Apricots, Blackcurrants and Figs

Amazing apricots, beautiful blackcurrants, fabulous figs…. Quite a lot of fructose going on here, but I’m running with it with a huge smile on my face!

So I’m back after a substantial break for moving house. Except I haven’t moved! There’s not a chance of moving in the current market and actually, while we are bringing in divine garden produce at the rate of knots and enjoying all our lovely plants as they appear in a rolling seasonal way, why would we?

JAM

This is the British way of dealing with a glut, just a bit of an issue if you don’t want to immerse yourself in sugar (please don’t – not helpful!).

Interestingly, the blackcurrants crop came first and I made a quick pot of compote because my brain wouldn’t allow me to do anything else!!! Old habits die hard. Pan + blackcurrants + some sugar (not weighed, just a gut feel). It was so divine with thick Greek-style yoghurt. Addictive, yes, but OMG, divine! So, next phase was to deal with the remaining huge bowl sitting in front of me and I decided to review the traditional standard recipe for jam: 1lb/450g sugar: 1lb/45g fruit. I just laughed as the volume of sugar was 4 x the amount I had put in for my compote. This is where we move to the (you can add a Megan Markle American accent here) ‘Preserves’ – as she describes in her ‘With Love Megan Netflix Series’. A preserve is a softer set version of jam, which just means less sugar. Did any of you watch that series? I binged it one entire evening while the house was empty and I now aspire to having a luxurious spare room and ensuite for my guests, filled with fresh flowers, home-brew lavender salts and healthy nibbly treats. I’d need staff though. Let’s get back to the lovely family home we already have and leave it at that – we’ll walk round the garden, pick the grapes and have a BBQ instead!

So, what to do with a glut of fruit, well, I’ve realised that frozen redcurrants can be thrown into a quinoa salad just like pomegranate seeds, frozen apricots will make a compote on their own/be slow-roasted with duck legs through Autumn and if I need a few jars of jam (lovely for a gift instead of wine for non-drinker) then that’s easy to achieve from the freezer supply. Figs, I can dry those if needs be, but I think just enjoying them with feta/blue cheese/Parma ham (ie protein) and give away the rest – I’m enjoying seeing them in my egg boxes in the fridge at the moment and it’s even more fun picking them! Plums, well, that’s the annual marriage tradition ceremony of ‘Champagne and Chutney’ – always makes me laugh! The rest of the produce is less of an issue – eat as much as I can, it’s all good!

Hmmmm… SUGAR

Right now my midriff has expanded, muffin-top springs to mind – and it is making me smile. It’s simply sugar and how my body is processing the food I eat. My sugar is fruit-based, but if you didn’t know, fructose is the worst offender and most addictive. Prior to the fruit glut already mentioned, we’ve had a continuous supply of divine strawberries and blueberries and the raspberries are just arriving. (Berries are the best version of low-glycaemic fruit, but it’s still fructose).

What can I do? I’m thinking the time has come to remove the sugar section of my store cupboard. If it’s not there, then it can’t be used – quite a bold move in a working kitchen. It’s all about damage limitation and when there’s an addiction involved, removal is the simple answer. I know my refined sugar supplies are nothing to do with fresh garden fruit, but once the fruit sugar door is opened it leads to the raw honey and maple syrup, which is just next door to the cooking sugar. Damage limitation it must be. Old habits die hard and one of my defaults is to rapidly make cake/cookies for a friend in need – and with a family around, it is hard not to make a double batch – which inevitably leads to guess what?!

REBRANDING

Right now is a very exciting time for my business. With admin support to hand, I’m able to delegate so much time-consuming (for me) administrative jobs. I’ve been looking closely at my website and working hard on how the SEO is/hasn’t been working. This week I had a power hour with the amazing Jules White – Website Success Hub. It was so exciting to have a close inspection of what we have done and what we can now do. It came as a bit of a surprise to hear that the colour red, a favourite colour (looks good on me!) is considered a ‘danger’ colour, putting people on ‘red alert/warning bells’ and ultimately stops people pressing the purchasing button.

So now I am going to have some fun. I’d already decided that wearing black was a bit harsh – also pointed out to me by a dear old friend (that’s you Jenny!). I also need a uniform set of colours to wear when I’m filming otherwise it all looks so messy. It’s exciting looking at other websites and deciding what will be a good palette: calming, appealing, trusting and genuine. I wonder if my old ‘Buzzing bee with frying pan’ logo created when I worked on the Classic Yacht all those years ago might find its way back in. I do like a connection somewhere.

TEACHING

I’ve been doing some amazing private teaching over the past few months, home-schooling GCSE students, a fabulous flute teacher, 2 amazing high-functioning Down’s Syndrome 17-year-olds and next week I’m running a 3-day holiday camp with Activate in Cobham. They seem a friendly bunch and it will be fun. I do love some face to face teaching to balance the online courses, but my heart remains set on my long-term vision of being the Best DofE/home schooling online cookery course business and then opening up my membership to support the parents and families, especially those with SEND, along the way.

Right, rain has stopped, garden refreshed – a quick leg stretch and a little training session on rebranding with a new colour palette.

Be x