Emily Davenport
I am Managing Editor of the Dairy Diary and Dairy Cookbooks. I am also Media Manager for Eaglemoss Consumer Publications.I have worked with Dairy Diary since 1999 and it was my first ‘proper’ job since leaving uni. Here are a few facts about me:

What is your role within Dairy Diary?
As Managing Editor, my main role is to come up with new book ideas, plan each book, put a team together to work on it and ensure it’s produced to quality, time and budget. I also manage the social media, public relations and assist with marketing and production issues too. Oh and I make the coffee!

What’s the best thing about working on Dairy Diary?
The variety – every day is different. Because we are such a small team, I get involved in every aspect of each project.

What’s the worst thing about working on Dairy Diary?
Working with food all the time – it makes me want to eat constantly!

Tell us something we don’t know about you
I am really good at reverse parking but really bad at making lasagne!

In my spare time I am a linoprinter; at the moment I am producing small single-colour animal prints.

What are your favourite things in life?
My children – Isaac, Jasmine and Maisy; my fiancé Rich; laughing; good food, good wine, countryside walks and lino printing.

What is your favourite Dairy Diary or Dairy Cookbook recipe?
Very difficult to choose just one! Probably lamb shanks following by tiramisu. I made both of these on my first date with my fiancé!

Lamb Shanks
a favourite dish from
The Dairy Book of Home Cookery.

Tiramisu
This tiramisu recipe is taken from Just One Pot Dairy Cookbook, and is available to buy online for just £7.00. Using only one ‘pot’ per recipe it is full of easy meals – and very little washing up!
If you would like one, hurry! Stocks are running low.

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One of Britain’s favourite lamb dishes.

Serves 4
Time 2¼ hrs
Cals 952 per portion
Fat 52g of which 25.2g is saturated
Suitable for freezing

Olive oil 1 tbsp
Butter 25g (1oz)
Lamb shanks 4
Onion 1, peeled and sliced
Plain flour 2 tbsp
Mixed ground spice 2 tsp
Oranges 2 large, pared rind and juice
Lamb or chicken stock 300ml (½ pint)
Ready-to-eat dried apricots 250g (9oz)
Herby couscous to serve, optional

1 Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. In a large flameproof casserole dish, heat olive oil and butter until sizzling. Then add lamb shanks and cook for about 2 minutes each side, until browned. Remove from casserole and set aside. Fry onion until just golden.

2 Stir flour and spice into casserole and add orange rind and juice and stock.

3 Bring to boil, stirring, and then return lamb shanks and coat well with liquid. 4 Add apricots and season. Cover with greaseproof paper to stop excess evaporation, cover with a lid and cook for 2 hours, turning over lamb after 1 hour. Serve on bed of couscous, if using.

Recipe taken from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery.

Preparation time 15 minutes, plus 1 hour chilling
Calories per portion 572 Kcal
Fat per portion 37g of which saturated 20.6g
Serves 4
Suitable for vegetarians

Sponge fingers 75g (6oz)
Strong espresso coffee 125ml (4fl oz)
Coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua or rum 4 tbsp
Eggs 3, yolks only
Caster sugar 75g (3oz)
Mascarpone 250g pot
Cocoa powder for decorating

1 Break half the sponge fingers into small enough pieces to fit into the bottom of four tumbler glasses. In a measuring jug, mix together the coffee and liqueur and pour half over the biscuits.

2 In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light, thick and fluffy. Then gradually whisk in the mascarpone. Spoon half the mascarpone mixture on top of the coffee and liqueur and sift over a layer of cocoa powder. Then add the remaining sponge fingers and coffee and liqueur, followed by the rest of the mascarpone.

3 Chill for at least an hour so that the flavours have time to develop. Before serving, lightly sift cocoa powder over the top to decorate.

Cook’s tip
For a richer version, swap the cocoa powder for grated chocolate.

Didn’t everything seem magical as a child? Days were longer and sunnier, grass was greener, and in my day meadows still existed!

Despite the nation’s obsession with reality TV, computer games and the internet…

I am determined to ensure
my children’s childhoods
are just as magical,
carefree and fun.

This weekend is Museums at Night Weekend

This sounds really exciting (though potentially spooky at somewhere like the Natural History Museum!) with different events all over the country. Including: Dust off your art books and exchange them for fresh ones at The Crescent in Scarborough, join other sketchers for a live drawing session at The Liver, or heat things up with a spot of raku firing at The Biscuit Factory.

Though I really fancy the art book swap, it’s a bit far for us to trek, so we will opt for Bizarre Bazaar and Return of the Leeches at our local museum, The Brampton – sounds intriguing!

