Grazing Kate

Devilishly Devon Cake Fest - 666 Slices in One Evening

2012-01-30T21:47:00.000Z

On Thursday 26 January, I attended the inaugural meeting of the Devon branch of the Clandestine Cake Club. Two bakers had to cancel at the last minute (we missed tasting your Black Forest gateau, Kirsty from Kirsty’s Kitchen.)

Jan Billington from Maddocks Organics kindly lent us the use of her stunning holiday cottage, The Hayloft, near Cullompton. It has six bedrooms, a huge living space and would be perfect for two families wishing to holiday in Devon together. The kitchen area with its huge refectory table and granite island were perfect for displaying and sampling our baked wares.

The theme was Devilishly Devon which was a great excuse to make some gratuitously unhealthy cakes. This was my Devonshire Clotted Cream Cake (it had 225g clotted cream whisked inside, instead of butter):

Joyce, a farmer by trade, from Pitman’s Farm had made a beautiful layered strawberry cake – some layers were sponge, some meringue and it was chocka with cream, almonds and strawberries:

Marcus, aka Country Wood Smoke, provided a ‘starter’ of his own cold smoked salmon slices (smelling deliciously and subtly of beech chippings) atop a fresh rustic loaf, made with half white flour and half Einkorn flour (sold by Dove’s Farm).

His cake was my personal favourite, a Smoked Chilli Chocolate Cake. The sponge had a crumbled smoked chilli baked into it – it was very subtle and there was only a small residual warmth, the chocolate ganache on top was made using smoked butter. The combination was breathtaking and had a real depth of flavour.

Karen, who blogs here had made a delicious Devonshire Honey Cake with Lemon Frosting. The zesty, crisp icing was a great contrast to the soothing honey sponge underneath.

Jan, our hostess, needlessly apologised for her Snakebite Chocolate Cupcakes. They were awesome and had a decadent squidgy chocolate centre. She very cleverly incorporated Devon produce: local cider in the icing, Otter Ale in the cake batter. They were a surprising hit with my kids and Jan’s daughter seemed to enjoy them too!

James, the only non-blogger there, had made an alluring Sticky Love Cake. This cake was studded with cashew nuts and had a really attractive sprinkling of rose petals on top. It was spiced, unusual and more-ish (Moorish?)

After what felt like 666 slices of cake (OK, only six actually) plus the bread and smoked salmon and small glass of red wine, I felt unbelievably full up - we did honestly only have very small wafer-thin slices of each, plus I'd had no dinner - I thought my staying power was better than that. The great thing about the Clandestine Cake Club is that the cakes get divided up at the end and you get to take them home, so the pleasure continues for days....well, ahem, until the next day mid-morning-ish....

A Day of Baking - For My Dad's Birthday

2012-01-24T21:17:00.000Z

Sunday tea has been a tradition in our family since I was a child. We used to go to my grandparents’ house in Portishead (near Bristol) every single Sunday with all the aunties and cousins and feast on sandwiches, jam tarts, trifle and usually two or three types of cake. Grandpa always used to smear the beef dripping from lunch (which had only been eaten four hours previously) over his bread. We no longer have the time or the waistline to do that every week, but now and then we like to indulge. So when we invite people to Sunday tea – it’s not just a cuppa and a biscuit, it’s a full –on calorie fest.

I started in the morning at 8am by making soda bread for breakfast. Smeared really warm with fridge-cold butter and homemade jam there's no better start to a Sunday.

My daughter, Giggling Wombat, and I like nothing more than an excuse for a whole day in the kitchen baking up sweet treats. She is twelve and loves cooking....as long as it's something sugary and baked. She's not quite so keen to make a regular week night dinner - I wonder why.

It was my Dad's birthday and we started off just making a cake....which turned into quite a few other things too. The overall effect was a little bit beige - not sure why everything we made was so brown, just happened to be what we fancied making

Clotted Cream cake, treacle tart and Cornish fairings from the ‘Great British Bake Off’ book (thanks Libby for the great present!)

And there were two types of sausage roll (the ones with green tomato chutney were excellent), cheese straws, sandwiches (cucumber, marmite, ham), Cornish fairings

It was a great way to celebrate my lovely Dad’s birthday.

Devon's First Clandestine Cake Club - 26 Jan 2012

2012-01-17T12:34:00.001Z

The first ever meeting of the Devon Clandestine Cake Club will take place on Thursday 26 January 2012. All cake bakers are welcome to attend, be they home bakers, novices, domestic gods / goddesses or professional patisserie chefs. The only entrance ticket is .....a homemade cake.
It's a craze that's sweeping the UK thanks to this website. The UK is really keen on baking (and more importantly eating) homemade cakes and this club provides the perfect opportunity.

The Cake Club holds slightly secretive events. To make it more fun, final details are only revealed at the last minute to members. Everyone gets to try everyone else’s cake and bring pieces home too.

The Devon branch of this free-to-join club has just been set up and is holding its first ever get together on Thursday 26 January 7 - 9pm at a secret, very special location in Kentisbeare (near Exeter and Cullompton). We are really grateful to a local Devon food producer who is kindly lending us the venue for the evening. I know it will be a perfect setting.

As a Devon food blogger, I’m a big fan of our local produce so expect seasonal cakes with lots of local ingredients from me. The theme for the first event is 'Devilishly Devon' so I am bringing along a Devonshire Clotted Cream Cake, which I hope will be truly rich and scrumptious.

Each event will be held somewhere different as we Devon folk have wide-open patches of field between us!

Ideas for future cake-friendly venue are welcome; otherwise we shall search out a friendly pub landlord or cafe owner.

The full details of the event and an RSVP form if you would like to come along are here

Food Magazine Reader Awards Ceremony, Abode Exeter, Jan 2012

2012-01-09T22:46:00.000Z

Just got back home after attending the first ever Food Magazine Reader Awards event this evening. It was held at Michael Caines' Abode in Exeter, a fine venue, the room brightly lit in Food Magazine's trademark bubblegum pink colours. Thatcher's cider, Frobisher's fruit juices and Champagne were flowing.

