Barrow's own survival recipe books...

Hot cross buns...

When the restricitons were first in place I read an article from Italy.  It suggested we were a few steps behind them, both in terms of the suffering and in terms of our response.  It talked a lot about food, about how important it had become to people there, and about how important it would become in our lives.  How right the article was!!

So, the last few days we have had hot cross buns...not looking traditional but tasted pretty OK.

Chocolate choc chip muffins

Next came the standard chocolate choc chip muffins...along with the choc chip griddle scones they made a welcome elevensies today.

My little sister asked for the griddle scone receipe at the weekend. I am just waiting for the photo of the finished product.  They are bound to be a much improved, more artistic version so I await the the very professional photographic evidence that is also bound to follow.  Katy...take this as your hint!

Choc chip griddle scones

My daughter Cathy tried her hand at making pasta sheets (you cannot get them in the shops!)  and was very successful.  She made a very lovely looking lasagne which apparently also tasted rather delicious.  And when we are able to meet up again she has promised to make one for us.  That's good because my wild garlic pasta on Friday was a disaster!!  A large glass of wine fixed it...it doesn't always but on Friday it did the trick!

The pasta sheets as made by
Cathy the midwife

Cathy's finished lasagne with homemade pasta

More bread on the go tonight including some buns for bean burgers...mushed up tinned kidney beans, canneloni beans, chick peas or any others you fancy; fried onion, garlic, and any other very finely chopped veg; herbs and spices of your choice; breadcrumbs and an egg.  Bring it together with a little flour and shape into a patty (or burger) shape.  then gently fry.  I am yet to make mine so any tips and photos gratefully received.  If you haven't made any before why not give it a go?  My children were always so much more likely to eat something they had made themselves, so why not get them involved and let them make burgers!  We would love to see the photos and hear your receipes.  Maybe by the time the restrictions are over we will all have our own family recipe books with our own family versions of lots of receipes.  Barrow's own survival recipe books...great for students to take to university and for young people setting up home for the first time...and also for the rest of us who struggle to know what to make sometimes!

Well Italy was right, definitely in terms of my house, and probably in terms of my workplace, there is quite an emphasis on food!  I think we all may need to do Samuel's exercise video a little more... http://www.womenscommunitymatters.org/online-with-us/ and in the morning the next video will be posted.  A little less energic this time as it is a quiz!  Something to enjoy after the homemade burgers.  Don't forget to tell us who won in your house!

With love, Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Will anyone eat green bread?!

So, tonight there was a request for wild garlic bread!  It turns the dough very green...it is currently rising and so I thought I would make apple and cinnamon muffins.  We had lemon and blueberry ones today and they actually went down pretty well!

They don't look very impressive but the official taste tester is on her way...

Official verdict is as follows...

"..well they're nice but I don't like cinnamon so I don't like them!"

I love an honest reply.  Work colleagues we may get two each...

She doesn't like cinnamon...

So back to the bread it is...here's hoping that is more popular!  The colour of it whilst it is rising doesn't do it any favours but...

...looks can be deceptive!

A bit of a wait now...I don't usually start writing before I have finished baking but our server is being

The faintest of rainbows this morning...

switched off tonight, rebooted, reworked, re-something else.  The IT people said it with a sense of doom that made it sound like the world might also end.  Under normal circumstances I might have asked more probing questions but under the currently circumstances I just thought "oh well".  I mean, what could I do anyway.  And they are pretty good (Grahame's colleagues) so I am thinking I will just let them do what they are doing and see what the morning brings.  Because of the server situation I need not to be on my laptop or system in anyway by the time all things IT related are switched off!  10pm is the big moment and we don't find out until the morning whether it has worked.  So I am hurrying up the bread so I can add my last photo to this post in time to log out before 10pm...I am hopeful as there was a rainbow this morning which obviosuly means everything will be OK.  It was quite faint but there nonetheless and I am having all the luck it brings!

Less green now!

Buns and small loaves out...are the big ones ready?  They are looking less green now they are cooked which has got to be a good thing.

All out of the oven and cooling and it's 9.21pm.  I am going to be done by the IT deadline.  I can't help wondering what my Uncle Colin would make of this "green bread".  He would be very puzzled.  Once we are able to go out and about again I will owe him a fair few loaves.

Anyway, it will be tomorrow before it is cooled and ready to be eaten...I will let you know whether it is worth a go at making some.
Good night for now.  Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Kind Barrovian paramedics and some cakes!