The National Trust have also launched a venture to encourage children to play, with their 50 Things To Do Before You’re 11¾ list.

This includes: run around in the rain; eat an apple picked straight from the tree; feed a bird from your hand; visit an island and find some frogspawn. I’m afraid there are a couple of there that I am too late to achieve: find a geocache (never existed before I was 11¾) and bring up a butterfly.

Luckily I can tick all the others off my list (25 years late!) The most memorable for me must be go on a nature walk at night. With my parents and cousin, we walked along a Canadian highway lit by the light of a full moon with the local forest ranger. He called to some local wolves, who all howled back (including their pups). It was breathtaking!

So what of the 50 things will you do with your children or grandchildren this weekend?
Or will you opt for a drier option indoors at the museum? I’d love to know!

Don’t forget to take your picnic:
try this popular Pigs in Blanket
recipe – made with bread blankets
it makes for great finger food.

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Made with bread blankets these pigs are great finger food.

Makes 8
Time 40 minutes
335 calories per portion
23g fat of which 11.4g is saturated

Medium-sliced white bread 8 slices
Butter 110g (4oz)
Tomato ketchup 3 tbsp
Wholegrain mustard 1 rounded tbsp
Fresh parsley 4 tbsp chopped
Good-quality pork sausages 8, skins removed

1 Preheat oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas 7. Neatly cut crusts off each slice of bread, then gently roll each slice out a little, with a rolling pin, to make thinner.

2 In a small saucepan, gently heat butter and tomato ketchup together until melted, then stir in mustard and parsley.

3 Brush butter mixture over one side of each slice of bread, then place a sausage diagonally across each one. Bring opposite corners up and over sausages to meet in centre, and secure with cocktail sticks.

4 Place wrapped sausages on a baking tray, brush with remaining butter mixture and bake in centre of oven for 20–25 minutes, until sausages are cooked and bread is lightly browned. Serve wrapped in napkins, or with a mixed salad.

This week is National Honey Week. And what a wonderful thing honey is.

Sweet and sticky and delicious; evocative of childhood days spent reading Winnie the Pooh!

It’s so comforting, spread onto freshly made buttered toast. Mmmm.

We have all heard in the media that honeybees are under threat. According to Dr I Davis, President of the Beekeepers’ Association (reported in the Guardian) there are ways we can help:

10 ways to help honeybees

1. Become a beekeeper
Beekeeping is a most enjoyable, fascinating and interesting hobby – and you get to eat your own honey too. Every year local beekeeping associations run courses to help new people to take up beekeeping and even help them find the equipment they need and a colony of bees. Training programmes continue to allow enthusiasts to become Master Beekeepers. For information on courses visit the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) website

2. Help to protect swarms
Swarming is a natural process when colonies of honeybees can increase their numbers. If you see a swarm contact the local authority or the police who will contact a local beekeeper who will collect the swarm and take it away. Honeybees in a swarm are usually very gentle and present very little danger. They can be made aggressive if disturbed or sprayed with water. Just leave them alone and wait for a competent beekeeper to arrive.

3. Plant your garden with bee friendly plants
In areas of the country where there are few agricultural crops, honeybees rely upon garden flowers to ensure they have a diverse diet and to provide nectar and pollen. Encourage honeybees to visit your garden by planting single flowering plants and vegetables. Go for all the allium family, all the mints, all beans except French beans and flowering herbs. Bees like daisy-shaped flowers – asters and sunflowers, also tall plants like hollyhocks, larkspur and foxgloves. Bees need a lot of pollen and trees are a good source of food. Willows and lime trees are exceptionally good. the BBKA has leaflets on bee friendly trees and shrubs.

4. Buy local honey
Local honey will be prepared by local beekeepers. This keeps food miles down and helps the beekeeper to cover the costs of beekeeping. Local honey complies with all food standards requirements but is not mistreated to give it a long shelf life. It tastes quite different to foreign supermarket honey and has a flavour that reflects local flora.

5. Ask your MP to improve research into honey bee health
Beekeepers are very worried that we do not have enough information to combat the diseases that affect honeybees. Pollination by honeybees contributes £165m annually to the agricultural economy. Yet the government only spends £200,000 annually on honeybee research. Beekeepers have costed a five-year, £8m programme to secure the information to save our bees during which time pollination will contribute more than £800m to the government coffers. Even the Defra minister, Lord Rooker, who holds the purse strings to finance this, has said that without this extra research we could lose our honeybees within ten years. Write to MPs in support of the bee health research funding campaign.