Canapes were sole goujons served in miniature cardboard cones with a chunk of lemon and some tartare sauce, fish / quail's egg scotch eggs, mini skewers with baby mozarella, roasted tomato and basil. All quite yummy.

The votes had come purely from readers (unlike some other foodie awards which can be a little bit 'manufactured') and covered the whole of the South West region - Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall so there was some stiff competition. I chatted to the lovely people from Thatcher's cider (I hadn't realised until this evening that the current owner is fourth generation Thatcher and that they're a fairly small operation, as a Westcountry girl, I just thought they were everywhere and huge.)

The chap from River Cottage accepting the award on Hugh's behalf- we weren't really disappointed that Hugh wasn't there...

The happy couple from Mendip Moments

Mendip Moments Ice Cream, shortlisted in the 'Food' Category, is now on my list of must-tries - apparently it's available from Chandos Deli in Exeter so I'll pop in next time I'm at Princesshay. Hey guys you didn't tell me you have Fig, Mascarpone and Honey flavour - yum!! They were one of three products shortlisted in the Food Product category. What a huge and varied category. Considering all the food that is produced in the South West...

Some of the acceptance speeches were incredibly brief, but I found it quite endearing when the Best Chef, Adam Fellows just said ' Thanks, and thanks to my wife' and hurried off clutching his rather luscious and chunky pink Dartington Crystal award. I think the chap from Browns Hotel may have even just said 'Thanks very much'.

Really enjoyed myself so thanks to the lovely folk at Mole Valley Farmers who were so chatty and friendly (and were the main sponsors of the event) and to Food Magazine for inviting me.

The Awards

Best Drink: Luscombe Organic Drinks
Best Food Product: Trevaskis Farm's Strawberry Jam, Hayle
Best Foodie Hotel: Browns Hotel, Tavistock
Best Retailer: Darts Farm, Topsham
Local Food Hero:Hugh Fearnley-Whittingtall
Best Foodie Pub: Victoria Inn, Perranuthnoe, Penzance - really want to go there!
Best Restaurant: Allium, Fairford, Glos - besides the point but what AMAZING hair this gal had.
Best Chef: Adam Fellows, Goodfellows, Wells, Somerset
Best Cafe: Duchy of Cornwall Nursery Cafe

It was very pink in there. These were the sole goujons in cones modelled by Yvonne from Thatchers!

Morning Coffee at Bovey Castle, Devon - A Surprising 'Frugal' Tip

2012-01-02T20:37:00.001Z

My parents took my sister and me to Bovey Castle for morning coffee on my 40th birthday in October. It was such a great idea. We had a reservation to go to Riverford Field Kitchen in the evening and knew there'd be a lot of food served , so decided that, rather than go out for lunch, we'd have a 'posh' morning coffee and save ourselves for the evening.

Bovey Castle is a luxury hotel in the heart of the countryside within Dartmoor National Park. It is really difficult to find! I was following signs to North Bovey, and it's close to that village but not within it as I had assumed. I had to ask two dog walkers, a motorcyclist and two horse riders for directions and was half an hour late (no mobile reception and no Satnav). If you visit, do yourself a favour and follow the directions from the website and don't make assumptions that because you're a local you can navigate those lanes.

The car park was full of high spec luxury cars (and my rubbishy old filthy estate car looked hilariously out of place) so I was too embarrassed to let the Plus Fours-clad valet park my car (wish I had a photo of him!) But I wasn't here to be over-awed by the luxury, I fully intended to immerse myself in it.

My parents had chosen well. The main high ceilinged drawing room had a minstrel's gallery and they had sunk into the deep sofas with the most spectacular view over the valley. Look how the brass handle gleams.

There was the option of sitting in the informal bistro area for a morning coffee, but we wanted the plumped up cushions and wood panelling of the drawing rooms:

I chose a supremely rich chocolate tart to go alongside my pot of tea. Took no photos of the food or drink - it was almost irrelevant to the surroundings. There were some really appealing things - the round table with 100 magazines fanned out like the dial of a clock made my sis and I (busy mums most of the time) wish for a bit more luxury time to curl up on a hotel sofa and chill. I also adored the cheeky parrot in the neighbouring room that would call out and whistle if he spotted you walking past. The tweeting cage of birds at Reception gave the entrance hall a homely feel, despite the grand setting. Also the waitress was a bit of a cheeky bird herself and was eager to show us around the whole of the ground floor and even let us be nosy and look inside the private dining rooms.

Can you tell I was enjoying myself?

The bar area - for my next visit?

I have ambiguous feelings towards boxed butterflies. So beautiful and yet so hunted and dead just for the decor.

Children are welcome. I doubt my kids will ever come here, to be honest. (And this is why: a Junior State Room for two adults and two children costs from £419/ night.) It's quite a 'huntin', shootin' and fishin'' kind of place and there was a tweed jacketed chap showing some smartly dressed kids around the garden - no idea if he was a member of staff or their Dad. Children are invited to go and collect eggs every morning and the list of country pursuits is phenomenal if that's your kind of thing, some of them e.g. the daily falconry display, croquet are free of charge. (I wonder if I can rock up as a non-resident and do all that stuff too?!)

Welly rack inside the front porch

Morning coffee and cake for four in these luxurious surroundings set my Dad back about £30. I was very grateful for the treat, but I also felt that it was a great idea - if you feel like you crave a bit of luxury, but can't afford to go the whole hog and go on holiday or go out for a three course meal, a pot of tea in a posh hotel can make you feel like a very happy and lucky (forty year old) princess.

Igloo and Penguin Cake for a Child's Birthday Party

2011-11-28T21:10:00.001Z

I have written before about my rather amateurish attempts at making children's birthday cakes, e.g. the bizarre looking hedgehog cake that I had to make for years for both my children. So, my 12 year old daughter threw me a curve ball when she asked for an 'Igloo and Penguin' cake. In Tavistock Rockin' Beads (brilliant place with tuition and some amazing beads for sale, currently running drop in Mince Pie Monday workshops) we found these penguin beads and the deal was done.

