Food for the Cold

What could be better on a cold, rainy Sunday evening than a baked potato? That crisp, crackly skin without and soft, steamy flesh within? It's no work at all to bung a few scrubbed potatoes into the oven, even less to leave them there for an hour or so. Then a quick bustle to prepare some toppings and supper is ready.


My personal favourite (for the moment,at least) is a dollop of coleslaw and some grated strong cheddar. Karl and the boys prefer the (I dare say more manly) combination of cheese and baked beans. We all like to have a plate of crudités on the table, scooping up potato flesh and ribbons of melty cheese as we chat. If any of the crunchy skins get pushed to the side of a plate I hover, ready to snatch up the leavings to wipe up the last of my coleslaw. Atkins who?

For pudding tonight we cut into a Tea Loaf that had been maturing in one of the tins for a few days. I made this one with fat Chilean Flame raisins and some dried cranberries left over from Christmas and it was heavenly; dense, moist and rich with plump fruit. The crust had taken on a pinkish hue from the cranberries, even better. In fact I think another slice, with a cup of tea in front of the fire, might be in order later this evening.