Food & Drink
By Katharine Wright thehungrygiraffe2020@gmail.com
Roll up your sleeves and put your apron on… This year we all have a little extra time on our hands, with the joy of meeting friends for coffee or going out for Sunday lunch with the family off the cards, us foodies need to keep ourselves busy. So why not this season we get creative in the kitchen and make tasty festive food? I have fantastic childhood memories helping mum prepare the Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, mince pies, pickled onions and more. Consequently, our Christmas cake also doubled up as dad’s birthday cake and his sweet treat in his lunchbox for nearly the whole month of January! Let us start with the Christmas cake, as
ENFORD FARM SHOP
Open as usual Fri-Sat, and outside shop 24/7. Pre orders for any who don’t want to come in shop. Call the shop or email Christina. marks330@gmail.com or markscattle@yahoo.co.uk Pet foods of all variety’s can be sourced through us also by order. Christmas meat orders now being taken for all your needs from turkeys, game, meats and trees coming in soon. Durweston, near Blandford
01258 450050
@enford farm 38
Time to get cooking for Christmas traditionally the last Sunday before Advent is known as ‘Stir-up Sunday’ – which this year is this Sunday (22nd). The day to mix up and bake your cake, allowing the mixture time to soak up all the lovely alcohol and fruity flavours to enjoy in the weeks to come. So, with a good cup of tea look for a recipe from a book or the web or maybe you have your family recipe, either way, just enjoy the baking moment. Do not forget the marzipan and icing on the top a few days before the 25th. Of course, while making the cake you can make
the pudding too. Much like the cake, making in advance allows the ingredients to become deep and rich in flavour, perfect on Christmas Day. So, remember while looking up the cake recipe look for the pudding one too. While still on the dried fruit we must not forget the mince pies – Now my nan made the best mince pies ever, and the secret was in the pastry. The pastry complimented the mincemeat (which of course you can make too) perfectly. Her method was self-raising flour, crumbed with margarine, then sugar stirred in and bound together with a
beaten egg and water to bring it all together. My personal favourite at Christmas must be the homemade pickled onions. Prepare these now and they will be ready to eat over the Christmas period with lots of Dorset cheese. Many methods are available so take your pick and get pickling. They are simple to make and for me they are Christmas. There are many other elements you can prepare in advance like the cranberry sauce, gravy and stuffing so go on, roll up your sleeves, get your pinny on and head straight to the kitchen.
Local gourmet winners in Dorset Magazine awards Dorset Magazine has announced its winners in The Dorset Food, Drink & Farming Awards – including several in our area. Alex & Emma Young of Ginger Viking in Blandford Forum won Entrepreneur of the Year. Food Producer of the Year winner was The Book & Bucket Cheese Company in Cranborne, while From Dorset with Love in
Blandford Forum scooped highly commended. Highly commended in the Best Farm Shop category was Steeptonbill in Milton Abbas, while Sherborne Viral Kindness was highly commended in the Community Food/Drink Initiative Award. The Dorset Food Co, Blandford Forum were highly commended in the Best Local Food/Drink Delivery Experience and
Carl Thompson and Victoria Cannings of the Dorset Food Co
Allen Valley Milk & Pamphill Dairy was highly commended in the Business Collaboration Award.