I made a chocolate sponge mixture and put them in a greased pudding basin and a ramekin. Not looking very igloo-like yet...

I wanted snow-white icing, but thought regular water and icing sugar would be too runny, royal icing would be too thick and heavy, so I created a cream cheese frosting and slathered it on. Uh-oh, it felt like it might turn into a hedgehog again.

It wasn't quite as bright white as I had intended, but I had committed to it and there was no turning back. I marked on some rather messy brickwork on the igloo, added white chocolate drops for a pathway, made a small pond out of blue 'ready roll' icing that I found in the back of the cupboard and sprinkled it with edible blue glitter. A couple of handfuls of icing sugar later, I decided to add a Playmobil tree (nope, no trees in the Antarctic, but then again, penguins don't really live in igloos either!)...and da-daaaah:

I broke the cardinal (and somewhat weird) rule of novelty cakes where everything on the plate is supposed to be edible. Doh! one plastic tree and Doh! two china penguins.

And the girls went mad with some Baking Mad products I received through the post and decorated six cupcakes each and had a great, messy, sugary time. We loved the Gold Lustre edible paint and the Giant Snowies. The strawberry flavour chocolate buttons were pretty good too.

Review: Complicite - The Master and Margarita, Plymouth Theatre Royal

2011-11-21T21:07:00.001Z

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov has been one of my favourite books since I read it as as student 20 years ago. It is devilishly zany; it has a very cool Satan character, Woland; it satirises the Soviet system and bureaucracy; it's clever, knowing, self-referential, ahead of its time: all about the artist vs the state, an artist in love, the nature of compassion, and it throws in quite a few bits of delicious knockabout black comedy (oh, and there's a bit about religion too.)

The Theatre Royal, Plymouth were showing a brand new dramatised version of the novel last week performed by the acclaimed theatre company, Complicite. I booked the tickets months ago, eager to see how such an 'out there' book could be brought to the stage.

The director, Simon McBurney, was the first on stage and half-introduced and half-apologised for the show. I felt that he was being self-deprecating when he said that he really found the book puzzling and almost pulled out of the project a few weeks, ahem, months (he corrected himself) ago. We hoped his negativity was pre-show nerves and luvvy language for 'what a lovely show I've created' however, as we left the theatre we hadn't decided if it was a triumph or not.

There was a lot to commend it. The first half got me involved hugely and after nearly two hours, I actually didn't want the interval to take place as I felt it broke down my involvement in the Moscow scenes.

Pontious Pilate forgot a lot of his words in his intial scene and had to be prompted. It wouldn't have been so noticeable but the lighting and sound effects are a major part of this production and a camera was beaming his super-sized visage onto the whole of the back of the stage. I suppose he was torn in his compassion versus anger with Yeshua, and I felt similarly towards Pilate - learn your words, sir, I've paid good dosh for this seat! Ah poor man, he's doing his best, the other part of me thought.

Yeshua was a stark, skinny and very naked man for most of his appearance. I felt this worked well. He was a persecuted prisoner - and we no longer have the need for skimpy torn half-covered nether regions. His vulnerability to us, yet his own ease with (or the irrelevance of) his nakedness was an interesting situation.

Later on, Margarita spent a long time naked on stage and I felt totally different about this. I felt so sorry for her - it seemed to be overly-extended. Considering this was a long (3.5 hour) performance, the naked Margarita scenes at the Moscow Ball and flying over the city were a bit out of balance with the rest of the play. Yes, it was a date with the devil and it had to seem to be dark and threatening, but it was over long and ended up being a bit tedious.

Woland was a terrific devil. His shining teeth, German accent and dark glasses were spot on. It was a bit of a shame that the same actor also played The Master - I wanted to see them both together and didn't want them to be a Jekyll and Hyde type character who had to keep disrobing. The baseball capped sidekick Koroviev was truly menacing, the stuff of nightmares. The cat.....oh, the cat! Where to begin? A wonderfully hip thrusting, mangy skeletal puppet....but a white cat with a green face! It had to be a black cat. Why change that fundamental symbol? And they played the Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter and not Sympathy for the Devil (too obvious? It was inspired by the book, The Master and Margarita).

The staging was great in places - I loved the visual effect of the brick wall falling down at the end. The projections on the back wall worked well and were quite breathtaking at times. The microphone special effects worked well in places but were used too frequently and became irritating. And too frequent use of chairs as weapons and symbols of intimidation (irritation?)

There were moments of brilliance, grotesqueness and hilarity, but I was not entirely won over. I am disgruntled because these three performances were regarded as a 'run through' prior to the European tour and fortnight at The Barbican. There were no programmes on sale. McBurney even referred to the Saturday night performance as being their 'first night, Friday was the dress rehearsal.' Well, I didn't know that when I bought a ticket!! Is this a case of 'Don't worry it's just Devon'? I'm sure theatre performances do progress and mutate as they go on tour, however I didn't really want to be witness to such an unfinished spectacle when I had paid full price for the privilege.

Review: Hotel Chocolat Advent Calendar 'Truffles to Share'

2011-11-14T20:55:00.001Z

This advent calendar was gratefully received courtesy of Hotel Chocolat and it felt really naughty to eat the whole thing by 14 November! However, I had a review to do, so I had the perfect excuse. I'm guessing this is aimed at Double Income No Kids Yet couples (can anyone else afford £24 for an advent calendar?) who want to share a high end product. The (rather seductive) gimmick is that there are two chocolates behind each window. I do have children and they were very excited about it, but they only liked one or two of the truffle flavours. In fact rather than bickering over who would have the chocolates we were all saying 'No, go on, you have the mulled wine truffle.'

