Showing category "resources" (Show all posts)

The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating

Posted by Jane Wells on Monday, October 2, 2017, In : Baking

After watching a recent episode of The Great British Bake Off I started thinking about some of my favourite puddings and desserts and wondering what the difference is.

For me, pudding should be hot and served with custard but it mustn’t be so filling that I regret eating it.

A dessert on the other hand brings to mind an equally lovely treat – I’m thinking of profiteroles or cheesecake where cream plays a leading role.

There are several words to describe the course so many of us look for...

The Joy of Afternoon Tea

Posted by Jane Wells on Monday, June 26, 2017, In : Baking

The ritual of Afternoon Tea has seen a resurgence in recent years and as far as I’m concerned this is a cause for celebration.

Afternoon Tea dates back to the mid nineteenth century when Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford asked for a tray of tea and cakes to be brought to her room to stave off the ‘sinking feeling’ she experienced in the long interval between lunch and dinner. She enjoyed it so much that she invited friends to join her and a new social event began. As the century rolled on aft...

Gardener's Diary: May

Posted by Verity Mihai on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, In : Gardening

This time of the gardening year has a rhythm all of its own.

Tasks need doing in a set order to ensure everything is ready to be planted out or sown at the right time.

Then of course the weather intervenes and puts plans awry.

The warm early spring caused many of the spring crops to run to seed, then the very cold weather has brought an abrupt halt to any ideas of planting out all but the hardiest plants.

I will be starting to harden off tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans and aubergines and f...

Gardener's Diary: April

Posted by Verity Mihai on Sunday, March 26, 2017, In : Gardening

As I write at the end of March it is definitely not going out like a lamb!

Today has been cold and there have been high winds and heavy downpours of rain.

Frosts have been forecast and this serves as a warning to those of us gardeners who have been tempted to start sowing and planting out too early. The odd day of beautiful sunshine, the welcome appearance of spring flowers and blossom as well as the unwelcome appearance of weeds can trap the unwary.

The last average frost date for our area...

March On

Posted by BCM on Sunday, February 26, 2017, In : Seasons

March is a belter of a month.

Full of promise, it heralds the arrival of spring and the season of renewal and growth.

The name comes from the Latin Martius, the first month of the ancient Roman year, which was dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war.

Strong and fearsome, Mars was also a great defender and protector. People prayed to him to keep storms, disease and famine at bay and promote bountiful crops, animals and farms.

This association with battle and struggle fits well with the English pr...

Love is in the Air

Posted by BCM on Sunday, January 29, 2017, In : Seasons

The hopeless romantics out there will have only one thing on their mind this month.

Valentine’s Day is on 14th February and they’ll be hatching plans to express undying love for their significant other.

A good start would be twelve red roses, the favourite flower of Venus, the goddess of Love, followed maybe by a candle-lit dinner.

A card is important. Chocolates are a must.

A full wallet will get you a long way too. Apparently, we lovesick Brits spend around £1.6 billion on Valentine...

Cold Comfort

Posted by BCM on Monday, January 2, 2017, In : Seasons

January is generally the coldest month of the year in London.

Coming so soon after Christmas, it can be a bleak and uninspiring time.

But, if you think it gets cold now, it’s nothing to how it once was. In days gone by, it was quite common for the Thames to freeze over.

The years between 1309 and 1814 were known as the Little Ice Age and the Thames iced over at least 23 times!

The river was wider then and flowed a lot slower. Blocks of ice would catch in the narrow arches of the Old Londo...

May All Your Christmases Be White

Posted by BCM on Thursday, November 24, 2016, In : Seasons

Are you dreaming of a White Christmas?

Just like the ones you used to know?

Let's face it, the odds on this happening in London are pretty bad. But that won't stop people who enjoy a flutter taking a punt on it.

All it takes, according to the Met Office, is one single snowflake to fall during the 24 hours of Christmas Day.

The last time a “bookies'” event was triggered in London was 1999 when, literally, a few wet flakes fell from the sky. Very disappointing.

There's something about a white...

Turn Back the Clock

Posted by BCM on Thursday, October 27, 2016, In : Seasons

Come the 30th of October this year British Summer Time will end. The clocks go back an hour and we’ll be coming home from work in the dark.

We weren’t the first to introduce daylight saving hours but it probably wouldn’t have happened without the campaigning of a builder from Kent called William Willett.

He thought it a defect in our civilisation that for nearly half the year the nation slept while the sun shone for several hours each day.

Rather than get up earlier, he proposed to advan...

