World’s easiest carrot cake(s)

This is one of the easiest cakes ever – throw it all in, mix, put in the oven and it’s done!

Or it would be if I’d remembered to add the carrot!

Preparation Time	15 mins
Cooking Time	30 mins (or 20 mins small cakes)
Suitable for pre-cooking	Yes
Wheat Free	Yes
Sugar Free	Low Sugar
Egg Free	No
Dairy Free	Optional
Gluten Free	Optional

Cake ingredients

60 gr rye flour
50 gr ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp agave syrup (or 75 gr brown sugar)
100 gr sultanas
1 large carrot approx 150 gr coarsely grated
2 eggs

Optional topping ingredients

100 gr cream cheese
rind on an orange grated finely
200 gr icing sugar

Take all the ingredients for the cake and put in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Turn into a 6 in cake tin or 6 small cup cakes. If using the large tin cook in oven 30 minutes at 180^o (not fan) or 20 minutes for small cakes.

Take out of oven and leave until COLD.

That’s it!

Optional

Mix cream cheese and half the icing sugar and orange rind together. You’ll think you need some liquid in the mixture but you don’t. Just keep mixing and the cream will become soft. Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar until the mixture no longer goes “runny” when mixed. When the carrot cake is COLD, spread on the top and use a fork to pattern.

Enjoy!

Wyn

Tomato and chorizo peasant sauce

I was given this receipe by a friend nearly 35 years ago. The tale he told me was that the peasants in Europe made very large quantities of this sauce to have with pasta, sometimes reheating several times over a period of days. The longer the sauce cooked, the more flavour it took on. The first time I tried it I couldn’t believe how few staple ingredients were used, and of course in these days of recession when added to pasta it makes a low cost dish, particularly if cooking for large numbers.

The sauce is versatile and is suitable for accompanying filled and plain pasta, couscous, rice, quorn, jacket potatoes, turkey, chicken or as the base for a stew or casserole.

It is ALWAYS better to pre-cook and with no fresh meat (chorizo and salami are preserved) in the sauce it can be cooked several days before it is needed.

The ingredients below will make enough for 8-12 people. I like to make a large batch and freeze in portions. It saves a lot of labour when you need a quick meal!

Credit to David Able for the original recipe; my version has evolved over the years and so I can’t be sure that it relates exactly to its provinence.

Preparation Time	30 mins
Cooking Time	as long as you’ve got! preferably at least 2 hours
Suitable for pre-cooking	Better pre-cooked
Wheat Free	Yes
Vegetarian, Vegan	Yes
Egg Free	Yes
Dairy Free	Yes
Gluten Free	Yes

Ingredients for the peasant sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 finely chopped large onions
6 finely chopped cloves of garlic
3 400gr tins of chopped tomatoes
1 dsp brown sugar (to counteract the bitterness of burning or “catching”)
Chorizo finely chopped to taste. I used 6 tapas chorizo (about 150gr) but you can use any type of chorizo or salami
Approx 1 pint of stock
1/2 tsp of herbs de Provence (or mixed herbs will do)
1/4 tsp of salt
pinch of pepper

Dice the onions and garlic finely. I usually use a wok for this sauce because as the liquid evaporates, the sauce splatters the hob (refer back to my predilection for a tidy kitchen!) Put the vegetable oil, onions and garlic in the wok and brown.

Add three tins of tomatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer for about an hour. As the sauce starts to thicken, gradually add the stock.

This sauce gains its flavour by drying and sticking very slightly to the bottom of the wok; the burning or “catching” of the sauce gives a rich rustic flavour – hence being christened peasant sauce. Taste the sauce 1/4 of an hour before serving; season with salt, pepper, herbs and sugar to taste.

Enjoy!

Wyn

Lamb casserole with rye and spelt dumplings

Preparation Time	30 mins
Cooking Time	approx 1 hour 40 mins
Suitable for pre-cooking	Yes
Wheat Free	Yes
Sugar Free	Yes
Egg Free	Yes
Dairy Free	Optional
Gluten Free	Optional

Ingredients for the casserole

1 kg well trimmed shoulder of lamb, cubed
1 tbsp spelt flour for coating lamb
2 tbsp oil
2 large onions – chopped
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
cannellini beans (you can use a tin – it saves a lot of work!)
Approx 1 pint of stock

Ingredients for the rye and spelt dumplings

100gr spelt flour
100gr rye flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
tsp cayenne pepper
Water to mix (about 10 tbsp or enough to make a firm but pliable dough – I usually add the water gradually or you end up with a runny mess)

Cut the onions into half, quarter and then about 3. Put just under half the oil into a wok or frying pan and brown slightly. Transfer onions to a plate while you prepare the lamb.

