A slice of happiness

I don’t know about you but I was completely carried away by the celebrations on friday.

It seemed like we were celebrating so much more than a Royal Wedding, it felt like we were celebrating marriage, partnership, friendship and commitment and they managed to make it feel so personal and intimate that I felt like I had been to a wedding myself that day. I had taken stock of the promises I made all those years ago and double checked that I was still being true to them. Just like I do whenever I’m in the congregation in a church at the wedding of a close friend.

This feeling of nostalgia and romance was obviously helped on by the fantastic hospitality of the friends we were with for lunch on the day and I share my contribution towards pudding here with you – a massive Union Jack cake, that was so spookily easy to make that I thought I would let you in on the secret.

First you need to make a large slab of Victoria Sponge cake. Select the right sized roasting tin – mine was about 25cm by 17cm and about 4cm deep. I ripped off a piece of greasproof paper from the roll and pushed it into the tin, scrunching the corners in (I was in a hurry but it didn’t matter). I reckoned I needed about 5 eggs worth of mixture which meant equal quantities of everything else (marg, sugar, self raising flour). I simply cracked the 5 eggs into a jug, mixed them up and weighed them. Then I measured the same quantity of Stork margarine (softened) into my kitchenaid bowl with some golden caster sugar and I beat them hard until light and fluffy before adding some of the egg mixture and a few tablespoons of self raising flour to stop the mixture from curdling. Adding the rest of the egg, I then folded in the rest of the flour with a teaspoon of baking powder for good measure. Checking for a reluctant dropping consistency (it was almost running off my spatula), I poured the mixture into my tin and cooked it at 170 degrees C for about 40 mins but I kept checking for a clean skewer from about 30 mins as I really didn’t want it over done. I left it to cool completely (in fact, I froze it as I was actually going to London to work for two days and I was doing this in the middle of the night on tuesday!)

Returning from London on thursday night, to a defrosted cake (thank you Julie), I embarked on my icing. Which was simply 200g softened unsalted butter beaten to within an inch of its life to which I added 400g of icing sugar, also beaten (but gradually so that the kitchen doesn’t get trashed in the process). Divide the mixture into 3 separate bowls and colour red and blue leaving the plain as your ‘white’.

Then I scribbled a flag on a piece of paper so that I didn’t go wrong – never a bad idea when piping I find, you would be amazed at how confused one can get with a piping bag in hand. Starting with the red, I piped using a fat round nozzle the red lines but I didn’t push the icing flat, I left it as smooth chunky ridges. Then I did the same with the blue icing – smaller round nozzle this time, creating 8 blue triangles. Finally I used a large star nozzle for the white lines as I knew they would be visible and needed to look confident and glamorous. Throughout all of this I resisted the temptation to lick my fingers – not just for hygiene reasons but because it is very sickly sweet if you eat too much icing I find.

Finally I placed raspberries along all my red lines and blueberries on all the blue triangles.

It was a knock out success, the Stork margarine made all the difference to a light fluffy cake and the fruit cut through all that butter icing. Have a try, its worth it!

PS – for a much more detailed way to make a good Victoria Sponge read one of my earlier blogs!

Asparagus, three ways

This weekend we were literally tripping up over asparagus. There are two local growers who have roadside stalls near us and my husband came home carrying fresh bundles like they were kindling sticks on thursday. Then on friday at a Royal Wedding Party we were given another five bunches… thank heavens for house guests with big appetites.

Asparagus is best eaten as fresh as possible but I knew I was going to have to spread this crop out over 3 days so I popped it all in a pan of water standing upright in an attempt to preserve it. I have no idea if this is a good thing to do but it seemed to work well.

Recipe 1: Steamed Asparagus with a poached egg

Deliciously simple and stunningly presented, especially if you happen to have long white plates to lie the emerald stems out on.

The trick with this recipe if you are cooking for more than 2 people is poaching your eggs in advance so that you don’t have a timing problem when you come to plate up – with the second batch of eggs delaying the table from their tempting starter. I happily poach up to three eggs at a time in a pan of gently simmering water. I swirl the water before I drop in an egg (one at a time) – having cracked it first into a glass or a ramekin to ensure it drops in neatly. Personally, I don’t bother with vinegar in the water and I never have a problem. Do be sure to choose fabulous quality eggs though as the colour and taste of the yolk will make all the difference when your guests dunk their first asparagus spear into it.