6. Find space for a beehive in your garden
Many would-be beekeepers, especially in urban areas, find it difficult to find a safe space for their colony of bees. If you have some space contact your local beekeeping association and they could find a beekeeper in need of a site. It is amazing what a difference a beehive will make to your garden. Crops of peas and beans will be better, fruit trees will crop well with fruit that is not deformed and your garden will be buzzing!

7. Remove jars of foreign honey from outside the back door
Believe it or not but honey brought in from overseas contains bacteria and spores that are very harmful to honeybees. If you leave a honey jar outside it encourages honeybees to feed on the remaining honey. There is a good possibility that this will infect the bee and in turn the bee will infect the rest of the colony resulting in death of the colony. Always wash out honey jars and dispose of them carefully.

8. Encourage local authorities to use bee friendly plants in public spaces
Some of the country’s best gardens and open spaces are managed by local authorities. Recently these authorities have recognised the value of planning gardens, roundabouts and other areas with flowers that attract bees. Encourage your authority to improve the area you live in by adventurous planting schemes. These can often be maintained by local residents if the authority feels they do not have sufficient resources.

9. Learn more about this fascinating insect
Beekeeping is fascinating. Honeybees have been on this earth for about 25 million years and are ideally adapted to their natural environment. Without honeybees the environment would be dramatically diminished. Invite a beekeeper to come and talk to any local group you support and give an illustrated talk about the honeybee and the products of the hive. They might bring a few jars of honey too Honeybees are a part of our folklore and are one of only two insect species that are managed to provide us with essential services.

10. Bee friendly
When kept properly, bees are good neighbours, and only sting when provoked. Beekeepers wear protective clothing when they are handling bees. If a bee hovers inquiringly in front of you when unprotected, do not flap your hands. Stay calm and move slowly away, best into the shade of shed or a tree. The bee will soon lose interest. It is worth remembering that bees do not like the smell of alcohol on people, the “animal” smell of leather clothing, even watchstraps. Bees regard dark clothing as a threat – it could be a bear! Bees are sometimes confused by scented soaps, shampoos and perfumes, best avoided near the hive.

Try this delicious recipe and search for more honey recipes  in the “Recipe Search”.

Honey Blancmange
Honey can be used in many different ways in cooking.
There are five honey recipes in the new edition
The Dairy Book of Home Cookery.

Available to buy online now.

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Serves 4
Preparation 15 mins plus chilling
Cooking 5 mins
Per portion 166 kcals
Suitable for vegetarians

6g fat (3.5g saturated)
40g (1½oz) cornflour
600ml (1 pint) milk
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
15g (½oz) butter

1 Blend cornflour to a smooth paste with a little milk.

2 Warm remaining milk and combine with cornflour paste, then return to saucepan.

3 Cook, stirring, until mixture comes to the boil and thickens. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.

4 Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.

5 Pour into a 600ml (1 pint) mould, first rinsed with cold water, then cool. Chill until cold. Turn out on to a plate.

Recipe taken from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery.

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I have been browsing through one of our household tips books, researching features for the 2014 Dairy Diary and it got me thinking about the tips my mum has passed on to me.

It’s quite incredible how technology has advanced in the last 30 years or so and, as a consequence, the way we look after our homes has changed dramatically.

I think we have lost some
valuable skills and knowledge
through the generations.

There is some very simple advice Mum has passed on, such as, leaving the covers back each morning to air the bed and putting a pudding in the oven whilst the roast is cooking (to make the most of the energy used). We always used to have a good old-fashioned rice pudding or egg custard after our Sunday roast.

It’s about time I revived this tradition I think, especially in an age when being ‘green’ is so important. I even remember her using something called Economy Seven, where she would put the washing machine on during the night when electricity was cheaper. Does anyone else remember this?

Mum isn’t a keen cook, but she always baked with me as a child as she knew how much I loved it.

Most vividly, I remember making sweets, such as peppermint creams and coconut ice.

We used to give them as gifts. Such fond memories, thanks Mum!

In homage to those halcyon days, I am going to do my best to persuade my train loving, baking-reluctant little boy to make some of these cute little sweets with me at the weekend.

This Coconut Ice recipe is taken from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery, a family heirloom in its own right! Many sons and daughters have been given one by their mum upon leaving home. Still full of those crucial basics we all love, with the addition of some new classics, the 2012 edition is available to buy online at the Dairy Diary website.

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Makes 50
Preparation 15 mins plus setting
Cooking 25 mins
Per portion 52 kcals
2g fat (1.3g saturated)
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

75ml (2½fl oz) milk
450g (1lb) granulated sugar
15g (½oz) butter
110g (4oz) desiccated coconut
½ tsp vanilla extract
Pink food colouring

1 Pour milk and 75ml (2½fl oz) water into a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Add sugar and butter. Heat slowly, stirring, until sugar dissolves and butter melts. Bring to the boil. Cover pan and boil gently for 2 minutes.

