Oxford SlowFoodStudent

Sourdough is something that once you start, it's hard to stop.

I'm not a huge fan of brussel sprouts generally. They're ok when cooked properly but often end up slimy and with a nasty taste. Here is an easy way of making them taste delicious - frying!

First wash the sprouts and remove outer leaves. Slice lengthways into slices of about 1/3 cm.

In a sauce pan heat butter and olive oil on a medium-high heat. The butter gives a nice creamy flavour, but the oil is needed to allow the butter to get hot enough without burning. Fry the sprouts until browned but not burnt. Season with salt and pepper.

Rabbits. Bunnies. Big teeth and twitching whiskers, soft fur and cuddly plumpness, young children frolicking with them in the garden.

Rabbits: skinned, butchered, sold, covered in congealed blood, with their internal organs still attached for £3.50 at Fellers.

On every Sunday from 10am to 1pm, at the Primary School, First Turn (key in OX2 8AQ into e.g. Google maps if you don't know your way around).

All the produce on sale at the market is organic. Stalls include local cheeses; beef, lamb, pork – and venison in season; eggs; fruit and vegetables; jams and marmalades; organic fair trade coffee; local honey.

The organic cafe is the ‘best kept secret’ for where to go for Sunday brunch. Full English (plus a special veggie version), fair trade coffee, brilliant cakes, etc plus a free read of all the Sundays.

Local Vegetable Box schemes

I'm afraid I have no experience of any of the following, so can't offer any advice. However, here are a couple...

For info on truly local box schemes check out www.local-food.net and search for "Box Schemes"

ONLY ORGANIC (www.onlyorganic.org)

"We deliver fresh organic and in conversion produce to large parts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and a small part of Hertfordshire...

Uhuru Wholefoods, 48 Cowley Rd, Oxford

Organic and natural foods, locally produced foods, vegan and veggie takeaways, eco-friendly biodegradable products.

Open: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 9.30-5.30

Tel: 01865 248249

Oxford's Farmer's Markets....

Gloucester Green Farmers' Market: 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month

Wolvercote Farmers' Market and Organic Cafe at the Primary School, First Turn, every Sunday, 10.00am - 1.00pm Contact info@wolvercotefarmersmarket.co.uk for details and check out www.wolvercotefarmersmarket.co.uk (website presently under construction)

That's what my Granddad always used to say whenever conversation died: "Oh well, not long 'till Christmas, now!". This habbit was so deeply ingrained that he was known to say it on both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. He wasn't the brightest of sparks, you see, and so conversational filler was frequently required by him...

If you look carefully to your right on leaving the covered market, through the passage-way that leads to the Golden Cross Shopping Centre with Shakeaway and Pizza Express, you will see Living Foods of St Ives, a veritable treasure trove!

As is proclaimed in the little yellow booklet: "LIVING FOOD provide sprouting seed, beans, sprouting equipment and superfood, thereby offering a gateway into the world of ultimate nutrition".

Bread. The staff of life. And yet, in Britain, it’s a staff that’s often remarkably weak and unsupportive. It’s pappy, pale and generally pathetic. I could spend this entire article complaining about it, in fact, and convincing you that eating this rubbish is one of the worst things you can do: but I won’t.

Instead, I’ll get it done in one paragraph. I promise.

What’s wrong with our bread?