Riverford Organic is a veg box company which grows and delivers produce locally. Much of the produce is grown on the farm at Sacrewell, just outside Peterborough.

We have everything you need for the perfect Pancake Day on Tuesday, including higher welfare eggs and milk – we won an RSPCA good business award recently for the way we look after our animals – and juicy unwaxed lemons which are grown for the very best flavour.

Our lemons come from a small group of organic farmers working in the hills behind Almeria in Spain. The group is headed by Ginés Garcia, who is fiercely proud of his farm and the biodiversity it supports. He’s even inspired other farmers in the area to join up and convert to organic.The Spanish citrus season kicks off in November and runs right through until May. We try not to import anything and we never use air freight, but sometimes it is necessary to drive some items over from our carefully selected growers outside the UK.

The fact that our lemons are unwaxed means that you can use the zest in cooking. The zest and peel contain pectin and can be used to help set jams and jellies. Grated zest can also be used to flavour cakes, biscuits, mousses, custards and sauces.

A good Pancake Day tip is to roll a lemon between your hands for a couple of minutes to warm the fruit gently before using – you will be able to yield more juice.

Get all your ingredients from our website: www.riverford.co.uk/sacrewell or call 01780 789700.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

l 200g unsalted butter, softened

l 200g caster sugar

l 3 eggs

l 200g self raising flour

l zest 2 lemons

For the drizzle:

l juice 2 lemons

l 75g caster sugar (or use granulated for a crunchier topping)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease a 20cm loose bottomed cake tin using a little butter on a piece of kitchen paper. Line the tin with baking parchment.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is light, pale and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and beat for another minute or two.

3. In a separate small bowl, break the eggs and lightly beat until the yolks and whites are combined. Gradually (a teaspoon or so at a time) add the eggs to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, making sure the egg is mixed in each time before adding more. Sift the flour into the bowl and gently fold into the mixture until just incorporated. Do not over mix.

4. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for approx 45-55 minutes, depending on your oven.

5. Test the cake is ready by inserting a skewer – if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Remove from the oven and prick the cake all over with a skewer or cocktail stick. Stir the lemon juice and sugar for the drizzle together in small jug. Pour over the cake in 3 or 4 batches, waiting a minute or two between each pouring.

6. Sprinkle over a pinch or two of extra caster sugar for an extra crunchy topping if you like. Leave to cool slightly then remove the cake from the tin and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

RESIDENTS are in for a tasty treat at a new cafe opened by a group that works with homeless people.

Octavia’s Café is located in the Georgian setting of Octavia View, in South Brink, Wisbech, and boasts an original ornate ceiling dating back to 1722.

The café serves freshly ground coffee, a selection of traditional homemade cakes, scones and pastries as well as winter-warming soups made from locally-grown ingredients.

Ample parking is provided at Somers Road car park and the café has access for all, including those with disabilities, and parents with children.

Toys are even available for visiting children to play with.

Octavia View has a selection of function rooms for hire and the café is able to offer a buffet menu for those wishing to have refreshments at their function.

For further information, contact Octavia View on 01945 429300 or email luke.venni@luminus.org.uk.

Octavia View is run by Luminus Ferry Project, a charity which helps the homeless towards independence.

Project director Keith Smith said: “We are delighted to provide this much-needed café in the beautiful setting of Octavia View. Customers who have already visited the café have been full of praise for the staff and the food and drinks as well as the Octavia’s shop and art gallery.”

The cafe is open Wednesdays to Saturdays from 10am until 4pm

]]> 1.3548900 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:18:31 +0000 http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/full_dress_rehearsal_of_olympic_torch_relay_1_3548584

A FULL dress rehearsal for the Olympic torch relay will take place between Leicester and Peterborough, the organisers of the London 2012 Games have announced.

It was revealed yesterday that the stretch of the relay route, which cuts through both rural and city locations, will be used for a trial run on April 20.

This is so that the London 2012 Organising Committee (Locog) can check out their convoy, crew and communications procedures ahead of the 8,000-mile full event taking place later in the year.

People are being encouraged to line the streets as the test convoy travels through Quorn, Loughborough, Hoton, Wymeswold, Asfordby, Melton Mowbray, Langham, Oakham, Uppingham and Stamford to make the test realistic.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said: “Test events are a vital part of our operations in preparing for all of the events that are part of the 2012 Games.

“We are also looking forward to working with the 100 inspirational people who will play an essential role in helping us to test how we will operate during the relay.”

Procedures to be tested during the rehearsal will include timings, convoy movement, radio communications, the collection and drop-off of torchbearers, route markings, traffic management and security operations.

The torches used during the dress rehearsal will not be lit as the Olympic Flame is not officially ignited until May 10.

