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A week or so of leftovers, dusting the cobwebs off at the beach and recipe of the week is a seeded soda bread.

Last piece of Panettonne

I lift my head out the tin of Panettone for the last time, an amazing smell that lifts the spirits, the antidote to the decorations coming down slowly one by one round the house and then ultimately the tree. There's just a slither left of the Pannettone, from the boy who didn't make it home in time for breakfast after the new year! It's just me so I can't face using the grill/broiler on the main oven. It's a too chunky for the toaster even after slicing it in two, so I spread a layer of Bonne Maman Blueberry Jam on one half. Then sandwich the pieces together and place in the cheese toasty maker. Wow! In one way I'm glad there is none left after this piece....in another way.....why haven't I tried this before!

It's been a week of left overs, gradually working through the goodies in the fridge. There's been the odd top up of milk¹, bread and the odd bit of greenery. Strong believers in not wasting food. As a result the cookbooks have remained closed in terms of use. It's mainly been down to imagination, and memory. The odd bit of fresh veg to supplement pecking at the freezer and the odds and ends from the chiller. The last bit of custard I have on a crumble. We've even got a tub of Cadburys Hero's left on the counter and in an act of mercy I'm gradually getting through. The calories all feel justified as the temperature hovers around freezing and below. The house barely getting to a warm state before the heating clicks off again and we are back round the daily cycle.

Getting Out There - Gullane

Bright light for the soul, we made it out to the coast this morning, a lovely loop around to Gullane. I dressed up like a michellin man in order to combat the cold. Amazing to see snow on the hills against the blue. The sea, the beach the sky, it's like the new year should have started a few days later. It also makes the decorations coming down all that easier. I make a strong case for keeping the lights up the wooden stairs another night. There's writing and thinking to be done...along with eating that last piece of Pannettone!

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Recipe of the week, or in my case the last three weeks has been the seeded soda bread of ZOE/Tim Spector fame. I’ve thrown various different tweaks at it in order to sweap up odds and ends from the cupboard and it’s coped admirably. Even tried different ways of baking, and swapped butter milk in for kefir. My only gripe…it’s not a cheap bread to make! My version of ingredients, incorporates the tweaks I made along the way.

Seeded Soda Bread

Soda Bread, dutch oven vs loaf tin

Ingredients:

• 70g soft pitted prunes or dried figs

• 175g wholemeal rye flour or spelt

• 60g ground flaxseed

• 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

• ½ tsp sea salt

• 230g mix of seeds and nuts

• 35g jumbo or porridge oats

• 300ml kefir/butter milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4

2. Line a 2lb loaf tin or a dutch oven with baking parchment.

3. Soak the dired fruit in 80ml boiling water.

4. In a bowl, mix the dried ingredients together²

5. Add the kefir or buttermilk to the prunes and their soaking liquid. Blitz with a hand-blender until smooth.

6. Pour this into the bowl of dry ingredients, mixing very gently until you have a wet dough.

7. Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf tin. Score a ½cm-deep line down the middle of the loaf.

8. Bake for 45 minutes³ Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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1. Should read Gallons of the stuff, I think the boys bathe in it.

2. The original recipe suggests keeping some oats back for decorating. Our first try they all fall off anyway so didn’t bother after that. Also recipe suggests added 30g extra flour if going to bake free form on a baking tray which would make it easy to handle. Never tried this method.

3. Recipe suggests turning upside down for five minutes, if you are using the oats for decoration this was a disaster. Tried a couple of times, not sure made much difference.