King Alfred's Cakes Fungus - when dried it will store an ember for hours. You simply just light it. It can then be transported to another site. By blowing on it it quickly turns into a glowing ember which can be used to start a fire in another location.

A modified supermarket recipe from a friend of mine - spicy pear chutney.

I threw in some ground cinnamon, cloves, plum tomatoes and cashew nuts. I didn't have star anise. Would probably reduce the sugar a bit if I made it again, because it's quite sweet.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 35 minutes    

Makes: 1kg (4 x 250ml jars)

Ingredients

1kg bag essential Waitrose Conference Pears

300g light muscovado sugar

500ml cider vinegar

2 medium red onions, roughly chopped

40g peeled, grated, fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced

1½ tsp salt

250g pack Waitrose LOVE Life Cherries, Raisins & Nuts

2 cinnamon sticks

3 star anise

1 X ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Put 4 x 250ml clean jars and lids on a baking tray and place in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes to sterilise. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool.

2. Peel and core the pears then chop into rough chunks. In a large pan, bring the sugar and vinegar to the boil, then add the pears and the rest of the ingredients. Simmer over a low heat for 1 hour uncovered, or until thick and glossy.

3. Decant the chutney into the sterilised jars and screw the lids on. Allow to cool completely, then store in the fridge for up to 3 months.