Happy Yorkshire Pudding Day. To celebrate this most British of comfort foods, today I’m sharing my (almost) no-fail recipe.

Welcome to the 148^th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with my Yorkshire pudding recipe, this week’s edition looks at the best place to store bread, renewable North Sea energy, and an award-winning memorial forest.

Edited on February 1, 2026 to add a photo of my Yorkshire puddings.

On my mind this week: It’s Yorkshire pudding day

Happy Yorkshire Pudding Day! Today, we celebrate this most British of comfort foods. Originally known as dripping pudding, this dish has been around since the 1700s. It was originally designed to make meals go further by filling hungry stomachs before the main meal.

It must be my British upbringing but, in my mind a roast beef dinner just isn’t complete without Yorkshire pudding. My husband grew up on a beef farm, so roast beef was often on the menu at his parents’ house. The food was always great but there was something missing.

When we were first married, Yorkshire pudding puzzled my husband. To him, pudding is something sweet, and definitely not something you eat with roast beef. For years, he called my Yorkies “buns”. Over the years, he got used to them and I think he’d miss them now if I stopped making them.

Good Yorkshire pudding is brown and crispy on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside.

People often shy away from making Yorkshire pudding because it can be tricky. And while mine turns out perfectly 99 times out a 100, there have been a couple of times when we could have thrown them on the ice for a game of hockey.

Michelle’s Yorkshire pudding recipe

I adapted this recipe from one I found in a free recipe book I got with a subscription to Chatelaine magazine almost 40 years ago. It has been mostly foolproof over the years. I think the key to success is making the batter ahead of time and chilling it in the fridge for a few hours until you’re ready to bake.

I didn’t have a picture of my Yorkshire puddings at time of publishing but this one I found online looks a lot like mine.

And here are mine, fresh from the oven on Yorkshire Pudding Day.

Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• Vegetable oil
• ¾ cup (175 ml) all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp (2 ml) salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (250 ml) milk

Mix ingredients

• Sift flour and salt together.
• Add eggs and milk and mix together with a hand mixer until very smooth.
• Cover and refrigerate 1 or 2 hours or longer.

Bake

• Preheat oven to 450F.
• Spray 8 cups of a muffin pan with cooking spray.
• Add a little vegetable oil to the bottom of each cup of the pan. I use just enough to cover the bottom—roughly a teaspoon for each cup.
• Heat the muffin pan and oil in oven for 2 to 3 minutes until piping hot.
• Remove pan from oven and add the batter.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. And, no matter how tempting, resist the urge to open the oven door to sneak a peek. That will increase the chance of your Yorkies flopping.

We’ll celebrate the day later with a traditional roast beef dinner— with Yorkshire pudding, of course.

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Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• Earlier this week, Buzz Iceclear came by and plowed the snow on our street. Buzz is one of the City of Kitchener’s cutely-named snow plows, alongside The Blizzard of Oz, Say It Ain’t Snow, Plowasaurus Rex, Ziggy Zaggy Ziggy Zaggy Plow Plow Plow, and more.
• This week, I made a 2-ingredient “Japanese Cheesecake” using plain yogurt and Biscoff cookies. Apparently, this is another in a long line of TikTok trends. It was good but I think I’d sweeten it with a touch of maple syrup or honey next time.
• On Thursday evening, we had an Alpha reunion at church as we gear up for this year’s Alpha course. I always love gathering with my Alpha family.

Things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:

Best place to store bread

Where do you store your bread? I keep mine in the freezer and take out a slice or two at a time. It turns out this is the best storage spot. In addition to reducing food waste, storing bread in the freezer can boost your gut health, blood sugar and digestion. Freezing bread causes a natural change in the starches through a process called retrogradation, which forms resistant starch.

If you don’t have room in your freezer, the next best place to store bread is at room temperature. Avoid putting it in the fridge, though. Refrigeration will dry the bread out.

(Source: Huffington Post)

From oil to wind in the North Sea

The UK and nine other European countries plan to turn the aging North Sea oil basin into a clean energy reservoir by rolling out offshore wind farms and building a power grid in the North Sea.

These wind farms will connect directly to various countries through high-voltage subsea cables. When complete, the project is expected to provide enough electricity to power 143 million homes.

(Source: The Guardian)

Memorial trees grow into award-winning forest

Planting a tree in someone’s memory is one of the most enduring tributes. A couple of years ago, I planted a tree in a local memorial microforest in memory of my brother-in-law.

Windsor Ontario’s Reid Funeral Home Ltd. recently received an environmental achievement award from the Essex Region Conservation Authority. The trees they planted in honour of the families they have served over the past 30 years have created the six-acre Fred Cada Memorial Forest at the Hillman Marsh Conservation Area.

This is proof that small efforts matter and they do add up over time.

(Source: CBC What on Earth)

Quote of the week

When we’re secure in our own bodies, when we feel good with our own style, and when we’re clear about our values, the ability to be influenced markedly decreases.

Stephanie Seferian, Sustainable Minimalists

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I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.