"Countryside Lincs" was held on Lincolnshire Showground yesterday - now in its 4th year, this event has grown in size and popularity and we were there as usual!  

Families had the opportunity to learn all about local food and farming in a fun and exciting day out - with tractor rides around the event, farm machinery to see and sit on, interactive demonstrations of sausage making, pork pie making, cheese making as well as stands from local farmers, environmental organisations as well as lots of cute farm animals to see and naturally stroke! 

This event is sponsored by the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, but is the brainchild of Rosie Crust (Education and Development Manager at the Showground) who has a passion to build connections between school children and their families and their food and farming producers and environmental partners.

I had a delightful day chatting with all the visitors explaining what we farm and how we produce our very special rapeseed oil.  Visitors were able to see my photo displays of the various stages of growth of our oilseed rape crops and how we press, bottle and label our oil bottles on our farm.  I'd also taken along cakes, bread and pizzas made with our oil, both using local flour and also Dove Farm gluten free flour, as well as some very tasty Asparagus Pea & Mint and Red Pepper & Tomato vegetable dips (find the recipe for these and more on our Stockists and Information header on our home page.  

As part of my role as Community Volunteer (East Midlands) I also displayed 2 large tables of information from www.lovebritishfood.co.uk which was primarily aimed at introducing any school teachers, caterers and other large community organisations, who were attending yesterday, to check out their Love British Food website and find out how they can become involved in British Food Fortnight (this year it's between 22nd September and 8th October).  I'd also created a "selfie board" packed with information provided by Love British Food and children were able to hold the wooden Love British Food #BritishFoodisGreat sign in their photo!

Do keep regularly checking out this amazing one-stop website for the latest recipes, blogs, "Producer of the Month" events in your area and tons of very useful information.

Here's the recipe for the yummy Peanut Butter Tray bake I took along:

Peanut Butter Tray bake

 

250g organic stoneground flour (Maud Foster, Boston)

250g Demerara sugar (Billingtons)

1 teaspoon bicarb of soda

2 medium eggs (Primrose Eggs, Wragby)

125ml semi-skimmed milk

250ml water

250ml Ownsworth’s Rapeseed Oil

5 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter (Whole Earth)

 

(Icing – if you like a topping:  6 tablespoons icing sugar and 3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter)

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4

In a large mixing bowl, combine the stoneground flour, bicarb of soda and demerara sugar using a wooden spoon.  Beat 2 eggs with the milk and pour the egg/milk mixture into your dry ingredients and stir to combine everything.

Next put the crunchy peanut butter, oil and water into a heavy based saucepan and gently heat together - simply to melt the peanut butter (but don’t allow these ingredients to get hot). 

Finally pour your peanut butter liquid into your mixing bowl and using a wooden spoon stir all the ingredients together until well incorporated.

Grease or spray a tinfoil tray (approx. 20cm x 26 cm) and pour in your tray bake mixture, levelling the top before popping in the oven and baking for approximately 30 minutes (test the tray bake is cooked by inserting a cake skewer into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean – your tray bake is ready to take out of the oven).

Allow the tray bake to cool on a wire tray and when completely cool cover with the peanut butter icing if you like.

 

You can now cut your decadent tray bake into squares!