Well it has been a busy couple of days (and night)...with a visit from two lovely paramedics and a trip to Furness General.  No-one from my house and not Covid 19 related, but very worth a mention just

Jam tarts with a Barrow heart...when this is over maybe I will
drop some off at the ambulance station

because of how kind and caring the service was from start to finish.  The call handlers, two different ones a total of three times, were calm, patient, clear, and kind.  The paramedics (maybe one ambulance technician but I am happy for you to be promoted!) were professional, calm and very kind.  That was what struck me most of all.  Everyone was kind.  Now I didn't go to the hospital with the ambulance because of current restictions but it felt OK.  My friend was in good hands and you will be pleased to know, received the usual excellent service from our hospital and is now safe at home.

Barrovian people are kind, the people working in the different parts of our NHS are kind, and the world is better place because of it.  And I was lucky enough to witness it first hand.

More knitted dogs whilst waiting for my friend...

And what do you do when you are waiting for someone to come back from the hospital...you knit dogs obviously!  Now some have already found their new homes...Cathy, I think there is a particular one you need...otherwise others beware, you may receive one as a gift!

Work friends you may get a lemon and blueberry muffin instead!  They came out OK and there are still some left even after the locusts swept through the kitchen.

Lemon and blueberry muffins

A photo that 'needs improvement' but it does show all the cakes!

So tonight has been a little less eventful and so I baked some cakes.  Barrow jam tarts (because of the hearts obviously and in case anyone is at risk of forgetting how much I love Barrow!), maids of honour which proved very popular and not all made the photograph, and some lemon and blueberry muffins.  Some work needed on the photographs here...I can sense some constructive feedback from my children on its way!


Lastly mum, here's a photo for you...doillies in all my tins and tubs ready for the cakes.  No doillie free tins here!








Back to the month end accounts tomorrow and finishing our end of financial year accounts.  I can't wait!  Luckily my input is limited and by the time I 'have a look' the very wonderful Mary (who makes the most delicious scones and cakes) will have done it all.  She is kind too.

Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Barrow is doing it!

I went out for my daily walk today and it is at this point I realise I should have taken pictures of the empty streeet to demonstrate my point....the only thing is, I'm not that good at living in an online world!

I am trying this blog world but the photos are limited to my house and garden as I rarely remember to take photos when we go anywhere or do anything.  Currently that isn't much of a problem since we are all staying in but there are only so many knitted items and cakes I can take photos of!

Or are there....

A small knitted dog!

Today we have...a small knitted dog....

3 small knitted dogs next to an egg!

Katy - you asked me how big these dogs were...well here they are next to an egg if that helps!

I would like a knitted giraffe but they are way too complicated and would take far too long to knit.  I like things that can be made out of small squares or rectangles and which take very little time to complete.  If we are inside for 3 months I might opt for something more complicated but for now I will stick to my small square items.

My mum emailed after the photo of my tea towels.  She told me it was "not too bad an effort" and that "we could work on it when all this was over".  Mmm!  I thought she may have been more pleased than that but it does sound like I might get some new tea towels as a gift very soon!  And I am the kind of person who is pleased to receive such a gift.

Chives for the next batch
of flatbreads

So back to the photos...

Mint for the gin or the ice cream

Sage for some pasta

The lemon balm that reseeds everywhere

Oregano for the flatbreads, the pasta and the
herby bread. 
Ooo and maybe for the homemade pizzas

Some lovely herbs from the garden that I spent a bit of time with this morning.  I tried to remember all the tips my daughter gave me about taking photos.  I think I need some more tips about positioning the photos on this page...I cannot make them go where I want...it is a bit of pot luck and making do!!

All suggestions for what we can do with all the lemon balm welcome.  We don't eat fish so no fish recipes for us.  Maybe I should drink more gin then I could freeze them in ice cubes?  I might give it a try and if it works they will be good for the summer parties.

Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Mum, you will be pleased with with me!

My mum has always been a little keen on cleaning.  For all those who know her, yes I know she is obsessed rather than just keen, and that she is now repeating over and over again, "I told you so", in reference to all manner of things but particularly the washing of tea towels separately, the washing of hands before and after every task, and washing parcels as they arrive in her home!  I am not kidding about the washing of parcels and if you ask the MPs office they will tell you that when a neighbour took in their parcel she washed it with carbolic soap before handing it over to them!




