Sweet Red Pepper Twice-baked Potatoes

Monday 26 May 2025

Where did yesterday go?  I know Sunday’s often referred to as a day or rest though I was sure I wrote something!!

Anyway, today's the late May Bank Holiday, though with being in Swanage for a few days last week the order for one of For Earth's Sake’s suppliers needed to be done this morning so that the delivery happens tomorrow, so…

I'm at my desk checking on things for that quite early, and also updating my blog and doing some writing. I also popped to Lidl first thing, not because I really wanted to but because I'd rather do it today than do it tomorrow, which for me will be a full work work day. 

After breakfast, I get on a call with Vanessa and we do the order both for the delivery that needs to arrive at the shop tomorrow and also check through all the fruit and vegetables we still have; doing this, Vanessa can have a think about what we need before she puts the order through tomorrow to arrive first thing on Wednesday - usually about 6am!

Whenever we do the ordering from our three main suppliers there's always a bit of checking that we’ve the right product; it can be quite easy sometimes to order the wrong one!  Since I’ve been involved I’ve kept and updated a spreadsheet which has the individual codes of each product that we order from each supplier.  By doing this it means that ordering the wrong items has been greatly reduced. I also keep track of when we last ordered each item, and if we think that there might be very little stock of a particular item left, I can check back on the date that the last order was put through and pull a report to check sales from that date to the present. Sometimes we might think we’ve little stock though by checking we can see we should have more, and a more thorough check of the cabinets in which we store items brings about a small amount in the bag of whatever we have left;  often it’s been hiding invisibly behind a few other large packets of other stock.

At the end of the week we’ve a friend and past work colleague of mine, Gerald Dickens, bringing his two shows Mr Dickens is Coming! and Doctor Marigold to the Great Green Barn.  Now, for the events there’s always a bar at the back serving wine and soft drinks, plus some snacks, so we also need to ensure we’ve enough stock for the bar, which Richard and myself will run.  I also need to do some socials and a newsletter which will be going out tomorrow. So, getting ahead of the game I decide to try and sort this all out before lunch, which largely I do.

Gerald Dickens's shows

The plot paths need a tidy!

After lunch, I do another hour at my desk, and then get to the allotment to look at all the plants that are on my plot and leftover from the Gate Sale on Saturday. There's a whole load by our communal shed, which people can take and leave a donation for in a jar; all monies going towards the allotment associations funds. The plants now on my plot will either be planted out into communal areas of the site or into the wildlife area and along the river bank, or if they can remain in pots until next year, like young fruit bushes can, they’ll be looked after by myself and a few other people.

During my mooching of the plants and occasional very heavy showers, I noticed that my wheelbarrow was missing and couldn't quite work out where it was. I searched the whole plot twice before realising that I used it for the Gate Sale on Saturday - moving plants that had been overwintered on my plot since last year down to the tables. So, down I went to the communal area where all of our site wheelbarrows are kept, and sure enough there was my wheelbarrow tucked in between all of them. I quickly repatriated it back to my plot!!

At this point, a person who’d been ill and unable to come to the Gate Sale but had asked me to keep some plants for them turned up, so we had a chat and I helped her to her plot with the plants… then another plotter turned up who I'd promised some of my squash and courgettes and cucumbers to, and was delighted to geta lovely red lettuce in exchange… and then one of my immediate plot neighbours turned up and asked whether there were any fruit bushes left, which of course there was, and she bought six of them… So, step by little step the funds being raised from the Gate Sale are increasing day by day.

Anyway, given all of this activity on the plot and lots of people and chatting, plus lots of heavy rain showers, I didn't actually get round to doing the things that I’d planned to do, so the plot remained festooned with various boxes and plants and drugs. Maybe tomorrow…


Sweet Red Pepper Twice-baked Potatoes

I knew we had some really large potatoes so I thought I’d do twice-baked potatoes; something I really like yet something I rarely do.

I pricked the potato all over with a fork, and then put it in our microwave on high for eight minutes, and then turned it over and cooked for another 4 minutes which for this size potato meant it was cooked through.

Using a clean T-towel I removed it from the microwave, put it on a chopping board and cut it in half.  Cradling the uncut side of the potato in the T-towel with my hand, I scored across in two different directions almost to the edge, and not deep enough to cut through the skin.

I then used a spoon to take out the cooked potato and added it to the bowl which already had three or four tablespoons of leftover homemade tomato pasta sauce (which I now remember I made for supper yesterday!), half a chopped red onion, two chopped long red peppers, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a heaped teaspoon of miso paste, and some cracked black pepper.  I gave it all a gentle though good stir.  I’d already grated about 80g of cheddar cheese, and added half of it to the mixture and gently stirred it through.  I then spooned the mixture into the now empty cups of potato, which I’d already put onto a baking tray.

When all the mixture was spooned out between the two halves I topped off with the rest of the cheese, and baked in our combi-oven at 180c for 25 minutes.

A nice few salad bits completed this yummy meal.


Weather:  Grey, breezy with some heavy showers, and around 17°.

Breakfast:  Lidl Rye Bread toasted, with Flora ProActiv and yeast extract
Lunch:   Hmmmm… can’t remember
Supper:  Sweet Red Pepper Twice-baked Potatoes, lettuce, cucumber, radish and lightly vinegared beetroot