The winner bakes it all

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big newark bake offThis week’s Girls Around Town comes live from the Nottinghamshire County Show, where Radio Newark will be spending Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May in its motorhome studio on Newark Showground.

June, Tina and Sue will be joined from 11am by Cassandra Jameson (aka The Flour Fairy) to talk about one of their very favourite subjects – cakes!!

With fond memories of judging the Chocolate Cake category of The Big Newark Bake Off in 2014, they’re already licking their lips at the prospect of finding out what’s in store for this year’s competition, which takes place in The Buttermarket on Saturday 20 June.

totally locally newarkAnd because the girls love shopping, especially in and around Newark, who better to join them for the third hour of the show than Rebecca White from Totally Locally Newark?

She’ll be popping across to the motorhome to talk about how the group is encouraging shoppers to support Newark’s independent retailers, both in the town and on its stand at the County Show.

Rumour has it there’ll be some fantastic goodies on offer in a prize draw on the stand, so you can be sure the girls will be heading over there as soon as they’re off air!

Tune in to 107.8FM from 10am to 1pm, listen online or why not drop by the motorhome (stand number H2, not far from the Lady Eastwood Pavilion) while you’re at the show and say ‘hi’ to the Girls Around Town?

How to make your own beautiful beeswax balm

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beeswax balmEarlier today, Alison Knox arrived at the Radio Newark studio bearing goodies for the Girls Around Town to sample – tiny pots of her own lovely honey and even tinier pots of her equally lovely beeswax balm.

She promised to share the recipe for the balm so, for those of you who’d like to impress your nearest and dearest with your skills by making a delicious, chocolatey-tasting beeswax product that has many skincare uses, here it is…

Due to the strict legislation around the selling of natural skincare products, she’s sharing this in the spirit of gift making or for your own personal use!

Use only pure beeswax that you can be sure contains no nasties – if you have your own bees, their wax is ideal of course or you can buy from a reputable source.

And use only pure, preferably organic, edible quality oils and the best quality cacao butter you can find.

Beeswax Balm or Salve

  • Servings: 10 x 15ml pots
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Equipment you will need

  • A small Pyrex measuring jug
  • A traditional plastic ice cube tray
  • A bain marie or pan of hot water into which you can place the jug
  • A metal stirrer such as a skewer
  • Weighing scales
  • Suitable clean pots to put your balm in (try these)
  • A clean surface to work on

Ingredients

  • 25g of beeswax
  • 25g of hard cacao butter
  • 25g of hard oil, such as coconut
  • 2 x 25mls of any edible oils, such as olive, apricot kernel, avocado, almond, rapeseed, macadamia or coconut

Directions

  1. When you render your wax down to make salves, it may be helpful to pour it directly into a lightly oiled ice cube tray. This will give you neat individual blocks of approxinately 12.5g and save you hacking lumps off a big piece which can be very difficult and dangerous.
  2. Boil some water in a small pan or bain marie. It will need to cover about ¼ of the way up your jug and not splash water into your mix.
  3. Weigh 25g of beeswax and put it into the jug immersed in boiling water. Stir until melted.
  4. Add 25g of hard cacao butter and allow to melt completely into the wax.
  5. Add 25g of hard oil such as coconut and melt completely into the wax.
  6. Add 2 x 25mls of any edible oils of your choice and mix well (these may go cloudy when you add them to the hot oil but just keep stirring until clear). You can experiment with whatever oils you prefer to use but using at least one hard oil gives a better set to the mix.
  7. The final level on your Pyrex jug should read 150mls.
  8. Pour immediately and carefully into the pots, taking care not to splash yourself with the hot oils. Leave to cool and set and then pop the lids on. You don’t want condensation in your pots.

The salves/balms can be used for lips, nails, cracked heels, rough elbows… anything that is chafed and needs a little TLC.

Bop while you shop, vintage style

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extravaganzaFrom clothing to kitchenalia, jewellery and accessories to shabby chic homeware, it’s all about vintage at Grantham College between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 30 May.

With more than 35 stalls and plenty of vintage-inspired live entertainment, you’ll be able to bop while you shop at Bea’s Vintage Extravaganza.

There’s even a pop up beauty parlour if you fancy being transformed into a 40s or 50s film star, complete with Victory Roll hairdo, make up and false lashes.

bertie 6And there’ll be plenty of tasty treats to enjoy too, from traditional cream teas and other cakes from Liberty Rose’s Tea Room & Fancy Goods Shop to locally produced ice creams served up by Bertie & Mabel from their retro ice cream van Bertie…

Admission to the fair, in the college refectory on Stonebridge Road in Grantham, is just 50p – for more details call 07888 679118 or check out the Bea’s Boutique Facebook page.