THESE STRANGE TIMES

It's now been 8 weeks since all my work dried up, the house is spotless, the garden immaculate and my hands are red raw. I've had plenty of time to reflect on what impact this Coronavirus is going to have on my future. My industry has been very hard hit, my main job is covering sports events for the television, there is no sport happening and no one has any idea when it might be coming back. So in the meantime I am going back to something I started developing a few years ago, my baking and jam business.

Since moving to the Kent countryside 5 years ago my 2 boys have grown up (children do that) and one has flown the nest, I have found myself with so much more time on my hands and have been able to indulge in my passions of cooking and gardening, they compliment each other so well. I try to make my jams and chutneys only from produce from the garden, obviously mangoes don't grow so well in the UK, even down here in the warm Garden of England and anything I can't grow I always source from local grower, I love a trip to the Pick Your Own farm! I am trying to grow an avocado tree from its stone... so far its got a root! I've also decided that making more traditional British fruit jams sounds exciting and combining the fruit with a dash of alcohol spruces up an otherwise standard jam. Who doesn't love a Strawberry & Champagne Jam or an Orange & Whisky Marmalade. This year I will add Rhubarb & Gin Jam (I've got a glut of rhubarb in the garden) alongside Raspberry & Vodka Jam later in the year.

As for the cakes, I usually make at least one a week for people at work who have birthdays but I don't get to see them now so I'm making them for the family, when I say family I mostly mean me! I'm becoming an expert on Gluten Free cakes as my husband suffers from Coeliac disease, its been fun trying out different recipes and adapting old ones. If I get an "It's alright" from him I know it tastes good, he's never been one for using superlatives! I've also enjoyed trying Vegan baking and the challenges that brings with finding substitutes. Quite often though if you don't tell anyone they can't actually tell the difference.

The latest addition to my repertoire are cookies, I've been teaching myself how to decorate them in a variety of ways from flooding to fondant to buttercream, its amazing what you can learn from YouTube! I'm loving my Jar of Hearts at the moment, 12 hearts decorated in whatever colour you choose sent with a special personalised message. Just perfect for these times when we can't see each other and want to let people know we are thinking about them.

Stay safe everyone and I'll speak to you soon.