2 Uncover and continue to boil steadily, stirring occasionally, for 7–10 minutes or until a little of the mixture, dropped into a cup of cold water, forms a soft ball when rolled gently between finger and thumb. Temperature on sugar thermometer, if using, should be 116°C (240°F). Remove from heat.

3 Add coconut and vanilla. Beat briskly until mixture is thick and creamy. Pour half into an 18cm (7in) square tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Quickly colour remainder pale pink with food colouring. Spread over white layer. Leave in the tin until firm and set. Cut into squares.

Recipe taken from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery

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Just a three days left to enter our Facebook sweepstake!

Fancy waking to the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread every morning?

Well you can if you enter the
Dairy Diary sweepstake and
win this fabulous Morphy
Richards Easy Use Breadmaker.

The Morphy Richards Easy Use breadmaker is far more than just a bread machine.

It features three different loaf sizes and five different crust settings with a 12-hour delay timer so you can wake up to fresh bread every morning. Over 50 recipes are included in the instruction book, so you can make full use of the 13 different programmes to make all kinds of bread as well as pizza doughs, cakes, desserts and even jams and marmalades.

Enter the Dairy Diary Facebook sweepstake today.

Good luck.

We are a small group but each one of us very different…..this month Graham, our marketing and design guru.

What is your role within Dairy Diary?
I help Nick and Emily with the Dairy Diary and Dairy Cookbook marketing strategies, and design marketing materials such as leaflets, adverts and the website. In addition, I have designed the last five Dairy Cookbooks.

What’s the best thing about working on Dairy Diary?
It’s a privilege to work on a product that has such a long heritage and is loved by so many people.

What’s the worst thing about working on Dairy Diary?
Working with food images means that it is very difficult to forget about eating. And I snack far too much! (Note to self: lock fridge door)

Tell us something we don’t know about you
I have fallen in love with live music again and will be found at The Cambridge Rock Festival in August, camping for all four days and enjoying the fabulous rock music, great food (Tibetan, Caribbean, veggie, etc) and 70 real ales!

What are your favourite things in life?
Other than my wife, kids and new puppy? Well, I love the mountains; rock climbing, walking, skiing… anything which gets me into the mountains. The more remote the better.

What is your favourite Dairy Diary or Dairy Cookbook recipe?
It has to be Ginger and Banana Sponge Pudding with Hot Toffee Sauce and served with real custard. It is so, so good; everything a pudding should be and then some.

Ginger and Banana Sponge Pudding
with Hot Toffee Sauce
If you ever need a recipe that is the
definition of comfort food – this is it!
Let it gently steam away while you
enjoy the wonderful aromas.

Recipe taken from The New Dairy Cookbook

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Serves 6
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Butter, 110g (40z) + extra for greasing
Light muscovado sugar, 11Og (4oz)
Eggs, 2, beaten
Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
Self-raising flour, 11Og (4oz) ~
Ground ginger, ½ teaspoon
Salt, pinch
Bananas, 2 medium
Milk, 2 tablespoons
Stem ginger in syrup, 4 pieces + 3 tablespoons of the syrup from the jar

Sauce:
Golden syrup, 4 tablespoons
Butter, 50g (2oz)

1 In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then stir in the vanilla extract.Sift in the flour, ground ginger and salt, then fold in lightly using a large metal spoon.

2 Using a fork or potato masher, mash the bananas thoroughly, then fold them into the creamed mixture with the milk.

3 Butter a 900ml (1½ pint) pudding basin. Slice the stem ginger and place it in the bottom of the basin with the 3 tablespoons of syrup from the jar. Spoon over the creamed mixture and level the surface. Cover the basin tightly with a piece of buttered foil.

4 Steam the pudding in a steamer or a large saucepan for 2 hours 15 minutes, making sure that the water does not boil dry, and topping up with boiling water as needed.

5 Allow the pudding to cool slightly whilst you make the sauce. Gently heat the syrup and butter together, then simmer for 1 minute. Remove the foil from the pudding, run a knife around the edge to loosen it, then invert onto a large plate. Serve with the sauce.

Cook’s tips
If cooking in a saucepan, the water needs to be about one-third of the way up the pudding basin.
To measure syrup, warm a metal spoon in boiling water or over a gas flame so that the syrup slides off easily.
Custard or single cream could be served with the pudding.

Recipe taken from The New Dairy Cookbook

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Win Win Win! A fabulous breadmaker for National Bread Week

My other half is a baker and so I am spoilt with freshly baked bread on a regular basis.