I loved the Salted Soft Caramel and quite liked the gingerbread truffle, the plain and milk truffles, but the mulled wine flavour was rejected by all of us and only one of us, my 10 year old son, liked the cinnamon praline. All the chocs were the same nipple shape. It would have been more fun with some variation e.g. Stars, trees, snowmen etc

On the plus side, two chocs per advent window is a great idea. Right sized chocolates, three quarter sized = a nice mouthful.

Negatives: high price and dubious flavours. The packaging design was half right: I liked the sparkly icicle and tree pattern but there was an ugly strip of white cardboard down the middle on the hinge of the calendar.

It would have been nice if the website had listed the truffle flavours contained within this calendar. There are some very tiny icon symbols to show they contain e.g. alcohol, nuts, milk etc ( hey, hotel choc, can you make those symbols a bit larger? They're very difficult to interpret in such a small size) but no list of flavours.

Overall our verdict was that it is a good concept, a little overpriced with not particularly yummy chocolate.

There are four other advent calendars in the range. I think the others have festive shaped chocs inside and are priced at £12-17

Rather interesting that their website is also advertising a 'Cheese and Chocolate Tasting Experience.' As a youngster I discovered the taste sensation of pairing mature cheddar cheese with Kit Kats, a guilty pleasure, but I've always been a fan of sweet-savoury combos. They even use chocolate as a 'cracker' for cheese and serve sweet relishes instead of Branston. Whooh. Brave, but I'm liking it.

The Avocet Cafe, Topsham

2011-11-07T21:51:00.001Z

The Avocet Cafe is a dear little place on the high street in Topsham. It has one tiny two seater table squeezed onto the pavement and a further seven or eight on the inside. They do good value, homemade produce focusing on local products. Previously I've had their savoury cream tea which was a homemade scone with creme fraiche and South Devon Chilli Farm jam.

This time after a beautiful meander along the nearby Goat Walk next to the River Exe, we had tea and homemade teacakes. Apparently when the council were trying to decide what to name the new estuarine promenade in 1908 a local man proclaimed 'It's nowt but a bloody goat walk!' and the name stuck. When we walk along there with the children we totally embarrass them by making like goats. But today we had no kids to embarrass, therefore no billy goats gruff antics.

The Avocet was recently recommended in the Guardian's Top 10 Best Budget Eats for Exeter.

On the way to the Ladies (through the kitchen and out in the back garden) I was very envious of the plucked pumpkins.

Another place that does homemade teacakes (and bless them for going to the trouble of a yeasty bun) is the excellent Dartmoor Tea Rooms.

Seville's Top Three Tapas Bars - How to Munch through the Credit Crunch

2011-10-31T22:26:00.002Z

To celebrate my 40th birthday, I have just been treated to an amazing week of feasting on tapas and Rioja in Seville in the South of Spain. We took the children despite our 14 year old preachy guidebook telling us that 'although Spaniards are very welcoming to children, you may want to consider whether Seville would be a more relaxing and romantic experience if you left the children behind.' Made me laugh, and I was tempted for a while, but we brought the sprogs along regardless.

Eating in Seville is 90% tapas bars. There are a couple of linen tablecloth-ed restaurants, but they look so starchy (and expensive) in comparison to the vibrancy of the bars. Dining out in Seville proved to be surprisingly cheap. Coffees were about 1.4 Euros and a glass of decent red wine about 2.5 Euros. I was expecting the anchovies, tortilla, red peppers, patatas bravas, slices of ham and deep-fried croquettes of 14 years ago, and indeed there were plenty of these to be had in places like the wonderful Dos de Mayo.

This is the 'racion' (medium sized) portion of the alternative Spanish Omelette , this one contained red, green peppers and ham.

Marinaded chargrilled peppers

Marinaded slices of tender calves liver with spring onion

After a few days we discovered the joys of 'modern tapas' at Eslava and Lumbreras e.g. a barely set egg yolk quivering on top of a 'mushroom cake' or a meltingly tender solomillo fillet steak atop a smear of fresh mushroom cream - these were exquisite high-end restaurant standard dishes - and no photos as they were snaffled so quickly. The fillet steak was the most expensive dish we had at 6 Euros, oh yes, and a huge dish of garlic butter clams for 8 Euros, but for the most part, they came in at 2-3 Euros a plateful. As a family of four, we lived like kings and ate and drank to our hearts' content, and the bill was often a remarkable 25 - 35 Euros.

Here's a picture of the wonderful Dos de Mayo tapas bar, just behind the main Il Corte Ingles department store on the Plaza de Duque de Victoria. It was a frenetic den of activity - I have no idea how the barmen kept track of everyone's pint-size tapas orders. They did call me 'Casey' which we found amusing.

This was the children's favourite, churros with hot chocolate at a corner breakfast cafe. Cheap, calorific, filling and delicious. NB, there is a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in the top right hand corner in a vain attempt to make the meal have a nutritional value.

Our favourite tapas bars in Seville were:

Eslava (lots more photos of their food on this website)

Dos de Mayo

Lumbreras (they don't have their own website - so this is a link to Tripadvisor)

Teas Me - Sweet Chai of Mine - Review

2011-10-17T21:51:00.000+01:00

I received these sample packs of tea in the post. I was actually expecting them to be from local Devon tea blender, Tea's Me (I have long been a fan of their wonderful lavender-scented Tottea that claims to 'restore your inner angel'), but these turned out to be from Squeeze Me, based in Northamptonshire, under the brand name Teas Me (with no apostrophe). Confused? I was a bit.

I'm a big fan of 'Chai' teas so I was very keen to try this one as my local supply of Dragonfly Cape Malay Chai Roibos has dried up (anyone know why?). The see-through pouch was very snazzy - lovely to see all the colourful components of the tea and have a resealable pouch too. Sometimes my tea gets stashed away in some tin at the back of the cupboard and I only find it months later. The brew is exactly as described 'warm and comforting' with a big cinnamon kick. I really liked it.