So today mum, here is the evidence that I have washed my tea towels separately!  And yes I washed them on a 60oC wash and yes I washed my hands before I hung them out and after handling the dirty ones. 

...and yes I have a votes for women tea towel :-)

I really need my daughter to take the pictures for me!

Now while I was in the garden I had a little look around.  I watched the birds, I listened to the birds.  I am in the middle of town and the birds are always here but today there is no background traffic noise.   That makes me happy because the better we all are at staying in and staying safe, the sooner the spread of this virus will slow.

Then we can all go back to seeing our mum's and dad's, hearing them tell us, "I told you so" about many many things!

Bread rising and ready for the oven...

So, today.  What else?  Well obviously more bread!

Some garden appreciation?  And I might do a bit of cleaning and organising...maybe the book shelves or maybe the baking cupboard!  My mum will be pleased. 
"But mum, if I had followed your advice and done all this cleaning and organising already, what would I do now?!"

This is the teenager in me having the last word!!  I win!  And if we stay in, we all win.  Our loved ones will be safer, our NHS will be able to manage, and we will come out of this the other side.

Stay in, tell your mum (or dad) that it is a good job you put off the cleaning, and stay safe.

Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Tonight I made nana's Barrovian pies!

Barrovian pies!

So last night I had a rest....tonight I made pies...Barrovian pies! 

I once asked my nana what made them 'Barrow pies' as opposed to 'just pies'.  She said it was because they were really nice!  So tonight I made really nice pies!

Cheese and onion with a little bit of very small pieces of potato...maybe that's the Barrovian bit? 


Who knows but my nana's word was final and who wouldn't trust someone wearing sunglasses such as these?!

Nana making us all laugh in her borrowed sunglasses!

 My nana was also the star of a selfie!  This photo was towards the end of her life and she was very impressed with my daughter's #nanaselfie which was a storm on twitter!

#nanaselfie

My nana also helped start our With Love from Isabel  fund.  When the Centre first opened she used to give me money to 'put in my drawer for people who need it', 'for whatever they might need, especially something nice or a treat'.  She gave it with such kindness that a few years down the line we thought that when people are in difficulties and need a little bit of extra help, we should give them help with love and in the form of a gift.  We have got some lovely envelopes, gift cards and paper so that when people need extra help they receive a gift rather than money from a 'crisis fund'. 

So nana...your Barrovian pie explanation may be a bit lacking but your help to start our With Love from Isabel  fund means we will accept it anyway!

Another french knitting mat whilst I was resting last night

I really don't know what I am going to do with all these knitted mats! 

I need to keep busy baking rather than watching box sets on TV (this is when I knit the mats) as I think friends and colleagues might appreciate the bread and cakes more than a knitted mat!

A big hello to Kerry tonight who I know is still recovering at home.  Looking forward to seeing you again in a few weeks/months when you are well and everyone is back at work.

Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Today Grahame is my favourite person

Grahame at Connexions was my favourite person today but before that....

Some coasters made out of french knitting!

...I am trying moving pictures!  This is what happens when we all stay in...learning new skills that may or may not be useful!

I might have to learn to type quicker next as the moving images catching my eye as I type are either making me sea sick or causing some mild hypnotism.  Either way I am starting to sway!

Tonight I have made more bread...

...and just like that I have remembered it is still rising!!!  

Phew...just in time to put it in the oven.  Any longer and it would have been ruined.

The remembered just in time bread!

And back to Grahame.

Me this morning, "Grahame, I need 4 laptops, preferrably in the next hour".

Normally this would not be a problem for any supplier who would be very happy to supply such goods (and probably charge extra for the 'rush job').

Today Grahame said, "Oh!"  What he meant was, "You have to be joking, they are currently as available as hen's teeth".

Me, "it is so more of our staff can carry on working from home! And I have another 4 things on my list I need!"

20 minutes later, Grahame calls, "I have reserved you 4 laptops.  I am not sure how I found them and they are within your budget and the price of them is not inflated (apparently some stockists are inflating their prices because they are in such demand)".

Me, "Yippee!"

And that is why Grahame is my favourite person today.  Because tomorrow they will help another 4 of our staff continue to support women and young people who are currently at home and in need of help and support.

Today I remembered...there are lots of Grahame's in this world...tomorrow I hope you all find yours.

Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx