But first I want to congratulate you on making it through almost the first half of January. If, like me, you feel like a slightly discombobulated hibernating bear, the half way mark is a sign that we can begin the process of emerging out of our post holiday indulgence caves and embrace the minutes more of light every day has to offer. I mean, for the sun worshippers among us Londoners, this month is TOUGH.
Luckily, this is not my first rodeo. By now, I’ve completed enough rotations around the sun to have my January coping mechanisms firmly in place. I work on the principle of two hard and fast rules – 1. Always eat lunch, and 2. Bake away the blues. Let me elaborate.
I love a solo work from home midweek lunch, when it’s just me and a fridge full of leftovers and mishmash selection of fresh veg and fridge basics. On most days I am a little too disorganised for breakfast before the day officially starts, so lunch usually happens late morning or as close to noon as I can manage. I like this little punctuation of the day when I am already completely over caffeinated and my creative juices flow in a “ready steady cook” kind of fashion. Fuelled by such an intense hunger that I want to eat my arm, my goal is to make the quickest and tastiest bowl or plate to keep me full enough until my next favourite meal – tea.
Cue jammy eggs, January’s (and every day’s) best friend and the complete meal maker. The seven minutes they take to cook is just enough time to assemble the rest (picture frantic thrashing around the kitchen in a hyper focussed almost possessed manner). I like to amass a selection of last night’s ends of leftovers (I often cook extra for exactly this scenario), chop a few veg to throw in for fresh crunch and colour, or make some toast to be loaded up, ready to top everything with perfectly boiled, jammy centred eggs. Those precious few minutes give you just enough time to construct and snack while you make, but not quite enough time to eat the rest of your meal before they are cooked (a very important part of the game).
Bake your way through the blues. In all honestly, I tend to bake my way through most months, but I like to save January for exploring new ideas and playing with some of the old comfort classics (a sure-fire way to drag me out of my cave). I use the quieter days to pour through the books acquired through the gifting season and construct a strict baking schedule for the months ahead.
To give you a little inspiration and help you bake along with me, I’m sharing a biggie with you today…..the famed Pump Street Bakery Brownies (AKA the only recipe you will ever need). A well guarded secret until now, these intensely chocolate deeply fudgey squares of heaven absolutely crush their competitors. So you can imagine my sheer delight when Jo thought it would be a great idea to bake them as a segment of our Pump Street at Home Series where we share recipes from the bakery and our favourite creations made with Pump Street Chocolate. Your brownie search can officially stop here.
I would love to hear all about your culinary creations and please share your favourite jammy egg feasts. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to share some of my discoveries from my fleeting and eventful few days in NYC last month alongside some recipes with my favourite winter produce. But in the meantime feel free to reach out with any kitchen queries or stories of your own.
To see how to make jammy eggs, a little more about my lunchtime suggestions and THOSE brownies, simply click through to the site or to my YouTube channel. And please don’t forget to subscribe to both to never miss out on videos, recipes and events (all events and classes are sent out to subscribers first for a booking head start).
Here’s to a delicious 2024 and journeying through it all together, one delicious dish at at time.