After seeing it advertised quite a few times I was thrilled this evening to actually catch an episode of the Hairy Bakers on BBC 2.I've been a fan of the duo Dave and Si that make up the Hairy Bikers for a while now and the idea of them doing a whole series on baking seemed like a fantastic idea. There are so many cookery programmes on TV, yet I don't recall a single one that is devoted to baking alone.In the episode I caught tonight (number 2 I believe) the aim was for them to prepare tea at the Henley Regatta and so first they went on a trip to try out various different ... read more
Visit to River Cottage – part 3
A few final bits from our day at River Cottage HQ. Part of the grounds at RCHQ were used for some rural craft demonstrations and one stall that particularly interested me was that from wilderness survival skills who run courses that teach people, as their names suggests, wilderness survival skills. Having heard all about the various courses they run I'd be really interesting in going on one and might have to work on Mr C to see if he'd be interested in coming with me. Their ten day intensive bushcraft course sounds fantastic, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for ... read more
Visit to River Cottage – part 2
In addition to the demonstrations at the River Cottage Festival there were also various other things going on and we were able to wander round part of their grounds to see the various animals that they have on the farm and the fruit and vegetables that they're growing. One of the first animals that we met was Blossom the pig. In his latest UK television series, River Cottage Spring, Hugh challenged a group of families from Bristol to grow their own food on allotments in the city. As part of this exercise they also kept chickens and pigs for food. Blossom was one of those pigs and is kept ... read more
Visit to River Cottage – part 1
There's so much to say about Sunday's trip to the River Cottage Festival that I'm going to have to split it into multiple posts. It was just such a fantastic day that going through all the photos again brought back some great memories.The Festival was held in the grounds of the River Cottage HQ at Park Farm between Axminster and Lyme Regis and had a variety of stalls and demonstrations covering the range of things that the River Cottage series encapsulates. Mr C and I tried to make the most of the demonstrations that were going on throughout the day. The first one that we ... read more
Chelsea Physic Garden
Thursday lunchtime I joined the "women wot lunch" from work and visited Chelsea Physic Garden in London. The gardens were founded by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 1673 and is very much hidden away in Chelsea. In fact, until F suggested going there I have to admit that I hadn't heard of it! Entry price could be considered a bit steep, but luckily F had found some vouchers in a local pub that gave each of us a £2 discount.Apparently the gardens used not to be open to the public, but in 1983 a charity took over the running of the gardens and opened them to the ... read more
Exciting Times
I've got some exciting times coming up over the next month or so.Firstly, Mr C and I off to the River Cottage Festival this weekend. Unfortunately the weather forecast isn't looking too good, but fingers crossed. I'm a bit fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his various television programmes and accompanying books.The week after next I have managed to get myself booked on to a Rowan beginners crochet course that is being held at a local John Lewis. I've been wanting to learn to crochet for ages and am really looking forward ... read more
Weekend with friends
Mr C and I have come back from spending a fantastic weekend with our friends C and P who live in Hampshire. It was great being able to spend time with friends (H and D also joining us down there for the weekend) and reminded me of just how important these friends are. On Saturday we were treated by fantastic weather and spent the afternoon outdoors. As we don't have garden ourselves eating lunch outside is quite a novelty. Time was also spent collecting apples from the many fruit trees in their garden. C's plans for apple chutney should certainly be met - although if she uses all ... read more
A birthday cook book
My parents have always been under the impression that I have no cooking skills what so ever. Whilst my skills in the kitchen may be limited I certainly don't think that Mr C and I are going to starve. Over the last few years I have been trying to extend my cooking repertoire and I have certainly been more adventurous in what I choose to try from cook books, as well as having more confidence when I try new things. For my birthday last month my gifts from my family seemed to focus around the kitchen. My sister H bought me a copy of Tessa Kiros' Apples for Jam: Recipes for Life which I have been ... read more
Land Girls and Lumber Jills
I'm always fascinated about the what life was like living in Britain during the 2nd World War, especially for those women left at home whilst their husbands and brothers fought in the military overseas. I was therefore pleased to see a couple of articles on the BBC News website today about the Land Girls and Lumber Jills receiving official recognition for the role that they played during the War. It is sad that they have had to wait for so long, but better late than never. The stories of some of these women are fascinating. I found this photojournal online, but I'll certainly be looking out ... read more
Fresh bread for breakfast
One of the first joint household purchases that Mr C and I ever made was a bread maker. As I recall it cost about £40 from the Woolworths down the road from our first flat. It doesn't get as much use as I would like it to, but both of us are rather fond of home made bread rather than buying a loaf from the supermarket. We're also not very adventurous yet and despite all my best intentions we only ever seem to follow one recipe: the one for wholewheat bread from Marjie Lambert's The New Bread Machine Book. The recipe is incredibly simple, but uses honey instead of any sugar and I find that I ... read more