If you have a mixing bowl full of iced cold water, you can scoop out the eggs when they are just underdone (about 3 mins) with a slotted spoon, drop them gently into the cold water to stop the cooking immediately, clean out your water pan of all the cooked egg white that floats on the surface and repeat until all your eggs are cooked. 6 poached eggs on Saturday evening took me all of 10 mins.

Then it’s time to cook the asparagus (before cooking, break off the base of each stem where it naturally bends and snaps) - the spears are best steamed in a colander or steamer over boiling water – it is the stalks that need the cooking as the tips barely need warming through at this time of year. Use a sharp knife into the thickest part of the steam to check that they are done.

The moment the asparagus is on and steaming, bring a clean pan of water back to the boil, then turn off the heat and gently slide in all of your already poached eggs to warm through again.

Arrange the cooked asparagus neatly on a plate in a mound with a flat top, rest a poached egg on the fattest part of the stems and sprinkle a small amount of sea salt and cracked black pepper over the egg. Serve quickly and encourage people to start straight away.

Recipe 2: Chargrilled or barbecued Asparagus

Couldn’t be more simple and yet stunning served alongside your early spring barbies.

Poach your asparagus in some boiling water for just a minute or so. Drain well and cool down completely in cold water to preserve the colour and stop the cooking. Toss the spears in some extra virgin olive or rapeseed oil with some salt and pepper.

Once you have finished cooking all your meat or fish and it is resting on the side of your barbecue, use tongs to transfer the asparagus spears onto your hot barbecue grill. Position the spears perpendicular to the grill to stop them falling through into the coals but also to ensure you get good griddle marks. After about only 30 seconds, using the tongs again, move the spears around, you will see they have taken on a fabulous chargrilled colour and flavour. Keep doing this to be sure to grill evenly.

All in all it takes about 4 minutes, lift them off onto a serving dish and serve up alongside your meat or fish. Incidentally, you can do this with loads of other vegetables. I slice courgette into 4mm slices and cook them from raw on the barbecue, chunks of pepper are effective too as is Aubergine. It all cooks in the time between when your meat is finished and benefitting from a rest and when it’s time to eat so no panic on cooking times or having enough room on the barbie.

Recipe 3: Asparagus with a Salad Nicoise

My husband cooked lunch yesterday and it was so delicious what he made that I want to share his recipe with you.

2 baby gem lettuces – washed and ripped up, generous handful of green beans, cooked and cut in half, 4 tomatoes cut into quarters, handful of new potatoes, boiled and then sliced and sauted until golden brown, 2 soft hardboiled eggs (about 6 mins), tin of flaked tuna (drained) and our last (phew) bunch of asparagus steamed

He mixed all of the above colourful ingredients together (I know the olives are missing but I am a philistine and still can’t bring myself to eat them – add your own if you must…) and then made a simple dressing from a couple of tablespoons of Hellmans watered down to cream consistency with water. Drizzled over the top, the salad was tossed by us as we served ourselves from a beautiful earthenware bowl. It was completely scrumptious and something we will be eating again soon I reckon!

Back again, it’s been a while….

I know! I haven’t written my blog for over five months and I have missed it. But do you know, I am not sure I have had much to say. I have felt a bit sheepish for jacking in the dream of creating Martha’s Yard in bricks and mortar and have lost the momentum to keep it going in the virtual world too. Somehow, it didn’t seem like there was that much to write about.

However, with the weather still holding true and all that divine seasonal produce back in the garden I found myself in the kitchen for a large part of this long weekend and wondered whether anyone else would be interested to know what I was cooking. Then two house guests encouraged me to blog again as they said they wanted to know what I was making or baking and to give them some inspiration for spring menus. So here goes…

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

I would never have imagined that my Christmas Cookie Jar would prove such a popular present. White chocolate and cranberry cookie mix, stacked up as the raw ingredients in a beautiful storage jar. All you need is melted butter and an egg and 10 minutes later you have gorgeous chewy chunky cookies. A pretty tag explains exactly what you need to do.

People are loving giving them as presents to adults and children alike. I am finding myself making more and more every week. If you would like to find out more about how to get your own cookie jar, just drop me a line via the comments. But hurry – they are selling like hot cakes….

A white Christmas that came early

We couldn’t have hoped for a more ideal setting for the first ever Martha’s Yard workshop than a snow covered morning in Sussex. It floated down all day outside the windows of our kitchen and made everyone feel completely in the mood.

