A LITTLE armchair shopping to set the ball rolling this week...

At cumbrianartisan.co.uk, the on-line farmers’ market collective, I spotted lemongrass and chilli jelly (£2.70/115g jar) from Ian and Ann Elliott, collectively known as Elliotts.

They make a cornucopia of delights in the kitchen of their Arnside home, among them a divine sounding mango and whisky chutney (£3.30/210g jar).

At cartmelcheeses.co.uk, I was rather taken by the description of Appleby’s Cheshire cheese (£7.25 per 300g pre-pack) — variously labelled as having a “flakey moistness”, and such “zesty freshness”, that it would make you want to “reach out for another slice”!

Also online, and perfect for your Christmas buffet table, sillfield.co.uk, I was tempted by a selection of pies including mutton, wild boar and cranberry, game, and pork and apple. Of course, you can also buy in person at Sillfield Farm Shop which is situated at Endmoor.

Vegetables available for you from Growing with Grace at Clapham at the moment include — rocket (£1.80 per 100g); watercress (£2.10 per 100g); and ‘red russian’ kale (£3.50 per kilo), all own-grown, of course.

More vegetables from Greenbanks in Kendal — leeks at 75p per lb, swede at 45p per lb, and parsnips at 85p per lb.

The other evening I mashed parsnips with potatoes and served with a pan-fried Gressingham duck breast topped with a sauce made with a friend’s plum and apple jam, which I loosened with a splash of Agnes Rose damson vinegar to help gather up all the pan juices. The accompaniment was some steamed spinach from Growing Well at Sizergh.

Cartmel Village Shop recommended Blacksticks Blue (£10.98 per kilo) this week, which I thought would be rather good melted into a savoury white sauce and served on top of the leeks I just mentioned.

To my mind the perfect accompaniment would be some crispy grilled bacon — Richardsons butchers at Bowness has its own dry-cured bacon on at £9.45 per kilo; or some grilled traditional Cumberland sausage made by Plumgarths farm shop at Kendal (£7.25 per kilo).

I rather think my roast parsnip and potato mash would also be good with a casserole made with diced mixed game from Steadmans of Sedbergh (£7.25 per kilo). There’s a new butcher at the helm here — Chris Holmes. However, I suspect that, although he’s supposed to have retired, you are still likely to see butcher Garth Steadman lending a helping hand every now and then while Chris settles in.

Our sweet recommendation this week comes from Grange Bakery at Grange-over-Sands where boss man Paul Hughes suggested Dundee Cakes (£3.75 per 7in round cake); Christmas cakes (starting from £4.95 for a small, 5in square cake); and traditional Christmas logs (starting from £3.75 for a small log).

Finally, do look out for the new ‘Laid with Love’ free range eggs (available from Booths) from the Lakes Free Range Egg Company, which has teamed up with Cancer Research UK in a bid to raise £100,000 to help the fight against breast cancer.

One penny from the sale of every distinctive pink pack of six eggs will be donated to Cancer Research.

Each egg carries a unique code and customers can trace the egg to an individual farm by visiting the Laid with Love website at laidwithlove.co.uk.