I tried the Earl Grey flavour today in my brand new ForLife kermit green teapot that A and D bought me. It wasn't as 'in your face' and powerfully bergamoty or floral as some Earl Greys, but that's no bad thing. Liked the fact it was blended with bright yellow sunflower petals. Oh, and loved my new teapot.

The Tea sachets cost £3.99 each for 100g loose leaf tea. I almost forgot the pun! Guns 'n' Roses, I never thought I'd reference you on my food blog, you are so far off my radar but I just can't help it...Oh-ohhhh, sweet chai-aii of miii-iiine....

The Guardian: Exeter and Topsham's 10 Best Budget Eats

2011-10-10T21:41:00.001+01:00

Well this saved me a lot of hard work - this is a fantastic guide to budget eats in the Exeter area, published today in The Guardian.

I agree wholeheartedly with what the article says about Boston Tea Party, The Real Food Store, The Georgian Tea Rooms and Avocet Cafe (I love their 'savoury' cream tea with South Devon chilli jam). All the other places look like great places to try - thanks for bringing the Exploding Bakery to my attention 'stellar baking at bargain prices'. And I really like the sound of Petit Mange in Magdalen Rd (hopefully avoiding the knife -wielder that was running amok this week)

Thanks to the Guardian for doing such a well-researched piece on my home turf!

And what's even better is that they've produced an interactive map for budget eats for the whole of the UK. Very kind.

Penge Punch, First of the Month

2011-10-03T21:56:00.001+01:00

It's true: I rarely leave Devon and Cornwall. But for the hottest day of the year, with everyone heading for a bonus day on the beach, I ended up travelling to South London. Craziness. What a good time I had . A superb party held to celebrate my dear friends, J and L's 40ths. J had invented two new cocktails, Penge Punch (in honour of the venue) which was lethal - a stronger version of Long Island Iced Tea (including laminated instruction sheets for novices on how to concoct the tipple - he is so ~~anal~~ organised).

There was also a totally delicious Southern Sangria (Spanish red, lemonade, a healthy dash of fresh lemon and lime juice and tons of ice and fruit).

Needless to say, a good time was had by all. Hawaiian shirts, fairy lights, paper flowers, cocktail dresses, posh kebab canapes. I spent a manic hour in the kitchen assisting these two strapping lads and generally dropping things on the floor.

A really great idea. Wraps containing pre-bbqed meat, veges and condiments had been prepped the day before and our job was to bake them for 15 minutes and then slice them into 2cm slices and serve on trays as kebab canapes. They were hungrily snapped up.

Later we moved on to genuine live opera singing (M and L were astonishing), a put-together-at-last-minute-band and then dancing, Shisha pipes with apple tobacco and fire baskets in the garden.

And after just a couple of hours sleep (there were about eight kids in the house) we were up and at 'em again. I'd bought long some fab bacon from Borough Market (my first time at BM - WOW, what a change from Devon farmers' markets) from Sillfield Farm and we cooked up bagels,bacon and more pitchers of Southern Sangria in the sun.

Finished off with some perfect hangover food made by the resident starlet, H, chocolate dipped peppermint creams.

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Penge Punch Yeehah

Like a cross between long island iced tea and mojito. Kicks a fair punch

Quanitity makes a large pitcher

300 ml cointreau

300ml vodka,
300ml tequila
300ml dark rum and
300ml white rum

125ml sugar syrup infused with mint

1 litre of Coca Cola

125ml freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice

Loads of ice

TASTE AND ADJUST TIL YUMMY!

Last of the Blackberries - A Simple Jamie Oliver Recipe for Blackberry Tart

2011-09-27T21:42:00.000+01:00

I reckon the blackberries are almost over in Devon. There were still plenty on the bushes in Lustleigh today, but plenty of them were turning to mush in our purple-stained fingers. There were a shameful amount of unpicked mouldy ones too. Why doesn't everyone go brambling? Maybe the walkers and residents in Lustleigh have had their fill.

In folklore, it is deemed unlucky to pick blackberries after September 29th, otherwise the devil has spat on them, so I guess we made a lucky escape today.

I made this:

It's from Jamie Oliver's Italy and its Italian name is Torta di More and the full recipe is on his website here.

I cheated and used a pre-made all butter pastry case from Sainsbury's. I'm totally useless with 'neat and tidy' pastry, so these cases are a godsend and magically keep for ages in your larder without any preservatives. Must be huge quantities of salt and sugar in them, or just Sainsbury pixie dust.

Then basically, you just whisk together in one go:

500g mascarpone,
3-4 tablespoonfuls of caster sugar,
the inside seeds of a vanilla pod,
100ml cream (supposed to be single, I used double)
a couple of tbsp of vino santo, grappa or other sweet liqueur.

Place that creamy mixture in the pastry case, sprinkle on some blackberries and then dob a few droplets of melted blackberry jam onto the fruit to make them sweet and sparkly.

My son said that there was far too much cream and he picked off all the berries (not much of a success for him then) but the rest of the family tucked in. Delicious, and seasonal (just).

By the way, if you're ever near Lustleigh, try the Primrose Tea Rooms, a wonderful friendly place run by a mother and daughter team where I had a slice of fresh, light lemon drizzle cake for 80p.

This blog post has been entered in the Simple and in Season Blogging Event: http://www.renbehan.com/2011/09/simple-and-in-season-september-blogging-event.html

Book Reviews: The Gentle Art of Cookery and Simple French Cooking for English Homes

2011-09-21T21:19:00.000+01:00

These books look amazing. If you like to own books, feel them, sniff them, display them on your shelves and slightly drool over the quality of the paper and feel a bit pleased when there is a little satin bookmark.....these are just the books you are looking for. They are from a new series called Classic Voices in Food. They are re-published 19th-mid 20th century forgotten classic cookery tomes.

The binding of The Gentle Art of Cookery is beautiful: a deep green cover embossed with a silver dandelion and contrasting scarlet edged thick pages. I'm won over already. Originally published in 1925, one of the authors, Mrs C F Leyel, was a bit ahead of her time in the use of herbs and spices and includes quite a few Arabic dishes that would have been seen as very modern at the time. I particularly love The Alchemist's Cupboard section at the end of the book where she tells you all the best London shops where you should buy your Mushroom Ketchup, Parisian Essence (qu'est-ce que c'est?) and Cream of Hominy (dried maize kernels).

