Thyme to Cook

As husband and wife, both qualified chefs and parents to our teenage son, Mark was furloughed during the first Covid lockdown while Sinead worked from home and son Liam was home schooled.

When you’ve got a busy household, having to think ‘what can I cook for dinner tonight’ is time consuming and so we've always done a Weekly Meal Plan in advance of a main food shop.

During those first few weeks of lockdown and the initial panic buying that was evidenced by everyone, our Meal Plan was adapted to use up all the odds and ends in the freezer and all the pulses and grains bought for just one recipe! Nothing was wasted.

At the same time, Mark’s Mum had an extended stay in hospital and so we helped to manage her three allotment plots. Grow it, Cook it, Eat it became our motto! There are a number of recipes on the website that include allotment grown veggies.

The recipes we've created are family friendly, won't cost a fortune and we've purposefully avoided using too much culinary terminology.

More recipes will be added over time. In the meantime, you can follow us on Instagram at thymetocook2021

Happy Cooking!

Sinead & Mark

February has been a busy month at Thyme To Cook HQ. Lots more recipes have been developed and shared so we hope you found them useful and managed to get all the family involved. With the green shoots of Spring emerging we’ll be focussing on Easter Treats and Lighter Bites.

Ingredients for cake:

125gm butter • 175gm caster sugar 175gm self raising flour • 2 medium free range eggs Zest of 1 lemon • 4 tbsp milk

Ingredients for syrup:

100gm icing sugar Juice of 1 lemon

Ingredients for Icing:

150gm icing sugar, sifted Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Pre heat oven to 180c. Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper or loaf tin liners are even easier!

Cream butter & sugar together until soft and fluffy. Add lemon zest and eggs and beat together.

Gently fold in flour, add the milk & mix thoroughly.

Spoon into tin & bake for 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Make syrup by gently heating the lemon juice and icing sugar until the sugar dissolves.

When the cake comes out of the oven make random holes with a skewer on top of the cake. Pour the syrup over.

Leave to cool completely.

To make the icing just mix the icing sugar & lemon juice together until thickened & pour on top.

This recipe will be featured on the website in time for Easter. It’s a classic Lemon Drizzle!

While lockdown restrictions have limited many Mayoral activities over the past two months I have, nonetheless, been amazed at Spelthorne residents' determination to help others in need.

I have been keeping myself informed of the work many residents have been doing to support their community. Our food bank volunteers have been ensuring our most vulnerable residents have been provided with meals.

The local Aurora Rotary have been supporting our schoolchildren by providing computer facilities to their schools to help those who do not have access to their own devices. Education is the greatest gift we can give to our children and we must work hard to ensure that they have access to all essential equipment to help them in later life.

I have been fortunate enough to have received my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on 20 January. I was very impressed with how the vaccination programme went and wish to add my congratulations to our local NHS teams for such a successful rollout over the last few weeks. I would encourage residents to accept their invitation when they are contacted by the NHS and urge them to continue to follow the rules; notably around staying at home, wearing face coverings, maintaining social distancing, isolating and getting tested. Residents who can't work from home should get regular tests at our centre in StainesUpon Thames. Details can be found here:

https://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/article/20019/ Symptom-free-tests-Targeted-Community-Testing

Finally, I want to pay tribute to the staff at this Council who have been working tirelessly to offer support to our residents. I am particularly proud of the Support4Spelthorne initiative which has provided much-needed hot meals to our most vulnerable families and helped ensure all children have been supported over half-terms and holidays. I am also proud of our Send a Smile campaign, which has done exactly what it says on the tin to our residents suffering with dementia.

To have a free consultation and session* please email shamus@shayfit.co.uk (*Terms apply)