Equatorial Crafts

Yet another passageway into Ashbourne's lower market place, begins here, by the Millennium clock which was erected to celebrate the turn of the millennium (wow, is that REALLY eleven years ago?) and officially opened by the Mayor of Ashbourne on 17th March 2000.

Turn round the corner by Pet's Pad and follow the narrow, cobbled jitty down towards Victoria Square.

In Victoria Square, you can find Equatorial Crafts; one of many establishments which contribute to Ashbourne's status as a Fairtrade town. Set out over two floors, this shop is packed with crafts from Latin America; all sourced by the owner who makes frequent journeys out to trade with local suppliers. Here, you can buy clothes, bags, jewellery, embroidery and a range of other knick knacks; mostly brightly coloured, mostly well made and all very distinct in their ethnicity. If you're in the area, it's well worth a visit!

Potions

I've never made a secret of the fact that I am not the world's best cook. Meals are OK, but when people start talking jams, chutneys and cakes, I am slightly out of my depth. So it was, quite truthfully, that I told a friend I wouldn't know where to start with a Christmas cake. He was surprised because it was, in his words, "Fairly straightforward". It wasn't meant, or taken, as a criticism, but it did make me decide to have a go.

I didn't tell anyone in advance. That way, if it had collapsed, exploded, erupted or incinerated no one need ever have known. At the last minute, I was forced to confide in one friend as I sent a panic text to ask "Which shelf?" Surprisingly, it turned out reasonable enough. My eldest son certainly enjoyed it anyway. It disappeared at a rate of knots.

Since then, I have started to enjoy making soups, but had not ventured into the world of cakes again until today. The 'Which shelf?' friend gave me a cake recipe book for Christmas and I thought it was about time I had a go. List in hand, I scoured Sainsbury's for the ingredients (Fairtrade wherever possible), brought it all home and set to.

It's the bit in the oven that worries me. The weighing and mixing, chopping and beating are fun. Before the hot bit, it always looks great; a sticky, sugary mass of delicious (if slightly sickly) goo. And then it all gets serious, the oven takes over and I begin to worry what's going to go wrong.

On this occasion, fortunately, nothing too drastic. It's a tad dry, but it's my first ever ginger cake and, all things considered, I think it tastes all right.

Play FAIR!

On Saturday, I bought some roses. I had to pick through quite a few red bunches to find the ones I wanted :p, but, eventually I spotted some which were a gorgeous deep orange; a colour I thought would complement my living room rather nicely. This little chappie was broken just below the flower, so I popped him into a beaker on my kitchen windowsill. He has rewarded me by opening beautifully.

I particularly wanted roses, because the ones sold by my local supermarket are fairtrade, and when I can, I prefer to buy fairtrade. Buying fairtrade ensures that, not only is the producer paid a fair price for his/her produce, but the community in which they live also benefits. In order to qualify for fairtrade status, a small producer must belong to a slightly larger organisation, such as a co-operative. The producer then sells through the co-operative and, in addition to the fair price paid for goods, a Fairtrade Premium is paid for investment into the local community. Typically this is used for such things as healthcare or education.

The whole system is regulated by the Fairtrade Foundation with their distinctive logo, and gets a particular push at this end of the year with the advent of Fairtrade Fortnight (starting this Monday, 22nd Feb). http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/ Each time this comes around, my supermarket add something new to their growing fairtrade range. I will be searching the shelves to find what is on offer this time.