Many people shy away from making their own bread, but it can be incredibly rewarding. I have to admit though, on days when time is short (frequently!) we do turn to our breadmaker. It’s so easy and the aroma and taste you get for so little effort is fantastic.

Obviously, to eat too much of anything is not good for you, but bread really does get a bad press. In reality, one slice has only around 85 calories and less than 1g of fat. It’s usually what we put on the bread that adds the calories!

This week is National Bread Week,
so don your pinny and get baking!

Try these fabulous Sally Lunns or Traditional Bread Rolls, both from the Around Britain Dairy Cookbook.

And for those days when time is precious…. Win a Morphy Richards Breadmaker

Enter the competition here. Good luck! 

P.S. Give your friends a chance to win too! Share this competition on Facebook (Share this : Facebook below).

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Preparation time – 10 minutes plus soaking and proving time
Cooking time – 15 minutes
Calories per roll – 144 Kcal
Fat per roll – 3g of which saturated – 1.6g
Makes – 18 rolls
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Wholemeal bread
Warm water 450ml (16fl oz)
Caster sugar 4 tsp
Traditional dried active yeast 1 tbsp
Wholemeal flour 680g (11⁄2lb), plus a little extra for sifting
Salt 2 tsp
Butter 50g (2oz)
Milk 300ml (1⁄2 pint), warm
Egg 1 large beaten with 2 tbsp milk
Oats for sifting, optional

White bread
Warm water 150ml (1⁄4 pint)
Caster sugar 4 tsp
Traditional dried active yeast 1 tbsp
Organic strong plain flour 680g (11⁄2lb)
Salt 2 tsp
Butter 50g (2oz)
Milk 300ml (1⁄2 pint), warm
Egg 1 large beaten with 2 tbsp milk
Oats for sifting, optional

1 Place 150ml (1⁄4 pint) of the warm water in a bowl or jug, add 1 tsp of the sugar and the yeast. Whisk well, then cover with cling film and leave to stand in a warm place for 15 minutes until a 5cm (2in) froth forms.

2 Meanwhile, sift the flour, remaining sugar and salt into a bowl, rub in the butter and make a well.

3 Whisk the yeast mixture and add to the flour, along with the remaining water and milk. Mix to a dough, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and very elastic. Or mix with a dough hook in an electric mixer.

4 Cut the dough into 18 equally sized pieces and shape each one into a smooth ball. Place the balls on greased and lightly floured baking trays – well spaced apart. Loosely cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size and retains an impression when lightly pressed with the tip of a finger – about 30 minutes.

5 To bake, preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8. The risen rolls may be sifted with flour and oats before baking, or brushed with milk or milk and beaten egg. Bake for 10–15 minutes until well risen, golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the base. Cool on a wire rack.

Cook’s tip
The ideal temperature for the warm water is ‘blood heat’, which is when the water feels neither hot nor cold when a finger is dipped into it.

Recipe taken from Around Britain Dairy Cookbook

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Preparation time – 15 minutes plus 30–45 minutes proving
Cooking time – 20 minutes
Calories per roll – 602 Kcal
Fat per roll – 17g of which saturated – 8.4g
Serves – 4
Suitable for vegetarians

Strong plain flour 500g (1lb 2oz)
Fast-acting dried yeast 7g sachet
Salt 1 tsp
Eggs 2, lightly beaten
Milk 300ml (½ pint), warmed to blood heat
Butter 50g (2oz) melted

1 Tip the flour into a bowl and stir in the yeast and salt. Reserve about 1 tbsp beaten egg, then beat the rest with the milk and butter and pour into the flour mixture. Mix together well to give a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until it is stretchy.

2 Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7 and butter two 18cm (7in) sandwich tins.

3 Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flattish round ball and place in the sandwich tins. Cover with oiled cling film and leave them in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.

4 Brush the reserved egg over the top of the loaves to glaze them. Bake the loaves towards the top of the oven for 15–20 minutes, until they have risen and are a golden colour. When lifted out of the tins, the loaves should sound hollow when tapped on the base – if they don’t, return them to the oven and cook for a little longer.

5 Remove the loaves from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Serve them warm or cold, split in half and served as they are or lightly toasted, or fill them with your favourite savoury combination and eat like a sandwich.

Cook’s tip
If you want really glossy and deeper colour crusts, the buns may be brushed with a second coating of extra egg glaze halfway through the cooking process.

Recipe taken from Around Britain Dairy Cookbook

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Celebrate National Bread Week by baking your own bread – it’s easier than you think.

Bread has long been a principal form of food. The British museum has loaves which were baked in Egypt over 5000 years ago!