Representatives from the Royal College of the Blind, Loughborough College and Leicester, De Montfort, Loughborough and Northampton universities will be putting on their running shoes as torchbearers for the rehearsal.

The Olympic torch relay will start for real at Land’s End, Cornwall, on the morning of May 19.

During its 70-day relay journey around the UK the torch will fly by zip wire from the Tyne Bridge, ascend Snowdon by rail, and cross Loch Ness.

Locog say the torch will come within 10 miles of 95 per cent of the country’s population before the tour brings the Olympic Flame to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London on July 27.

A NEW group coming to Yaxley is hoping to put the fun into fitness.

An introductory course called Laughter Yoga has been organised to start this Thursday.

It is the brainchild of nutritional therapist Teresa Martin, who has taken over the Peterborough local support group for The Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT).

She said: “It will be great fun, can be done at any age and is really good for your health.”

The group will meet every Thursday at 7.30pm at St B’s Hall, in Main Street, Yaxley.

For more information contact Teresa by calling 01733 245614 or 07710 776902.

TEAMS are invited to sign up to a quiz night in Whittlesey.

The Friends of Whittlesey Library (FOWL) group has organised the event to take place at St Andrew’s Hall, in Parkinsons Lane, on Friday, March 2.

Teams of up to six are welcome and the cost is £8 per person which includes a fish and chip supper.

Tickets are on sale from Whittlesey Library where membership forms for FOWL are also available.

NEW members are needed to bolster a petanque team ahead of the summer season.

The Falcon Hotel, in London Street, Whittlesey has installed a new petanque terrain and now needs to get together a new team.

Petanque is a form of boules and the team will play in the Cromwell Petanque League. No experience is necessary and people of any age can play.

To sign up or for more information email wayne@whittleseasurf.com.

SAMPLE The Dark Side of the Moon at a Pink Floyd tribute concert.

Peterborough-based Echoes of Floyd UK mark their first anniversary with a show at Sir Harry Smith Community College, Whittlesey, on Saturday night.

The show, at 7.30pm, will be complete with a light and laser show.

Tickets cost £10 and are available from 01733 703991.

THE date has been set for the final of this year’s Poetry Rivals competition.

Organised by Bonacia, one of the largest publishers of new poetry, the event provides a platform for talented poets to get their work heard.

Five thousand poets entered the competition and now 50 adults and 50 under-18s have been chosen to attend the final at The Burghley Square Club, in Burghley Road, Peterborough, on Saturday, April 21.

One lucky poet will be crowned 2011 slam champion from the adults and have the choice of either a publishing contract or £1,000.

The under-18s will be broken down into two age groups on the day. Two champions will be crowned and given a laptop computer each.

This year ET columnist and poet Mark Grist is helping host the event. For further information call 01733 890099.

A COFFEE morning in aid of the British Heart Foundation will be held in a city church.

Stanground Baptist Church, in Chapel Street, is holding the event on February 23 from 9.45am to 11.45am.

Organisers will be wearing red as part of the charity’s Red For Heart campaign and there will also be a sweepstake offering a prize donated by Walton-based Sapphire Hair and Beauty.

HUNDREDS of people are expected to head to a Peterborough farm when it opens for its annual Lambing Sunday event.

As well as the chance to see lambs being born, visitors to Manor Farm, Morborne near Peterborough can hold newly-hatched chicks, sit in the cab of a combine harvester, take a ride in a cart drawn by a shire horse and join in other children’s activities.

Farmers Nigel and Janet Rome host the event, which is organised by Peterborough National Farmers’ Union with the help of 30 volunteers. This year it will raise money for Macmillan Nurses, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and the local church.

Mr Rome said: “As the proceeds are passed directly to charity this is a wonderful opportunity to support them, to see the sheep with their newly-born lambs and to find out more about food and farming.”

The event takes place on March 11 from 11am to 4pm and admission is £2 for adults, £1 for children and £5 for a family ticket. Morborne Church will be open from 11am to 3pm serving refreshments.

]]> 1.3542840 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:56:03 +0000 http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/get_fit_and_meet_new_people_on_walk_1_3542373

RESIDENTS are welcome to join a walking event in Peterborough.

The next Walk With Us In Botolph Green event will start at 11am on Friday, February 24 outside the Botolph Arms, in Oundle Road, Orton Longueville.

The walk is at least an hour long and usually includes a stop for refreshments.

For more details email barbara.parsons@tiscali.co.uk

YOUNGSTERS, aged from 12 to 17, looking for something to do on Saturday evening can take part in the Hampton Gaming Night.

The event has been organised by PCSOs Matt Lauch and Mohammed Haleem at the Food Court of Serpentine Green Shopping Centre from 6pm to 8pm on Saturday, February 25.