Panto Stories: Christmas Day Message from Harrogate Theatre

We’ve had a fantastic week of festive stories, and here’s a final Christmas message from Harrogate Theatre.

If you’ve enjoyed watching our Panto Stories, please consider making a donation to Harrogate Theatre. Text HTTOGETHER to 70085 to donate £5. Texts cost £5 plus one standard message rate.

Harrogate Theatre Panto Stories are sponsored by Hornbeam Park. 

Panto Stories: The Night Before Christmas

Join us every night this week at 5pm for a new festive tale.

If you’ve enjoyed watching our Panto Stories, please consider making a donation to Harrogate Theatre. Text HTTOGETHER to 70085 to donate £5. Texts cost £5 plus one standard message rate.

Harrogate Theatre Panto Stories are sponsored by Hornbeam Park. 

Panto Stories: Jack and the Beanstalk

Join us every night this week at 5pm for a new festive tale.

If you’ve enjoyed watching this story, please consider making a donation to Harrogate Theatre. Text HTTOGETHER to 70085 to donate £5. Texts cost £5 plus one standard message rate.

Harrogate Theatre Panto Stories are sponsored by Hornbeam Park. 

Panto Stories: Sleeping Beauty

Join us every night this week at 5pm for a new festive tale.

If you’ve enjoyed watching this story, please consider making a donation to Harrogate Theatre. Text HTTOGETHER to 70085 to donate £5. Texts cost £5 plus one standard message rate.

Harrogate Theatre Panto Stories are sponsored by Hornbeam Park. 

Panto Stories: Cinderella

Join us every night this week at 5pm for a new festive tale.

If you’ve enjoyed watching this story, please consider making a donation to Harrogate Theatre. Text HTTOGETHER to 70085 to donate £5. Texts cost £5 plus one standard message rate.

Harrogate Theatre Panto Stories are sponsored by Hornbeam Park. 

Stray Pets Rescue Club: the pooches needing a home this Christmas

The Stray Pets Rescue Club is our monthly pet profile of animals in desperate need of a loving home. All Tasha, Rocco, and Billy want for Christmas is a forever home. 

Tasha, Akita

Age: 9

Tasha’s story: Tasha arrived at Dogs Trust Leeds in July 2020. She has arthritis, so potential adopters will need to be aware of the ongoing cost of continuing medication before making a commitment to adopt her.

Temperament: Tasha is a friendly dog who, despite her age, is still very playful, and who loves her toys and having lots of fuss and attention.

Ideal home: Tasha is looking for an adult-only home without visiting children, where she can be the only pet. Her ideal new owners will have a secure garden so she can play off lead and she’ll also require access to quiet walks away from other dogs. Tasha’s new owners will need to be patient with her while she settles into her new home. She can’t be left alone initially but should be ok for short periods if this is done very gradually.

To find out more about Tasha and the adoption process, visit Dogs Trust Leeds.


Rocco, Mastiff – Old English

Age: 12 months

Rocco’s story: Rocco is a boisterous boy but he has had a tough time of it, first finding himself in need of a new home at just six months old (with another rescue organisation)

Temperament: Rocco is a young dog who still has lots to learn about life. He hasn’t had much chance to socialise in his life so far, and he can get a little over excited! But with patient and experienced owners who can continue his training, Rocco has lots of potential to blossom into a wonderful companion.

Ideal home: Rocco needs to live with people who have experience of large breed dogs who can keep him on the right track with his training. He’s a big strong lad, so needs very active owners, who can handle him safely too. Rocco can’t be left at all at the moment and will take time to slowly build up his confidence in this area – in the meantime, he’ll need his owners to be around all the time, until he’s ready to be left for short periods. He doesn’t want to share his home with any other pets or small children but will be fine around older children (over 16s) who aren’t worried by a big strong goofball!

To find out more about Rocco and the adoption process, visit Dogs Trust Leeds.

Billy, Saluki Cross Lurcher

Age: 18 months

Billy’s story: Billy was handed to Saving Yorkshire’s Dogs when his owner changed jobs and could no longer look after him.

Temperament: Billy is a very loving and attentive dog when he is with you, but he is fearful of other dogs which he shows by barking. Once he has been introduced to dogs, he then just wants to play!

