Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
18th May 2024
Super Sarnies
Next week (20th – 26th May) is British Sandwich Week. Working outside in mostly rural areas, sandwiches are a standard part of our working day and the boys always like to compare what each of them has in their ‘grub box’. It fascinates me – I won’t give any names – but one of the ‘boys’ (aged 56) still has the crusts cut off of his sandwiches and another’s (aged 55) favourite filling is Billy Bear slices from a well known supermarket. One of the single lads complains that he ‘always knows what’s in his sandwiches’ as he has to make them, as opposed to those whose wives and girlfriends do their lunch boxes for them. Believe me, ‘food time’ is a big thing when you work outside and have a physical job!
Every year British Sandwich Week celebrates the humble sandwich in all its glory as well as the contribution that the sandwich industry makes to the economy.
Sandwiches that have won awards in previous years include the ‘Smokey Roll’ by Katarina Broadribb and was described as, ‘A stupendous sandwich, featuring locally sourced smoked brisket, smoked rich Gouda cheese, mushrooms, horseradish sauce and herbs.’
Sam Tebbatt won an award with his ‘Posh Piggy’, filled with smoked cooked streaky bacon, stewed apple, Stilton custard and added candied bacon.
For the vegetarians, consider replicating Eleny Minto’s ‘Just Peachy’ sandwich, consisting of creamy whipped feta with honey and thyme baked peaches, crystallised pistachios and rocket with a drizzle of honey in between two slabs of all-butter croissant French toast. Or a variation of Catherine Fleetwood-Greencore’s filling of cream cheese, caramelised bananas, caramelised rice puffs and Miso caramel.
One of my favourites, if I am feeling enthusiastic, is toasted cashew nuts and mashed banana. You can make it easier by using peanut butter instead of toasting cashews.
Apparently the most popular vegan sandwich options are the good old-fashioned chip butty, but peanut butter and marmite (together) and avocado with pickled red onion are also popular. I would enter my nan’s favourite here – just the unbeatable basic sliced tomato with a sprinkling of salt.
Perfect Pets
If you want a quick ‘mood-lifter’ (with no calories) then I highly recommend having a look at this years entries for the Comedy Pet Photography Awards at www.comedypetphoto.com Just another reminder that ‘the more people I meet, the more I love my dog’. I really must try to remember to enter Yogi next year.
Crazy Frogs
As well as trying to avoid nesting birds at the moment, I am having to be aware of the little froglets that are ‘under manoeuvres’ in the long grass. The humid conditions have meant that they are out and about earlier than usual and being so small, they are often quite difficult to spot unless you disturb them. I recently read – and thoroughly enjoyed – The Book of the Frog, by Sally Coulthard. The little book is full of fascinating facts and ways in which you can help frogs in your garden.
Frogs are one of those ‘garden guardians’ that we often overlook, and they have some amazing ‘claims to fame’ – some are so poisonous that one tiny little frog can harbour enough poison to kill ten people. Ironically, many others have the key to many lifesaving medicines and treatments.
It is a difficult book to put down as there are so many ‘toadally’ fascinating facts about both toads and frogs. For example, all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads. The name for a group of frogs is an army and a group of toads are called a knot. There are facts that will make you cringe and facts that will make you smile – and probably my most-loved one is that every year when a frog goes into hibernation, a new layer of bone is formed. This means that you can actually count these rings in a frog – like you would count the rings on a tree – to find out how old it is. Although, please don’t try this at home.
Sally has also written several other similarly ‘addictive’ books including, The Book of the Earthworm, The Hedgehog handbook, A Short History of the World According to Sheep (you could never imagine the role sheep have played across the centuries), and even crafty topics like How to Build a Shed and Shed Chic. Her love of sheds is no surprise as that’s where she writes from and says, “Turns out you can write about lots of different things if you lock yourself in a shed for hours on end.” She also confides that ‘No one else in the family is allowed to use her she-shed’ and claims having your own space can help your marriage as well as your career. www.sallycoulthard.co.uk
And yes, my mobile phone ring-tone is Axel F’s ‘Crazy Frog’.
Posh Pineapples
I am having a bit of a pout as the recent, heavy rain has flattened my newly-planted-out peas. They were being petulant and refusing to cling their lovely rustic hazel beanpoles and as a result of not clinging on, got pummelled by the rain. I was heard to say to them, as I painstakingly tied them back in – “I wonder how you would cope in the wild, without me to support you.” I’m sure there will be more frustrations in the veggie plot yet and every year I wonder how my Granddad and Dad made it all look so easy.
Something that neither of them grew though, is the ‘brand-new fruit’ – the red pineapple. Costing just over £300 and created by the ‘Man from Del Monte’, the “Rubyglow” pineapple took 16 years to develop. It is being described as an ultra-premium luxury ‘designer’ fruit that appeals to high-end consumers, and only a few thousand of the curious creations are set to be produced this year – hence the price tag – or maybe because of the price tag.
And as I am struggling to grow peas at the moment, I don’t think I’ll be moving into posh-pineapple production any time soon.
Leave a Reply