Trim the lamb and coat in spelt flour (you can do this by popping the meat into a plastic bag with the flour and shaking about a bit – if you are like me and don’t like a mess, this is the most effective way of doing it!).

Heat the rest of the oil in in the same wok or frying pan and brown the coated meat. (Sometimes you need a little more oil if it gets too dry – note that a little “catching” where the meat burns slightly, will enhance the flavour). Add the already pre-browned onions.

Add approx a pint of stock (you can use any type including home made stock but sometimes the home made stock might need a bit of extra seasoning). Stir round and check none of the flour or meat is left sticking to the bottom of the pan. Bring to the boil and transfer the hot mixture to a covered caserole dish and put in an over 180^o for about an hour. You can use a fan at this point.

Add the cannellini beans, check the casserole isn’t drying out (if it looks too dry, add some more stock as in 15 minutes you are going to add the dumplings and they will dry out the mixture a little) and return to the oven for 15 minutes. You need the casserole mixture to be piping hot when you add the dumplings.

Sift all the dry dumpling ingredients together, add water gradually but be careful not to over mix. I usually add small spoonfuls to the piping hot mixture and return to the oven (still 180^o but not fan now) for about 20-30 minutes. Check after 20 minutes – you should be able to lift one of the dumplings slightlyof of the gravy and they will be fluffy (not doughy or wet).

Enjoy!

Wyn

Sweet mincemeat spelt and almond cakes

Preparation Time	10 mins
Cooking Time	25 mins
Suitable for pre-cooking	Yes
Wheat Free	Yes
Sugar Free	Low Sugar
Egg Free	No
Dairy Free	Optional
Gluten Free	Optional

Ingredients

50 gr ground almonds
50 gr salted butter (can use a baking dairy free spread)
1 tbsp sweet mincemeat
15 gr spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
50 gr succulent sultanas

Mix butter and mincemeat and beaten egg. Measure ground almonds and flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder. Fold into mixture.

Add sultanas and mix in.

Turn into 4 large muffin cake tins or use you can make 6 cup cakes with this amount of mixture.

Cook for 25 minutes at 180^o  (not fan)

Enjoy!

Wyn

Shifting sands of social media

When I started out using social networking, I took for granted that the techie-savvy Generation Y would be the most active user with a decline in usage corresponding to advancing years. I was quite wrong. I have noticed even among my own acquaintances that the 35-55 age group appear to enjoy the most interaction on social networks.

There is a mountain of research out there and it would seem that my perception is broadly backed up by other people’s research – thank you – I have credited at the end. However, statistics vary not only geographically but also between researchers so the following needs to be read with a caveat.

Shining the light on Facebook, it would appear that people over the age of 45 make up 46% of Facebook users with the average Facebook user being 38 years old.

There is an even mix of men and women using LinkedIn with 46% of all LinkedIn users being over 45; the average age of a LinkedIn user is 44 years. LinkedIn users are primarily from the business environment.

The average Twitter user is 39; 36% of users tweet at least once a day and their average visit will last for about 11½ minutes!

Pinterest is not a site I personally use but I gather the balance is weighted heavily in favour of female users at 82% which is by far the highest gender split of other platforms.

Some research suggests higher use of social networks by those who have studied to degree level and beyond – in my opinion the jury is still out.

25% of users on all social networking sites are in the 35-44 age group with the younger generation of 18-24 year olds making up only 9%. One could argue that children are high social networking users – statistics vary, but if this is the case, we have to watch the trend patterns and be ready for diversity in advertising strategies as this generation become our target market.

So even taking into account variances in statistics, there are trends emerging and we have to ask what this means for businesses using social networking sites for their marketing campaigns – free social networking is obviously a “no brainer” and an excellent vehicle for brand awareness, but when it comes to opening the wallet we may need to use more discretion and be aware of demographics relating to our particular business and market accordingly.

Sources: Pingdom; Online MBA; MediaBistro; SocialMedia-max

Wyn Marston

Marmalade almond and spelt muffins

Marmalade muffins make a less sweet alternative to traditional options. I don’t use any sugar other than that in the marmalade.

