Category: Food & Drink

The Sunday roast: A family feast

One comment

For the Cousans’, the Sunday roast marks the end of the weekend. A day for the family to get together and cook a traditional Sunday roast from scratch.

Their Sunday routine is long established; where they once used to go to Grandma’s for Sunday lunch, Mum has taken over the reigns and now cooks for her children and mother.The Cousans’ are conscious of healthy eating so have a lot of fresh vegetables accompanied by meat, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.

Mum, Sarah, likes to source things locally where she can.

“On a Saturday I make a trip to the butchers and greengrocers for the veg and meat. Anything I can’t get there I pick up at the supermarket.”

A family of Northerners, the Yorkshire pudding plays a main role in their sunday roast. Son, Tom, inparticular won’t accept anything less than 100% homemade from his Grandma’s recipe. He says,

“I can tell instantly if they’re not homemade – I won’t stand for an Aunt Bessies pud!”

Dinner dominates most of the afternoon in the Cousans’ home. Sarah can do little else as the food needs constant tending to, though she is happy to do it:

“I don’t mind cooking a large meal, I enjoy seeing everyone appreciate the food.”

The Ingredients

•Roast beef from Leo the butcher
•Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts from the local grocer
•Yorkshire puddings homemade according to a family recipe
•Roast potatoes homemade from supermarket potatoes
•Gravy made from meat juices

The Schedule

11.15: Sarah turns on the oven to heat whilst she prepares the beef and peels potatoes.

11.35: The beef goes into the oven and Sarah begins preparing the veg.

11.53: Sarah makes the Yorkshire pudding mixture according to her mum’s recipe.

12.00: Sarah spends 20 minutes cleaning up the mess made by making Yorkshire puddings and preparing the vegetables.

12.30: Potatoes are put on the stove to part boil.

12.45: Potatoes are transferred to the oven to roast.

12.59: The Yorkshire pudding mixture goes into the oven and the carrots are put on to boil.

1.05: The peas and brussel sprouts are add to a pre-boiled pan of water to cook for seven minutes.

1.10: The meat is taken out of the oven and its juices are mixed with instant gravy granules.

1.14: Exactly 15 minutes after they went in, the Yorkshire puddings are cooked to the satisfaction of Tom.

1.24: With everything out of the oven and the veg cooked and drained, dinner is served. The family eat at the table.

1.59: After dinner, Sarah spends 35 minutes clearing the table and cleaning the kitchen, before retiring to the lounge with a glass of wine. Three and a half hours after dinner was started, Sarah can relax.

Read part one of this feature ‘A quick fix meal’ here

The Sunday roast: A quick fix meal

One comment

Young couple Rachel and Rob Upton enjoy a Sunday dinner, and are happy to buy it ready made on the shelves of their local supermarket.

The ready prepared and freezable ingredients fit in with their lifestyle and mean that they don’t have to worry about finding time on the day to make a trip to the supermarket.

“I don’t think that cooking a Sunday roast should lead to any stress or inconvenience. It is a meal that should be enjoyed. There are enough things to worry about without getting stressed over cooking a Sunday dinner as well.”

Rob DJs at a club until four in the morning on a Sunday, so an early start for slow-roasting the meat is out of the question. Rachel says,

“If I had to spend all day doing it I would want Rob to help, which I know he wouldn’t because he is so tired…we would probably end up having an argument about it. Sunday’s are our only day off together, its not worth ruining for the sake of saying we made the meal from scratch!”

The Ingredients


•Birds Eye Traditional Beef with Homestyle Gravy
• Aunt Bessies 12 Irresistable Yorkshires
•Aunt Bessies Honey glazed roast parsnips
•Aunt Bessies Delicious Sage & Onion Stuffing Balls
•Aunt Bessies finest roast potatoes•
Freshlink Sausage and Bacon Rolls
•Sainsbury’s cauliflower cheese
•Sainsbury’s
prepared vegetables
• Bisto instant gravy

The Schedule


12.20: The oven is switched on to heat up while Rachel prepares all the elements of the meal – taking them from packets to baking trays.

12.30: The Parnsips, potatoes, stuffing, sausage and bacon rolls and cauliflower cheese are put out into the oven for 25-30 minutes at 190 degrees.

12.47: Rachel pops back to the kitchen to boil the water for the bags of beef.

