I'm going backwards here because I'm writing this in October. I've spent the morning sorting through 'photos on my phone, reminding myself of the busy days in June. The fun I had growing marigolds by the pot full, gardening with my grandson, finishing layers for a three tier wedding cake and perfecting my Jain, egg free cashew and orange cake for my daughters Indian wedding in July. And that is why I didn't write any blog posts.

Little did we know that we were in for a Seafood Boil when we booked our 'Sisters London Night Out' at Andi Oliver's new Wadadli Kitchen in Hackney Wick last week.

Although not born to it, we have family of Caribbean heritage living in Antigua and Barbuda. This was going to be our farewell supper before the three of us could meet again in Barbuda next January. So how disappointing was it to be given a load of spiel from the serving staff about the Seafood Boil being the national dish of Antigua. What utter rubbish!  Perhaps it was because we were expecting something much simpler? Or the fact that the serving staff had no real idea about Caribbean cuisine? But it was disappointing at £30 a head, more so the gob smacking £45 for a 750ml bottle of rum punch which required a further investment of £21 to add three extra shots of rum.  Give me the real roadside food of Antigua and Barbuda any day.

• rum punch
• hmm ... dive in
• prawns were nice
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Oh! the pressure on social media to be universally appealing to everyone all the time. I'm bored with it and also with the tedious suggestions that by writing a food blog I'm just some kind of influencer looking for freebies. Worse still because I have the word 'foodie' in my blog title I'm also an imbecile. Yes, I've seen that comment many times now including from the titterers on Twitter and idiots on Instagram. What's wrong with foodies?  I've not posted much for a while but have been living my best life. Sure, I've not stopped cooking all my meals, feeding my family, writing recipes, going to work, advising clients and eating out, I've just not been inclined to share any of this for a while. Normal service might resume soon. In the meantime here's my fried green tomato recipe.

Roscoe's Deli and Farmshop has openend at The Coachouse on Thornham Estate at Thornham Magna, which is very exciting for me as I live in the next village, so plan to go truffling there regularly. I took a quick peep to see what was on offer and chatted to the owner Jason who is showcasing British produce, most of it coming in from very local suppliers. He has great plans to extend the offering, with a fresh fish counter now up and running at weekends and eventually a place to stop and enjoy a coffee. Keep an eye on their website for updates. EDIT 22nd Nov 2021. Jason no longer has the fish and meat counters and is operating as a Cafe/Restaurant. Curries, pizzas, burgers ... a little varied. Pizzas are very good. Definitley check the Facebook page before you go to see what is on offer.

Busy, busy, back to work and sooo nice to be back out on the road. One of my first stops for elevensies was Bircham Mill. A welcome coffee and delicious Belgian (Bircham) bun. Well worth a visit to buy bread if you are in North Norfolk.

Food Season at The British Library is back with a mouth-watering menu of digital events inspired by the cookbooks, recipes and culinary stories in our collection. Founded and curated by food historian and British Library curator Polly Russell with award-winning food writer Angela Clutton as Guest Director, the season features an array of chefs, historians and food writers for a series of live conversations that you can tune into wherever you are. Speakers include Madhur Jaffrey, Raymond Blanc, Calum Franklin, Tom Kerridge, Ruby Tandoh and we’ll be covering topics from manuscript cookery sources, food and machismo, the cheese history of the UK, Caribbean cooking and restaurant criticism.

Ooh, Easter Biscuits. These have been on the tea table in our house since I was a little girl. This is my mother's recipe which probably came from one of those 1950's Good Housekeeping recipe books. A buttery shortbread style biscuit with spice and currants. Easter is not the same without them. Makes about 24 biscuits.

Yesterday I ate far too much ice-cream, then dreamt about it all night and since then haven't been able to stop thinking about ice-cream. I even snuck back to the freezer this morning to hide the pot of stem ginger out of sight from Mr SFoodie. This is what happens when you get invited to to an ice-creamery. 

Katherine from Suffolk Meadow invited me to try her range of ice-creams and whilst collecting a selection from her ice-creamery I felt very lucky to be given a little tour, learning how the ice-cream is made. Well, hooray for Waveney Valley cows because Suffolk Meadow uses milk and cream from nearby Beccles farmers, E S Burroughs and Sons  - that's what you call 'loocal' in Suffolk. Mind you Katherine knows all about milk as she was very much part of the family firm Marybelle until the business was moved to a new partner in 2014. The family kept their ice-cream business leaving Katherine to run Suffolk Meadow full time. I had a peep in the ingredients store and saw all the different bottles of booze, nuts, fruit, chocolate etc that is used to flavour the ice-cream. There are so many different flavours of ice-cream and I chose five to take home and try. In the interests of research, to preserve my arteries and not have a riot on my hands I allowed my Mr SuffolkFoodie and my resident daughter to taste test them all with me, lining up our selection in order of favourites. If you want to treat yourself to some Suffolk Meadow then check out the list of stockists here otherwise online ordering is available from the website ... and it's well worth the drive to Walpole to stock up your freezer. Consider having a bespoke flavour made, which Katherine will do if you order the minimum production which is 8 litres. I'm thinking an ice-cream party is on the cards, and might very well be a good way to celebrate the lifting of lockdown.

• surprisingly good, rich, creamy and vanilla flecked ice cream was a favourite of us all
• where do you start? the answer is to try them all
• rum and raisin was packed full of raisins that had been soaked in rum and brown sugar
• ooh! look at the ginger in this - the all time favourite was the stem ginger, a smooth velvet ice cream base with delicious chunks of stem ginger
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Your recipe, darlin', is so tasty, and you sure can stir your pot ... Jamaica Street. Ipswich - IMHO some of the best Caribbean food in Suffolk right now.

• we chose coleslaw as the side for the box meal
• dumplings
• fried plantains
• box meal jerk chicken with rice and peas
• curry mutton with the sides
• homemade carrot juice, creamy as it should be
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