Every so often I’m going to be asking people to write a guest blog for me on how they discovered their love of food, their relationship with food and most importantly their earliest food memories and the family recipes they love the most.

This weeks blog comes from Jessica Edmonds

Isn’t it funny how food memories start with grandparents? Like Adam, my tastes in food have been influenced by Gran, my maternal grandmother.

 

Growing up, there were three things that Grandpa loved: porridge (made with oats, bran, water, & salt) for breakfast, soup as a starter every day (yes, even in Summer), and fruit pies for dessert. These things must have influenced my mother, because my childhood is filled with them, and in turn I’ve carried them with me into my own family cooking.

 

When I was a child we had half an acre of land, most of which was dedicated to growing vegetables and soft fruits. We didn’t have a lot of money, but Mum worked wonders with the produce she grew. Excess was frozen, and soup was a standard. It’s something I still love to make and eat, and it’s unbelievably easy! Once you’ve mastered a basic method then you can vary it for whatever veg you have to hand.

 

Because leeks are in season now*, and old potatoes are cheap and plentiful, I’m going to share a recipe for leek & potato soup, the way my Mum makes it.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients

5 small leeks (or 3-4 large ones)

5-6 small potatoes

1 – 1 1/2 pints stock**

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

large knob of butter and/or olive oil

Directions

1. Wash, trim, and rough slice the leeks.
2. Melt the butter/olive oil in a large pan over a low heat and add the leeks. Stir to coat them in the butter/oil, cover, and leave to sweat for 15 mins or so. They should be soft but not caramelised.
3. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and chop into bite-size cubes.
4. Add the potatoes and stock to the leeks, season, and bring to the boil.
5. Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 mins, or until the potatoes are soft.
6. Optional: blend to your liking – sometimes I blend all the soup until smooth, sometimes I don’t blend at all.
7. Adjust seasoning to taste. Enjoy!

 

 

* A note on seasonality:

City living means that few of us grow our own these days, but Adam’s community allotment project is fantastic. It’s a little far for me (I live in Leicester) so we belong to a sustainable vegetable co-operative called Community Harvest Whetstone. Each week we get a box of vegetables, grown in Whetstone, seasonal, & often just pulled from the ground that morning. You can find out more at http://www.community-harvest-whetstone.org.uk/ where you may also notice a recipes page. If you like the leek & potato soup recipe above, you’ll find more ideas from my kitchen to try. Happy cooking!

 

** A note on stock:

You can of course use a stock cube dissolved in hot water. The way Mum did it was to keep the water when she’d boiled/steamed vegetables (except potatoes as they’re too starchy). It’ll keep in the fridge for a few days, and if it develops a layer of fat on the top just scrape that off and the stock underneath will be fine.

 

 

One of my earliest food memories is being at my grandma’s house when I was about 5-6 years old watching her stand over a stove for hours and hours just cooking and stirring a huge great metal pot, She was cooking a childhood favourite, Rabbit Stew, Now as a small child you wouldn’t think this would be your first choice as a dish but if you’ve ever met my grandma then you will quickly realise she isn’t a woman who’s food you refuse to eat.

She’s what you would describe as your typical Northern Grandma, She’s bossy, Loud, stubborn and she doesn’t take any crap from anyone just like my mum and that’s why I love them both and respect them like I do, as with most grandmas she’s the head of one side of the household but my god can that woman cook!

Over the last few years as I’ve developed my love of food and of cooking her and my Mum have been the 2 people that I’ve really looked up to and as with most family recipes they get passed down through each generation so that they can live on through the next person that is going to cook them and feed their family……..Not in this house they don’t, They are a closely guarded secret of my Grandmas and one of the things I have been trying to get her to give up over the last few years is her recipe book.

