Good to be back!

Hello everyone!

It's been a while... It has felt like a true holiday in many ways - not least because the children are off for NINE weeks (!!!!) here in Belgium over the summer. Every year the summer holidays start on the last school day in June at 12.30 and it lasts until the 1st of September (or the first school day thereafter). At least we know where we are at and - IF we wanted to - we could plan years ahead.........

Soooooo...we seriously had to break up the 9 weeks to stay sane. One week at home. Two weeks in the UK and Ireland. Two weeks at home again. Two weeks in France and two last weeks at home again with summer camps for the kids (horse riding and hockey) planned. Survived pretty well although I think that by last week we were all ready for a more structured life to start again! 

Lovely to have such beautiful weather at the end of the summer by the way! I must say, we haven't had much to complain about this summer anyway because for some bizarre reason the weather was good most of the time - wherever we went. Felt like being in the right place at the right time.

This has probably led to me being absolutely ready for a new season. I have always loved seasonal changes anyway. The change of colours, smells, food, decorations in the house, clothes. And for Autumn especially, the 'drawing in' feeling, lighting candles in the evening, lighting the fire, curling up on the sofa with a good book or watching a good TV programme or a film....it all has its charm!

But before I dive into all that cosiness (is that a word....?!), I would like to reflect on the summer and share a few photos and experiences with you!

In the garden

In my last blog I shared with you the broad beans we picked and the risotto we made with it. Funny coincidence actually that we are having that again tonight (full summer circle!). I had put the leftover broad beans in the freezer and I think that they should be eaten before the real hearty food starts to appear on the menu.

Since early summer we have picked more beetroots and carrots (for roasting with honey, lemon, olive oil and cumin seeds this time) AND we have harvested our first parsnips! First time I ever sowed them (straight into the ground) and they have done amazingly well!! I was very proud I have to admit. They were HUGE!

Then there's of course the Dahlias which have gone completely bonkers in terms of the number of flowers they have been producing. There's absolutely no end to it. And when I watched Gardener's World last Friday I found out that the more you cut them....exactly! The more flowers will come back! 
I feel that they are such almost 'old fashioned' flowers. Vintage-y. That's why I like them so much. Gorgeous.


Three varieties of the 5 I had put into the ground have done really well: Red Manhattan Island, Dutch Explosion, Creme de Cassis. I will include a couple of pictures of the first two.

I have been cutting them every week to put flowers in vases in the house. It has definitely encouraged me to try out new varieties next year. But boy, do they need a lot of space! I will plan that better next year. I think they need at least 1 square meter...

Other developments have of course been our tomatoes! I have two varieties this year: Lilly of the Valley and San Marzano. Both are doing very well. I am picking a bowl full every other day - at least. They are colouring nicely and the taste is good! Not a lot of damage on them at all so we've been pretty lucky there!

My husband made a beautiful salad with them this weekend when we had a (probably our last of the season) BBQ. Pretty meticulous I have to say......! I was a very proud wife! Think I will ask him for help in the kitchen a bit more often :-)! It was a very simple salad, just with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, red onion and several fresh herbs from the garden (this time: chives, oregano, marjoram and tarragon). I guess that it just tastes extra delicious when you've grown it all yourself. This is what it looked like anyway:

Bread
My sourdough starter has been on holiday too - in the fridge! Quite amazing what it does when you give it a break and then revive it again, which is what I have been doing since I took it out 2 weeks ago. Most of the existing mixture went down the drain and I completely refreshed it with new rye flour and water.
Last weekend I baked the first loaves from it and I must say that the starter has got very active again and has produced a few good loaves of bread. One of them I baked in the 'La Cloche' (from www.bakerybits.co.uk) and came out well (after having kept the loaf in the oven a bit longer without the cloche to make sure the bottom was crusty too). As a first, I tried the Toasted Sesame Sourdough Cob, which is a recipe from the leaflet that comes with the cloche. This is it:

The other three loaves (for which I still use Daniel Stevens' - previously River Cottage - sourdough recipe form his book 'Bread'; River Cottage Handbook No. 3) have come out well in terms of flavour and inside structure but they went quite flat in shape when I put them in the oven. As soon as I slashed them with the razor blade knife (called a 'grignette') it collapsed a bit. Got to work on that!

So...we have a reasonable supply of bread again and I will hopefully be baking every other Saturday again from now on. Loving it! Keeps me sane. So rewarding too. Will keep you posted.