Ideal home: Billy needs a nice secure garden and an owner who can give him lots of walking and training. He may need some time to bond, but once he has he follows guidance and is learning that people are not scary. He has not met any cats before, so needs a cat-free home.

 

To find out more about Billy and the adoption process, you can visit the Saving Yorkshire’s Dogs website or call them on 07562 986101.

The Stray Pets Rescue Club works with animal rescues around the area on its monthly profiles. 

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Stray Foodie: Festive Vegetable and Leek Strudel

Stray Foodie Christmas Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

In the run-up to Christmas, I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite seasonal recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

 

This is a versatile dish that can be enjoyed as an alternative to overly rich traditional Christmas food. It can also be made to be great fun incorporating all those leftover nibbles in the fridge. Either way this is healthy, glamorous and cost effective food.

From your local supermarket you should be able to buy a fresh spice set including ginger, coriander, basil, chilli, lime leaf, lemon grass and garlic.

I personally love kaffir lime leaves; I have them all over the house as they give such a lovely citrus aroma! They can be ordered especially for you at Daleside Nurseries.

The spice set needs to be blended raw with a little sesame oil to make a paste. Please note the chilli can be quite hot so do make sure the seeds are removed using disposable gloves.

Having prepared the spices we can now get on with the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 x packet Filo Pastry (I always keep a packet in my fridge or freezer at this time of year, which comes in handy for those unexpected meals)

100g Melted Butter

250g Root and Mediterranean prepared and diced vegetables of your choice (medium sized chunks)

60g Cooked Chickpeas

200g Whipping Cream

1 x Leek

1 x tsp Cumin Seed

1 x Pomegranate

2 x Medjool Dates

Pomegranate Molasses

A bunch of peppery Watercress

The ingredients for the vegetable and leek strudel

Method:

Fry the diced vegetables with the blended spices and cook until tender.

Remove from the pan and cool.

Add the chickpeas.

Wash and chop the leek and cook in the whipping cream with a little seasoning until soft, then allow to cool.

Take 3 sheets of filo pastry and place on your work surface.

Brush with melted butter.

Down the middle, place a line of the spiced vegetables. Roll it and brush with butter.

Place in the middle of two more sheets of filo, brushing all over with melted butter. Add the leek on top of the roll and again wrap the pastry over it.

Roll again in two more buttered sheets.

Brush with melted butter all over and sprinkle with cumin seeds.

Place on a greased pan and cook at 180c – 200c for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and slice.

Serve with Pomegranate, medjool dates and a drizzle of Pomegranate Molasses and Watercress.

An alternative to Pomegranate could be a spoonful of that delicious Cranberry Relish that you have in your fridge purchased from Paradise Food!

You could even try some of your leftover turkey in this dish – it is delicious. For a special treat, pair with a glass of Taittinger Rose Champagne!

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Stray Foodie: Christmas Mince Pies

Stray Foodie Lockdown Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

Throughout lockdown, I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite seasonal recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

This week’s recipe is for Christmas Mince Pies

This time of year many households are either purchasing or making their own Mince Pies with their own personal slant. Some people will put orange in their pastry, other people use flaky pastry rather than sweet pastry, and the creative making their own mince meat may leave out beef suet and replace with vegetable suet or even leave out altogether.

It is the suet that actually determines what this traditional dish was once meant to be. It was a small spiced meat pie with dried fruit with brandy added.  The brandy acted as a preservative. These were made slightly in advance for Christmas. As time has gone on there was a shortage of meat, so the suet replaced the meat. Now in these current times why do we need the suet? The fat from the suet will combine the juices, sugar and alcohol, but of course, there are other ways to do this. Why not experiment by using a little flavoured oil or coconut oil rather than suet.

Good cooking is all about creativity and organisation; it is not difficult but can be time consuming. Maybe that is why most people prefer to buy a jar of ready prepared mincemeat. I personally find it much more exciting to think about my own flavours to celebrate Christmas.

Here is a recipe that I hope you will enjoy! For a beautiful festive pairing, try with Bettys Christmas Coffee blend. 

For the mincemeat, you will need:

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together! You could also add a touch of chilli, extra apple or grated ginger. Let this stand overnight.