It was so thrilling to do our first demonstration and I couldn’t have wished for seven more eager and perfect first customers. We covered huge amounts of ground including the whole of Christmas day, all the shopping and planning, when and how to cook your turkey. How to cope with small ovens, small kitchens, single sinks and no larders. We talked about knives and other essentials like meat thermometers. We tasted some amazing Christmas pudding, cheese, irish smoked salmon and a ham to die for as well as de-boning our own turkey legs and creating a ballontine with sausage stuffing.

Christmas is all about the four Ps – Plan, Provision, Prepare and Party:

Plan – figure out your menus and numbers well in advance, use your leftovers, delegate some of the shopping and expensive ingredients to your house guests and be confident to offer light suppers by Boxing Day as people will be stuffed to the gunwales already

Provision – make your shopping easy, write your list in the order that you come to the departments in your supermarket, order the important items now from your Farm Shop and be sure that your guests know what you are expecting them to bring.

Prepare – you can do so much on the 23rd and Christmas Eve – make the most of this time to get lots of the heavy lifting done – cook your veg, prepare your bird, make your gravy and sauces. Even further in advance use your freezer for mince pies, breadcrumbs, red cabbage, Christmas Eve supper etc etc

Party – with any luck, if you have managed some of the above you will be in a great state to really enjoy the whole of Christmas. You won’t be tied to the kitchen missing the children’s faces as they tear open their presents but you will be relaxed and with your family, confident in the knowledge that it is all under control (more or less!)

It feels like we are on to something with these workshops – let’s hope that we can do some more in the new year. Send me your ideas for topics and I will set up some more soon.

And voila – a star is born!

I got back home this evening after working in London to two of the most exciting parcels ever. They contained the first examples of Martha’s Yard’s identity. Some gorgeous stickers for all my cooking and baking and some ribbon for packages and lavender bags.

It is amazing to see it come to life after three months of careful design work, colour selection and thinking about what would be useful little things to have to put the finishing touch to Martha’s Yards creations. The timing couldn’t be better – with Christmas wrapping in full swing and stacks of jams and chutneys crying out for labels I can finally finish up some of my prezzies. The other big milestone is coming up next tuesday. Martha’s Yard is holding its first workshop – Cracking Christmas has proven a sell out and I can’t wait.

We have an exciting day in store – Turkeys, all the trimmings as well as emergency canapes and tips and tricks for ensuring that you enjoy Christmas just as much as your family and guests. We have had some delicious produce donated by the Goodwood Farm Shop and Foods Place

Flaming red

I was walking the dogs this afternoon. As the sun was going down suddenly the whole hedgerow looked like it was on fire. The berries have been astonishing this year. I think they say that good berries are a sign of a particularly hard winter to come – so perhaps we are in for more of the same as last year.

It is such a beautiful time of year with so much colour and wonderful texture all around us. My eyes are peeled for bits and pieces to forage for now that will either dry or last until christmas – perhaps with some help from spray paint and twine. Teasels, flowering ivy, cornus alba are in abundance.  I am gutted that the holly and rosehips are so perfect now as it means they will probably be gone by Christmas and there is very little we can do to preserve them for gorgeous christmassy decorations in 6 weeks time. But it is exciting to think that December is only around the corner and with it preparation for Christmas – both food and foliage.

It’s November the first – Celtic New Year or Samhain. The old year has passed, the harvest has been gathered, cattle and sheep have been brought in from the fields, and the leaves have fallen from the trees. The earth slowly begins to die around us. This is a good time for us to look at wrapping up the old and preparing for the new in our lives. Think about the things you did in the last twelve months. Have you left anything unresolved? If so, now is the time to wrap things up. Once you’ve gotten all that unfinished stuff cleared away, and out of your life, then you can begin looking towards the next year.

Cracking Christmas

So, I have had a terrible case of writer’s block. I have wanted to write but haven’t known where to start. After all, what should I write about? The sadness and hole left by placing my plans on hold is hardly inspiring nor do you really want to hear about the day to day domestic bliss of cooking for a cast of thousands as we have been entertaining a lot. But perhaps you might like to learn my venison casserole recipe, or have me encourage you to bake a loaf of bread? Or should Lucy walk you through what to do about your veg patch now that the first frost has nailed those remaining leaves and everything is looking a bit sad.