Restaurants
Over the last part of the summer I went to a few restaurants. Not so much in France, interestingly enough. I went to 2 restaurants in Maastricht, where my friend Carina lives. I lived in Maastricht for 11 years (university & work after that) and it is a lovely old town with so many bars and restaurants you wouldn't know what to choose! But...Carina and I had very good memories (that always does it, doesn't it?) of a restaurant called 'Au Coin Des Bons Enfants' - these days a one Michelin star restaurant. So we went back. 
Well...that was a big mistake! It was bad. On all fronts. Carina had a vegetarian menu and I decided to stick with fish. The fish menu was so same-ish in terms of colour, taste and texture that it reminded me of hospital food... Not over exaggerating! All the amuses arrived at the same time. There was a VERY young, arrogant/snotty waiter. A lot of things arrived late, if not too late. And last but NOT least, they had RED loo paper in the loos..... I ask you!? Red loo paper!!?? In a Michelin star restaurant! They seemed to have completely lost it there. What a shame. And what a thoroughly disappointing evening. Not that Carina and I didn't have any fun together however ;-)!!

But definitely NOT a Michelin star. I have yet to write the review to the chef/owner himself, which I will most certainly do. Unacceptable for a Michelin star restaurant, where it felt like the chef was absent and his wife Paula (front of house) most noticeably was (she was nowhere to be seen). The first time EVER I did not give a single penny for tip. It was a disgrace!

Howeverrrrrrrr, the next day Carina and Henry invited Sammy and I for supper in Chateau Neercanne (also one Michelin star). You will not believe the difference with the night before! The service was immaculate, yet not over the top. We all had a vegetarian meal and it was a-ma-zing!!! We literally felt kings and queens in that beautiful castle with magnificent views over the hills. Taken care of very well and served the most delicious, creative and beautiful dishes. A picture of the chateau:

Here are a few food pictures of that wonderful night (thanks so much again Henry & Carina!):

Starter with beetroot, pickled radishes, dried/crumbed black olive, lime mousse, quinoa, tomato crackers (like prawn crackers!), soy jelly, watercress puree. Sensational!!

With a wink to the Autumn already, a mousseline of mushrooms (not visible under the foam), fresh wild mushrooms and that foam. Simply delish. 

Ravioli filled with aubergine, think it was spinach underneath, and a very special little Swiss cheese that went over the top of it, grated at the table. Sorry, forgotten the very difficult name of that cheese.

We had been eyeing the cheese trolley for a while during our meal and it felt like a MUST to have a few slivers (...!). Kept very simple - not too many cheeses to choose from. All in top condition.

My cheese plate, with nuts, dried cranberries and a sliver of panforte. Toppie!

Finally, this was the most original thing I thought, a little home made cake with our coffees/teas to share (cut yourself) at your table. Instead of a tower of chocolates, friandises and cookies. Brilliant! That white chocolate pearl....!!! Passion fruit mousse inside, with a centre of raspberry compote (oozing out when you cut it...), covered in white chocolate. Every table got one (or two). I thought that this was such a lovely idea! Hadn't seen that anywhere before.




Last Saturday my husband and I went out for supper at Petit Cuistot, a restaurant here in Lier where we live. A success too! A very young guy named Willem van den Broeck became Belgian sommelier of the year in 2010 - he owns this restaurant. Great! Because this means that he offers a menu, in which the wines form the starting point and not the food. They build the menu around 5 different chosen wines. This changes every two weeks I think.        I simply didn't have time to take pictures of the food as it was all so good - I was just enjoying it! What I will do is give you a list of the wines and a quick mention of the key ingredient of what we ate with it.

• Tenuta Giuliano 2010, Terre di Chieti, Abruzzo, Italie (with raw tartare of beef, gurkin puree, bell caper, crunchy soy)
• Domaine Zacharioudakis 2011, Crete, Greece (with dorade, tomato, fennel)
• Rosu de Petravaselo 2011, Recas, Romania (with pigeon, pumpkin, black garlic puree, pommes dauphin)
• Domain Massandra 'Pinot Gris' (rose!!!), Ekim Kara, Ukraine (with Italian Lombard cheese and very strong Belgian blue cheese) THIS WAS THE STAR WINE!!!
• Jean-Paul Thevenet, 'On pete la soif', Fleurie (red cold sparkly!!), Beaujolais, France (with melon and citrus dessert)
• Moscato d'Asti (with blueberry cheese cake)

Lovely evening (we went by bicycle!). Great new wines to taste. Very good food to match it - creativity, flavours, textures. Great chat with Willem van de Broeck who had just simplified his concept to move away from all the Michelin 'stuff' hanging over him. Clearly a good move. As far as we are concerned. Lovely people at neighbouring table too, whom we had an extra glass of that AMAZING Pinot Gris from the Ukraine with...! We all loved it so much!

