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Hello, darlings!
By a sheer stroke of serendipity, I discovered the delightfully refined and frightfully talented Mrs Simkins via the aid of modern technology. Well, I dare say, since the moment our Twitter profiles set eyes on each other, it’s transpired to be the most pleasurable culinary ‘amour’ I’ve ever experienced!
Thus, within ‘two shakes of a lamb’s tail’ we decided to collaborate and deliver a mouth-watering menu of sweet and savoury teatime treats - perfect for your very own summer garden party, and just in time for the 65th Anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation on June 2nd and National Cream Tea Day on June 29th.
Thus, within ‘two shakes of a lamb’s tail’ we decided to collaborate and deliver a mouth-watering menu of sweet and savoury teatime treats - perfect for your very own summer garden party, and just in time for the 65th Anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation on June 2nd and National Cream Tea Day on June 29th.
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You see, soon after our extraordinary meeting of fate, we engaged in a jolly ol’ chinwag over the phone, and quickly realised our West-Country connection - Dorset meets Somerset! Oh, and we exchanged fond and nostalgic memories of our beloved grandmothers’, or Nana in Mrs Simkins case, who inspired us to bake.
Also, Mrs Simkins and I expressed our immense ardour for traditional recipes, vintage crockery/kitchenalia, and baking with rum. Followed by our declared deep affection for those shiny, glazed, vintage vessels, that look extremely alluring when sporting a hand-knitted tea cosie – the one and only Brown Betty teapots! |
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Miss Windsor
Of course, Mrs Simkins and I adhere to the rules of tea etiquette, and sup tea from an English bone china teacup, however, we pity those who fail to ‘cut the mustard’ – Oh, dearie me! Therefore, my tea of choice is anything by Miles of Porlock (Somerset) or Fortnum & Mason (London) and Mrs Simkins favours the organic kind of tea - Earl Grey by Clipper – I believe it’s just the tonic to satisfy the health-conscious!
Darlings, rather endearingly we suffer from the odd case of ‘opposites attract’ – Oh, I say! You see, Mrs Simkins is a stickler for time efficiency and developed a deliciously light recipe for a microwavable Christmas Pudding – Oh, how very astute! Whereas Miss Windsor is a ‘glutton for punishment’! who followed the laborious kind of method and slogged over a hot stove for hours topping up water, as she steamed her version of Mrs Beeton’s Christmas Pudding – By Jove, wonders never cease!
Darlings, rather endearingly we suffer from the odd case of ‘opposites attract’ – Oh, I say! You see, Mrs Simkins is a stickler for time efficiency and developed a deliciously light recipe for a microwavable Christmas Pudding – Oh, how very astute! Whereas Miss Windsor is a ‘glutton for punishment’! who followed the laborious kind of method and slogged over a hot stove for hours topping up water, as she steamed her version of Mrs Beeton’s Christmas Pudding – By Jove, wonders never cease!
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I say the most wonderful thing about our ‘out of the blue’ union, which was brought into action by the power of social media, is that we’ve become, well one would say, ‘new-age’ pen pals! So, we often exchange electronic letters, I mean emails – you know, for a quick hello and a catch-up! Oh, and we do like to send each other little tokens of our new amour via our trusty Royal Mail postal service – How fabulous!
After all that jazz, I expect you’re rather flummoxed and still wondering: “But, who the heck is Mrs Simkins?” you excitably utter! Mrs Simkins delightful response: Who the heck indeed? I often ask myself the same question! Very like Miss Windsor, food plays an enormously important part in my life and has done ever since I can remember. To begin at the very beginning, as they say in all the best stories, I first made the connection between eating well and cooking whilst enduring school dinners at infant school. I must have been five or six. The food there was, unfortunately, completely horrible and disgusting and not at all like the food at home. It was a bit of a shock. After quite a long time I realized the dry leathery stuff with silvery lines of gristle running through it was actually roast beef and the thin brown liquid with the peculiar dusty smell was in fact gravy. We didn’t have beef at home very often but when we did, it was a delicious treat. Mum’s gravy was a rich and smooth and Dad’s creamy, fluffy mashed potato absolutely never had scary little grey lumps in it.
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Mrs Beeton’s Christmas Pudding
Mrs Simkins
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One of Mrs Simkins' culinary creations
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Clearly, to eat well, and eat what you really wanted, home was the best place and cooking was a skill to be learnt as soon as possible. My Nana was another huge influence; a professional cook before she married, she was the Oracle as far as food and cooking was concerned. Realisation and ideas were already forming in my young mind. To cut a long story short, many years later, I found myself writing and developing recipes professionally, taking photographs of food in homely settings and loving every minute of it.
Do pop over and visit my website www.MrsSimkins.co.uk or see what I’m up to on twitter @MrsSimkinsCooks
You could also read an interview those lovely people at The Church Times published about me recently... |
Darlings, please do let us know what you think of our recipes and so on - your positive comments will be greatly appreciated.
Cheerio for now,
Cheerio for now,
