Foodie Penpals, June
The weeks have been flying by of late, a whir of headache inducing responsibilities for my day job and a huge growth spurt in the garden, all competing for my time and energy when, quite frankly, I'd rather be lying in the sun with a large glass of ice cold wine and reading my book. Oh well, the devil makes work for idle hands so they say so perhaps I am better occupied. A welcome distraction to the chores of earning a crust was the arrival at the end of the month of my latest Foodie Penpal box, from fellow blogger Anne who blogs at randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.co.uk. Anne lives in Lincolnshire and gave me the choice of receiving some local delicacies to which I happily agreed. I'm so glad I did, it was another lovely parcel with a sweet letter explaining each item and again, most of it has now been eaten!
Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese - Lincolnshire's most famous cheese, made from unpasteurised milk by Simon and Tim Jones and their pampered 'girls' (do have a look at their website for the sweet video of their automatic cow brusher). This is a hard cheese, matured for 14-24 months and has a sweet, nutty flavour which varies slightly with the season. This is particularly nice to eat with one of the other items included in the parcel, the Lincolnshire Plum Bread.
Lincolnshire Plum Bread - a traditional fruited bread used to feed farmworkers in the fields. This would have been made with lard centuries ago but is now normally made with butter. The 'plum' refers to dried fruits which are usually soaked in tea to make the loaf extra moist.
Grantham Gingerbread - this I had not heard of before but it has a long history, dating back from at least the 1700s. It's so synonymous with Grantham that babies born in the town are referred to as 'Grantham Gingerbreads' and the local football team have the nickname 'The Gingerbreads'. The gingerbread itself is a small pale dome shaped biscuit with a honeycombed centre. My only previous known fact from Grantham before this was that it was Mrs T's birthplace.
Mr Huda's Mango Chutney - made in Scunthorpe and bearing the rather tempting description of 'simply divine'. This will go very well with our regular curries.
In addition to the wonderful local products, Anne included a selection of coffee and tea and Dutch 'hagelslag' (basically chocolate sprinkles). These are eaten on bread for breakfast and are something I am very familiar with having a Dutch mother. Surprisingly there are links between Holland and Lincolnshire. Both face the North Sea and are famous for their flat landscapes and have areas of land reclaimed from the sea. South Holland is an actual area in Lincolnshire and there is also a village called New Holland too. Interestingly, Lincolnshire is where my mother lives too, perhaps she feels at home in the similar landscape!
Thank you Anne, this was a lovely parcel with many delicious new things.
Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese - Lincolnshire's most famous cheese, made from unpasteurised milk by Simon and Tim Jones and their pampered 'girls' (do have a look at their website for the sweet video of their automatic cow brusher). This is a hard cheese, matured for 14-24 months and has a sweet, nutty flavour which varies slightly with the season. This is particularly nice to eat with one of the other items included in the parcel, the Lincolnshire Plum Bread.
Lincolnshire Plum Bread - a traditional fruited bread used to feed farmworkers in the fields. This would have been made with lard centuries ago but is now normally made with butter. The 'plum' refers to dried fruits which are usually soaked in tea to make the loaf extra moist.
Grantham Gingerbread - this I had not heard of before but it has a long history, dating back from at least the 1700s. It's so synonymous with Grantham that babies born in the town are referred to as 'Grantham Gingerbreads' and the local football team have the nickname 'The Gingerbreads'. The gingerbread itself is a small pale dome shaped biscuit with a honeycombed centre. My only previous known fact from Grantham before this was that it was Mrs T's birthplace.
Mr Huda's Mango Chutney - made in Scunthorpe and bearing the rather tempting description of 'simply divine'. This will go very well with our regular curries.
In addition to the wonderful local products, Anne included a selection of coffee and tea and Dutch 'hagelslag' (basically chocolate sprinkles). These are eaten on bread for breakfast and are something I am very familiar with having a Dutch mother. Surprisingly there are links between Holland and Lincolnshire. Both face the North Sea and are famous for their flat landscapes and have areas of land reclaimed from the sea. South Holland is an actual area in Lincolnshire and there is also a village called New Holland too. Interestingly, Lincolnshire is where my mother lives too, perhaps she feels at home in the similar landscape!
Thank you Anne, this was a lovely parcel with many delicious new things.
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