PYO strawberries at Chosen Hill Farm

This year we spent our wedding anniversary picking our own strawberries at Chosen Hill farm near Chew Magna.  Not quite our usual anniversary celebration of a table somewhere fancy and gorging on amazing food, but, this was just as good and we had so much fun in the sunshine!

Chosen Hill farm is tucked away, up a hill overlooking Chew Valley lake.  The views are spectacular--I bet it looks amazing in autumn with all the trees ablaze with colour.  With the perfect growing weather we've had recently, it's really hard to spot the lake with the trees sprawling everywhere!

Strawberries on tables!

One of the nicest things about Chosen Hill is that they grow a lot of their strawberries up on tables to make strawberry picking as accessible as possible.  It's also rather nice for those of us who remember just how back-breaking traditional strawberry picking is!

Stepping into the strawberry field was an incredible experience; the rich and heady scent of ripe strawberries settled around us like the most delicious blanket imaginable.  I'm sure that alone made us keep picking and picking and picking.  And when we tasted a berry each, well...we nearly went back for a second basket!

Romance abounded in the field--Dave found a heart-shaped strawberry and presented it to me.

There were some monstrously large berries, so large that their weight was ripping them away from their stems.  I suppose they could have been full of magic, like Roald Dahl's giant peach... We stuck to smaller berries who were perfectly ripe and ready to feast upon (and turn into jam, but that's a story for another day).

The farm shop handily sells local cream and meringues so that you can make an almost instant Eton Mess or pavlova--what a wonderful idea!  We stocked up on both and that evening Dave made me a gorgeous Eton Mess, lightly tinted pink with strawberry juice.

I'd thoroughly recommend Chosen Hill farm for PYO fruit.  The flavour of the strawberries we picked utterly blew away any supermarket berry and were better than I've had in many a starred restaurant, too.  We ventured into the raspberry canes--these smelled amazing, too--and had a look for gooseberries so that Lucas could see what they looked like.  They have a really good variety of fruit, with some that I'd never tasted before, too.  I could happily spend a day there, picking fruit and then taking it all home to make jam!

Grillstock Smokehouse

Grillstock: meat, music and mayhem

I think we may be the last people in Bristol to discover Grillstock.  Given our love of BBQ done right, I'm at a loss to understand why.  I'm even further bemused that with all the time we spend shopping at Forbidden Planet, we've managed to completely miss that there's a Grillstock right across the road.

Luckily we've put this right now...

With so many amazing smells coming from the kitchen, choosing from the menu was really hard.  Lucas was sad that there were no hot dogs left, but gamely gave pulled pork a go.  He liked it, but said it wasn't as good as the one I make.  The boy is cute, but crazy.  Grillstock's pulled pork is out of this world!!  The huge ice-cream float--his very first, at the grand old age of seven--kept him very happy, while we chowed down.

Dave and I both opted for the Smokestack Burger which was huge, and came out medium-rare and absolutely dripping with gloriously melty cheese with seasoned fries and slaw on the side.  Oh my god, this was so good!  The burger itself had bags of flavour and was beautifully juicy; that alone would have been a damn good lunch, but the generous pile of pulled pork in BBQ sauce that was piled on top (and sadly hidden by a tilted bun in the photo) took it to new and delicious heights.  I've had a lot of pulled pork over the years and this is by far the best I've ever tasted.  I'm going to go back for a pulled pork platter sometime very soon...

To go along with our burgers we got a cup of Burnt Ends to share.  These are the little scrappy bits of brisket that break off when you cut it, put back into the smoker until they get amazingly dark, caramelised, and just plain gorgeous.  Each bite was surprisingly spicy in the best possible way!

I'd go back to Grillstock again in a heartbeat. It was a really fun atmosphere and I can imagine how raucous (and even more fun) it would be at night, with cocktails and beer flowing.  Now to find a babysitter...

Grillstock Smokehouse, Clifton
 41 Triangle West, Clifton, Bristol

twitter | pinterest | instagram | bloglovin' | facebook

Bristol Food Connections

On May Day we went to the Bristol Food Connections festival.  The festival was spread out in various venues across the city.  I couldn't make head nor tail of the website, so we wound up just going to the BBC part of the festival.

The main reason we went, it has to be said, was to indulge our foodie crush on Tom Kerridge.  He seems like such a lovely, genuine bloke, and his food always looks lush.  We weren't disappointed!