Goodbye Summer Hello Autumn

Posted by BCM on Monday, September 26, 2016, In : Seasons

Like it or not, it’s now autumn!
Whether you measure the start like the weathermen from 1^st September or astrologically from the autumn equinox, which fell on the 22^nd September this year, there’s no denying it. The nights are drawing in. The air is cooler. And damper. As John Keats famously put it, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us.
After the wet spring, the summer ended well. September just kept giving with sensational temperatures. If this continues the autumn ...

Shine On Harvest Moon

Posted by BCM on Monday, August 22, 2016, In : Seasons

You’ll easily recognise the farmers amongst us.

At this time of the year, they’ll be the ones with furrowed brows and fingernails gnawed to the bone.

It’s a fraught time for them. Since early July they’ll have been watching the weather like hawks and checking their crops to decide when to start the annual harvest.

But in a few weeks, all the crops will be safely gathered in. On the Sunday of the Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox, Harvest Festival will be held a...

One Vegetable Can a Summer Make

Posted by BCM on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, In : Gardening

It’s mid-summer already.

And, apart from a sharp blast of inferno like heat, the weather so far has fallen well short of expectations.

Post BREXIT referendum exchange rates make it more expensive to go abroad. Many of us then will have chosen to stay firmly put in the UK this year.

There’s nothing at all wrong with staycations. But there’s no need to feel deprived of sunshine. It can be brought to us on a plate using readily available ingredients.

Take aubergines. And let’s refer to the...

Let's Go Pick Strawberries

Posted by BCM on Saturday, June 25, 2016, In : Gardening

At this time of year, thoughts turn naturally to strawberries.

For starters, we’ve just had the “strawberry” moon. This quaint name for June’s full moon was coined by the Algonquin tribe of North America and signaled the start of strawberry picking. They gave every full moon of the year a different name to help keep track of the seasons and would have found the last one we had on 20th June particularly auspicious because it coincided with the summer solstice. That’s rare and won’t ...

When Life Gives You Lemons

Posted by BCM on Friday, May 27, 2016, In : Baking

We all tend to take lemons for granted nowadays. They’re cheap, in plentiful supply and available throughout the year.

It wasn’t always like that though.

Lemon trees are native to India and were first discovered in the Deccan Plateau in Central India centuries ago. Traders helped get them through Persia to Iraq and Egypt and we probably have the Crusaders to thank for bringing them back to Europe from their campaigns in the Holy Land. Serious cultivation in Europe only started in the 15th c...

The Humble Scone

Posted by BCM on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, In : Baking

Scones are amazing!

So simple to make and so versatile.

To a basic dough mixture, prepared in minutes, you can add raisins or currants to make them sweet. You can add ingredients like cheese to make them savoury.

Light in texture, you can also eat them plain. Who hasn’t drooled over a cream tea in Devon where they come slathered with clotted cream and strawberry jam? That’s nothing less than food for the gods.

The list of variations is endless, as a glance through any good cookbook will...

The Victoria Sponge Cake

Posted by BCM on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, In : Baking

Named after Queen Victoria, who apparently had a very sweet tooth, what do the words “Victoria Sponge Cake” conjure up for you?

Fond memories perhaps of teatime at home with Mum or Granny, the warm smell of fresh baking still in the air? They probably all had their own version of this simple two layered cake filled with jam and cream, topped with a dusting of caster sugar. But what a special treat it was, and still is.

Teatime itself has its roots in Victorian times when it was usual to e...

The Easter Simnel Cake

Posted by BCM on Thursday, February 25, 2016, In : Baking

There’s more to Easter than Easter Eggs! And Hot Cross Buns too for that matter.

Among the many delights we indulge ourselves with over the Easter holidays there’s another not so well known one that’s making a come back and that is the simnel cake.

A bit like a Christmas cake only lighter, simnel cakes are packed with dried fruit and are beautifully decorated with a topping of golden marzipan rather than icing. There’s another layer in the middle and then, around the top, eleven marzip...

From Soil to Table: November

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Wednesday, November 18, 2015, In : Gardening

November brings us the interminable rains accompanied by mild weather.

Nasturtiums and late roses still give colour to the garden. Now is the time to protect your dahlias for next year. You can leave the dahlias in the ground, but I would not take that risk. I lift the tubers out and place them in an old compost bag and store them somewhere frost free.

As winter approaches, one does not have to live with bare stems and dark days. There are lots of bright and beautiful plants that love the...

From Soil to Table: October

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Monday, October 19, 2015, In : Gardening

October descends on us with that autumnal air. Hues of burnt oranges and reds litter the landscape from the trees to the fallen leaves. Dahlias and nasturtiums heighten these colours and make this month a delightful one to be in the garden. Even the pyracantha shrubs show off their orange and red berries.

