The latest Fashion......in wellies and cake.

At last, enough snow to give me a reason to walk into Richmond with my rather sporty new wellies from Hunter!  Who would have thought, not so many years ago, that even this simple, durable footwear would one day become fashionable - it took me quite a while to decide between the practical yet pretty Royal Horticultural Society design (seen here), and the rather less practical but obviously more 'street smart' Jimmy Choos!  Being a practical girl it had to be the RHS, if only to remind me that once in a while I should wear them for what they are intended!
The other fantastic thing about being snowed in, is the excuse to bake cakes.  Not that I really ever need an excuse, but it's great to walk to the neighbours with something cheering when the weather is so grey, and cake normally fits the bill with most (homemade hot toddy tends to go down quite well too, especially on the really cold days!).
And as with fashionable wellies, it appears that cakes go through fashion phases too.  For the last few years it has been cup cakes wherever you look, but now it looks like there is a leaning towards the Whoopie Pie!  It has to be a fun cake, if only because of it's name, but luckily they also taste pretty good.  I tried to make a healthy option by using butternut, but to be perfectly honest, Whoopie Pies don't really lend themselves to being healthy, and at the moment we are all using up so many calories keeping warm I don't think it will matter too much!

Butternut and Passion Fruit Whoopie Pies

110g butter, at room temperature
200g dark muscovado sugar
3 eggs, beaten
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
large pinch ground cloves
250g cooked and mashed butternut
150g cream cheese
1 passion fruit, juice only
200-225g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4.  Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Cream together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.  Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, Bicarb and spices, then fold in gently before folding in the butternut puree.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on the baking sheets, making sure to leave enough space for them to spread.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, until they feel 'springy' to the touch.  Cool on a cooling rack.
Cream together the cream cheese, passion fruit juice and icing sugar to make the filling.   Spread a little onto one pie, then top with another.

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.

Joy's 20-minutes Meals!

Just when I think nobody is reading what I write each week, a friend from Australia complains that I haven't written anything for ages!  That is enough incentive for me to get the thinking cap on!
Actually that is the reason for my absence - the thinking cap has been bogged down in the depths of a dissertation for my degree that finally comes to an end in precisely 68 days - not that I'm counting you understand!
The subject I have chosen for the 7000 exciting words is the effect that hydration has on athletic performance.  So, for all you would-be athletes out there you need to know that it does have an effect and yes, you do need to drink even more than the average sedentary person - at least 2 litres, possibly up to 3-4 litres depending on how much you are training.  It is a well-known fact that most athletes start their training dehydrated, and a mere 2% dehydration will effect your performance, so get drinking!

There comes a certain time of day when my head really cannot face any more studying, and lately that has been around the time that Jamie's 30-minute Meals is showing on TV, so I sit myself in front of that to see if I can get any ideas for my own recipes.  And every evening I get wound up, not only by the fact that his 30 minutes does not include getting out all your kitchen equipment (that can take a good 5 minutes!), but also that the programme is cut in certain places when something takes too long!  Why not just call it 45-minute meals then everyone would be happy?!
Anyway, I decided I would do a 20-minute lunch today - beat that Jamie!  And mine is healthy too.




Gazpacho with Avocado and Softly Boiled Egg
This is such a simple recipe and really you can add the ingredients you like, in whatever amounts you like - just taste it as you go.  Normally I would use fresh tomatoes but didn't have any, so used tomato juice instead - it really is that easy.
It's a great antioxidant-rich recipe, full of fibre and vitamins, but don't forget to add some protein - top with an egg or even some cooked, flaked salmon would be great.


Serves 2


2 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
1/2 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cucumber, roughly chopped
handful basil leaves
handful parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp sherry or Balsamic vinegar
100mls olive oil
200-300mls tomato juice
seasoning to taste
1 avocado, peeled and chopped
2 eggs, softly boiled


Place all the vegetables and herbs in the food processor and process until finely chopped.
Add the liquids and seasoning to taste and process again briefly.
Serve chilled, topped with chopped avocado and egg.

Lazy Sunday mornings...............

The day finally dawned - as wet and soggy as it was the last time I attempted this crazy triathlon, The Rowers Revenge - 4km rowing (on an erg), 25km cycling and 7km run.  But this year the course was shortened slightly as Marlow bridge was closed to pedestrians and the river tow path was so muddy it wasn't really safe to run on, so we only had to complete 5km run on tarmac, which nobody complained about!
First challenge of the day - would the bike fit in the back of a mini?  I really should have checked this out before I realise.  Luckily, it just squeezed in.

After that my main concern was who I had to beat.  I had previously quickly scanned the previous years' results and figured there was a chance of winning my category (if I didn't fall off the bike, or blow up on the erg to start with).  On arrival I checked out the competition and spotted a very lean, seriously kitted out, obviously a triathlete, woman of my age - this was my competition!  I figured if she was a 'normal' triathlete she would be a swimmer and not a rower, so my original timing goal on the erg had to be revised - I had to up my game and make sure I beat her on this, and then just stay ahead for the next hour and a half cycling and running - sounds simple really!
The first bit went according to plan, I was the first to jump (OK, crawl) off the erg and head out to the bikes.  Not my strongest part of the race mainly due to inexperience and general nervousness going down steep hills on such a tiny bit of machinery, I gave it my all - for the first time ever I didn't even break going downhill.  Every time I saw somebody in front of me I made it my mission to get past them, and this I did pretty much the whole way around.  Alas, after around 12km I heard a bike coming up behind me and despite all my efforts was overtaken by my competition.  I was not deterred however and kept up the pace until the end and had to be content with second place.
Those people that say that it's just the taking part that counts really don't get it.  I felt very satisfied having completed the course but would have felt so much more satisfied had I won!