Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Simple & In Season August – Now Open!

Hello again! We’re firmly into school holiday territory now and finding the time to blog is proving to be quite a challenge.  However, today I’m launching Simple and in Season August!

There are so many great summer ingredients at their best in August as we get the best of the late summer fruits just before moving into Autumn, including even more berries and my favourite fruit – Victoria plums. If you are a keen vegetable gardener you might have broad beans or courgettes growing in abundance – both are also widely avaiable to buy and at great prices.
I was asked the other day whether following the seasons in the kitchen is more expensive and my answer was a very emphatic NO! It is actually cheaper! Markets and shops are so keen to push British or local produce – it costs them less to supply it because they aren’t having to paying for produce to be shipped in from across the world. Many places will have entire sections offering seasonal produce at cut-prices or you can go and pick-your-own fruit or take a huge bag to the market. If you go later on in the day stall holders always try to shift bowls of seasonal produce for a fraction of the normal price. Or, if you are growing your own your garden will be full of free produce! 
Cooking according to what’s ‘in season’ has long been the secret of great chefs. Why? because seasonal food tastes so much better and so really, you have to do very little to create good flavour. Seasonal food really speaks for itself. 
I love that you are all linking up your recipes and showing us what is available and where. I’m on a personal mission to find courgette flowers this month (as per the picture above) as they are edible and look so pretty.

Link Up HERE –

 

August’s winner will receive a copy of Mark Diacono’s lovely book A Taste of the Unexpected. Mark won the Guild of Food Writers Food Book of the Year Award in 2011 and it really quite an inspirational and unique book.
A Taste of the Unexpected

Here is a re-cap on the guidelines:



•All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, mention Simple and in Season/Fabulicious Food! and add a link to your post in the box above (via Simply Linked).

•This is the third round and it will runs up until the end of July. I will pick a winner on 1st August (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post soon after including everyone who has entered as well as launching the next month’s challenge

•You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it

•Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.

•Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules)

•The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.

•If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.

Feel free to use this badge on your blog, simply copy and paste.

 

About Ren

Ren Behan is a British-born food writer of Polish descent. She is a mum to three young children (13, 10 and 5) and spends lots of time with them in the kitchen. Ren writes about seasonal, family-friendly food on her blog www.renbehan.com. She also contributes recipes and articles to online and print food publications, such as Food52.com, GreatBritishChefs.com, Huff Post Food and JamieOliver.com. She holds a Diploma in Food Journalism with Distinction and has completed a Food Styling course at Leiths School of Food and Wine.

Ren’s cookbook, Wild Honey and Rye: Modern Polish Recipes, draws upon her Polish heritage and regular travels to Poland.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. >Hi Kellie, so lovely to meet you here. I love your blog, it is so inspiring. Thanks so much for joining in. I will be posting a lovely round-up of all these wonderful seasonal recipes very soon. Ren x

    Reply

  3. >Oops! So excited about discovering your fab blog & sending seasonal recipes in that I forgot to read the guidelines. Must do better next time!

    Reply

  4. >As a cancer nutritionist and healthy food blogger it is wonderful to get other folks' takes on seasonal ingredients. Thank you for championing real food & being so generous in showcasing others' recipes ;D

    Reply

  6. >WONDERFUL, I have been waiting for this Ren…..I suspected you had your hands full in the school holidays, I will be back with my seasonal recipes for August…….and my apples are nearly ready to pick too, as well as my figs……oh yes, and my brambles ~could be a Fun and BUSY month!
    Karen

    Reply

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