There's a hilarious recipe, The Ostrich Egg, that had me creased up. It is suggested that children will be enchanted if you get a pig's bladder and via a convoluted method, cook 12 eggs inside it so that you end up with one enormous giant boiled egg. My children would certainly be surprised if I made this and might think their mother had gone bananas.

The recipes are simple, a couple of lines long and don't specify quantities of ingredients. It's all far more free form than our modern recipe books. I love the old-fashioned-ness of recipes such as Prune Soup, Devilled Lobster, Green Foie Gras Sandwich (foie gras, slices of chicken and lettuce dipped in French dressing in between bread). In common with other historic cookery books, there are way too many egg recipes.

It's all very homely and you get the feeling that Mrs Leyel and Miss Hartley, the authors, were jolly nice womenfolk, and passionate about their subject.

The second book, Simple French Cookery for English Homes by X. Marcel Boulestin has a bit more of a haughty 'Zee Ingleesh! Zey cannot call zemselves real chefs!' attitude. Again, it's a beautifully presented book and I loved every minute of his faintly patronising tone. He was a pre-cursor of Jamie Oliver, in fact, he was the first TV chef, appearing in 1937 and he does seem to be truly keen to make simple, good honest cookery available to everyone.

Monsieur Boulestin offers advice on a post-party meal and advises Cabbage Soup, Mixed Cold Meats, Salad and Dessert Coffee. (Beats a kebab, I guess.) He says:

'This is more suitable for Chelsea than for Bayswater - unless the inhabitants of this "highly desirable district" happen to feel, for once, "delightfully bohemian."'

Again, lots and lots of egg recipes.

It's easy to be flippant about these books, and their descriptions of how to cook a steak, or how to dress a salad, but this book was hugely influential in bringing the French style of cooking to the English speaking world, so as a historic (and ironic) document, I love it.

Retro Trailers from Cornwall - Stylish Alternative to Caravans

2011-09-12T21:10:00.001+01:00

About a month ago we were at Ruan Minor Vintage Rally and spotted two of these silver teardrop shaped handmade trailers on display:

I chatted to the maker, an innovative and personable chap, based in West Cornwall. He custom makes each trailer to customers’ specifications. They are roughly £4000 for the smaller one and £6000 for the larger one. If it wasn’t for my two kids, lack of funds and no driveway to store the thing, I would definitely be a punter.

There was something incredibly appealing about these mini caravans. The whole of the inside of the main compartment is taken up by a snug double bed with storage space and somewhere for a stereo, but no standing room. Romping room only.

The back opened outwards in the style of an Italian street coffee cart, and inside was a diminutive kitchen, done up in a lovely black and white checks with red accessories; space for a cool box and a gas burner. As the lady from Retro Trailers told me, it’s really a fair weather kitchen, but if the sun was shining, what fun.

They look so dinky when being towed (what?! could I consider a towbar? Yes, if I had an E Type, I damn well could.)

http://retrotrailers.info/

Two 11 Year Olds Play with the Hummingbird Cafe Cookbook

2011-09-05T21:32:00.000+01:00

My 11 year old daughter and her friend wanted to make something from the Hummingbird Cafe Cookbook. We had all the ingredients for the raspberry cheesecake brownies. Including wonderful local, Devon raspberries from our local farm, Shute Fruit. I was getting our house ready for some guests who were coming to stay, so just let them get on with it in the kitchen. I was rather impressed when two hours later (including a bit of refrigeration time), they presented me with the finished product:

The recipe is fairly simple, but does involve three layers so I was impressed. The chocolate brownie and vanilla cheesecake layers are baked together in the oven and then when cool, smothered with pink creamy muck muck.

I made it again today as a treat for my daughter as she started Secondary School today. It's simple and very fattening, but delicious. I recommend halving the quantities if you just want to feed 4-6 people. The original version is enormous and serves 12. Also, where the recipe says to beat the cream, sugar and raspberries together for the wonderful pink shaving foam topping, it's best to whip the cream lightly, then add the sugar and raspberries, otherwise the mixture won't thicken.

I've never been lucky enough to visit the actual Hummingbird Cafe in London, but we've made a couple of things from the cookbook - other notable favourites are: the vanilla cupcakes, and the double chocolate chip cookies

Ashridge Cider - Devon Blush - Worth £15 a Pop?

2011-07-27T22:02:00.000+01:00

I recently attended a really interesting Tasting Panel, hosted by the great magazine that is devoted purely to food and drink from Devon, Taste Buds. We tried all sorts of Devon produce (ice creams, chutneys and ciders) but for me the stand-out product was the Ashridge Devon Blush Cider.

It contains a dash of blackberry liqueur - it's presented as a Champagne bottle and is such a summery drink. The perfect balance of fruitiness and apple and blackberry flavours without being cloying. I have previously tried Polgoon, a sparkling rose Cornish cider, another premium product, but I definitely preferred the Devon Blush Cider.

Priced at £30.24 for a double box including delivery - so it's not exactly a cheap alternative to a pint of Strongbow. But for posh summer drinking (weddings?) it's a beautiful tipple.

Perfect Summer Loaf: Fougasse Made with a Bread Maker

2011-07-21T21:55:00.000+01:00

...and I was pretty happy with the results. Delicious served alongside a Tapas-y lunch of olives, ripe summer tomatoes, Serrano ham and some rocket and salty cheese. This is a traditional 'focaccia' type loaf originally from Provence in the South of France. I like it's salty soft texture that is rich with olive oil.

I used dried 'Herbes de Provence' from a cloth bag. They included some delicious sprinkles of fennel and lavender.

