Waste Not Want Not

This year has seen extremes of weather throughout the world and this has resulted in a reduction of the wheat harvest; this fact, coupled with the demand for wheat from China, has resulted in a huge hike in the price of wheat and consequently the price of bread. No doubt there will be a price war amongst the supermarkets as to who can have the lowest priced white sliced cotton wool bale, but if you have paid around £1 for a tasty white loaf you might be loathed to throw the stale bits away or feed the pigeons. In my childhood when people looked after the pennies a regular on the menu was Bread Pudding. So I thought I would pass on the recipe, its a very robust tasty item and ideal for packed lunches.


8oz stale bread
3oz suet (vegetarian is fine)
3oz sugar
6oz dried fruit (any combination you have sultanas, raisins, currents, cranberries etc)
1oz chopped peel or grated orange rind
2 eggs
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a little pepper
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
a little milk


Soak the bread in cold water, overnight if possible or for at least 4 hours. Drain in a colander and squeeze the excess water out. Crumble with a fork. Add the dry ingredients except the bicarb.

Mix the bicarb with the milk. Add the beaten eggs and mix all together either using a wooden spoon or your hands until a fairly soft consistency is reached. Put in a baking tin, 8ins round or a small roasting tin, rough up the surface with a fork and bake at 220°C for 4o minutes. Cool in the tin and cut into portions. Also nice when eaten warm with custard. Ooooooo lovely