Tom cooked spring dishes, that seemed pretty easy to rustle up. I loved the look (and smell!) of his lamb cutlets with wild garlic pesto.  I really must find somewhere to pick wild garlic that isn't a cemetery!  He also had a good old chat while he was cooking, ranging from how he got started in cooking through to his philosophy on food.  I really liked this Tom-ism: "Every main that goes to a customer, the chef should feel a little bit sad he's not going to get to eat it."

We also saw Donal Skehan, one of the presenters of Junior Masterchef.  He cooked fish tacos which Lucas seemed really excited about, and an absolutely amazing smelling chilli and lemongrass chicken.  I can tell you that it tastes even more amazing than it smells as I made it a couple of days later.  (By the way, instead of mincing the chilli and lemongrass by hand, I just roughly chopped then threw them into the food processor with the rest of the marinade ingredients.,  Works a treat.)

There was some fantastic food graffiti dotted around.  Lucas and I had a go at trying to create our own Banksy. "Cakezilla" was awesome!!

We spent some time in the fantastic Food Science tent with interactive exhibits from the soon to be opened section at @Bristol.  We watched the Screaming Jelly Baby experiment--maybe my ears are too old to hear its screams now--helped pop some popcorn, and Lucas dressed up as a bee.  As you do.  Oh yes, he learned to milk a cow, too.

"Don't have a cow, Mum!"

He also did some gardening.  Lucas thinks allotments are pretty rockin'...

As is obligatory at any sort of food festival there was a tent full of booze.  We sadly side-stepped that one and headed straight for the one that promised cakes.  There were some awesome cakes on display--an absolute skyscraper of a Victoria sponge--but we picked up some local ice-cream and also happily chose some macarons.  Lucas was very pleased with his lurid blue bubblegum one!  My Nutella one was delicious, as anything involving Nutella tends to be!

We had a lovely day out.  We even managed to squeeze in a singing and dancing session with Katy from CBeebies "I Can Cook".  Lucas doesn't watch CBeebies any more, and insisted that he was far too old for it, but wound up singing, dancing and having a fantastic time!!

twitter | pinterest | instagram | bloglovin' | facebook

Whole Foods Market, Kensington

It's a running joke that I practically live in our local supermarket.  If my local was Whole Foods, then I really would move in.

Whole Foods is nothing short of amazing.  It's foodie heaven with just about everything you can think of available on their shelves.  Need a weird spice for your celebrity chef curry?  Whole Foods.  Want an unusual veggie?  Whole Foods.  Need an obscure cheese?  Whole Foods.  You get the picture, I'm sure!

It's one of my favouritest places ever and it certainly doesn't hurt that everything is beautifully displayed.

Let's go for a little walk around the shop...

I love the cookie bar!

I love how the shelves are always full; it's so welcoming and it makes the store feel positively bountiful.  The fruit and vegetable section is a work of art in its own right.

We couldn't resist trying the DIY nut butter machines--I made a tiny pot of pistachio butter and Lucas went slightly overboard with his pot of cashew butter.  They tasted fantastic, but I can totally see why pistachio paste is so expensive and hard to get hold of--just look at the price!!

Beside the DIY nut butter machines there were also reusable olive oil bottles where you can bring along your empties, refill and be all eco.  Similarly, there are also barrels of wine dotted around the ground floor...

I wish I had a photo of the cheese room.  If you love cheese, and don't have a traditional cheesemongers anywhere near you, this is an awesome place to go.  I spent a while pottering around, trying to decide what I wanted to bring home, and finally settled on some gietost. I fell in love with this unusual cheese in Norway when I visited, err...quite a while ago now.  Over ten years...I feel old now.  I'm going to use it in the sauce for some slightly spiced Scandinavian Meatballs as well as snacking on some crispy crackers!

In-store chocolate counter!!

I womanfully resisted buying a jar of bacon jam at the charcuterie counter after I remembered that Lorraine at Not Quite Nigella had a brilliant recipe for it on her website.  Lucas wants to bake some bread, so that strikes me as a fantastic excuse to make a jar.  Plus, there are all sorts of awesome burger possibilities...

So...can you see why this is one of my favourite foodie places?  It may not be quite as jaw-dropping as, say, Harrods Food Hall, but it's less of a tourist destination and more of a place for serious foodie shoppers.  Heavenly!