Looking forward

Right...................bit of a biggie this post! Bit like a summer holiday card x 100.....

Hope you're all still with me ;-)!

As I said earlier, I do look forward to a new season with everything it has to offer. Soups, stews, crumbles, cakes. This weekend my sister and her lovely new 'constructed' family are coming over and we will be with 10 around the dinner table - now we're talking!!!! Always dreamed of that! So I will be in the kitchen quite a bit before the weekend. Big pot of my mum's tomato soup I think. Cakes. Blueberry muffins. Since there 6 kids we will probably do roast chicken and uncle Duncan's home made chips...! Rhubarb (form garden) and apple crumble... Simple. Delicious. Cosy. Fun for 10! We are all massively looking forward to it!

We are getting quite a few people over from England as well this Autumn (hurray!!!!) so I look forward to making something special of all those occasions too. Bring on the Autumn! Bring on 'gezelligheid'! A Dutch word for which there is NO other word in ANY other language as far as I'm concerned. 'Cosiness' comes closest I think - if that exists at all.... Brrrrrrrring on the cosiness!

Much love to you all - keep cooking!

X Bee

Holiday break: garden yield, jams & chutneys

Hello everyone,


It's been a while. Holidays! I am taking a little break too.. That's why you are not hearing much from me right now.


After Ireland we've been taking it easy with light food (salads, mini BBQs, etc). We have been pretty lazy too. Just as it should be during the holidays ;-). On top of that, it was around 30+ degrees here last week for most of the week and that seriously stops me wanting to cook anything that takes a lot of time and/or effort.


We have however been harvesting quite a few nice things from the garden. Nearly all the broadbeans, from half of which I made a broadbean, pea, herb & bacon risotto. 







Golden & red beetroots, which I sliced very thinly for a salad with smoked mackerel and herbs from the garden. The first blackberries - just ate them as they are :-)! The first carrots: super flavour - very strong! More rhubarb, which I put in freezer for strawberry, rhubarb & ginger jam - to be made after we've been holiday with the four of us.


Talking about jam, the past two Saturdays we've visited our local market to buy serious amounts of fruit...! We tend to put the fruit in the freezer before making jam as the structure of the fruit breaks down in the process with a better jam as a result.

Only the raspberry jam I made straight away. Made it a lime & rose raspberry jam this time. Yummmm!! Might have to make another load at the end of August as it's flying out of the pots...

From the rest of the fruit I think I'll make the following jams:
- strawberry & redcurrant
- strawberry, rhubarb & ginger
- plum & redcurrant
- apricot
And perhaps some plum chutney too.


I don't know about you but I don't like strawberry jam just on its own as I find it too sweet so I always add a zing factor like redcurrants or rhubarb & fresh ginger to give it a more refreshing flavour.


Also, our neighbours across the road have an apple tree which is absolutely laden with fruit this year but they don't know what to do with it... So I have offered to make a load of spicy apple chutney (my favourite chutney!) from a Darina Allen recipe which I have adapted over the years.


Good thing we've kept every single jar that was emptied in this house over the past year or so...!


Soooo.....more to come on the jam & chutney front after the holidays.


I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday so far and that you are making the most of all the beautiful seasonal food around.


We're off to France in a couple of days (at last!!!!). I am sure there'll be some foodie news during or after that trip :-)!


Love,
X Bee

Letterfrack, Connemara

Hello everyone,


What can I say....?


It is so good to be back in Letterfrack, Connemara, the very far West of Ireland. Back 'home' in a way. I have lived here twice. Half a year each time. First in 1997, then 2007. A funny 10 year cycle. Both times were pretty much life changing for me. There's something very down to earth yet (or perhaps because of it..?) spiritual about this part of the world. I go here for my sanity. If life has been too demanding and I simply need to find my energy (or myself for that matter!) again - then this is where I go. This is where I become 'me' again.


It's still pretty wild and unspoilt here. Can be desolate too. Great for introverts like me. You could go for days without having to listen or talk to anyone. At times, that can be brilliant. For me anyway. You can be with people if you like. But equally spend days without seeing anyone.