The first bakers guilds were formed in ancient Rome and baking became a respected profession with about 300 bakers in the city at the time of Christ. The Romans took baking with them as they built their empire.

In the middle ages most landlords had a bakery which was a public oven.

Bread became such an important staple in our diet that in 1202 King John introduced the first laws governing the price of bread.

Today in the UK we can purchase over 200 varieties of bread; but baking your bread is very satisfying and the smell of freshly baked bread is fantastic.

Try this Soda Bread Pizza recipe, it’s great for easy
weekend baking and the kids will love making it too.

Recipe taken from Year Round Dairy Cookbook

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Perfect for a drizzly Saturday at home. Enjoy creating these simple pizzas with the kids and, when the pizzas are cooked, enjoy eating them too!

25 minutes preparation time
20 minutes cooking time
406 Kcal per portion
14.2g fat per portion of which 4.6g is saturated
4 servings

For the topping:
Olive oil 2 tsp
Onion 1 small, peeled and diced
Garlic 1 clove, peeled and crushed
Chopped tomatoes 200g can
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sugar a good pinch
Double Gloucester cheese 75g (3oz), grated
Kabanos sausages 2, totalling 75g (3oz), sliced
Cup mushrooms 75g (3oz), wiped and sliced
Basil 8 leaves, finely shredded, to garnish

For the base:
Plain flour 250g (9oz)
Bicarbonate of soda 1⁄2 rounded tsp
Salt 1⁄2 tsp
Buttermilk 284ml tub

1 Make the tomato paste for the topping first. Heat a small frying pan, add the oil, onion and garlic and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes until softened.

2 Add the tomatoes. Season well, adding sugar. Cook for 8–10 minutes until thickened to a paste.

3 Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/ Gas 8. To make the base, sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. Pour in about 250ml (9fl oz) of the buttermilk and mix, using a fork, to make a soft but not too sticky dough. Add more of the buttermilk if you need to, or more flour if it gets too sticky.

4 Put the dough onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Knead briefly then divide it into four. Form each piece into a ball and place it on a greased heavy baking sheet. Flatten out with your knuckle each to a 15cm (6in) round.

5 Spread the tomato paste over each pizza, almost to the edge. Scatter with half the cheese, then the slices of sausage, the mushrooms, basil and, lastly, the rest of the cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm with salad.

Recipe taken from Year Round Dairy Cookbook

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The British love affair with asparagus dates back hundreds of years, and it is also said to be a powerful aphrodisiac.

In 19th-century France, bridegrooms were served three courses of the spears at their prenuptial dinner.

Asparagus ‘stirs up lust in man and woman’, 
wrote English herbalist Nicholas Culpepper 
in the 17th century.

Asparagus is a good source of potassium, fibre, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, thiamin and folic acid. The latter is said to boost histamine production which has an aphrodisiac effect on both men and women.

Asparagus is a member of the lily family. Under ideal conditions, it can grow an astonishing 10 inches in a 24 hour period.

The Romans brought it to England and by the 16th century all the royal courts were mad for it. By the 17th century, asparagus was being grown commercially and one of the main areas it was grown in was Battersea in London. They called it Battersea Bundles!

Try these two asparagus recipes this week:

Asparagus Risotto
Recipe taken from Dairy Diary.

Asparagus withPoached Eggs

Recipe taken from Year Round Round Dairy Cookbook.

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Serves 4
Time 40 mins
Calories 518 per portion
Fat 20g of which 11.9g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians

Butter 25g (1oz)
Shallots 4, peeled and finely chopped
Garlic 1 clove, peeled and crushed
Risotto rice 300g (11oz)
White wine 150ml (¼ pint)
Hot vegetable stock 900ml (1½ pints)
Small asparagus spears 125g pack, trimmed
Frozen peas 110g (4oz)
Chopped flat-leaf parsley 2 tbsp
Stilton cheese 150g (5oz), cubed

1 Melt butter in a sauté pan and fry shallots and garlic for 3–4 minutes until softened. Stir in rice and fry for a further minute. Pour in wine and simmer to evaporate off.

2 Gradually stir in hot stock, cooking for 18–20 minutes, until rice is tender, and all stock has been absorbed.

3 About 5 minutes towards end of cooking time, add asparagus and peas.

4 Before serving, stir in parsley and half cheese, then season to taste. Spoon into bowls, scatter over remaining cheese and serve immediately.

A Dairy Diary recipe.

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DAYS OUT FOR FREE!

Enjoy the long Easter weekend and take advantage of the huge choice of days out that won’t cost a penny.

It’s Easter this weekend and many of us will be enjoying a couple of extra days off. What will you get up to?

