The Wright side of life: Home of the Bakewell pudding

Karen Wright writes: Hello Wakefield, I am home! As I predicted in last week’s article we were due to get some very wet weather for our few days stay in our caravan at the Chatsworth House camp site, we did indeed get some downpours.
Karen in the Old Original Bakewell Pudding ShopKaren in the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop
Karen in the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop

Hello Wakefield, I am home! As I predicted in last week’s article we were due to get some very wet weather for our few days stay in our caravan at the Chatsworth House camp site, we did indeed get some downpours. It was an ideal opportunity for me to relax a bit after the hurly-burly of the previous week in Brighton. I did a bit of reading, we had a few rounds of pontoon and I even managed to get a recipe up on my website.

The recipe was for a cheat vegetarian sausage plait. When I say cheat I just mean that I used shop bought puff pastry, it works well, and you can make a meal or a dessert very quickly. The filling was a mixture of onions, mushrooms, spices and seasoning, chopped up Quorn sausages, tomato puree and cottage cheese. The result was savoury and very moreish. It is recommended for lots of reasons that we all try to have a few non-meat days each week and I heartily recommend trying this out. The ingredients can be anything you happen to have in your fridge, bits and bobs of vegetables or cheese.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I wanted to visit Bakewell, the home of the Bakewell tart so we braved the showers and had a trip over. The original shop that developed the Bakewell pudding and tart recipes is in the main street so in I went for a photo opportunity and I bought a tart for our tea. It was scrumptious and when I got home the next day I made myself a batch, and yes, I think I could get a job in that shop based on my results, a good bake even though I say it myself.

Karen's vegetarian sausage plaitKaren's vegetarian sausage plait
Karen's vegetarian sausage plait

It was the Chatsworth Horse Trials the day we left. I had a peek into the area that was set up for it and fell into conversation with a steward. He was called Alan and he told me he was born on the estate 69 years ago and he has worked and lived there for over 50 years. He said, “All these years and I never get tired of the views”. I think that is fantastic, it is very easy to take everyday things for granted, I shall be taking a leaf out of Alan’s book and live more in the moment.

So here I am back in my own kitchen writing this today. I was up early with the gorgeous sunshine. Before 7.30am I had a soda bread loaf in the oven, not for today’s consumption unfortunately. I am straight back into planning and preparation once more. This time for the Great British Food Festival at Harewood House on May 25 and 26 so that soda bread is for then and is chilling in the freezer. As it is a two-day event for me with numerous demonstrations I need to be ultra-organised otherwise I will be in a tizzy and might not know my tartlets from my Bundt cakes!

We have a good forecast for this week so perhaps it is time for some bedding plants to go in. I am not fond of gardening, but I am quite good at directing, so I point and John plants, it is a combo that works for me. We only have a pocket handkerchief sized garden but even so, a small space can look ravishing with colour and ornaments.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

There we are, that’s me rounding up for another week. It is always great to get away but it’s always good to get home. I have some great things to enjoy in the week ahead in our Merrie City so tune in next week to see where I have been nosing around and what I’ve been up to.