Marrows are not photogenic ...

This week I spent a relaxing couple of hours with the craft club members, many of whom were born in the local area and have witnessed significant social change.  The conversation this week turned to the shops that would have graced a road I frequented in the past, when doing the school drop off. In times gone by this road would have provided all the needs for the local population without resorting to a trip into town, which is practically on our doorstep.

Cheap as chips, Corn Chowder.

This led me to thinking about the sad loss of community whether it be your local bank manager, post office or the little corner shop where you could purchase 2oz of cheese or a couple of slices of bacon.  Or, in my case, a wonky Christmas Tree one year for the princely sum of £5.

In addition, this year I have tried to support local businesses and avoided the chains even when eating out.  This does make the organic route challenging in our corner of Kent but I am sure I won't start glowing in the dark if my diet isn't 100% organic and as you know from a previous post I am no saint when it comes to sugary treats that are certainly neither organic nor healthy. 

So inspired by the craft club conversation, my love of community and the frugal bloggers out there who are undertaking the store cupboard challenge, I decided to forgo my 'big shop' at the supermarket this week and see if I could survive by shopping local and using my veg box in a more inventive manner.  I remember Giles Coran once describing his compost as liquid gold because it was regularly fed the contents of his veg box.  Lets just say I am as guilty with my lush compost!

On Friday the local butchers came up trumps with some plump chicken breasts and a wonderful chicken stew courtesy of Jamie Oliver was whipped up for our evening meal, followed by Chicken with Moroccan-spiced vegetables on Saturday which was preceded by the freshest, tastiest corn on the cob I have eaten in years purchased from the local green grocer.  

Chicken with Moroccan Spiced Vegetables

Part of this challenge was to also try and not waste so much which I find you can end up doing if you work long hours and shop once a week or you are a total fluff head like me.  So I followed a recipe for Spiced Apple Cake (sorry can't find the blog that led me to the recipe) and as a result didn't waste four eating apples and 200g of mixed fruit.   I was on a roll now, and being a lover of spicy soup I produced my version of corn chowder with the remaining corn on the corn, some green beans whithering in the fridge, half a red pepper, half a small butternut squash (a distant cousin of the ones in my compost bin), a carrot, two small red onions, two tomatoes and a pinch of chilli flakes and salt & pepper.

Today a small piece of bacon is roasting away in the oven, enclosed in my vintage enamel bakeware and should provide today's meal plus sandwiches for tomorrow and Tuesday.    The rest of the week we shall eat out of the freezer, since there are plenty of left-overs to finish off.  Which brings me to the title of my post, a visit to our local farmers market this morning resulted in the purchase of a marrow for the tidy sum of 40p.  It will taste great stuffed but boy it is a ugly creature and has no photogenic qualities at all but then again neither does raw chicken! 

Have a great week xxx