Pancake day. Happy Pancake Day! Today Tuesday 21st February 2023 is Pancake Day! Also known as Shrove Tuesday, this is an annual event celebrated in the UK and several other countries around the world. The tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday dates back to the Middle Ages when people would use up ingredients like eggs, milk, and sugar before…
What is Burns Night? Burns Night is a traditional Scottish holiday that celebrates the life and poetry of Robert Burns, the country’s national poet. If you’re following a vegan lifestyle, or partaking in Veganuary, you may be wondering how to celebrate this holiday without eating any animal products. There are always alternatives of course and there are plenty of delicious…
Pumpkins! Green pumpkins! White pumpkins! Yellow pumpkins! Stripy pumpkins! Okay, and orange pumpkins! Firstly, if you have a pumpkin field, farm or farm shop near you. Go and have a look! There are so many different varieties of pumpkin, each with their own unique flavour profile. Some pumpkins (aka squash) taste like courgette, some like marrow (there’s other things I…
Jam. When I think of jam, I think of strawberry jam spread on toast, or raspberry jam tarts, neither of which I have ever enjoyed! Growing up, we were more a Marmite on toast family, with a giant jar always in the cupboard. Or, we had cheese on toast, or beans on toast. I think jam in our house was…
Chia Seeds. If you are in the UK, you may recall chia seeds as quite a recent product. When I showed one of my friends them however, she remembered having them daily in her home country about 30 years ago! Chia seeds were until recently, always imported, but now they have been grown successfully in the UK. What do I…
Hot Cross Buns. The aroma of a traditional hot cross bun is something which is easy to recognise and instantly makes you think of Easter. When I was growing up, I remember my best friends Mum making Hot Cross Buns and we would wait patiently for the fruity spiced buns to be ready. Of course, I always wondered why she…
Oats. Rolled oats, porridge oats, steel cut oats, pinhead oats, whatever you call your oats, one thing is sure, they are good for you! Oats are traditionally seen as a carbohydrate, but they do contain a healthy amount of protein too! Oats also contain fibre called beta-glucan which helps you feel fuller, slows the rate of digestion and can also…
Oat Loaf I’m having a bit of a giggle to myself as I write this as my late Dad always used to say ‘use yer loaf’! Maybe it was because anything that needed fixing or building came so easily to him; or maybe I was just a bit slow responding to his requests of “butt the 2-by-2 up to the…
Overnight Oats Quite some time ago, I started a Back to Basics section on here for foods which I am so used to making that I sometimes forget that others might not know where to start! In the winter I love my porridge, but now the weather is sunny, and although I love pancakes, sometimes you just need something quick…
