Daffodil heads and ivy leaves win woman prize for weirdest items in freezer

Jacqui Baker froze the items during the pandemic with the intention of using them to dye wool.

The Batch Lady Suzanne Mulholland jointly ran the competition (Suzanne Mulholland/PA)

A woman who kept frozen daffodil heads and ivy leaves has been announced the winner of a contest to find the most unusual objects lurking in people’s freezers.

The “Frosty or Fusty” freezer archaeology challenge aimed to discover some of the oldest and oddest items people have kept.

The competition was launched by Scottish food supplier Scotty Brand and cooking expert Suzanne Mulholland, known as the Batch Lady.

Dog chews, icing flowers from a wedding cake and containers of “unidentified frozen objects” were some of the things unearthed during the challenge.

But the top prize – £100 of Asda vouchers – was won by Jacqui Baker from Wilstead, Bedfordshire.

She had a collection of daffodil heads and ivy leaves she had frozen two years ago during lockdown in order to dye wool.

Ms Baker just pipped the entry from a woman who had frozen a clementine her toddler grandson had bitten. She said seeing the frozen fruit, complete with toothmarks, made her smile every time she opened the freezer, even though her grandson is now 23.

The competition was launched to highlight how batch cooking and frozen food can help families make their household budgets stretch further in the cost-of-living crisis.

A poll carried out for BBC Good Food magazine by Censuswide revealed 23% of shoppers are now turning to batch cooking as a way to save money.

Molly Borys, brand manager at Scotty Brand, said: “We thought we’d get some interesting entries for this competition but we were overwhelmed by the responses and the sheer variety of artefacts people unearthed.

“Congratulations to Jacqui Baker, her daffodil heads and ivy leaves discovery really made us smile and we’re impressed with her creative lockdown project.”

Mulholland, who has 148,000 Instagram followers, added: “As the Batch Lady I’m pretty on top of what’s in my freezer but even I must confess there are some things in mine that are older than they probably should be – for example, I discovered some blue cheese I’d frozen last Christmas.

“This project has been great fun, getting people talking about what can be frozen and for how long, which are really important considerations to make the best use of this essential kitchen appliance.

“Batch-cooking meals is the perfect way to cut down on your food bills, as well as the time spent each week on cooking for the family.”