Preparation Time	10 mins
Cooking Time	20 mins
Suitable for pre-cooking	Yes
Wheat Free	Yes
Sugar Free	Low Sugar
Egg Free	No
Dairy Free	Optional
Gluten Free	Optional

Ingredients

100 gr ground almonds
100 gr salted butter
100 gr sultanas
1 tbsp marmalade
30 gr spelt flour (you can substitute this with ordinary flour)
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs

Mix butter and marmalade together. Beat in eggs. (Tip: if mixture starts to separate, give a quick whiz with an electric whisk or hand beater).

Measure ground almonds and flour together with baking powder. Fold into mixture.

Add sultanas and divide into 12 cup cakes.

Cook for 20 minutes at 180^o  (not fan)

Enjoy!

Wyn

Sweet potato, coconut and satay soup

Preparation Time	10 mins
Cooking Time	45 mins
Suitable for pre-cooking	Yes
Wheat Free	Yes
Sugar Free	Yes
Egg Free	Yes
Dairy Free	Optional
Gluten Free	Yes

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes peeled
1 onion cut in half
6 whole cloves of garlic
1 can coconut milk
1/2 litre of chicken stock (substitute with vegetable stock to make vegan)
Few grains of salt
2 tbsp peanut butter (Satay option; omitting peanut butter works equally well as Coconut sweet potato soup)

Even without pre-preparation this is the easiest starter ever!

Simmer all ingredients for about 3/4 hour. Liquidize. Serve!

If you want it to look really impressive, garnish with a swirl of cream and a sprig of parsley or some chives.

Enjoy!

Wyn Marston

Cherry almond wheat free bites

Sometimes it’s nice to have just a “little something” with you afternoon tea!

Preparation Time	10 mins
Cooking Time	14-15 mins
Suitable for pre-cooking	Yes
Wheat Free	Yes
Sugar Free	Low Sugar
Egg Free	No
Dairy Free	Optional
Gluten Free	Optional

Ingredients

100 gr ground almonds
100 gr Salted butter
1 tbsp agave syrup or 100gr sugar
30 gr spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs

Mix butter and syrup together. Beat in eggs. Measure ground almonds and flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder. Fold into mixture.

Add halved black glace cherries and mix in.

Turn into 24 bite size cup cakes

Cook for 15 minutes at 180^o  (not fan)

Enjoy!

Wyn

Tip

Freeze individually as soon as they are cool; when you want to eat them they defrost in 1/2 an hour at room temperature or defrost in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes. They taste like they’ve just come out of the oven.

Richmond Venturer meets RNLI on the tidal Thames for a joint boat evacuation exercise

The weather today was initially blowing gale force 17 and heavy rain – not conducive to a relaxing cruise and evacuation exercises with the RNLI on the Richmond Venturer! However disasters don’t wait for clement weather so we met up with the RNLI and started practising evacuation procedures using equipment belonging both to the Richmond Venturer and the RNLI.

The Richmond Venturer typically hosts cruises for clients who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the Thames. The groups who join us include people with varying disabilities and we have to be confident that we can assist everybody off the boat safely in an emergency. Some clients who depend on disability equipment such as wheelchairs need specialist assistance and lifting equipment to aid evacuation.

The weather was changeable and went from heavy rainfall to sunshine so some of the unlucky crew members who drew the short straws got more wet than others!

We all learnt a lot and are happy that the procedures we practised will make us more confident should the need arise to evacuate the boat.

Thanks to the crew of the Chiswick RNLI and the Richmond Venturer Senior team for facilitating this interesting training experience.

Wyn Marston

Crew training on the Richmond Venturer

Once a year it is required that volunteers on the Richmond Venturer undertake refresher crew training. Today was our turn. Richard and I arrived for our training on a cold but sunny day.

Some challenging “casualty” rescues on the Richmond Venturer. This was evacuating a passenger from the saloon using a davit. Our “casualty” complained of some discomfort but in the event of sinking I’m sure a few broken ribs will be the least of his worries!

Man overboard drill – quite a challenge but we got the “casualty” on board without too much distress!

Another man overboard drill which was more difficult than it looked.

We are looking forward to a second training day tomorrow – full boat evacuation of “passengers with disabilities” on the tidal Thames in conjunction with the RNLI.

Looking forward to it although I gather it’s going to rain! You can’t choose when disasters are going to happen!

Wyn Marston