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!
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