which brings out the inner ‘TV cookery show presenter’ in everyone!) The kids really enjoy this bit, and it’s a lovely way of getting them to try a variety of vegetables, maybe even something new, amazingly. Make sure that all the toppings don’t end up in a little mountain in the middle of the pizza otherwise that will still be cold when the outside is burnt.

The pizza takes about 10-15 minutes in an 180 degree celsius oven, but keep an eye on them whilst cooking, as they may take even less. Then eat it all up!

Posted in Barbara Loves..., Cooking, Home | 2 Comments »

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November 8, 2011

German Friendship Cake: part one

Last week a lovely friend gave me a small amount of bubbling cake mixture in a little pot, together with a page of instructions.

This was Herman, my German friendship cake. After something of a tricky start – he nearly exploded all over the office and then I nearly spilt him on the bus journey home – he soon settled down to a daily routine of stirring with the odd flurry of activity in the form of cups of ingredients being added to the bowl. (As an aside, I’d just been to buy essential oils as part of my stress management routine, and so must have had a rather ‘unique’ aroma of cedarwood and sourdough yeast on the bus…)

Anyway, I am now in the point where I’ve had him for the required number of days, stirred in the required number of cups of flour, sugar and milk and divided it up into quarters.

Bowls of Herman mixture.

The kids have really enjoyed doing the daily stirring and adding mixture. We do a lot of baking together, but usually with measuring scales. They rather liked the American way of using cup measurements instead of weighing things and it’s a bit easier for them to manage, so it’s something I will do with them again. I do have a great looking Magnolia Bakery book with recipes using cups. So far I’ve not tried any of the recipes, and it’s about time I did so that’s where I’ll start.

As far as Herman goes, it’s time to add the final ingredients and put him in the oven. I’ll let you know how I get on, and if you’re local and you fancy some starter mixture, come and get some! If you fancy making your own starter, there are loads of recipes online if you just do a web-search. I find the idea of sharing this cake starter really heart-warming. When times are tough, friends and cake are two very important ingredients for making things ok again.

Posted in 35:35 Challenge, Baking, Barbara Loves..., Cooking, Home | 2 Comments »

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October 13, 2011

Back into the kitchen…

Now I’ve got a few  larger challenges under my belt, I decided to scale things down a bit and returned to the kitchen for the next one. I’ve made creme bruleé and macaron on the challenge already, but it was time for something savoury. Something that I’ve never cooked before, obviously. Cheese soufflé.

In fact, I’d never even eaten any kind of soufflé for that matter but the point of the exercise was firstly to see if I could make it rise like it should and then eat it!

So, having made this decision, I turned to the cook I always turn to in times of crisis:

Delia.

This isn’t to say that she’s my favourite food writer. That title belongs now and always to Nigel Slater. His writing is wonderful and his books are exquisite. I generally have one of them by my bedside and I try to keep them in good condition, especially the two volumes making up ‘Tender’, which are my favourite cookbooks of all time. Having said that, some of my older Nigel Slater books are stuck up with splatters from cooking, which is a good sign – one that it’s been well-used. My rather ridiculous cook book collection also contains Simon Hopkinson, Sarah Raven, Elisa Beynon, Nigella Lawson, Elizabeth David, Julia Child and many more…I could spend a fortune on cook books and have only just got into the habit of getting books out of the library otherwise the house would be over-run with them. There’s something wonderfully comforting about reading a cookbook, even if you only ever make beans on toast.

Anyway, the simple truth about Delia Smith though, is that there is no-one better at teaching you the basics. The ones that you would already know if you’d actually listened to what your mother was trying to teach you when you were younger. So, although my mother is the reason I can make a cake without needing a recipe book, make béchamel sauce from scratch and whip up a decent pancake batter (thanks Mum!) when there are things of this kind that I don’t know, Delia provides the information.

‘Delia’s Complete Cookery Course’, bought from a charity shop for 50p, is the source of all this information, and is probably my best charity shop buy ever. So, on Sunday, using some amazing Wyfe of Bath cheese, bought especially from Abel and Cole for the purpose of this challenge, I made four cheese soufflés. I used my second best ever charity shop bargain, Le Creuset ceramic dishes (50p for four!) to cook them in.

And here they are!

My first souffle

They rose wonderfully and tasted really good too – in fact, we ate all four of them standing by the oven in the kitchen…

Posted in 35:35 Challenge, Cooking, Home | 1 Comment »

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October 11, 2011

An Autumnal Sunday.

I love a lazy Sunday at this time of year. This Sunday in particular, summed up what I love to do.

After a breakfast of Pimhill porridge (thank you Abel and Cole) with a drizzle of maple syrup courtesy of my lovely friend who lives in Canada, I pulled on my boots and went off to the allotment, leaving the kids in their PJs to spend a little time with their Dad ( and to have a lovely bit of peace and quiet myself!)

At this time of year, it’s time to take down the beans of the summer and get ready for autumnal planting of garlic and over-wintering onions.

Dwarf French Beans

In truth, I should have taken down the bean frames a while ago, but partly from sheer laziness and partly because I know that the beans fix nitrogen into the soil, I have left them there to dry up before pulling them out. I’ve grown runner beans every year on the allotment. They’re really easy to grow and I love the way they look, scrambling up their bamboo wigwams, but really, I’m not very fond of eating them. I much prefer the more temperamental and difficult to grow French bean, which this year, I’ve had more success with than previously.  I sowed three different dwarfing varieties directly into one of my new raised beds and they grew like mad, so next year I think more French beans and fewer runner beans – if I bother to grow any at all. A lesson of allotment gardening – grow what you like to eat!

So, the beans came out on Sunday morning, then I did a little digging to get the ground ready for garlic (Thermidrome) and onions (Radar), which have just been delivered from the lovely people at Tamar Organics.

Onion sets and garlic for planting

After a little digging (not too much, the joy of raised beds) and some lunch it was time for one of our family ‘Nature Walks’, which we like to do every so often to get everyone outside, away from the TV and enjoying the outdoors.

We are lucky enough to live near several large green spaces, including Temple Newsam estate, which has woods and parkland as well as formal gardens, a playground and the all-important team room! We walked through the woods, looking for sweet chestnuts, conkers and acorns and walking through the rustling autumn leaves, although it wasn’t long before the kids decided they were tired so I cheered them up with a few sweets each, then we set off for home. The trick to the family Nature Walk is knowing when they’ve had enough, and for my kids who are only 2 and 4, that’s obviously not a very long time!  Little and often feels like the best way to keep their interest. That, along with a bit of imagination to help make up stories; a bit of knowledge so you can answer questions about what they have found and a bag of sweets…

For dinner I made my very first cheese soufflé, for one of my 35:35 Challenges; more on that next time. Then we spent a quiet evening curled up on the sofa with a pile of books and magazines, and a spot of TV. A lovely way to spend a Sunday.

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