East Anglian Food Events - October to December 2011

I love visiting farmers markets or taking part in local food events but often have trouble remembering when they're on, what time etc. So, to help myself as much as anything, I've decided to start a monthly feature detailing all the upcoming foodie events happening in East Anglia, and bigger events further afield, that I've heard about. I'm sure there are many more events out there, farmers markets in particular, that I haven't included, but hopefully I'll be able to add more as I find out about them.

If anyone has anything they'd like me to include then please let me know.

OCTOBER

Farmers Markets

1st - Jimmy's Farm, East Suffolk - 10am to 2pm

8th - Rickinghall Farmers Market, Mid Suffolk - 9.30am to 12.30pm

15th - Aldeburgh Farmers Market, Village Hall, East Suffolk - 9.30am to 12.30pm

22nd - Easton Farm Park, East Suffolk - 9am to 1pm (£5 carpark charge redeemable against purchases)

Every Saturday - Wyken Vineyards, West Suffolk - 9am to 1pm

Other Events

3rd to 17th - London Restaurant Festival, various locations

14th to 16th - London Cheese & Wine Festival, Southbank - 11am to 8pm (6pm on Sunday)

22nd - The Secluded Tea Party, Cambridgeshire - Vintage Tea Party - Brunch/Afternoon Tea/Midnight Feast

NOVEMBER

Farmers Markets

5th - Snape Maltings, East Suffolk - 9.30am to 1pm

5th - Jimmy's Farm, East Suffolk - 10am to 2pm

12th - Rickinghall Farmers Market, Mid Suffolk - 9.30am to 12.30pm

19th - Aldeburgh Farmers Market, Village Hall, East Suffolk - 9.30am to 12.30pm

26th - Easton Farm Park, East Suffolk - 9am to 1pm (£5 carpark charge redeemable against purchases)

Every Saturday - Wyken Vineyards, West Suffolk - 9am to 1pm

Other Events

5th & 6th - La Hogue Farm Christmas Tasting Extravaganza, Nr Newmarket

19th - Bite'n'Write Food Blogger Event, Birmingham

19th - The Secluded Tea Party, Cambridgeshire - Blogfest - 10am to 2pm

23rd - 27th BBC Good Food Show, Birmingham NEC

25th - 27th - Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre - 10am to 7pm (5pm on Sunday)

DECEMBER

Farmers Markets

3rd - Snape Maltings. East Suffolk - 9.30am to 1pm

3rd & 4th - Jimmy's Farm Christmas Fayre, East Suffolk - 10am to 2pm

10th - Rickinghall Farmers Market, Mid Suffolk - 9.30am to 12.30pm

17th - Aldeburgh Farmers Market, Village Hall, East Suffolk - 9.30am to 12.30pm

17th - Easton Farm Park, East Suffolk - 9am to 1pm (£5 car park charge redeemable against purchases)

23rd - Snape Malting Christmas Market, East Suffolk - 9.30am to 1pm

Every Saturday - Wyken Vineyards, West Suffolk - 9am to 1pm

Other Events

TBC - The Secluded Tea Party, Cambrideshire - Vintage Xmas Tea Party

Banana Rock Cakes

This another great recipe for those times when you have some spare bananas sitting in the fruit bowl. I love rock cakes anyway as they are the perfect store cupboard bake and you can have them on the table in about 45 minutes, but adding some mashed banana to the basic recipe is an inspired idea. The banana adds an extra sweetness and they make your kitchen smell fabulous while they're in the oven.

The recipe comes from The Little Red Barn Baking book, an American book which I really should dig out more often as it contains some great recipes.

Being American, the measurements are in cups, which I've always found a bit of a faff to be honest, so I've converted the flour and butter into ounces and grams. I used cup measures for the raisins and chocolate but if you don't have these you can use something of a similar size as the amounts don't have to be exact. For reference, 1 cup = 250ml.

