It's official....winter is here!

Just when I was really looking forward to racing down the Thames in the Scullers Head, the weather turns, and now all I can think of is how I am going to prevent my extremities from getting frostbite and falling off!
So this morning I ventured out to test the water (and temperature) to see just how bad it may be, and to assess how many layers I will need to wear before I am prevented from being able to move my body to enable me to scull.  Lucky for me I had decided to do this as, only five minutes up river the footplate in my boat (this holds the shoes in place) snapped in half!  Had I been racing flat out at the time I most certainly would have been swimming - not a great thought in these conditions.  So for once, my forward planning has paid off.
The other forward planning required is obviously what I need to eat before a race.  I have been taking this pretty seriously all week, tapering down on the training and now concentrating on getting some carbohydrates in for the 25 minutes of racing (oh, if only I could make it a lot shorter!).
As the race starts at 11.30.am the best breakfast for me is a warming bowl of porridge, with lots of added extras to top up my protein and antioxidant intake too.

Racing Porridge
It is possible to make porridge in the microwave, but you miss out on all the creaminess that comes from the stirring when you make it on the hob.

Serves 2

100g rolled oats
500ml water
200ml soya milk
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
75g fresh berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
4 Brazil nuts, roughly chopped
4 tsp Manuka honey
pinch of ground cinnamon

Place the oats, water and milk in a pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring continuously.
Simmer for a couple of minutes, then pour into two warmed bowls.
Top with a dollop of yoghurt, some fresh berries, a drizzle of honey, chopped Brazil nuts, and finally a sprinkling of ground cinnamon.
Eat immediately!

The Great Scottish Diet!

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to have to visit Scotland, just for the day.  As founder of the charity Community Projects Africa, I was invited to visit a couple of schools in Scotland for whom we had organised a teacher exchange with teachers from Tanzania.
Three teachers from a balmy East African village arrived in Scotland on the coldest day we have had since last winter - luckily there were lots of offers of fleeces and hats!  They spent a week teaching in a village school, whilst in the evening they were shown what is on offer in the form of entertainment, with their favourite thing being watching football!
They were also offered typical Scottish foods - tablet, shortbread, Snowballs, plus lots more.  When I visited I was also treated to these things plus Taylors ice-cream, and the added bonus of a fish supper.  Hard to imagine that we live on the same huge island but that our tastes are so different - the highlight of the fish and chip supper was something I cannot believe even exists - Pizza Crunch - battered and deep-fried pizza!  Needless to say, I did not sample it!
When I asked the Tanzanian teachers what they thought of our food they commented that we eat far too much sugar.
My Scottish neighbour is a great baker and I often ask him to bake things for me - this week it was these beautiful shortbread biscuits, known as Empire Biscuits, which, as you would expect are hugely sweet, but very delicious.

An Allotment Lunch

The other great thing about travelling home to Norfolk is a visit to my Dad, and his wonderful allotment.  Even better is that his house is adjacent to two fields of allotments and, as all the growers tend to grow more than they can eat, I get the pick of the bunch!
This time it was all the lovely root vegetables - butternut (check-out his unusual looking butternut, which tastes amazing) beetroot, parsnips, swede and carrots, and to accompany them, the crispest red onions (they make the supermarket ones seem soggy in comparison).
So what to do with all this root veg?  Well, as an athlete trying to pack in lots of carbohydrates, these vegetables are a very good source.  Forget loading up on pasta and bread which, if you are slightly intolerant to wheat (which an ever increasing number of people are, with symptoms of bloating, flatulence and energy dips in the afternoon following sandwiches for lunch!),  these will also provide other important nutrients such as vital vitamins and minerals too.  And if you want to give your liver a kick, try juicing raw beetroot with some apples and fresh ginger - a real liver pick-me-up.

But I went for the simplest meal ever - peel and chop all your veg (making sure to keep them all the same size so they cook evenly), sprinkle with olive oil, cumin seeds (or your favourite spice) and seasoning, and toss them around in a roasting tin to coat with the oil.  Roast in the oven at around 200C for about 35-30 minutes, until they are tender and hopefully slightly charred at the edges where they are starting to caramelise.
Take them out of the oven and stir in a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach and a drained can of butter beans.  The heat from the vegetables will gradually wilt the spinach.  Serve them hot topped with a poached egg or steamed fish for added protein - delicious!

Last weekend I headed back home to Norfolk, facing the dreaded drive up the, yet to be made into a duel carriageway, A11.  It brought back memories of all the years I commuted between Norfolk and London, leaving each place at ridiculous times of the night to avoid traffic!

But once there I was in heaven!  On Saturday I raced in the Norfolk Long Distance Sculls - 4600m along the beautiful Yare river, from Bramerton Green to Whittlingham Green - it was the most beautiful day, the water was as flat as a pancake and my sculling partner Anthony steered the most amazing course as always.
So after all my athletic efforts on Saturday I really needed to replenish my body with food, and this was done in grand style on Sunday, by a visit to The Pigs at Edgefield.  There you can try some really unusual combinations of tasty food.   For starters, instead of Spanish Tapas, Norfolk Iffits are served, so you order a few as a starter or even better, lots to share.  I was tempted by Smoked Norfolk Dapple - a delicious Eccles cake served with local Dapple cheese.  Everything is locally scoured and you can even buy produce there too.  But our main reason for being there was the Sunday Pudding Club, where you can eat as much as you like for £5.95!  The only rule is that you always clean your plate before re-filling it - this was not a problem!  The only problem was that they finished serving at 3pm and we had arrived just after 2pm, so not much time! Possibly in retrospect that was a good thing.
Whilst chomping our way through yet another delicious pudding my friend Janie asked it I thought it was possible to make bread and butter pudding with lemon curd in it (one of our favourite things).  I do so love this sort of challenge - the chance to make and eat something I know will be amazing!  See for yourself.

Panettone and Lemon Curd (Bread & Butter) Pudding
Serves 4-6
2g unsalted butter
275g lemon curd
250g Panettone, sliced
3 fresh apricots, stones removed and diced
350ml milk
75ml double cream
2 eggs
25g caster sugar
1.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.  Lightly butter a shallow oven proof dish.
2.  Spread two-thirds of the lemon curd over the base of the dish, then top with the slices of panettone and diced fresh apricots, then spoon the remaining lemon curd roughly over the top.
3.  Place the milk and cream in a small pan and bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile whisk together the eggs and all but 2 tsp of the sugar.
4. Pour the warm milk and cream into the egg mixture, whisking continuously.  Pour the mixture over the panettone and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
5.  Sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar and bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden and bubbling.