I would like my Easter to be a
mixture of baking, days out,
crafting and relaxing (no chance!)

As a mum of three, I am on a strict budget and cheap days out are a must.

Here is the Dairy Diary’s essential guide to days out for free:

Scotland

McManus Galleries Albert Square, Dundee, Angus
www.mamanus.co.uk
Dundee’s main art gallery and museum, is a remarkable Gothic building where art, history and the environment combine to offer a fascinating glimpse into Dundee’s colourful past.

National Gallery of Scotland The Mound, Edinburgh, Midlothian
www.natgalscot.ac.uk
The gallery exhibits an outstanding collection of art by the greatest artists from the renaissance to post-impressionism.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, Midlothian
www.natgalscot.ac.uk
A fine collection of prints, paintings and sculpture from the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Kylerhea Otter Haven Strathoich, Fort Augustus, Inverness
www.forestry.gov.uk
A hide perched above the shore of Kyle Rhea, offering the opportunity to watch local otters and other coastal wildlife.

North England

Durham Cathedral The College, Durham, County Durham
www.durhamcathedral.co.uk
A remarkable example of Norman architecture, the present cathedral dates back to the 12^th century.

Whinlatter Forest Park Braithwaite, Keswick, Cumbria
www.forestry.gov.uk/whinlatterforestpark
The only mountain forest in England.  In addition to the stunning scenery there is also an adventure playground, visitor centre and shop.

Lake District Visitor Centre at Brockhole Windermere, Cumbria
www.brockhole.co.uk
Set on the shore of lake Windermere, the centre boasts interactive exhibitions, trails, film auditorium and adventure playground.

Home of Rest for Old Horses Bulrhenny, Richmond Hill, Douglas, Isle of Man
www.iom-horseshome.com
A wonderful retirement home for horses, with museum, café and shop.

Imperial War Museum North The Quays, Trafford, Wharf Road, Trafford Park, Manchester
www.iwm.org.uk
Constructed in 2002, this museum is a real interactive experience with a huge audio visual presentation and thousands of objects from conflicts from the 20^th and 21^st century.  Not to be missed.

The Albert Dock Liverpool, Merseyside
www.albertdock.com
A variety of shops and restaurants on the river Mersey.  The Tate Liverpool and Beatles Story (charges apply) are well worth a visit.

Otterburn Mill Otterburn, Northumberland
www.otterburnmill.co.uk
Mill museum and shop, nursery, tea garden and coffee shop.

Baltic the Centre for Contemporary Art South Shore Road, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
www.balticmill.com
Housed in an imposing building, a former grain warehouse, this is one of the largest centres for contemporary art in Europe.

Henry Moore Institute 74 The Headrow, Leeds, Yorkshire
www.henry-moore-fdn.co.uk
The Henry Moore Institute is a centre dedicated to sculpture. Based in the heart of Leeds, the Institute comprises three integrated elements: exhibitions, research and collections.

National Museum of Photography, Film and Television Little Horton Lane, Bradford, Yorkshire
www.nmpft.org.uk
The Museum’s renowned collection includes more than three million items of historical, social and cultural value. These include three key ‘firsts’: the world’s first negative, the earliest television footage and what is regarded as the world’s first example of moving pictures.

Central England

Kettle’s Yard Castle Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
www.kettlesyard.co.uk
Founded by H.S Jim Ede, former curator of the Tate in London as a ‘refuge of peace and order, of the visual arts and of music’.

Gloucester Cathedral 2 College Green, Gloucester, Gloucestershire
www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk
Constructed in 1089, by order of William the Conqueror, this impressive building has wonderful stained glass windows and architecture to be admired.

Old Dairy Farm Craft Centre Upper Stowe, Nr Weedon, Northamptonshire
www.old-dairy-farm-centre.co.uk
A rural shopping experience with unusual gifts, antiques, delicatessen and restaurant.

Rufford Abbey and Country Park Ollerton, Newark, Nottinghamshire
www.ruffordcraftcentre.org.uk
Gallery, craft shops and ceramics centre, set in picturesque parklands.

Sherwood Pines Forest Park Edwinstowe, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
www.forestry.gov.uk/sherwoodpines
Over 450 acres of ancient woodland, with exhibitions, shops and restaurant.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery Betheseda Street, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
www.stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag
Home of the world’s finest collection of Staffordshire ceramics, there are also art exhibitions, and displays of costume, industry and transport, reflecting the lives of the local people.

Coventry Transport Museum Millennium Place, Hales Street, Coventry, Warwickshire
www.transport-museum.com
Displaying the largest collection of British road transport in the world, this museum tells the story of the history of transport.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3DH
www.bmag.org.uk/birmingham-museum
First opened in 1885, it is housed in a Grade II listed city centre landmark building. There are over 40 galleries to explore that display art, applied art, social history, archaeology and ethnography.

