That was the Month that was April 24

Taking a look at the last month, the joy of more singing, travel and eating asparagus. My life is nothing if not varied!

Apr 27, 2024

Bonjour from France!

Firstly, an apology for the lack of newsletter last week. Now it's already time to look back at what has been happening over the month that has almost passed, and once again, time has flown by. May is just around the corner, wouldn’t it be nice to have some more spring-like weather?

After what felt like a slow start to the year with not much happening, things really seem to be taking off. April has been pretty busy, and I am currently on the first of this year's travels.

As this email drops into your inbox, I am visiting an old friend in France for a few days. No doubt I will be eating some great French food and sipping French wine during the trip. Indeed, we had a rather delicious lunch on Friday. A selection of charcuterie washed down with a glass of Chardonnay. And we have already snuck in a trip to an artisan oil produce whose roasted nut oils will make a delicious addition to salad dressing. This is the the first of several trips abroad which are clustered over the next month or two.

Like March, I have been busy getting out holiday cottages ready for the main 2024 season. New fire regulations for holiday lets have meant extra work needs to be carried out in addition to the usual redecoration and any maintenance jobs that are required off-season. MrB and I do most of that ourselves.

The kitchen in No9 has a new floor and a fresh lick of paint. I ran out of time to add a tile splash back to pine cupboard.

After a lot of DIY work last week (the main reason I didn’t get my newsletter out), the internal work for both cottages is now complete for this year, but the outside could do with some fresh paintwork, which just has not been possible thanks to lack of time and the wet weather we have been having. Hopefully, I'll get at least the most important painting done during my next visit.

This month I also spent a couple of days being a judge for the 2024 Great Taste Awards. working iwth other judges each of us tasted around 70 different foods a day in a completely random order. Each food hoping for the coveted star ratings of which only a minority actually achieve. Hard work, but fun and I got to meet some very interesting people with different backgrounds working in food.

All this has meant I have not had as much time as I would like to spend on the Recipes Made Easy and Only Crumbs Remain but needs must.

gallery of photos showing tastingcriteria judgung room and foods judged for Great Taste Awards. — WE tasted a wide range of foods including olive oil, herbs, cakes, honey meat and fish.

It has not all been hard work. I have seen two more shows at the theatre this monthI love the theatre (one of many the reasons I love living in London we are spoilt for choice).

I sing in a choir, actually, I sing in two choirs (both non-audition), and one had their annual concert a couple of weeks ago. 300+ of us on stage singing songs from boy bands and girl groups from the 60s to date, to a sold-out Hackney Empire, a stunning Victorian theatre in the East end of London. It was such fun but boy I felt my age and it took a whole weekend to recover.

I also sang with my other choir Popchoir at the London Marathon, which was great fun and somewhat less tiring and stressful. Stationed at around the 23-mile mark, the amateur runners really seem to appreciate it, as it all adds to the unique atmosphere that is the London Marathon. Some even stopped to take a quick selfie video with us in the background. Amazingly this year’s marathon has broken the world record for a one-day fundraising event with more than £67m raised as more than 53,000 people took part in the 26.2-mile race (42.2km) through the capital. Source BBC

That's enough about what I’ve been doing this month, so now, what are you all really here for? Recipes! It's asparagus season. I think asparagus is possibly my favourite vegetable. At least in part because English Asparagus, which I think is the best, is only available for a short season, so it is very much a seasonal treat. The season traditionally starts on St George’s Day (23rd April) and continues until the summer solstice on 21st June. But I have got in a little earlier with my first taste of it this year in my village pub in Suffolk last week.

One of my favourite lunches at this time of the year is asparagus topped with a poached egg and maybe a little crispy bacon or a slice of Parma ham. Simple and very tasty. I also have several easy recipes using asparagus on Recipes Made Easy. I like easy! So I shall be making these over the next few weeks and hopefully you will too.

Until next time, have a delicious week.

How to prepare asparagus

Thin asparagus spears need little preparation. Simply trim or break off the very bottom of the stem to remove the base which can be a little woody. The point to trim or break can be found by carefully bending the spears - there is a natural point on the stem where it will easily snap.

For thicker stems use a vegetable peeler, to remove the outer layer of the stem, from the base to about halfway up the spear.