Over the last few years one of the things that has really stood out to me out of that book is her Meat Loaf recipe, I’m not sure why I think it’s the big bold flavours but it feels so comforting as you eat and takes me back to been a Kid and stood in the kitchen with her looking at all the amazing food she had cooked for us all (a part from the bread and dripping) I have in the last year been lucky enough to be given that recipe by my Grandma and I would like to share it with you, It’s a family recipe but it’s one that should be shared with everyone

I’ve added the photo in for you to work from as I don’t want you to think that this is just something I’ve pulled off the internet and I’ve not written that, trust me my hand writing isn’t that good

30g of butter
1 large onion finely chopped
750g of lean minced pork
1 Courgette grated
1 potato peeled and grated
8 tablespoons of Fruit Chutney
2 table spoons of chopped parsley
1 Large beaten egg
1 Clove of garlic

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees/Gas Mark 6

Add the butter to a frying pan and gently cook the onions for about 7-8 minutes until soft, After 5 minutes add the garlic do not let the garlic burn or start to colour, you just need to soften it. Allow this to cool

Then in a large mixing bowl add the Mince,Onion,Garlic,Courgette,Half of the Chutney,Parsley,Potato and the Egg, Season well with salt and pepper

Press the mixture into a large loaf tin and spread the remaining chutney on the top

Bake for around 45-50 mins, Drain off any excess fat from the pork.

Serve hot or cold

And that’s it, the one recipe that I have had passed onto me, I’m 100% sure that she is holding out on me with all of her special recipes but it’s a privilege just to be given one and hopefully one day she will be happy to let me have access to more of them.

Let me know if you have a favourite family recipe and the story behind it, email me amb.23@hotmail.co.uk and I’m happy to share them with everyone as everyone’s food story is unique and just as interesting as the next

 

 

So as all of you with children know, Its Half Term. For a lot of you this means days out at various attractions around the UK, now for the average family of 4 this could mean a lot of money just for the day and a large proportion of that money will quickly disappear on feeding those hungry kids after an action packed day, But how much does it all add up to and is worth packing a picnic for the day instead?

I’ve had a look through some prices for a few attractions around the uk and this is what ive found out.

Alton Towers

4 Medium Cokes @ £2.60 each= £10.40
4 Jumbo Hotdogs @ £4.40 each= £17.60
4 Panini @ £4.35 each= £17.40

Total= £45.40

Thorpe Park

Cheese Burger and Chips @ £7.75 = £31
Large Cokes @ £2.50 each = £10.00

Total= £41

Twycross Zoo

Breakfast @ £3.25 each = £9.75
Lunch @ £5.75 each = £23

Total £32.75

Now I’m not saying that this is what everyone will be eating when they go, there may be more there may be less but as you can see from the cost it all adds up to one expensive day out. It’s always worth checking on the web site for each attraction to see what the cost of food is going to be, If you have a lot of mouths to feed then it could be worth considering a picnic instead especially with the ticket price on top.

I know with buying food on site it does come with a certain level of convenience, No bags to carry, nothing to make the night before and no carrying your rubbish round with you afterwards but at the same time that small inconvenience could be the difference between £40-£60 on top of everything else that you have bought that day.

I welcome all feedback and I would love to hear from you If you’ve had an expensive day at an attraction or if you didn’t buy food on site how did you get around it?

 

You will be able to see that from the time line that this is my first visit and entry in quiet a while now, Its not because I don’t want to write an entry but as with most things its all about time.

I just wanted to keep you all informed and up to date on where we are with the project at the moment, As I wrote last time Morrisons supermarket have made a donation to the project they have given us a Greenhouse, Compost and seeds to help get us started. This has been a welcome donation to the project as we are hitting a lot of road blocks at the moment in terms of funding and help.

I have however received some welcomed news from Mars UK who are looking to help with the project and make donations to us as well, So watch this space for updates on that.

The land donation to the Primary school went brilliantly and I have been asked to go and speak at there school assemble soon to explain to them about the project and why we have donated some of the land to them. I think that its important that food education be part of the schools curriculum and that each child knows where there food comes from and is given a choice on what they eat.

Every fortnight we will choose one of the school pupils who are apart of the project to do a guest blog via my blog so that they can record all of the things that they have been doing on there own site at the project, This is a great way for friends and families of the pupils and the school to see all of the amazing work that they will be doing.

This week I also got my 15 minuets of fame with a brief article written on the project in the local paper The Melton Times Ive attached the link for those of you who would like to read it http://www.meltontimes.co.uk/lifestyle/home-garden/go-ahead-for-community-allotment-1-3891942

This has been a great piece of publicity for us and has raised a lot of awareness about what we are doing and will hopefully get more people involved. If you would like to make a donation to the project or would like to get involved at all email me at amb.23@hotmail.co.uk

And as always your feedback and comments are always welcome