I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself:  I live in a beautiful village with a thriving centre which has outlets that I really like.  That was my feeling prior to last summer, anyway.  Since the summer opening of a micro-brewery by Lymm Brewing Company and its bar - the Brewery Tap, I just can't believe how lucky I am.  You may guess from reading blog postings, that I love most kinds of food and drink, but I am a proper northerner in that I love a pint of real ale.

I now take every opportunity to organise nights out in the Brewery Tap because I just think it fulfils most things I want in a local pub.  There is a great atmosphere, it is in the middle of Lymm, has a wood-burning stove, and great ale.  I popped in for a breather from the kids at half term last week and found they now do a 'beer paddle'.  This essentially is three 1/3 pint glasses in a wooden paddle to carry them back to your table.  How ingenious is that?  Now I don't need to stand at the bar for hours trying to work out which of the lovely ales I will try because I could try most of them in 2 paddles. 

The Tap doesn't serve food, but when Nancy's Deli is open a few doors down, she happily supplies her food to eat with your pint.  (Tip: try the tractor wheel pies, you won't be disappointed)  Now here I am chattering on about ale, but they also have all the other drinks you usually find in a pub.  I would tell you about those, but I only have eyes for the brown stuff in a pint glass!

My favourite excuse to visit is to take my whole family down at about 5pm while a casserole is in the oven at the weekend.  We take a few card games, have a nice drink, and a breath of fresh air before settling down in front of the box after the casserole is consumed at home for a lovely family film. 

If my ramblings haven't convinced you to visit, then perhaps the fact that they have just won Gold at the CAMRA Winter Ales Festival might?

Lisa Reid

Manchester Museum

I found myself at Manchester Museum a couple of weeks ago on a stormy Saturday.  I had dropped my son at a museum event for a couple of hours.  That left me plenty of time for a quick browse round the exhibits and a coffee at 8th Day Co-operative just along the road.

I was taken by surprise as I approached the museum entrance, because it has a beautiful allotment just in front of the doors.  Like lots of people, I think that having the space to grow food means living outside of cities, perhaps in suburbia where you find small gardens, if not in the countryside.  This crafted space disproves that theory, and in the middle of winter too.  Not only is it a practical environment for growing food, but it looks good, collects rainwater, has a wormery and houses a noticeboard.  I would imagine that in better weather, people love to go out there to eat their lunch on the edge of a raised bed and supplement it with some of the salad leaves which are in abundance.

 

 

You'll have to excuse the photography on this blog post, because it really was horrendous weather!

There were obvious gains to be had from being in an urban environment, since there was no frost damage to any of the plants, and the celery was looking quite happy despite it being February.

Seeing this space renewed my drive to grow food in my small allotment, which is probably not much bigger than this.  I hope my efforts are half as tasty as their rocket, which I picked to go with my snack at 8th Day Co-operative café.

Egg-cellent idea (groan)

Do you do that in your house...at Easter time have egg-related puns all day?  We do, and by the end of breakfast, we are usually groaning so loudly at some of the attempts, that we mutually agree to stop.  I haven't been shopping in a town-centre for a while, but I can imagine that if I did, I would be overwhelmed with Easter merchandise because we are nearly in March already  I don't mind too much because the images and colours are redolent of spring, and remind me that sunnier times are on the way. 
I called in to Broomedge Farm, just around the corner from the Jolly Thresher last week.  They already have a few business interests bringing revenue into our local economy and were telling me that they are taking over the bacon sales from Rushgreen Service Station, which is closing soon.  This will complement the farm's existing egg sales nicely.

Eggs sold at Broomedge Farm, Burford Lane

I bought some eggs, and made a lovely omelette for lunch with local kale and potatoes. 
So, if you are passing that end of the village, think about popping in to buy a half dozen eggs and a pack of bacon to support a local company. 
Watch this space and I'll let you know when they get their first delivery of bacon...and no more egg puns, I promise!
Lisa Reid

A stunning redhead!

I was at Lymm market last week, and noticed this beautiful redhead in amongst the other veg...

Red Russian kale is so pretty, that you could be forgiven for putting it in a vase.  The leaves are the deepest, glossiest ruby red.  Fabulous.  Having 4 hungry mouths to feed at home, I decided against the vase option, and opted to include the kale in an Indian feast.  In our house when we are cooking Indian meals we tend to do several dishes in the style of a thali.  We are often eating vegetarian Indian food, so having several dishes suits that well because it creates a sense of grandeur without the need for a centre-piece meat dish.  Each of the dishes can be quite simple to prepare, but when put together they make for a fun meal which my family eat with relish.  We will often do a dhal, mushroom or plain pilau, a vegetable dish in sauce and a drier vegetable dish.  Having a copy of Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery is a big help because it has vast quantities of recipes for most vegetables and means I can convert most things I have in the veg basket into a lovely Indian meal.

Any kind of kale is the most versatile vegetable because I find I can use it like cabbage or spinach.  For example, if I were cooking a roast meat joint I might just use it as I would cabbage.  However, it can be used in place of spinach if pre-steamed.  For this meal I opted for Madhur's 'spinach cooked with onions' so I removed the tougher stalks, chopped and steamed the kale before I started the dish because it doesn't collapse as easily as spinach would.  Cooking it involved little more than frying onions and chilli, adding spices, then the kale. 

