From The Shooting Gazette, March 2001
Nanny's Advice

Written by: Amy Willcock
Illustration by: Robert E. Fuller

[This Month's Recipe] [World of Chefs] [The Shooting Gazette Home Page]

Remember the poem A Father’s Advice? Well, get out those sexy starched white aprons and those must have brown uniforms - this month is going to be Nanny’s Advice. 

As the countryside will be marching with a spring in its step on the 18th, I thought that it would be a good idea to give you some helpful hints to get you through the day. Easy to eat snacks whilst out on the road are good to bring with you. My recipe for Magic Bars is perfect for eating on the hoof and nutritious too. 

Last time loos were limited, so don’t drink too much and listen to Nanny - go before the off! It is, however, a good idea to carry a bottle of still water with you as sweet drinks make you more thirsty and thermos flasks are too bulky to fit into a coat pocket. Hip flasks filled with a tipple are not to be overlooked, and what better way to make friends and influence people! 

Whatever you do, make sure you are warm enough. Never one to miss a trick, this is a major opportunity to justify buying cashmere (as if you needed an excuse). 

Shooting wives are all too aware of how cold it can be, and walking on concrete is colder than mud and earth and the only way to combat the cold is to wear cashmere, and lots of it! Socks, scarves, pullovers, knickers - whatever. 

Wear sunblock too, and for the girlies try to take everything you need in your pockets, as a bag is a nuisance. If you are going to have lunch in town, or indeed dinner the night before, check out the tip box. Do book tables in advance as it will be busy.

Finally, I think the look of the day should be glamorous - Marilyn Monroe meets mud! Having spent the day marching, how nice it will be to have a little something in the oven for when you get home. 

This month’s recipe, Pot Roasted Lamb, will wait patiently for your return in the simmering oven of an Aga or, for conventional cooker owners (poor you), ask a neighbour to pop it into the oven later in the day for your homecoming.