For the pastry, you will need:

Method:

Rub the fat into the flour and combine the egg and chill. Add splash of water if needed, but handle the pastry as little as possible. I like the lard as it adds a shortness to the pastry, but you could easily substitute that for butter if preferred.

Line your chosen tins with the pastry and add the filling. You can either cover the top for a closed pie or leave open and cover with glazed apple, cinnamon and sugar. For something a little different, you could roll out some marzipan and add some grated orange on top!

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Kate Garraway’s experience reminds us why Lasting Power of Attorneys are important

This article is sponsored by LCF Barber Titleys.

TV presenter, Kate Garraway, has talked openly to the media about the problems dealing with her husband’s bank accounts and insurance policies whilst he remains in hospital recovering from Covid-19. A nurse has also recently featured in the news after being arrested for trying to remove her elderly mother, who has dementia, from her care home, prior to the latest lockdown.

Local solicitor, Katie Hindmarsh, from LCF Barber Titleys in Harrogate, believes both these situations would have been avoided if a Lasting Power of Attorney had been in place.

Katie said:

Katie Hindmarsh

“Both may be newsworthy examples, but unfortunately they are not unusual cases. During my time as a private client solicitor I have seen families experience many difficulties in assisting their loved ones with decisions about their health and their finances because Lasting Powers of Attorney have not been set up.

“There is a common misconception that next of kin are able to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person. This is incorrect. The only way that an individual has legal authority to make decisions on behalf of someone else in relation to their health is if they are appointed as their attorney. The same applies to decisions in respect of property and finances and often people have no idea that being married or in a civil partnership does not hold any legal weight as far as financial institutions are concerned.

“We would therefore urge everyone to consider putting in place a Lasting Power of Attorney, not only for their property and finances, but also for their health and welfare. This would give people peace of mind and enable their loved ones to have the practical ability to do what the person who is incapacitated would want them to.”

A Lasting Power of Attorney allows someone to nominate a trusted friend or relative to make financial or health-related decisions on their behalf. This can be used for business reasons, or for personal reasons including the situation where a person has lost mental or physical capacity. Lasting Powers of Attorney must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before they can be used, a process which can take up to three months, therefore it’s important not to delay.

Contact Katie Hindmarsh or Wendy Scarr at LCF Barber Titleys in Harrogate on 01423 502211 for more details, or email Katie.Hindmarsh@lcf.co.uk and Wendy.Scarr@lcf.co.uk.

LCF Barber Titleys is part of LCF Law. Visit www.lcf.co.uk for more details of legal services available.

Stray Foodie: Sugar and spice and all things nice

Stray Foodie Lockdown Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

Throughout lockdown, I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite seasonal recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

 

Sugared Almonds, Crystalised Fruits, Dates, Figs and Spices are the delicious foods that we associate with the end of year culinary preparations for our respected festivities.

Historically these ingredients were considered treats as they weren’t so readily available as they are today. Aroma is the powerful sense that stimulates the memory in our brain instantly bringing back recollections that in most cases are good at creating the desire for certain foods! The smell of sugar and spice is very evocative and is one such example.

This week’s recipe is a gluten free almond cake.

The recipe I have this week is one I promised a reader; Paradise’s very versatile recipe for Almond Cake. At Paradise we love versatility with food because we are on a constant voyage of discovery so far as flavours are concerned. This recipe has a large proportion of sugar in it and gluten free flour making it a good cake for keeping and for anyone eating a Gluten Free diet.

Frances’ gluten free almond cake

It is delicious served with crystalised fruits, sugared almonds, dates and figs and spices of your choice. I prefer a little grated nutmeg, complimenting the fruits. A glass of Harrogate Tipple Christmas Gin with a little tonic is a good accompaniment!

For the recipe you need:

The almond cake ingredients

Method:

Line a loose bottomed cake tin with silicone paper.

Pre heat the oven to 180c or Gas 4.

Put all the ingredients together in to a food processor and give a good whizz round and pour it into the cake tin.

Place in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes until it is firm.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

When cooled remove from the cake tin and cover with a flavoured frosting of your choice, sugared almonds and crystalised fruits.

Frosting Recipe:

This is a great alternative celebration cake which is light and easy.

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