PS If you're driving, there's an NCP just around the corner from Whole Foods.  If you spend over £25 then they'll give you two hours free parking.  Which I'm betting gets a lot more people through the doors...bargain!

Whole Foods Market
63-97 Kensington High Street
The Barkers Building
London W8 5SE

twitter | pinterest | instagram | bloglovin'

Party with The Doctor!

Lucas, dressed up as Eleven a couple of years ago

Unless you've been living under a rock, it can't have escaped your notice that Doctor Who turns 50 on Saturday the 23rd of November.  As a long-time Whovian I am ridiculously excited and may have mentioned it once or twice...

Before the BBC announced their official Celebration event in London, I'd been quietly plotting throwing a party of my own.  While I'm super-excited to be caught up in what is sure to be near-hysterical mass excitement in the 'Smoke', I'm still slightly sad that I won't be at home putting the finishing touches to some fish fingers and custard, or proudly displaying a TARDIS cake.  (On the other hand, I am thrilled that I don't need to turn the house upside down to make it party-ready!)

If you've been thinking somewhat hazily that it might be nice to have something a little more exciting than a crumpled bag of jelly babies to snack on during the 50th anniversary special--or are throwing a last minute viewing party--here are some awesome ideas for party food, fit to grace any Gallifreyan table!

via Mike Daws on deviantART

I loved this Cassandra Lasagne, an edible version of the "last human", when it was posted on the Doctor Who Facebook page a couple of weeks ago.  You could always have a bowl of warm cheese sauce on the side to moisturise each portion!

You could go Old Skool with a Dalek pepperoni pizza... EX.TER.MIN.ATE it with your teeth!

via cheezeburger.com

How about some fish fingers and custard?  If you're not brave enough to dunk real fish fingers into your custard, then Domestic Sluttery has you covered with their (very convincing) sponge fish fingers.

via Domestic Sluttery

If you're feeling a little bit brave--and you can hear your Mum's voice saying that you must eat something savoury--you could always add some yellow mustard to mayonnaise for dipping real fish fingers in!

via A Typical English Home

The Adipose are very Russell T Davis, but I'm quite fond of the cute little guys.  I wouldn't be too upset if some of my fat just walked away.  These marshmallows adipose are a tasty version of one of the Doctor's cutest foes and incredibly easy to make, too!  They'd make perfect nibbles...

It might be a good idea to have some Jammie Dodgers to hand, in case you need to help The Doctor #savetheday with a biscuit!  We Brits can just open a packet, but if you live in a part of the world which is sadly without Jammie Dodgers, then you can make an (almost) copy of them.

To help your party go with a swing--and perhaps help everyone to emulate Eleven's wedding dancing stylings--how about some Who-themed cocktails?

(L) Sonic screwdriver cocktail, 11th Doctor edition (R) TARDIS cocktail

There are cocktail recipes for all 11 Doctors (I particularly like the sound of the First and Second Doctor's cocktails) and I've also discovered a Facebook page devoted to making cocktails themed after the Doctors and Companions!

No Doctor Who party would be complete without a TARDIS!  Being me, I'd always opt for a cake version, but you could cover your front door in a vinyl decal (or fabric hanging if your other half or landlord nix that awesome idea).

via Artisan Cake Company

If I was making my own TARDIS cake--and I'm seriously considering doing one for my birthday--I'd use this tutorial from Artisan Cake Company.  The whole process is beautifully explained.  It's just stunning.

However you choose to celebrate, have a wonderful 50th!  We'll be watching in glorious 3D with one of our friends--he's come all the way from America for Celebration, now that's dedication--and then thoroughly rehashing it over dinner.  I can't wait!

twitter | pinterest | instagram | bloglovin'

Tales from our weekend

My boys ♥

After spending much of last weekend sneezing and sniffling, we decided that we wanted to have a Proper Weekend.  You know the sort...filled with fun, adventure, and lashings of food.

On Friday I'd spotted a tweet about some sort of dinosaur build down at the M Shed, and mentioned it in passing to Dave.  He didn't seem that bowled over by the idea--admittedly I was very vague--but since he couldn't think of anything better we decided to give it a whirl and see what adventures we could find along the way.  There's always something going on in Bristol after all.
But first...coffee!  
A decent cup of coffee is the beginning of any good weekend, as far as I'm concerned.  We popped into Spicer + Cole just off Queen Square, which is rapidly becoming my ultimate coffee destination, for a round of drinks.