Ingredients

475g strong white flour
1.5 teasp salt
3 tbsp fresh chopped herbs / 1.5 teasp dried mixed herbs
1.25 teasp fast-action yeast
4 tablespoons olive oil
250 ml water

Place in breadmaker. Set to basic dough (This takes 2 hours in a Panasonic).
Form into two flat shapes and slit with knife.
Leave to rise for 30 mins.
Bake at 220 degrees Celsius or 8-10 mins.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on sea salt.

Making Strawberry Jam is Easy with the River Cottage Preserves Book by Pam Corbin

2011-07-13T20:41:00.000+01:00

We picked a couple of kilos of strawberries at Netherton on the banks of the River Teign in Devon. Their soft fruit season has been early this year and due to financial pressures, they're closing their Pick Your Own at the end of the season, which could be within a fortnight -so hurry to get your strawberries, tayberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants.

It took four of us about half an hour to pick this lot - I think it was roughly 2kg strawbs and 1kg raspberries and it came to just under £20.

I used my regular River Cottage Preserves book by Pam Corbin (£8.99 from Amazon). A simple to follow recipe, with a few tried and tested tips e.g. plenty of lemon juice added to the strawberry jam and use of jam sugar (with added pectin to help it set).

I was tired, it was sunny and I wasn't really in the mood for a long-winded jam making session but Pam insisted that fresh fruit are essential. So I started at 9pm when it got a bit cooler in my sun-baked kitchen. By 10:30pm I had finished a whole batch of strawberry jam - about 10 jars and a more modest 3 jars of raspberry jam.

Stage 1: just in the pan

Stage 2: bringing to the boil

Stage 3: almost on the boil, starting to break up

Stage 4: Scary hot sugar rolling boil that unexpectedly rises up the pan at an alarming rate - help!

This batch should see us through the year to go with our breakfast scones and toast. I thoroughly recommend 'Pam the Jam's' no-nonsense approach to preserving. She got me hooked into it (even when over-tired, hot and bothered and not really in the mood.)

Who Serves the Best Cream Tea in Devon?

2011-06-27T22:05:00.000+01:00

A cream tea with thick clotted cream and deep red jam served atop plump doughy scones is one of the delights of going out in the afternoon in Devon and Cornwall. In my time, I have had many a cream tea, a surprising number of which have proved disappointing. All too often, there is insufficient cream, average jam or a tiny two day old scone. I have been hearing great things about the Dartmoor Tea Rooms in Moretonhampstead, Devon (longest unhyphenated place name in England I believe). It was lunchtime, but we all decided to have sweet stuff instead. Daughter had a chocolate brownie with ice cream and raspberry sauce which she said was delicious. Husband and I shared a Classic Cream Tea (two scones) plus an in-house homemade toasted teacake. The tea cake was absolutely wonderful – slathered in butter, just the right amount of dried fruit and peel and a lovely sweet sugar crust on the top. Divine.

Tea was of high quality. I love the ‘FORLIFE’ tea pots that they and lots of cafes are using at the moment (e.g Twenty Six in Teignmouth). They have an inbuilt strainer inside the main body, so the brew is perfect, no fiddly strainer and presumably easier to clean up afterwards. They are for sale in the cafe at a good price of £20 – I have seen them for sale online for £22-£25. Looking forward to receiving one for my birthday (hint, hint).

Everything in the cafe was so clean – I loved the way the crockery, the milk jug, the tray and the cutlery were all so gleaming. It was a very welcoming environment, friendly waiting staff, fresh flowers on the tables and lots of bits and bobs to look at and admire.

But the burning question - was this the Best Cream Tea in Devon?

Well, I give Dartmoor Tea Rooms a resounding ten out of ten for the fabulous teacake and for the fine pot of tea. The cream and jam were very good and were just about the right quantity. The scones were large, just warm (felt very 'fresh' warm rather than re-heated warm) homemade, light and tasty and certainly enjoyable. But......I have such high standards as I have my own resident scone-maker in my home, and hers are perfection, and have a slightly more buttery golden texture (secret ingredient being yoghurt). So, outside of my own home, this is probably as near as dammit, one of the Best Cream Teas in Devon. But of course the quest is ceaseless and I must carry on in my search to find the Ultimate Devon Cream Tea. This one is jolly good and is definitely on the short list.

NB I think Dartmoor Tea Rooms may be shutting at the beginning of July for a week or two, so do check before going there; but DO go there, it's a great place. Open Weds-Sundays from April - November.

Brewing My Own: Elderflower Cordial....and Elderflower Champagne

2011-06-14T21:40:00.000+01:00

There are probably only a couple of days left of elderflower picking. Certainly here in South Devon, the creamy-white blooms are starting to fade and turn brown and a little musty smelling - upcountry folks might have better luck.

My basket of blooms - far more than was needed:

I decided to make a batch of cordial, which really is one of the simplest recipes in the world. I used the River Cottage Preserves cookbook recipe (a similar recipe has been reproduced here on Nipitinthebud's great blog) which just involves lots of sugar, lemon juice and elderflowers. Leave the cordial to infuse overnight and the next day it was ready to strain and use.

It’s a joy to drink this with sparkling water and plenty of ice on a summer’s afternoon, and even more fun spiked with vodka, a sprig of mint and a handful of raspberries during the evening. The cordial was a doddle and here it is - four bottles for immediate drinking and a further one litre in the freezer.

I’m a little more concerned about the Champagne....I’ve toyed with Pastymuncher’s ideas but decided to use Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe for this and there are MANY MANY worrying comments about Champagne explosions, glass being embedded in bookcases and C02 eruptions that have hit the ceiling. Grazing Kate has been 'very brave' and made six litres of the stuff...Mix it all together, leave for about four days until it starts to ferment (very exciting – that happened today) - those white bloom areas that look like reflections are the signs either that it's working or that it's mouldy and it's all gone horribly wrong (I'm an optimist and bottled the stuff!):

and then strain it into PLASTIC bottles. Granted, the lovely swing top Grolsch style bottles look far more attractive than this (hmm, nice presentation in the Asda bottle)

But shards of exploded glass embedded in my furniture and skin? – Er, no way! I’ve done a bit of research and plan to ‘burp’ the bottles every couple of days for a week or so (by gently loosening the screw cap and relieving the pressure) and then it should be ready to drink after a mere seven days. Homemade brew – feels just a little bit naughty, but damn clever if it works.