Duncan and I went here together for the first time at Christmas 2009. For two weeks. Very special. Rented Grace's Cottage in Moyard. Lovely house and location.
So this is his second time. We're staying with Jeremy & Nicole who've become very good friends since I first came here. Nicole is also a very good cook and they are both absolutely super hosts. Have had so many hilarious dinner parties here. Loads 'n loads of good memories.


So.....let's talk food....and Guinness of course ;-)! I love Guinness. But really only here. Or no, perhaps I should say preferably here. It just tastes so much better than the imported version. It is in fact different by the way. A slightly different brew to the one made in England.


After our flight into Knock last Saturday we drove straight to Westport and had lunch at McCormacks (upstairs, around the corner from McCormacks butchers). Always heaving. Always sharing a table with others. It has the feel of eating in someone's kitchen really. Uncomplicated. It's about the food. I will attach a picture of the open crab sandwich I had. Man, the amount of fresh crab was not from this world. And the Irish brown bread underneath: deliciously fresh. Such a 'welcome back' lunch. Duncan went for the seafood chowder. A big bowl of it. Absolutely laden with fresh fish.


Because McCormacks is not really a place for beer, we decided to go to Matt Molloy's pub afterwards for our first Guinness this trip. Matt Molloy is a member of the band The Chieftains (see previous post on my blog) and we saw him play two weeks ago in Brussels. His son was behind the bar in Westport on Saturday. Gosh, he's like an exact copy of his dad. Amazing.
Pint of Guinness was delicious and finished pretty soon.. See photos.


On to Letterfrack where we were welcomed by a bouncy Nicole and the (always) very calm and balanced Jeremy (well...nearly always!).
Off to Veldon's (V's to us) a bit later for more Guinness. Outside, blue sky, sunshine.. Unbelievable! Have included a picture to prove it! Good to see John too and catch up with him.


Back home for supper: a wild salmon caught by Jeremy himself. They do a lot of fly fishing around here. We had the fish with new potatoes from the garden (they were yum!) French beans and a salad. Duncan made a video of Nicole making a Hollandaise sauce to go with all the above. We laughed our socks off. She did it in a 'Nigella kind of way'. Sensual, shall we say..
It's a foolproof way of making Hollandaise sauce in the magimix. We know now how to copy this :-)! Thanks to Nixie the Irish pixie!


She had also made fresh strawberry icecream and a beautifully tangy, zingy Tunesian orange cake (from Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course book). Definitely going to try that too when I get back home.


Everyone full and tired on sofa but not for long....we all needed a good night sleep!


Big fry up for brekkie with N&J's own bacon. Yum!! Pete and his two little girls Rose & Mary joined us too. Lovely to see them again. Couldn't believe how much the girls had grown.. With the weather being absolutely gorgeous (soooooo lucky!!), the four of us were definitely going for a good walk. Killary Harbour! Bit like a 'fjord'. Path on rocks, sea below you. Will add picture. Glad we went. It was brilliant!
Guinness for us and Irish quantity rosé (......!!!) for Nicole at V's as a reward afterwards. Happy days :-)! Also caught up with others whilst there. For example Stephen Gannon who owns the (busy as ever) hostel in Letterfrack. And of course Squire - glad to see him in hood form. Everyone seems to be in good form actually and things haven't changed a bit.


Back home for supper. Quails on the barbeque. With spicy mini roasties and VERY spicy roast veggies... More Tunesian orange cake for afters. Lots of music. Bed.


Started reading 50 Shades of Grey this morning. Read 80 pages in one go and that's quite an achievement for me. You all know probably that it doesn't get really exciting until page 200 so nothing to report yet...!
As it was raining anyway and Nicole & Jeremy were off to work we didn't get up until 11.30....!! What a luxury!


Quick brekkie - the brown bread Nicole and I made last night - and off to Clifden to see Nicole in her bookshop and have a general mooch around.


Did a little tour by car as fine drizzle on and off. Roundstone: lunch at O'Dowds. It's gotta be done ;-)! Very lucky again as Roundstone heaving but table free in O'Dowds: OUR table too! Oysters to share. Mussels for Duncs and crab claws for me to follow. See piccies. Feeling very lucky generally and thoroughly enjoying this trip. Pinching myself all the time...


Bit more touring after Roundstone and back at da house now. Relaxing. Writing blog post. We have butterflied leg of lamb from the BBQ to look forward to. And crêpes Suzette for afters! Is there a better hotel around here...;-)?


