Each month this year I’m setting myself a seasonal challenge…I’m grabbing a cookbook off my shelf and delving into trying to eat more seasonal as well as living more seasonally too-weather that’s picking some Spring flowers from my daily walk or creating my dandelion tea.

Ok, so February isn’t everyones favourite month. It’s a bit gloomy and dark and from a garden perspective it’s still pretty bare and too chilly to start planting out seeds. I was craving comfort food this month so ended up baking a lot and eating simply easy meals. This post certainly reads more like a What I Eat post as opposed to a seasonal one but I wanted to be honest with you!

I cooked from The River Cottage Year by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsall

Shin of Beef with Macaroni: a simple, homely recipe that was easy to cook and tasty. Very meaty flavours and perfect for a chilly winter evening.

Parsnip Risotto: Actually really tasty but definitely would add some pancetta next time!

Bramley Creams: Sweet little pots of homemade apple compote and topped with cream. Yummy and simple.

Rice Pudding: Very slow to cook-about 4 hours but well worth it for the unbeatable comfort food taste.

Autumn Bliss: pockets of bread filled with berries..Not really seasonally but delicious and I hope I remember this one for next Autumn!!

Other recipes I tried:

Nigella Lawson Granny Boyd Biscuits- This is my fall back, ever dependable favourite for buttery biscuits when I need a chocolate fix.

 

Mary Berry Victoria Sponge-A little taste of Spring, and a very good recipe!

 

Corleggy Pizzas-Our homemade pizzas using local Corleggy cheese-yummy!

 

River Cottage 10 Minute Cookies-Another dependable biscuit recipe. So good!

 

Conclusion: I don’t feel like I did particularly well this month! Although the garden is so sparse and not much is in season. The parsnip risotto was certainly a fun recipe for using up the last of the parsnips and the shin of beef was a good winter stand by. Apart from that I baked my way through the month for a bit of comfort. A trip to London meant I ate some yummy new dishes (Raymond Blanc’s Salmon at Ascot was unbelievable!) and I got to check out the Detox Kitchen and try their breakfast (yummy!).