Contemporary Craft Fair, Bovey Tracey, June 2011

2011-06-10T21:55:00.000+01:00

Today I spent the morning at Bovey Tracey Contemporary Craft Fair thanks to a generously donated free ticket from jeweller extraordinaire, Christine Kaltoft. (Sorry, Christine, I didn't find you there today; I shall look for you on Saturday.)

General view of fair:

Here are some of the craft stands that particularly piqued my interest. This was my first love-at-first-sight - wonderfully quirky jewellery by Helen Noakes - (great website too, Helen!) mini plastic figures inside perspex with silver fixings. Very tempted to get some mini swimmer cufflinks made for N, but probably won't be able to find £100 to do so!

I was struck by the beautiful and subtly different blue glazes created by Taja (based in Moretonhampstead). What a nice man! I would really like some of these tea mugs:

Anya Keeley won the 'Best Stall' prize for 2011 - beautiful trinkets and animals made from recycled materials, books, maps.

And I admire the pzazz of Alison from Dr Beans Bags (Isle of Wight) who bring along customised handmade bags just for the denizens of Bovey Tracey! (Does she do this for every village? Clever lady!)

I attended a printmaking workshop for two hours and discovered the instant and random joys of monotype printing with Brian Norman:

My 'Sunset over Manhattan' looked better on the perspex block than on the paper afterwards!

At lunchtime, the rain arrived (therefore no photo of my shared al fresco lunch with L and two charming men who held up an umbrella to shelter the poor shivering ladies-who-lunched!) but I feasted on a homemade crab quiche alongside a scrummy chocolate and vanilla cupcake from the Devon Guild Cafe stand.

The overall quality of the wares on offer is top notch. A totally brilliant place to buy all the presents you need for all your female friends and rellies. The workshop was great fun (and very cheap) and the food was excellent. The fair is on this weekend, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June 2011. Get yourself over to Bovey for an inspiring day out!

Click here to see more of my experiences from the fair in 2010.

Bagel and Beans - Great Budget Food in Central Amsterdam

2011-06-07T22:22:00.000+01:00

I'm just back from a gloriously sunny and wine-sodden five days in Holland staying with our dear friends A, D and A.

We needed a bite to eat away from the touristy centre of Amsterdam where we'd enjoyed a visual feast of Vermeers and Franz Hals at the rijksmuseum, where incidentally, The Milkmaid was my favourite picture:

..... and we happened upon Bagels and Beans. This is a small chain of Dutch cafes specialising in breakfasts and lunches. We heartily enjoyed the 'Everything' juice that included pineapple, orange, strawberry and apple:

The bagels were fresh, packed full of fairly healthy ingredients with some good combos, and not just the average 'cheese and ham' that features heavily on Dutch menus. I chose the smoked chicken, avocado, pesto and pinenut, with plenty of greenery too (particularly enjoyed the large helping of killer cucumbers):

The free pot of coffee bean shaped and flavoured chocolate beans were a great added bonus - they were on every table.

The juice was 3 Euros - a tad high, but considering that's the same price as a Coke in a European pavement cafe, not too bad. The bagel was 6 Euros which I thought was fair enough. The waiter was so friendly and disarmingly asked me if I was 'well-known in Holland.' I think he was asking whether I knew Holland well. Free chocolate, smiley waiters, good food and free postcards from a stand for the children to take as souvenirs - a great respite from a frenetic European city centre and great for people on a budget.

Devon Book Review: A Taste of the Unexpected by Mark Diacono

2011-05-26T22:40:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to express how much pleasure I got from reading this wonderful book. The experts on Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4 a few weeks ago were quick to dismiss people's desire to grow 'weird' vegetables - apparently white carrots are tasteless and some of the more extravagantly coloured vegetables often fail to thrive and are generally a waste of time. So that's that, I thought, don't bother with all that fancy schmancy stuff in my veg patch. Then...along comes this book by Mark Diacono. He's one of Hugh's River Cottage experts, runs courses there and grows at Otter Farm near Honiton.

I unreservedly love this book because:

a) there aren't any pictures of the author posing artfully either with cleverly positioned 'mud' on knees or flour on cheek, or smiling winsomely at his prize veg with shabby chic decor in the background and old enamel mug

b) he actually took all the photos of the gardens and veg inside the book (repect!)

c) it also has recipes - some of which are a bit fancy, but some plain and easy

d) he really inspired me to experiment - hell, why not grow apricots, goji berries, szechuan pepper in our back gardens / window boxes

e) only one cute picture of child in a garden (I am really naffed off with cookery / lifestyle writers getting their kids involved in photoshoots)

f) loved his ethos of 'grow expensive/ unbuyable produce' rather than onions, potatoes, carrots type stuff

So, let's grow and eat day lilies - this was a fab bit of advice as I was sat outside next to my sprouting day lilies while I was reading this bit. I reached over, snapped off a flower bud and it did indeed taste a bit like a French bean but with a slight chilli kick. How naughty and lovely. Eating flowers. Nasturtiums are budding so I shall be sprinkling them on my salads, deep frying day lilies and planning how to fit an apricot into our full-the-brim garden. And definitely some Egyptian Walking Onions (what a name!). And possibly some Japanese wineberries just so I can make the delicious sounding Japanese Wineberry Trifle.

He's also got a really good blog. I have a new foodie hero and, what's more, he's a Devon lad!

And this is our vege patch at the moment- not a gojiberry in sight.

And I had to include a picture of our Angelica (yes that green twiggy crystalline stuff that no-one has put on a cupcake even ironically since the 70s) which has turned into a beanstalk - it was 6ft tall until it keeled over in the wind.