Spicer + Cole has the absolute best coffee in Bristol.  I'd take one of their velvety flat whites over a speciality pumpkin spice or eggnog latte any day.  I succumbed to a satisfyingly large pear and cinnamon muffin which had a lovely crunchy top--love, love pearl sugar--and big chunks of poached pear inside.  Lush.
After inhaling our drinks we happily crunched our way across Queen Square through the fallen leaves.  The square was looking gorgeous, despite the slightly grey weather...leaves gold and bronze with some still yet to turn.  Wasn't there something in the papers recently about how this would be a "Double Autumn"?  I think it was something to do with the late spring combined with the super-hot summer that was causing only half the leaves to turn and drop and a time... It was certainly odd to see half the leaves still clinging to their greenness (and branches) this late in the year.
When we reached the M Shed we found that the L Shed doors were open--it had never dawned on me that all the sheds by the waterfront were all identified by letters--and a dinosaur inside!

The Bristol Dinosaur, Thecodontosaurus antiquus

None of us knew that Bristol had its very own dinosaur, much less that it was one of the oldest known dinosaurs!  Thecodontosaurus antiquus, or ancient socket-toothed reptile, was the precursor to the large plant-eating dinosaurs; it lived 200 million years ago when Bristol was a group of tropical islands near the equator.  Looking out of the shed doors, onto grey skies and fine drizzle, it was hard to believe!
The aim of the Bristol Dinosaur Project (and build) is to let the people of Bristol know about their very own dinosaur.  The project team are working their way through four tonnes of rock from a quarry north of Bristol and recovering more bones and micro-fragments every day.

Fossils trapped in rock

It was fascinating to hear how they pieced the skeleton together and then extrapolated how the muscles should attach to the bones--some bones still had clear muscle attachment points, which is pretty cool--creating incredibly detailed drawings and plan.
The dinosaur we saw was life-size, built up from a metal frame with carved polystyrene on top, wrapped in chicken wire, and finally a layer of clay which Bob, the sculptor, was working on with incredible precision.  This isn't the end of the process...a resin cast will be made, allowing Theco to be displayed for years to come!
Once we'd had our fill of dinosaurs, we wandered down the harbourside towards the SS Great Britain.

The Matthew floats proudly outside the M Shed

There's always something interesting to see, on land or water.  There were lots of rowers out training, yellow Bristol packet boats chugging their cargo of commuters up and down the Floating Harbour, and quite a few boats in for refits.  We hopped on the ferry, crossed the harbour, and wandered down the other side until our tummies started rumbling again.
It was then that I had a brilliant idea.  "Why don't we go to Atomic Burger for lunch," said I.  And so we did.

Atomic Burger, a geek's delight!

Dave has been dying to go to Atomic Burger ever since he heard about it opening.  A burger joint, decorated with all the toys and comics of our childhood?  Perfect.

Cassette tapes as decoration? Well I never...

Lucas's reaction was hilarious.  It ranged from joy to blatant jealousy, with a detour through curiosity at the toys he didn't recognise.  I am contemplating hanging his toys from the ceiling to make the floor look tidier...
A Power Ranger hung from the wing of an X-Wing, a Ghostbusters proton pack fired a stream of proton particles at a ghost as Danger Mouse and Penfold looked on.  There were Barbies, Action Man, Teddy Ruxpin, Gordon the Gopher, Thunderbirds...you name it, they had it!

I opted for the November Special: the WHO Burger.  A juicy beef burger, with Wood smoked bacon, Habanero onion relish, and Oak smoked cheddar.  It was gorgeous--just the right amount of heat in the onion relish and the level of smoke from both the bacon and cheese was just right.  I loved the sweet potato fries--it's so nice to see these springing up on restaurant menus!  I also had the slightly ominous sounding Baconator milkshake--caramelised bacon and maple syrup, topped off with cream--which was absolutely amazing.  It was more of a maple milkshake with a hint of bacon at the end, rather than a massive bacon-fest.  I'd totally have it again.
Dave had the Outlaw burger which looked pretty impressive, and apparently tasted great, too, judging from how quickly he ate it!  I might have it next time as I love pulled pork!  Or perhaps the Chuck Norris...with extra badass chilli.  Who doesn't love Chuck?