Banana Rock Cakes

(adapted from The Little Red Barn Baking Book by Adriana Rabinovich)

1 3/4 cups/250g/9 oz all-purpose (plain) flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup/75g/2 3/4 oz unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup chopped semisweet chocolate

1 cup ripe bananas (about 2 medium bananas)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 egg

1) Preheat the oven to 400f/200c. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2) Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in the butter then stir in the sugar, raisins and chocolate.

3) In another bowl, mash the bananas then add the lemon juice and egg, and mix well. Combine the bananas with the flour mixture to make a sticky dough.

4) Spoon the dough equally into 10 lumps on the baking sheet, leaving some space for spreading. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cakes are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 10 cakes

Meal Planning Monday - 26th September 2011

No meal planning post for me last week as I wasn't feeling particularly inspired, although I did discover this fantastic recipe for Peanut Butter Squares. This week, however, I'm a bit more on the ball and have a few really nice things lined up. At the moment I don't have anything new on the agenda but, having said that, I might switch the Cottage Pie for something different depending on what I fancy on the day.

So here's the line-up as it stands at the moment...

Monday - Curried Sweet Potato Soup with a granary loaf from the breadmaker

Tuesday - Jacket Potatoes & Salad

Wednesday - Ricotta & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Thursday - Summer-in-Winter Chicken

Friday - Roasted Pepper, Pancetta & Mascarpone Risotto

Saturday - Delia's Souffled Macaroni Cheese

Sunday - Cottage Pie

As always, if you'd like to share your plans for the week either leave a comment or log your post on Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M.

Peanut-Butter Squares

This is why I love blogging. Because it gives me the opportunity to share fantastic recipes like this one!

This recipe has been on my (very extensive) to-do list for a very long time now but last weekend I finally found myself with all of the necessary ingredients AND an excuse to make it and boy do I wish I'd tried it sooner!

Peanut butter and chocolate make such a great pairing and this recipe brings them together in a simple but devastatingly effective way, with just the addition of sugar and butter to create a rich, sweet and very addictive mouthful. These squares take just minutes to prepare, especially if you have a food mixer to do the hard work for you. Even melting the chocolate in the microwave was quick and easy (why have I not tried this before?). I imagine they keep pretty well for a few days but I doubt a batch of these would ever last long enough to test that theory!

For another fabulous way to use up peanut butter have a look at this recipe for Snickers & Peanut Butter Muffins.

Peanut-Butter Squares

(adapted from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson)

For the base

50g dark muscovado sugar

200g icing sugar

50g unsalted butter

200g smooth peanut butter (if you keep it in the fridge, take it out well in advance for easier mixing)

For the topping

200g milk chocolate

100g plain chocolate

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1) Line a 23cm square brownie tin with baking parchment.

2) Stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth and press into the lined tin. If some of the muscovado sugar stays in small lumps don't worry.

3) To make the topping, put the chocolates and butter in a large jug or bowl and melt in the microwave (this should take two to three minutes on medium). Once melted together spread over the base and then put the tin in the fridge to set.

4) When the chocolate has hardened cut into small squares.

Meal Planning Monday - 12th September 2011

Well the summer holidays are over, everyone is back to school or work and I'm gradually getting used to the routine again. Hopefully that routine will include a bit more blogging that of late - my last post was on the 22nd of August (although I have fitted in a holiday between then and now) and I haven't done a Meal Planning Monday post since the 18th of July! Where has the time gone?

So let's kick things off again with my meal plan for this week. As always I hope to fit in some baking at some point but I haven't decide what as yet.

Monday - Spanish Omelette & Salad

Tuesday - Spaghetti with 5-minute tomato sauce

Wednesday - M&S Vegetarian Kievs with Rice and Veg

Thursday - Jacket Potatoes

Friday - Bacon and Vegetable Pasta

Saturday - Chicken Korma with Rice and Veg

Sunday - Nigella's BBQ Mince

If you want to share your foodie plans for the week just leave a comment below or post a link on Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M.