I am determined to keep Martha’s Yard alive. There is too much already created to stop now, I have to figure out how to do it though. The exciting news this week is that I am putting the finishing touches to my branding. It is looking fabulous and will be ready in time for Christmas present wrapping. I will have a website up and running (where this blog will reside) and some other bits and pieces that I am working on.

The other big event that I am going to organise is a workshop dedicated to Cracking Christmas. A morning with lunch where I will share all my tricks of the trade for an apparently effortless christmas including the planning that goes into it. We will design the session to include answers to all your pressing questions as well as demonstrations and recipes. If you are interested in more details, let me know soon as I am going to find some dates that work around the school holidays and set about planning soon.

There might be life in the old dog yet

I had an unexpected and rather exciting encounter today. Someone, who is setting up some fabulous food businesses in Petworth and who I have met once before, suggested we get together for a coffee to compare notes.

Obviously I had to explain how my plans are on a shelf right now but as we spoke and explored their progress, we realised that there were endless possibilities of somehow making sure that all the hard work that has gone in to Martha’s Yard so far is not wasted.

I am not sure where any of this leads, but it feels exciting. I am going to meet their business partner and discuss my plans in the first instance. There are terrific synergies to be exploited. After all, I know how many of you are desperately keen to have a fantastic place to go in West Sussex for delicious food and perhaps an experience too. Watch this space, as I get more of an idea of what is taking shape, I will be sure to let you know first!

Back from my break

So, I have had my two week break from Martha’s Yard and during that time all the thoughts have percolated through the filters in my conscious and sub-conscious mind. It has allowed me to make a decision, test that decision by living with it and settle upon a way forward that feels good and right.

It must sound incredibly self indulgent all this navel gazing but it has been really worthwhile. I have decided not to open my shop in Petworth and instead I am going to concentrate on taking small and low risk steps towards bringing Martha’s Yard to life. Thinking back to my very first ideas I remember that the concept of nourishing the body, mind and spirit was born from the American saying ‘Motherhood and Apple Pie’. It was about the simple things in life that bring us pleasure and happiness and how to find them. I remember thinking that so often people find themselves in my kitchen helping me cook, asking me questions about food or talking about what is ever on their mind. Somehow, over the shared experience of preparing and eating food, we find ourselves sharing life stories or perspectives and ironing out the inevitable wrinkles in our not-perfect lives.  I remember realising that I find this a huge source of energy and satisfaction. Hearing someone declare at the end of making lunch or washing up after baking ‘gosh, I feel so much better’ or ‘you’ve really helped me see that in a different way’ makes me feel great too. Couple that to also feeding people and providing a medium for a family or friends to sit down around a table and chat and you can see why nourishment is such an evocative word for me.

So – what next? How can I take all those personality traits that I have talked about previously and put them to good use to somehow keep elements of this going, build on it and allow the tides and the winds to take me where they intend? Well, for starters I am going to keep blogging. There are over 5,000 people who have read these blog entries and you come from all corners of the web. Mostly you seem to like my recipes and food tips but sometimes you are drawn to the reflections about life. I am also really keen to keep the Martha’s Yard brand alive, albeit that there is no Yard per se (for the time being). I have got some really exciting branding that I am working on which I want to turn into useful and flexible bits and pieces that will help me package up some of the things that I make. My muffins are catching on and I would love to start making batches to order for people who are having a party or want to send a gift.

I’m also thinking that I could run some cookery workshops from home but there are a few technical hitches I must sort first. We rent our house so I am not allowed to run a business from here. Who knows, I might be able to travel to your house and put on a workshop for you and your friends.

Most importantly, I am going to be sure not to let the last nine months of hard work and investment go to waste. So many of you have said that you feel like you have known Martha’s Yard for years, that you trust it and think of it as an old friend. There must be something in that so I am going to be sure to take some time to work out how I can build on that. If you have got any ideas please let me know. The power of your collective thought has been so enormous – just think, everything we asked for on our journey we got! If that doesn’t prove the law of attraction then I don’t know how much more of a sign you need.

For the time being, thank you for all your support. Finally and most importantly, I am sorry to those of you who had hoped to come and be on the team that I can’t make that happen right now. I have not managed to talk to you yet as you have been away and I fear that reading this is not the best way to find out my thinking. But I think you possibly had an inkling that things might turn out this way.  I really really hope that we can be a team one day as I was so excited to be going on this adventure with you.