A Year in my Fenland Kitchen

 Today marks the Spring Equinox here in the uk.   From now on we can look forward to lengthening days and as from next weekend, when the clocks go forward, lighter evenings. There are daffodils, primroses and hellebores flowering in the garden; and on the allotment, buds on the plum tree and forced rhubarb nearly ready to pick.  But, despite the signs of spring outdoors, in the kitchen we are still very much in winter produce mode. If the recent shortages of certain vegetables, such as red peppers and tomatoes, has taught me one thing, it is to make the most of the seasonal winter vegetables available. And so here is a recipe for a smooth and velvety soup, using a winter vegetable, grown not that far from here in the Lincolnshire Fens; a classic combination of cauliflower and cheese turned into a soup. Wishing you all the joys of spring! Speak soon  Annie  x

The sun was beckoning,  and so, on the spur of the moment, we got in the car and drove the 3 or 4 miles up the road for a walk around the village of Thorney. Parking on a grass verge, we opened the gate into the first field.  Unusually for the fens, there were sheep; we are more used to seeing acres of wheat, sugar beet, potatoes and carrots in this part of the world, rather than livestock, especially the woolly kind.  The sheep looked up from feeding on their bale of hay, eyes fixed on us with an unwavering gaze: staring, some might say rudely in our direction. Had they been children, undoubtedly, they would have been admonished with a whispered "It's rude to stare", but these were sheep and after a few minutes, deciding that we were no threat, they turned away and resumed eating. We walked the length of the field and out onto a rough track, then turned across another field to the right.The wind was fierce and biting, as is often the case in the flat fens; it burned our