So.........that should give you a bit of a picture of our Connemara time so far! Apératifs now. Nicole in kitchen again. Always love it when I see others who spend so much time with food. Talking about it. Reading about it. Cooking it. Eating it. Brrrrrrrilliant! She won't let me do a thing though...


Have a good food one everyone!


Love,
X Bee

That HUGE open crab sandwich at McCormacks 

That first pint at Molloy's..

Done.....!

That blue sky for our pint at V's....soooooo lucky!

 

The Killary Harbour walk.....spectacular...

 

Nicole's 'pint' of rose........!!!!

BBQ'd quails, mini roasties & VERY spicy roasted veggies - spot the beautiful sweetpeas

Lunch at O'Dowds...

Still having lunch at O'Dowds!

Millbrook Inn

Hi all,

We had supper at the Millbrook Inn last night here in Southpool, Devon. It was my last night here. Off to the London area soon and flight to Knock tomorrow morning for leg number two of this holiday.

And a delicious meal it was last night! Nice chat too with the lovely Jean-Philippe Bidart, the head chef.

I have attached a few photos.

My starter: scallops with cauliflower mousse and black pudding dressing. Ruth had a beautiful crab bisque to start.

For mains we both had the John Dory (see picture) with mussels, a creamy reduced jus of white wine, fish stock etc. and crushed new potatoes with ginger and chilli...... I mean.... Heaven! We were speechless!! It was rich. But absolutely divine. It didn't take very long to empty our plates... See photo!

A last picture of JP and his kitchen staff - after they finished their service.

Already looking forward to coming back boys!

Anyone who reads this and has plans to go to South Devon: do go and have a meal in the Millbrook Inn! It is so worth the trip.

Thanks Ruth and Freddie for a wonderful time. I will miss you :(! Have a lovely time together when daddy Matt arrives tomorrow!

Love,
XB

Quickie

Still in Devon Folks! Alas...rain today after lots of sunshine for the past two whole days.

Going to keep it short as writing from phone but here's a couple of things we cooked.

Made a smoked mackerel salad with beetroot, watercress and fennel for lunch. Delicious mix of flavours, light and easy to make. See photo.

In the evening we did a 'Ready Steady Cook' on everything we still had in the house/fridge.

Made tomato & garlic bruschetta on toasted sourdough bread. You just cannot beat it! As long as you have very ripe tomatoes, you can't go wrong.

White asparagus (which I had brought with me from Belgium) the Flemmish way: with Ruth's leftover ham from Sunday, boiled eggs and melted butter. A first time for Ruth. Think she liked it................!!! See picture.

For afters I put 4 quarters of pear with stilton and honey in the oven. Again with some toasted sourdough. Simple. Very tasty. Especially when finishing that bottle of Chateau Musar! A wine Ruth and I have lots of good memories associated with from our management consultant days....... Say no more, say no more....

Thanks Ruth for the very personal conversations we had. You are a beautiful person and a great friend!

Tonight we shall be having supper at the Millbrook Inn next door. SUCH a treat! Can't wait.... We have organised a babysitter too so it will be an uncomplicated and relaxed eve of food, wine and fun. Brrrrrrrring it on!

Love,
X Bee

First encounter with Devon crab

First full day in Devon.....

Potted crab for lunch (see picture) at the lovely Millbrook Inn (literally next door to Ruth & Matt's cottage). Cannot start to tell you how delicious a simple dish like that can be. It was potted, but it was so fresh! Loads of flavour. Sooooo much better than lobster in my humble opinion.
Thanks JP (Jean-Philippe Bidart: head chef at the Millbrook Inn) for this first delicious meal in Devon!

Feel utterly lucky and spoilt being here.

Tonight we're going to cook Jamie's sea bass (just bought it from fish mongers in Kingsbridge - wild, not farmed!) with sweet potato mash and Asian greens with soy & chilli. Yum!

Also bought a few bottles of Crabbie's original alcoholic ginger beer - the rrrrrreal one (see picture). Look forward to having that at some point with some ice cubes and a slice of lemon. So British - wonderful!!

Totally winding down here. So relaxed. Anyone for a holiday in the UK...? Yes, please!!! Weather holding up beautifully too. That must've come with tons of luck.... Or perhaps we've just deserved it ;-)?

More Devon foodie news to follow later I'm sure!

Love,
X Bee

See you later garden.. Thanks for your byootiful produce!

Morning all,


I am in the UK now. Hurraaaayyyy!!


