A celebration of all things sweet to set the ball rolling, thanks first to Sedbergh butcher Chris Holmes, who has combined his love of maple syrup and a certain liqueur whisky to canny effect.

Indeed, Chris’s first batch of ‘Misky’ bacon proved so popular he sold out almost straight away.

Not surprising when you savour the sweet mellow, warm aftertaste of free range pork cured in maple syrup and ‘Glayva’ honey whisky.

”They are my two favourite things,” said Chris of the syrup and the whisky.

Misky bacon sells at £10.49 per kilo. I rather fancy it would be perfect layered with pancakes, slices of pear and ricotta cheese, rather than the Parma ham which was recommended in the recipe I spotted among my emails.

Finish with a slice of Misky and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Using the same combination you could also try sweet own-cured bacon from Richardsons butchers of Bowness (£9.45 per kilo).

To Bowland Bridge Stores now for more sweet delights; in the shop’s ‘Love Local’ section you will find a range of Bramble Thyme preserves made by Debbie Cannon in her Bouth kitchen, including - Crab Apple Jelly (£2.65), Apple Chutney (£2.65), Lyth Valley Damson Chutney (£2.85), Whisky Marmalade (£2.40), Three Fruit Marmalade (£2.30), and Orange Marmalade (£2.30).

And talking of marmalade, don’t forget this weekend’s seventh Marmalade Awards and Festival at Dalemain House, near Penrith, which marks the start of the first ever National Marmalade Week.

The festival will feature a marmalade church service, marmalade ‘cruises,’ a marmalade concert, marmalade workshops and, of course, will be presided over by the world’s most famous marmalade lover, Paddington Bear.

Still with sweet recommendations, check out Cartmel Village Shop’s own-make meringues (£2 per pack of eight) and lemon cheese (£1.85 per 170g jar). Together they make a delicious storecupboard dessert — simply crumble the merginues and then bind with lemon cheese. For an extra special flourish, drizzle with fresh cream and decorate with raspberries, and even a grating of fresh chocolate.

Or you could let Grange Bakery at Grange-over-Sands do all the work for you thanks to its bread and butter pudding (£2.50, serves four) which is ready-cooked so all you have to do is re-heat.

The bakery also produces a delicious range of family fruit pies (£2.45 each), eg raspberry and apple.

And now, combining both sweet and savoury, we have sweet potates from Greenbanks in Kendal (approximately £1.75 per kilo).

Sweet potatoes make a nice lunchtime snack, cooked in the microwave and served with beans, or cheese, or both.

Or be ultra-healthy and serve your sweet potato with a watercress salad (Growing with Grace, £2 per 100g) or mixed salad leaves (also Growing with Grace, £1.80 per 100g).

Finally this week, Heaves Farm now has a number of welfare-friendly rose veal boxes available. A 10 kilo box costs £100 (including delivery) and includes - prime steaks, a mix of fillet or sirloin and rump (one kilo), osso bucco (half kilo), roasting joints — two to four joints, a mix of topside, silverside and brisket (3.5 kilos), chops (one kilo), casserole (one kilo), mince (two kilos), and braising steak (one kilo) Visit www.heavesfarmveal. co.uk for details.

Or, you can buy individual cuts of Heaves Farm rose veal from Plumgarths in Kendal, but do expect to pay more because you are not buying in bulk; checkout popular veal medallions at £10.48 per kilo and veal escalopes at £16.98 per kilo.