As a tribute to my very first follower, here is one of my favourite recipes. It’s called Barabrith (Welsh Tea Bread). It is an economical cake/bread, but oh! SO TASTY!

250g (8ozs) mixed fruit 125g (4ozs) raw sugar 250g (8oz) Self raising flour 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice 1 cup cold tea. Soak fruit and sugar overnight in the cold tea. Next day add the egg, flour and spice. Mix well. Place the mixture in a greased square or loaf tin and bake in a moderate oven for approximately 45 minutes. Serve cold with butter (Or warm with slatherings of butter. It can also be warmed and served in slices with custard or ice-cream as a dessert. – YUM)

One of the things I like to do to make this even better? Any clues? I dry my own mixed fruit. I do this by buying fruit in season or on special, or by growing it in my garden.

I always do a variety of foods – anything from Kiwi fruit, pineapple, and apple, to banana and pears. In order to stop the fruit from going brown, I use lemon juice. I like to experiment with shapes, depending on the use – thin slices as snacks, and small cubes if I am going to add them into something else. (e.g. – fruit cake or muesli)

I also candy citrus peel. This can be used in the above cooking as well as in the muesli. The only problem is the sugar content, and the fact that I can eat them like lollies!! (Australian word for candies). I have lemon, lemonade, grapefruit, lime, mandarin and orange trees in my orchard.

One of my citrus trees.

My dehydrator is an aging Sunbeam, and has been a wonderful accessory in my kitchen. It is presently drying some banana slices coated with a mixture of lemon (to stop the browning) and honey (to help counteract the tanginess of the lemon). There is also the possibility of using this for other savoury type products. I will show you what I do to make a type of jerky as well as drying onion, garlic and celery to add to cooking soups and using for flavouring in other ways.

(Please note – I am Australian, of English parents, and use English spelling rather than American spelling.)

When I am able to get my phone to download it’s pictures onto my computer, I will be able to add more pictures – unfortunately it hasn’t quite worked yet!!! Maybe next time!