Lucas had a Rocket Dog hotdog, with huge onion rings, and a an incredibly thick and luscious peanut butter milkshake.  I am a total sucker for food and drink served in cute ways, and I love milk bottles.  (Incidentally, the M Shed has a lovely glass exhibit case filled with all sorts of elaborate milk bottles from local dairies.)
The only slight disappointment were the burger buns, which were a bit blah.  Some proper hamburger buns with sesame seeds on top would have been good.  The buns didn't detract from our enjoyment, but they didn't add any interest, if you see what I mean?
What a brilliant day!  Just the right amount of everything that we love: fun, adventure, geekiness, food, and family.  Hey, it was even educational!
Spicer + Cole1 Queen Square Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4JAWeb: http://www.spicerandcole.co.uk/
M ShedPrinces Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol, BS1 4RNWeb: http://mshed.org/
Atomic Burger189 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8BGWeb: http://atomicburger.co.uk/
twitter | pinterest | instagram | bloglovin'

Warmley Waiting Room

Warmley Waiting Room Cafe

Remember when autumn was full of beautiful days, with crisp, golden leaves crunching underfoot?  Glorious, wasn't it?

It's such a shame that the British weather has taken a decided turn for the worse, with the recent storms dumping a ridiculous amount of rain on our heads; I was quite looking forward to a picturesque autumn for once.  Still, the weather was fantastic a few weeks ago when Dave, Lucas and I went for a walk down the Bristol-Bath cycle path with a stop off at the newly-renovated Warmly Waiting Room cafe afterwards.

It took about four years of Bristol-life before it dawned on me that the Bristol-Bath cycle path ran along the old railway line between Bristol and Bath.  And it was only recently that Dave mentioned that there were still old railway stations dotted along the line.

We started our walk at Warmley, where the old signal box was recently renovated.  It looked rather spiffing in the sunshine; I could imagine Miss Marple passing through little countryside stations like Warmley on her way to London.

Warmley Signal Box

The old platform was crowded with cyclists taking a break with a cuppa and slices of cake galore.  We dragged Lucas past, promising him cake when we got back to Warmley--"Of course we'll have cake!  Maybe even a cream tea!"--and set off along the cycle path.

As we wandered along, we stumbled across a few pieces of artwork.  I loved the little robot, who had so much personality and such a cheerful wave to all the passersby!

The cycle path is the place to go if you fancy blackberrying.  We saw several people braving the thorns to fill Tupperware and wicker baskets from the bushes which were positively dripping with plump berries.  It's a shame that blackberries aren't my thing--I just can't get past the humungous pips--otherwise I might have sacrificed my handbag and gone hog wild in the bushes!

Hedgerow delights

Before long we arrived at Old Mangotsfield Station and walked up onto the platform which was lined with trees, planted where the old columns stood when the station was in use.

Old Mangotsfield Station

There were loads of gorgeously crispy leaves around and Lucas couldn't resist tossing them around.  (I need a much faster camera to capture shots like these properly!)

We wandered around inside the ruined station for a little while--you could play an epic game of hide and seek in there!  There are trees growing everywhere inside the walls, some deliberately planted, others by Mother Nature.  It seemed to be a popular picnic spot, too.

Talking of hide and seek...spot the Lucas...

Sadly, by the time we'd walked all the way to Old Mangotsfield Station and back, the Waiting Room was totally sold out of cream teas and cakes.  Quelle horreur!  We wound up going to Sainsbury's and having a DIY cream tea to stave off Lucas's tears, but resolved to go back as soon as possible for the cake-y treat we'd intended to have!

A week later and we were back at Warmley Waiting Room having cake for breakfast.  Well, second breakfast in Lucas's case...I suspect he's part hobbit.

Coffee cake--lush!

Dave and I both had a slice of the coffee cake (epic) and Lucas had about half of his chocolate cake before saying that it was "too chocolatey", so I helpfully polished it off for him.  For the record, it was gorgeous!

We've been back a couple of times and I'm sure it will be one of our favourite places for coffee over the summer months.  I can't wait to see what iced coffee confections they come up with!

Warmley Waiting Room
Old Warmley Station
Warmley
BRISTOL
BS30 5JB

Web: http://www.facebook.com/WarmleyWaitingRoom

twitter | pinterest | instagram | bloglovin'