It was really good to come out the other end of the Eurotunnel yesterday *sigh*....!
Apart from the fact that EVERYONE was driving on the fast lane. Will you ever learn it..;-)?


Sitting in Lilly's part of the bunk bed now (yes - the bottom bed!) writing this post on my phone. We had a delicious buffet lunch with our friends Matt & Ruth and their kids Lilly, Dottie & Freddie yesterday - keep those yummie hams coming Miss B!!! Were you ever really a vegetarian.....???!!
Super to see Tom and Emily too and to meet their very handsome little boy Iestyn for the first time. Generally very good to catch up with everyone. Thanks very much Ruth & Matt!!


Before we left yesterday, we spent Saturday making sure that the garden was in good nick (amongst packing, cooking, etc.) so that Michel (local gardener) only has to worry about watering it (IF needed.....BIG IF...!!).


Some of you might have seen my tweets with garden pictures on Saturday already but I will include some here too.


I noticed that, having spent every day doing SOMEthing in the garden for a while now, I was finding it very difficult to let go for 12 days...
What if ALL the broad beans were ready to pick in the middle of those 12 days? What if I missed the awakening of the next dahlia ('Dutch Explosion')...? What if all the beetroots were ready to harvest well before we would come back? What if all the rhubarb chard would grow the size of giant rhubarb..? What if there was a blackfly infestation (not unlikely!) on any of the other young greens...?


Well...actually...so be it! Just let go Bee....


I tend to be 'a bit' of a worrier... Always have been. But I had to let go because in the end I was going on two super mini holidays: first to Southpool in Devon with my lovely friend Ruth and the delightful 9 month old 'rugby prop to be' Freddie and next to see my friends Jeremy & Nicole in Letterfrack, Connemara. Fresh fish here I come in both cases :-)!!!


By the way, Susie & Matthew are off to North Devon with aunty Annette and uncle Stevie - doing some surfing with their big cousins. Duncan has to finish one more week of work and he and I will reunite on Friday eve to fly to Knock (West Ireland) together on Saturday morning. Soooooo nice that I get to go away to my beloved Connemara with just my lovely husband for 5 days.... What a treat!!!


So......back to the garden. I know that Michel will take good care of it and I have told him to take home and eat any fruit/veg that need picking, harvesting.


I did however make the most of it on Saturday and took quite a few pictures in the garden of:
- the second dahlia: 'Crème de Cassis' (a beautiful deep purple)
- the pumpkin flowers
- the 'caged' 'Nigella Moody Blues'
- the last crop from the garden before trip to UK/Eire (beetroot, chard, radish, rhubarb)
- the most amazing (almost 'artistic') beetroot on the planet: Barabietola di Chioggia
See all the pictures below.


Ended up making a salad with the (very thinly sliced raw) beetroot, radish and rhubarb chard. Dressing with olive oil, lemon, honey and grainy mustard. Looked great - tasted even better!
We had it with a bowl of (Doves organic gluten free) pasta with fresh chorizo, fennel and red onion. Bottle of Barbera d'Alba.... All of it enjoyed outside during a dry spell between two showers: very lucky!


When I checked the fridge earlier that day, I discovered 4 eggwhites (from ice cream making the week before) so I quickly whipped them up with some sugar to make meringues for individual pavlovas. We had one each that night. Can't beat it. Always a good option. And so incredibly easy.


Spent the rest of that evening packing and getting organised. Went to bed a bit shattered but too hyper to fall asleep quickly... You'll always see that ;-).


Anyway, I'm here now :-). And loving it! I do think that somehow I belong here in England....more than anywhere else....perhaps Ireland....


We checked the situ in Southpool last night and eventhough it was flooded on Saturday it seems to be fine now so we're heading off at lunch time to make sure that the lovely Freddie will sleep in the car for a large part of our journey.
Can't wait to also visit the 'Millbrook Inn' - a very good gastro pub indeed with amazing food and lovely atmosphere. Whenever you're near Southpool: an absolute MUST!


That'll be it for now. Will try and keep you posted on Devon and Connemara - am sure there will be enough to write about!


Hope you can all keep the floods at bay...........


Love,
X Bee

Nigella Moody Blues

The raw beetroot, radish and chard salad

Pumkins-To-Be......hopefully!

Barabietola di Chioggia

The pasta sauce with chorizo, fennel and red onion

The al fresco supper with a glass of Barbera d'Alba

Produce from garden on Saturday

The gorgeous dahlia 'Creme de Cassis'