Karen Wright: I packed some sunshine in my suitcase and made Paella

The captain explained that the landing was going to be choppy, and he was correct, the plane bumping around.

And, when we did land, it was a bit hair-raising to say the least, all the passengers erupting into a spontaneous round of applause as we came to a halt!

Back then to bitter cold weather and warm clothes.

I was very keen to get busy in the kitchen and, as I had bought some paella seasoning when I was out in Spain, that was the first thing on the menu.

Paella is a dish made with rice. What we call pudding rice or paella rice is what you need specifically.

I used three hundred grams of rice and about a litre of hot chicken stock to make a huge pan full, which would easily serve six.

To get that distinct sunshine yellow colour, and an authentic flavour, you need to get your hands on some saffron.

It is very expensive but you only need a few strands. If you can’t find any, you could use a bit of turmeric instead.

I spiced mine with saffron and hot paprika and cooked up a mixture of onion, garlic, red pepper, chicken, sausage, chorizo and prawns for the main ingredients.

Paella traditionally contains a mixture of meat and seafood but it can easily be made vegetarian or vegan. It is a one-pot recipe, which of course saves on the washing up!

As I am booked to appear at Wakefield Rhubarb Festival next month, I also included a couple of sticks of rhubarb in my paella with a little honey to sweeten it up.

If you want to see me cook the rhubarb paella you can find me in the demo tent on the Friday and Sunday at eleven in the morning.

I will be making a rhubarb cheesecake on the Friday and this delicious paella on the Sunday.

I haven’t quite finished with my Spanish theme yet. Last week I said I would make some tapas but this glorious paella pushed in first.

So, next week it will be a few different tapas ideas to tempt your taste buds, hopefully getting you dreaming of sunny days yet to come.