February 2025

Works In Progress
As a result of the attention being paid to the cookbook, work on Pass The Duchy has stalled temporarily. The main reason for this is that the last three chapters need a major re-write. The machete editing had been making great progress and the word count hadn’t dramatically shifted overall (compared to earlier when the count went up instead of down), but what started out as a niggle became a realisation that the ending felt rushed. The chaos and mayhem at the end needs to be savoured more. Now I know what is needed, it’s just a matter of doing it, which is easier said than done.

That’s books to finish and manuscripts to illustrate. Now let’s turn our attention to slanderous texts. I’m thinking of The Scriptorium Chronicle here, last heard of being out to beta readers for comment. Again, another sneaking niggle. It was written at a point in time about events happening there and then. Since then, the world has moved on and some of the references seem obscure and dated. Much as I hate to have to do it, I’m going to have to go through it again (okay, okay, I was going to be doing it anyway when the beta readers got back to me) with an eye to taking out material which is past its sell-by date and writing something that won’t age, or won’t age so badly. The afterword will need re-writing too.

So, with The Scriptorium Cookbook, Pass The Duchy, and The Scriptorium Chronicle to keep me busy, what about All Steamed Up? Don’t worry—I haven’t forgotten about it. One of this year’s New Year’s Resolutions is to Finish Things (capital F, capital T). It will be finished, but the first three need to be finished first. As the cookbook is close to the first draft being completed, I can get this out to readers for testing, then it’s off my desk, for a while at least. There are already a couple of good folks asking (nay, demanding) a copy. If anyone else wants a copy, you know where to ask. Then I can quickly whizz through the Chronicle before finishing the Duchy. I’m keen to get the Duchy and Chronicle out on submission so that I can crack on with other projects (and All Steamed Up. Don’t keep going on about it. I’ll get to it).

The Wildflower Meadow (formerly the Front Lawn)
We’re not out of winter yet, but the first signs of spring are beginning to show. The white heather is blooming, snowdrops and irises are flowering, the crocuses (crocii?) are showing colour, and the rhubarb is beginning to grow. It won’t be too long before rhubarb crumble is back on the menu again.

Potatoes are being chitted, chilli seedlings are on a sunny windowsill, and construction of a low retaining wall in the kitchen garden has commenced (and stopped as it was too cold and rainy). A large stash of packets of seeds are ready and waiting for it to warm up a little more before being sown.

What The Scribes Have Been Reading And Watching
The start to the year has been varied. Reading has mostly consisted of recipe books, the earliest of which was written sometime in the 14th century. Reference has been made to Ancient Sumerian clay tablets and some Roman bloke called Apicius, but the scribes can’t read Sumerian and only extracts from Apicius have been read. Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management has proved instructive, if a little dated. To be fair, it is over 160 years old now and came from a time when everything had to be done by hand.

Dear Alexa,
I recently found a strange seed in a packet of bulbs that Mrs Pritchett had given me to plant. It was about the size of a pea and had a wrinkled skin, but was like no pea that I’ve ever seen. The bulbs were tulips from Amsterdam, which I sang as I planted the seed and put it in a propagator. The seed hasn’t germinated yet, but we’ve all read the story about Jack and the Beanstalk and even though a goose that lays golden eggs would be a great addition to the chickens that lay regular eggs, I’m concerned that things might get out of hand if a giant turns up.
Fretful Gardener

Dear Fretful Gardener,
If I were you, I’d keep a very close eye on what germinates. Be on standby to nip it in the bud as there’s things they grow in Amsterdam that the police would take a professional interest in if it ever turned up in a garden centre over here. If what emerges should take on a magical, fairytale quality, there is a large wood axe in the shed you can whack it with. Remember to put it back when you’ve finished.
Alexa

Macaroni Cheese
The origins of macaroni cheese go back to medieval England. “Makerouns”, a cheese and pasta casserole, is recorded in the 14^th century cookbook The Forme of Cury. It was made with fresh pasta sandwiched between a mixture of melted butter and cheese. The recipe compares it to losyns, a dish similar to lasagna. Traditional macaroni cheese is put in a casserole dish and baked in the oven. If you don’t have time, it can be prepared in a saucepan on top of the stove, but you don’t get the lovely golden crust if you do it this way.

Serves 4
Prep time: less than 30 mins
Cook time: 10 to 30 minutes
Ready: less than an hour

Ingredients
250g macaroni
40g butter
40g plain flour
600ml milk
250g cheddar, grated
50g Parmesan (or a similar, such as Grana Padano), finely grated

Directions
1. Take a large saucepan of salted, boiling water and add the macaroni. Cook for 8-10 minutes until cooked. Drain and set aside.

2. In a different saucepan, larger than the one used to cook the macaroni, melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the flour and stir to form a roux. Cook for a few minutes, but don’t let it brown. Although roux is short for beurre roux, which is French for browned butter, it shouldn’t be browned. What you are making is white sauce. The clue is in the name.

3. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking as you go to prevent lumps from forming. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you have a nice, thick—and more to the point, lump-free—sauce.

4. Preheat the oven to 220ºC/fan 200ºC/gas 7. You can use the grill to brown the top of the macaroni cheese, but Mrs Pritchett says to use the oven to heat it through evenly.

5. Remove the sauce from the stove and add about two-thirds to three-quarters of the cheddar (175g or so). Stir until well combined and melted. Add the macaroni to the sauce and stir well.

6. If you are adding extra ingredients such as cooked bacon, cooked mushrooms or cooked veg, now is the time to add these. Stir well.

7. Transfer to a casserole dish. Mrs Pritchett has a deep Pyrex dish that she likes to use, but any suitably sized ovenproof dish will work. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar and the Parmesan over the top and pop in the oven for 30-35 minutes until piping hot, bubbling round the edges and browned.

Serve straight away in warmed bowls.

Scribes’ Notes:
This is Mrs Pritchett’s basic recipe for macaroni cheese. As she says, most of the flavour comes from the cheese, so pick something you like. Go for an easy-to-melt variety like cheddar, Red Leicester or Double Gloucester. Hard cheeses such as Parmesan don’t melt as well but are needed for the extra taste and are used in the topping so as not to make the sauce grainy. Although macaroni is traditionally used, any short pasta shape will work. Avoid long-stranded pasta like spaghetti or linguine, as it is likely to stick together in a big lump.

To make it a bit more special, the scribes like it when cooked bacon and mushrooms are added. You can also add things like cooked broccoli, cauliflower, leeks and tomatoes to bulk it out with vegetables.

One final note: avoid the pre-grated cheese you can get from supermarkets like the plague. It is usually coated in an anti-caking agent to help prevent the strands from sticking together. This stuff affects how the cheese melts and can make your sauce grainy. Besides, if you’re already in the kitchen, grating your own cheese isn’t exactly time-consuming or difficult.