Food & Drink
Welcome to our family friendly food and drink page where we bring you great recipes that both grownups and children will love to cook together, eat together and stay healthy together.
Family Friendly Recipes
Recent Blog Posts
UK Potato Varieties: Which Potato for Which Dish
Floury or waxy? Which UK potato variety to buy — Maris Piper to Charlotte — for chips, jacket potatoes, boiling or a dauphinoise.
Yeomanry Pudding Recipe
Ask most people what a "Yeomanry Pudding" is and you will get a blank look, which is a shame, because it is one of the more charming survivors of English regional cookery — a two-crust pastry pie from Staffordshire, filled with a layer of raspberry jam under a rich...
Stone Cream Recipe
Stone cream is one of those dishes that has quietly dropped out of the national repertoire without anyone quite noticing it had gone. It is a lightly set cream, flavoured with lemon and a splash of sherry, poured warm over a spoonful of jam and left to firm up in the...
Gypsy Tart Recipe
Gypsy tart is the classic Kent version of the school-dinner pudding that a whole generation half-remembers and can rarely name on sight: a blind-baked pastry case filled with a pale, caramel-coloured filling made from just two ingredients, whisked until it triples in...
Drop Scones Recipe
Drop scones — Scotch pancakes, if you learned them the other way — are small, thick griddle pancakes made from a simple self-raising batter and cooked in batches on a hot, lightly greased pan. There's no yeast, no proving and no special equipment: a heavy...
Chocolate Concrete Recipe
Chocolate concrete is the classic school-dinner chocolate traybake — the one that got its name honestly. It is not a brownie and it does not pretend to be: a plain flour, cocoa and sugar mix bound with melted butter or margarine, pressed hard into a tin and...
Cornflake Tart Recipe
Cornflake tart is the school-dinner pudding that people over a certain age still describe with something close to reverence — a shortcrust pastry case spread with jam and topped with cornflakes bound in golden syrup, baked until the topping is toasted and set....
Yorkshire Parkin Recipe
Yorkshire parkin is a dark, dense treacle and oatmeal cake that has been baked across the county since at least the early eighteenth century, traditionally around Bonfire Night. This is the classic Yorkshire version — built on black treacle rather than golden...
Can You Freeze Victoria Sponge?
By Linda Garrould · Updated July 2026 The quick answer Yes — a Victoria sponge freezes well, and freezing it is one of the baker’s best-kept shortcuts for a party, a fete or a birthday. The neatest method is to freeze the sponge layers plain and...
Can You Freeze Quiche?
By Linda Garrould · Updated July 2026 The quick answer Yes — quiche freezes very well, which makes it one of the most useful things to have up your sleeve for busy weeks, picnics and packed lunches. You can freeze it baked or unbaked, whole or in slices,...
2019 Childrens Runner Bean Experiment
Each year we grow runner beans from seed and carefully measure and record the results as a fun and educational family activity.
What does 30g of sugar look like? Learn about hidden sugar and how quickly you can consume the recommended maximum of 30gs of sugar a day.
What does
Notes from Gardeners World
Each week we watch Gardners’ World and publish our thoughts and notes about the programme online.
What makes a good Childrens Menu?
If you run a restaurant or cafē see my advice on creating the perfect