homemade gifts and more in our winter e-newsletter
It's a snowy scene here in Middlewich this morning so we've selected some seasonal recipes this month to help to keep the cold at bay. Janine's healthy alternative to shop-bought baked beans is a great storecupboard standby - it's been tested by Debbie in the CPRE office and went down very well with the whole family! Remember to get good quality sausages from your local butcher or farm shop - or visit one of the county's great farmers markets.
Download the e-newsletter here for all the recipes mentioned below:
http://www.cprecheshire.org.uk/linked documents/localfood_dec10.pdf
What's in season at the moment? Well, if you like your greens you are in for a treat at the moment with curly kale, brussels sprouts and cabbage all available. For those who are reluctant sprout-eaters, try them shredded and stir-fried in a little butter and they are delicious. I was given a great tip at the recent CPRE Cheshire Christmas lunch by one of our Macclesfield members - if you get your sprouts from a local grower, still on the stick, take off a few at the bottom and put into water, then leave the sprouts outside in the garden and they will keep for ages in much better condition than if you have them in the fridge/veg basket. Chestnuts (the perfect partner for sprouts!) and walnuts are at their best, and if you fancy a special main course venison is also very good at this time of year - buy from Tatton Park for local meat that's lived in lovely surroundings.
Homemade gifts are always nicer to receive than bought ones, and as well as Janine's fudge recipe in the newsletter we have links to recipes for foodie gifts for all kinds of people. So if you're staying in this weekend because of the icy conditions outside, give them a try.
If you don't already buy locally on a regular basis, why don't you make it one of your new year's resolutions to sign up for a local veg box delivery service or visit your nearest farmers market whenever it's in town? And while you're at it, you could join CPRE to add your voice to the tens of thousands who care about our countryside and want to protect it! Visit http://www.cpre.org.uk/support/joinus for more information - pay by direct debit and get three months' membership free.
Here at CPRE Cheshire we have exciting plans for our local food campaigning work in 2011. We're hoping to be able to release the results of our Knutsford Mapping Local Food Webs project, and are in the process of recruiting a new volunteer to take forward our local food award scheme into 2011. We're hoping to feature grow-your-own updates from a very enthusiastic allotment gardener in South Cheshire.... and there is more in the pipeline which we're in the early stages of working on. Look out for our spring e-newsletter where all will be revealed.