Farmer's Market at Middleton in Teesdale 28.3.10

Well here I am, back in sunny but very chilly Middleton! What a great day to be out walking, a bit of a nippy breeze but a gorgeous blue sky and plenty of fresh air to blow the winter cobwebs away.

The day brought many visitors to our eclectic group of stalls, I was joined again by the baker, the cheese maker, the vegie grower, the sausage lady, the photographer, the jewellery maker, the cushion tailor and many more...

I'd brought with me my ginger pokey, it's my nana's recipie, we used to look forward every Sunday evening to a peep in her ever full tin of glowing cinder knowing she would pack us off home with a bag to last the week! My dad has her old cook book and he gave me the recipe, I'd already tried a Nigella version and although it was nice, it was somewhat difficult to actually eat without a finger gently prizing it from ones teeth, and worrying about the odd filling I thought I'd give nana's recipe a go! What a delight, oh it melts in your mouth a buttery mapley taste even, no sticking to teeth just a crunch and burst of flavour, I decided to put some samples out, needless to say it went down a treat, I sold out by lunch time, two ladies wanted to know if it was fattening! Crickey of course I said, ah well we'd better not then and they disappeared over to the cheese stall, but hey sheepishly they snuck back over before leaving admitting after tasting they couldn't resist taking a bag home!

Another hit was my ginger wine samples, oh goodness did I give everyone a taste of the olden days, one very nice man came over with his wife and young son, 'oh this reminds me of my granny's he said, this takes me back to cold winter nights sitting by the fire' he and his wife both reminising, their little one grasping out eagerly wanting to taste what mummy and daddy were ooing and ahhing about, a little reluctant at first they allowed him a couple of mouthfulls, his face lit up, and his little hands grabbed out for more. It's not alcoholic and watered down ever so slightly makes a great drink for little ones, my boys who are aged 8 and 6 love it, especially when it's hot while I'm making it, great for a little treat before bedtime!

I've been feeding my ginger beer plant for 10 days now, tomorrow It'll be going into bottles and getting capped! I can't wait to taste it, it looks fantastic and smells amazing, look out for it at my next stall!

The next market is going to be again in Middleton in Teesdale, this time we'll be outside hopefully the weather will be kind!

Ginger Bread Mam's next Farmers' Market...

The next Farmers' Market will be held in Middleton in Teesdale - Sunday 28th March 2010

Come and see me at Middleton, as it's still pretty cold and weather unpredictable we'll be in the lovely warm hall above the Co-op. From Sunny April we'll be outside in the main car park. 

I'm going to have all of my usual scrummys there, but also I'm going to bring some of my new additions-including my 'ginger pokey'! 

I promise there'll be plenty to sample to, ginger parkin, ginger wine along with an extra hot variation and maybe even my ginger beer!

See you there!

Scumelicous Ginger Beer

I'm spending the weekend developing new 'ginger' products, I want to extend the range of scrummys! So I've found a recipe for old fashioned ginger beer-lashings of it! And it's so easy to make, with 5 simple ingredients - water, sugar, yeast, lemon juice and grated ginger. It all goes in a pop bottle and is left to rest overnight in a warm place, next morning you can taste it, the mixture positively fizzes as you loosen the bottle top, and the pale golden  contents gently sparkle in the glass.  Verdict - it's refreshing and an absolutely scrumelicous delight!

Middleton in Teesdale

Middleton in Teesdale Farmers' Market

Sunday 28 February 2010.

I held my first ever stall at the weekend at a small farmers' market in Teesdale. I was among a friendly group of local produce suppliers, including a speciality cheese maker, a fruit and veg grower, a pickled chutney maker, a 'moody' baker, a bespoke jewellery designer and lots of other interesting stalls. I'd brought with me a good supply of ginger wine, snaps, parkin, muffins and a crew of colourful gingerbread men. There was a steady footfall for most of the day, walkers, locals and  families out for the day, everyone happy to sample a good chunk of ginger cake, one little girl came back 3 times! All in all the day went merrily along, and I came home with little ginger stock but armed with goodies from my market pals, a slab of cheese, a loaf of rye bread and a jar of sweetcorn relish for supper. All washed down with a Whisky-Mac-Lovely!