12.53: The microwave is set for seven minutes to cook the bag of vegetables and the instant gravy is made.

1.03: Just over 40 minutes after the oven was first turned on, dinner is served. Rachel and Rob settle on to the sofa, dinner on their lap, to watch Formula One.

1.30: Plates and cutlery into the dishwasher,the clear up is done before the kettle is boiled for a cup of tea.

Read part two of the feature ‘A family feast’ here

A Taste for Tea

Leave a comment

A stand filled with the most delicate finger sandwiches, fresh cream filled patisseries and the lightest of homemade scones takes centre stage. This is the quaint essential experience of afternoon tea at the Black Swan Tearoom & Patisserie.

The Black Swan Tea Room, Helmsley, North Yorkshire, has been buzzing since it opened nearly three years ago. During its short life, the tea room has been adopted into the prestigious Tea Guild, joining the likes of the Ritz and Tea at Liberty. It has also been awarded the highest accolade in the tea world – being named the UK Tea Council’s Top Tea Room – and has become known for it’s top quality teas from around the world.

Alison Souter, Tea Room Manager at the Black Swan, believes that the success of the tearoom goes much further than selecting some of the best teas – it’s in everything that they do.

She describes: “It’s a venue, an event and an occasion. I see the tearoom as a little stool with three legs: quality, service and food. Without any one of those it wouldn’t be as successful as it is.”

The Black Swan maintains a mix of quirkiness and an air of exclusivity which everyone can enjoy. “Every tea room has to have its own personality. I think ours is a bit rustic and quirky, which I think makes it that bit more accessible.”

“If you went to London you would go to the Ritz, and if you’re in Helmsley, you would come to the Black Swan.”

This simplicity and underlying quality that is reflected through out the tearoom, whether it be through the white Wedgewood tableware or the cosy cottage interior. It is the ultimate experience, which ought to be savoured.

Alison says: “I don’t want people to come here and feel rushed, as though they have to leave within half an hour of arriving.  It’s about enjoying the experience.”

This is one of the reasons, Alison argues, why afternoon tea has seen a strong resurgence during more difficult economic times.

“I don’t know whether it is something more recessionary… as people become more reflective they realise that they want to enjoy and savour things more . So something like an afternoon tea, which is presented so daintily, is perfect.”

“But all together, it’s a British tradition to go home at the end of the day and put the kettle on. It just seems to make all the stresses of the day go away.”

The Black Swan Tea Room will keep building on its success until it “becomes known for its quality and service” and so successful that it becomes “synonymous” with what they do: “If you went to London you would go to the Ritz, and if you’re in Helmsley, you would come to the Black Swan.”

The Rise of the Home Baker – uncut interview

Leave a comment

Ruth Clemens

In the Spring edition of Archive, Anna interviewed Ruth Clemens, runner up on 2010s The Great British Bake Off. Here, exclusive to our website, is the uncut interview.

To you, what is the importance of baking?

If we don’t teach our children how to bake it will die out, the power is in our hands to maintain the tradition. In the past few years there’s been a massive supermarket boom, we’ve been conned into thinking its wonderful, but it will never taste as good as home made.

Why do you enjoy baking?

I’m not good at cooking at all, but I love baking. I watch shows like Masterchef, which are way out of my league, but I love baking for everyday purposes, to put biscuits in the tin. I like baking because it’s a giving past time, it’s very selfless.

How did you apply for The Great British Bake Off?

I saw an article for keen home bakers and thought it looked like fun!

“I like baking because it’s a giving past time, it’s very selfless.”

Did you want to win the Great British Bake Off?

I never set out thinking I’d win, it was all about enjoying the experience. As long as I was enjoying it, I was happy taking part. I didn’t like the competitive part, I made a lot of friends and it was upsetting to see them go.

What do you think about the British reputation as a ‘tea drinking, scone eating society’?

[Laughs] I think it is something we British do very well! I’m very proud of our heritage.

What do you love about baking?

I like to play at baking, all the recipes on my website are my own work, which I’ve adapted from traditional methods. Baking never goes wrong, it just doesn’t always go right. My family are my critics, if it goes down well with the boys, then it’ll go on the website.

What are you favourite recipes?

My ultimate favourite recipes are my scones, ginger cakes and minced meat and onion pies.

Visit Ruth’s website for more information about her home baking experiences, recipes and tips.