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology Beaumont Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire
www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk
Britain’s oldest public museum, displaying famous collections of art and artefacts from across the world.

South England

Bucks County Museum Church Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
www.buckscc.gov.uk/museum
An award winning museum charting the heritage of Buckinghamshire.  With an art gallery and Roald Dahl children’s gallery (charges apply).

Milton Keynes Gallery Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
www.mk-g.org
Striking building housing exhibitions of contemporary art.

Falmouth Art Gallery The Moor, Falmouth, Cornwall
www.falmouthartgallery.com
One of the leading art collections in Cornwall and features work by old masters, major Victorian artists, British Impressionists, leading maritime artists and contemporary painters and printmakers.

Walford Mill Craft Centre Stone Lane, Wimborne, Dorset
www.walfordmillcrafts.co.uk
This centre showcases the best in contemporary craft and design.  There is a wide range of pottery, textiles, jewellery, wood and metalwork.

Tolpuddle Martyers Museumn TUC Memorial Cottages, Tolpuddle, Dorchester, Dorset
www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk
Charting the famous local story of the farm labourers who were arrested and departed to Australia after forming a trade union in 1834.

Chelmsford Museum and Essex Regiment Museum Oaklands Park, Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, Essex
www.chelmsford.gov.uk
Documenting local and social history, with decorative arts, natural history, and mitilaria.

Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum and Memorial Garden Serle’s House, Southgate Street, Winchester, Hampshire
www.serleshouse.co.uk
Historical artefacts from the history of the Hampshire regiment are on display in this fine Georgian House.

Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery St. Faith’s Street, Maidstone, Kent
www.museum.maidstone.gov.uk
Exhibiting costumes, life size dinosaurs, fossils and even an Egyptian mummy, in an impressive Elizabethan Manor House.

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton, Sussex
www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk/Museums
Re-opened in 2002, this new look museum offers state of the art facilities, fashion, paintings and ceramics.

There are over 50 free museums, galleries and other places to visit in London.  Here is just a small selection.

Freightliners Farm Sheringham Road, Islington, London
www.freightlinersfarm.org.uk
Working city farm, in the centre of Islington.

British Museum Great Russell Street, London
www.thebritishmuseum.org
Founded in 1753 this is the world’s oldest museum. With 2½ miles of galleries.

National Portrait Gallery St Martin’s Place, London
www.npg.org.uk
The largest collection of portraiture in the world.

Tate Britain/ Tate Modern Millbank / Bankside, London
www.tate.org.uk
Some of the best British and contemporary art in the world.

Victoria and Albert Museum Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London
www.vam.ac.uk
An enormous and diverse collection of decorative arts.

Wales

National Museum and Gallery Cardiff Cathays Park, Cardiff
www.nmgw.ac.uk
Journey back in time to discover dinosaurs and woolly mammoths, the secrets of Celtic, Viking and Roman ancestors and Welsh natural history.

National Woollen Museum Dre-Fach Felindre, Llandysul, Carmarthenshire
www.nmgw.ac.uk
Families can have fun following the specially designed trail, ‘A Woolly Tale’, trying their hand at carding, spinning and sewing along the way.

Welsh Slate Museum Llanberis, Gwynedd
www.nmgw.ac.uk
The museum building is sited in the Victorian workshops built in the shadow of Elidir mountain.  Not so much a museum as a pocket of history, showing the relics of the slate industry.

Dylan Thomas Centre Somerset Place, Swansea
www.swansea.gov.uk/dtc
A splendid building which houses a permanent exhibition in celebration of the life and works of Dylan Thomas.

Big Pit National Mining Museum of Wales Blaenafon, Torfaen,
www.nmgw.ac.uk
Discover what life was like as a miner, go 300ft underground, view the exhibitions and multi-media tour.

Northern Ireland

Ballydougan Pottery Bloomvale House, 171 Plantation Road, Portadown, Craigavan, Co Armagh
www.ballydouganpottery.co.uk
This historic thatched house has seen generations of local craftspeople, dating back to 1785.

Armagh County Museum The Mall, East Armagh, Co Armagh
www.nmni.com
An impressive collection of paintings and artefacts reflecting the lives of the local people.

Ulster Museum Botanic Gardens, Belfast
www.nmni.com
As Northern Ireland’s treasure house of the past and present, the museum is home to a rich collection of art, history and natural sciences.

Make a little time to bake something special this Easter

Of course, no Easter is complete without
Simnel cake. Happy Easter everyone!

Simnel Cake