Summer gave us a glut of courgettes. This month brings an abundance of squashes and pumpkins. They all belong to the same family called cucurbitaceae. These vegetables encapsulate autumn ...

From Soil to Table: September

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Thursday, September 17, 2015, In : Gardening

September had a brief dalliance with the hot weather then the rains came.

This is a good month to forage and collect all those blackberries and sloes which can be left in gin or vodka to produce the most beautiful liqueur for Christmas. One should not overlook the herbs such as meadowsweet, comfrey and nettle. They provide a source of refreshing tea or in the case of comfrey a treatment for pulled muscles. Foraging reminds one of the healing effects of nature.

I have chosen the bulbs tha...

From Soil to Table: August

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Saturday, August 15, 2015, In : Gardening

August arrives almost imperceptibly as July hands over the relay of good weather and bountiful fruits and vegetables. Tending a garden gives one crucial life skills which is dealing with the present and planning for the future.

Although this is a month to harvest, one can also still sow chard and leaf beet, so that you can have a plentiful supply of rainbow chard, Swiss chard and perpetual spinach well into the autumn. Pick up fallen or damaged fruits as they harbour insects and diseases. Th...

From Soil to Table: July

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Wednesday, July 15, 2015, In : Gardening

July rewards the gardener for their patience with a bountiful supply of vegetables and flowers.

Orange hues from pomegranate flowers and runner beans flowers interspersed with vibrant poppies, fragrant sweet peas and nasturtium flowers bring joy to the eyes. Dahlias and honeysuckle peer through the apple and bay foliage. Now is the time to enjoy the ‘fruits of one’s labour.’

The sight of fruit trees laden with apples, pears and plums fills the gardener with a satisfaction of what na...

From Soil to Table: June

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Saturday, June 20, 2015, In : Gardening

June brought a taste of the exotic and unexpected as I took a break in South Florida.

Sown seeds in my garden were left to grow and watered when necessary. Fortuitously, abundance and resourcefulness pursued me. Stationed at my brother’s garden in Florida, I was surrounded by exotic and colourful flowers - frangipani, buttercups, and bougainvillea.

But it was the sheer weight of hundreds of fruits on the trees that exploded on my mind. Pineapples perched in the centre of the plants. Avocad...

From Soil to Table: May

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Saturday, May 9, 2015, In : Gardening

May arrives with an enchantment and an expectation.

Gardening work is intercepted for a few minutes as apple blossoms among wisteria flowers challenge my senses and my mind is stilled with appreciation and gratitude.

I have started the interminable task of planting seedlings into the prepared soil ensuring that I have dug in enough compost. Vegetables such as the brassicas and courgettes are hungry for nutrients. The leguminous plants such as peas and beans have root nodules which convert a...

From Soil to Table: April

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Monday, April 20, 2015, In : Gardening

April brings an array of seedlings ready for planting.

I have learnt from past mistakes that labelling is essential to growing from seeds. Cucumber, pumpkin, squashes and courgettes all belong to cucurbit family and look the same. The sight of hundreds of seedlings which need to be planted out may look daunting. But any negative thoughts quickly dissipate.

Greens are full of Vitamin K, folic acid and natural colourings of lucetin and beta-carotene. Good for my brain. Then...

From Soil to Table: March

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Saturday, March 28, 2015, In : Gardening

By Rosemary Jeboo, a regular BCM producer

March is an awakening of the senses and a quickening in pace to sow seeds that will give seasonal produce for tasty meals. My garden now has perennials such as sorrel, kale and spinach ready to cook. These are all hardy crops which can withstand the winter and provide produce all year. Rosemary, thyme, mint and nettle can be grown in containers and a small cutting will produce plants which will enhance any dish or salad.

I have so...

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Showing category "resources" (Show all posts)

The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating

The Joy of Afternoon Tea

Gardener's Diary: May

Gardener's Diary: April

March On

Love is in the Air

Cold Comfort

May All Your Christmases Be White

Turn Back the Clock

Goodbye Summer Hello Autumn

Shine On Harvest Moon

One Vegetable Can a Summer Make

Let's Go Pick Strawberries

When Life Gives You Lemons

The Humble Scone

The Victoria Sponge Cake

The Easter Simnel Cake

From Soil to Table: November

From Soil to Table: October

From Soil to Table: September

From Soil to Table: August

From Soil to Table: July

From Soil to Table: June

From Soil to Table: May

From Soil to Table: April

From Soil to Table: March

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