Training for a pilgrimage

Well it's not long now before myself and six friends head off for St Jean Pied de Port to start the Camino de Santiago - a very long walk across the top of Spain.  We are only going to do a quarter of it - with the intention of returning each year for the next three years to complete the 791km pilgrimage!
Needless to say we've had a strict training programme in place (?!) - stomping over the Chilterns most weekends, trying to find the steepest hill we could, to acclimatise ourselves to the accrued ascent of 990 metres on day one!
And obviously to compensate (and reward) us for each training session, there has to be cake (to be honest, I'm not sure anybody would have turned up for the training had cake not been made available!).
On one of our walks we were lucky enough to find a church that not only provided tea and coffee, with a kettle and fridge with milk, there was also cake in the fridge - what a welcome treat that was.  If you are walking the Ridgeway, take time to wander off the trail to Nuffield church for a bit of sustenance.
One of the group can't tolerate dairy, so each week I had the fun task of coming up with a different delicious dairy-free cake - another challenge I really relish!  Baking without dairy is actually pretty straight forward, and most of you who follow me regularly will know that I am a great lover of coconut oil (and the brand I think is the best for flavour and quality is Coconoil), so this is used for fat instead of butter and works really well.
Up until now though I'd never attempted pastry, so gave myself a new challenge!  And I'm pleased to say the result is pretty tasty.

Fig Tarts

Makes approx 10-12

For the pastry –

60 g wholemeal plain flour

100 g plain flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

60 g Coconoil

6-7 tbsp iced water

For the filling –

225 g dried figs, chopped

2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

pinch nutmeg

·        -To make the pastry, mix the flours and sugar in a bowl and then place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

·        -Melt the Coconoil in a microwave and leave to cool.

·        -Slowly spoon the coconoil into the flours, rubbing it into the flour as you would if you were using butter.  Return the bowl to the freezer for 15 minutes.

·        -Meanwhile, cook the figs in a pan over a medium heat with 300 ml water, until most of the water has been absorbed.  Stir in the sugar and nutmeg until the sugar has dissolved then remove from the heat.  Place in a food processor and blend until nearly smooth.  Leave to cool.

·        -Remove the pastry mix from the freezer and break up any large lumps with your fingers.

·        -Spoon in the water, using a knife to mix it in, then use your hands to finally bring the dough together.  Roll into a ball then wrap in cling film and leave to stand for 20 minutes to rest.

·        -Roll out on a floored work surface, then use a pastry cutter to cut 10-12 circles and place these in a cake tin.  Spoon the fig mixture into the pastry cases.

     Bake for 20-22 minutes at 180°C (450°F) Gas mark 4.

      Eat warm or cold with a dollop of creme fraiche (if you can tolerate dairy!).

       Happy Eating 

J     Joy xx

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Walking The Ridgeway

It is a while since I've done a long walk, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy exploring England by foot. It is the only way to really get to see all the hidden away special places that are so easily missed.

A few years ago I was invited on a walk by a friend who was meeting up with her old university friends. We were to walk the Coleridge way in the Quantock Hills and the walk was partly a reunion, so turned out to be a bit of a party. I assumed this was a one-off, but the following year when the walk moved to

North Devon, the partying continued. So now I try to join them every year - it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'a walking party'!

This year we walked the northern end of The Ridgeway, about the last 25 miles of it, starting just outside of West Wickham and joining the path by Princes Risborough. The only unfortunate side to this day was the constant rain, but luckily most of the walk is wooded so prevented us from getting totally soaked through. It also gave a good excuse for the 'party' of walkers to stop and take regular breaks, with quick nips of tequila to keep their spirits up!

Navigation also became a bit of a game, with Simone, one of the walkers, trying out her new toy - a GPS, against Tim, our organiser, with map. I was totally against the whole idea of the GPS, being a lover of maps, but when at one point we appeared to be lost in a very large wood, the GPS saved the day, and possibly a few miles walked in the wrong direction, by pointing us in the correct direction.

The other important part of great walks is of course great food along the way. Lunch on the first day was at the Red Lion in Great Hampden, a cosy traditional little pub, with very friendly owners who even took pity on the soggy looking dogs and let them sneak inside to dry out for a

while. Great sandwiches were served, with rare roast beef or tasty Cheddar and pickle. But it has to be said that the bread and butter pudding was possibly the worst I have ever tasted - layers of 'pappy' white bread with either lard or margarine used to glue it together, with the odd sultana showing it's face. This was served with a jug of custard to pour over the top. This was not bread and butter pudding - what a disappointment.

Saturday night in Wendover was also interesting - another Red Lion, but this one is an old coaching Inn in the centre of town, and buzzing on a Saturday night (there is possibly nowhere else to go?). Food as you would expect - disappointing.

Sunday turned out to be sunny which was a great relief to all - the thought of being damp for another eight hours of walking was not a good prospect.

The Ridgeway lived up to be everything I had hope for, with changing scenery, quaint churches, stunning country houses (including a view of Chequers), and the perfect amount of small hills to climb.

Our final lunch at The Greyhound in Wiggington was also pretty good, and gave us energy for the final push to Ivinghoe Beacon, with the most amazing views for miles.