In praise of Podcasts

My life has been transformed of late by the exponential rise and rise of the podcast.

Until recently, the Working Woman missed out on the daily joy of housewifedom in the form of her coffee-time fix of Woman's Hour. No longer. The BBC, wrongly-accused of fuddy-duddiness, has caught up with the 21st century and launched bite-size podcasts of the show, enabling all us worldly-wise but coffee-morning-denied ladies to catch up on the woman's world out there.

Although initially sated by Jenny Murray's dulcit tones, this soon became insufficient and I began to question the deficiencies of the spectrum of podcast availablility. But not long did I have to wait. Only 6 months down the line came Blue Peter video podcasts: alright, viewing Blue Peter in bed on a 2" screen is not ideal, but it's a heap better than missing out on how to make your Advent Crown!

And now, in the last month, podcasting has surpassed itself. Not only has the BBC finally sorted out daily unmissable podcasts of The Archers, but Luscious Lawson has launched her latest series Nigella Express in scrumptious, recipe-sized, video cook-along-a-podbites.

Off to bake a Pineapple-Upside-Down Cake with my new podcast pal Nigella ..............

PIneapple Upside-Down Cake

2 tbsp sugar

6 slices pineapple, plus 3 x 15ml tbsp of the juice

11 glacé cherries

100g flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g soft butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 200C. Grease a 23cm tin. Sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar onto the buttered base.

Arrange pineapple to make a circular pattern. Pop cherries in spaces between pineapple.
Put flour, baking pdr, bicarb, butter, sugar, eggs & pineapple juice into food processor until smooth.

Pour mixture over the pineapple rings; it will only just cover it, so spread it out gently.
Bake for 30 minutes, ease spatula around edge of tin, place plate on top and turn upside-down.

Ta-Da!!

Something Tasty for the Weekend - Saturday's Recipe 1

Debs' Autumn Apple and Cinnamon Cake

A hit with all who taste it, this moist cake is low in sugar, thanks to its high fruit content boosting its sweetness. Heavenly and healthy!

300g (10 ounces) Self-raising Flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) Ground cinnamon
125g (4 ounces) Demerara or muscovado sugar
75g (3 ounces) Raisins or sultanas
125g (4 ounces) butter
2 large eggs, beaten
170 ml (6 fluid ounces) milk (low fat is fine)
300g apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (large bits are gorgeous in the cake)

1. Melt the butter in a pan or, carefully, in a microwave.


2. Put all ingredients, including the melted butter, into a large mixing bowl and stir, making a wish which you must keep secret to avoid disappointment. Alternatively, if you have one available, ask a small child to stir for 10 minutes, make yourself a cup of coffee and relax while they do.


3. Put the mixture into a 20cm (8 inch) square, or 23cm (9 inch) circular greased tin.


4. Bake at 180 degrees centigrade (350 fahrenheit) for an hour or so, until smelling delicious.


5. Try not to devour on the day you bake it, as this cake firms up beautifully overnight. Keeps moist for at least a week, if you can avoid eating it for that long!

Comments welcomed, do let me know any favourite recipes so that I can share them with my family and co-bloggers.