Lashings of Ginger Beer

I never read the Famous Five book when I was a kid (unless I’ve just forgotten) but we have loads of them in our house. I loved reading them to the sleepy children even if they realised that the 5 seemed to have way more freedom to run around on holiday than they did. ‘Why can’t we go camping on a deserted island, wander around a ruined castle, dig for treasure without you and hide from the escaped prisoner? Eh? What kind of lily-livered parent are you anyway? We’ll grow up to be wimps!’ etc. Anyway, the classic Enid Blyton stories are in the news again because the illustrator’s own children have been revealed and her archive published. She was Mary Gernat and her kids Roger, Francis, Nicholas and Justin were the template for Julian, Dick, Anne, and George (Timmy the dog she could do on her own). Anyway FAMOUS FIVE will go with our picnic and ginger beer just before the circus rolls into town…

Nige performs baked bacon with Cumberland sauce. And for the record, all our sauces, pickles and chutneys are in the fridge. They take out two whole shelves. We are exploring the science here - stay tuned...