It is very popular amongst TV chefs to recommend frozen spinach when cooking certain types of dish.  I don't think frozen spinach would have worked well here, but it did give me the idea to buy more kale than I need next time I see it.  I would then steam the lot and put some in the freezer to use in this way again. 

Lisa Reid

Lisa 1, Weeds 0

I have recently been inspired by blogs written by people who love food. Some of my fellow bloggers not only buy food locally and create lovely dishes with it - but they take that a step further by having an allotment to grow their own food too.   I now have enough time to grow some food, but I don't have the know-how or a big enough garden.  The automatic answer would be to get an allotment, but there are a number of problems with that: the plots are usually quite big, there is a waiting list, and I don't know very much about growing.  While mulling over the dilemma I recalled a TV programme with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall about land share.  This brought together people who wanted land and those who had too much in an online register.
I have a lovely friend who is in his 90's that I met at a local luncheon club.  Dougy has a small veg plot at the bottom of his garden, which he has 'let go' over the last couple of years.  I approached him carefully to ask about me taking on his plot.  Thankfully he was thrilled.  We met the day after to talk about the technicalities such as tool storage and what we would like to grow. 

What I saw was perfect:  It is a lot smaller than an allotment, is a 5 minute bike ride from my house, there is no locked gate for me to negotiate and Dougy is happy for me to use his tools.  There is a small plastic green house and Dougy can use his neighbours glass one too.  There is an apple tree, several established rhubarb plants and a row of raspberry canes.  The biggest bonus is that Dougy knows how to grow things, so it is a perfect start for me.
After watching the forecast carefully, I established that yesterday was the only dry day of the week, and set off in the sunshine to negotiate the detritus left by the storm.  My aim was to begin digging over the beds.  I was dreading this because the beds are completely covered in weeds.  My fears were unfounded, thankfully.  The soil is so good, that as I turned it over the weeds just came out with a quick shake.  An hour later and my back was beginning to make its presence known and I had dug enough to be content with making a good start. 

 

I am conscious that Dougy is a vulnerable man, and I don't want him to feel pressured in any way.  It is important for him to feel that he benefits too, so I set about removing some of the moss that had developed on the path.  Each time I come I will try to do something for the allotment and something for Dougy.  I have to admit that we both like whisky, so on some of my visits that may mean consuming the odd dram together while surveying my work...but then what could be a nicer way of repaying a man in 90's living alone, than by giving him the simple gift of friendship?

 

Lisa Reid

Birthday bash at the Spread Eagle

My lovely husband had optimistically blocked out Saturday afternoon for us all to have a walk finishing at a pub to celebrate my birthday.  Sadly, the weather wasn't co-operating so we needed a change of plan.  I still needed a breath of fresh air after spending the morning indoors, so we had a quick walk down to the Spread Eagle and took some games with us.  It was a great plan, because they had lovely Manchester Pale Ale on a draught pump and we had some great food too.

One of my sons opted for that ever-popular pub classic - chilli con carne.  There was enough on the plate to feed an army, but he polished off the lot.  The chilli was very tasty and the sour cream made it feel more cosmopolitan.

 

My husband had a burger.  A thick, chunky one, with bacon and cheese.  Judging by the speed it was consumed, he loved it too.

It would have been easy to stay at home because the weather was so poor.  As we sat with a pint, playing games and looking out at the rain, I reflected on what a good decision it was to go out!

Just the stew for a cold day

Its February and the wind is mighty cold, so perfect time for a stew…Lisa has procured me some Little Heath (www.littleheathfarmshop.co.uk) diced venison which I’m going to stew.  I’ve checked all my recipe books and I’ve not found any stewed venison recipes (& I have a lot of recipe books).  So off to the internet to search for some inspiration.  I love reading recipes as whilst I can chuck a load of ingredients into a pot as well as the next person I like to try and compare different recipes.  I’ve found a recipe from Jamie Oliver www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/game-recipes/venison-juniper-stew that looks interesting & it uses Juniper berries some of which I’ve had in my store cupboard forever.

 
Yum that was easy and tasty and with a few extra potatoes made enough for 2 teas  - so fed 11 of us over 2 nights.  I also made some corn bread to accompany it on the second night.
 

Shop local for lovely Valentine's gifts

 

How gorgeous are these biscuits?  I popped into Nancy's Deli in Lymm village yesterday.  I had no idea what to buy my beau for a Valentine's gift, so it was good to find lots of ideas there.  The first thing that hit me among the pies and cakes, were these cute double-layered biscuits. 

The next eye-catching gift, was this champagne/passionfruit curd/chocolate combo.  I can imagine that going down really well with some lucky recipients.  However...I was shopping for a man who isn't known for champagne drinking, so the next gift was perfect...

My husband and I are big fans of local ales, so this will be right up his street.

 

OK, I have to admit to sneaking in one of the heart-shaped biscuits to eat myself with a coffee at home.  Well, you know they say, 'while the cat's away...'!

And the best thing about the gift is that it is already wrapped.  All that is left is to find where to hide it without drinking it myself!

 

Lisa Reid



 

Vive la France a la High Legh

You know sometimes you go on holiday and think 'Oh I really wish we did this in the UK'?  I frequently think that when I am in a French market.  It is one of my favourite pastimes when abroad.  I love to guess some of the more unusual offerings, chat to stall holders and just soak up the ambience.  It is a great way to interact with the local culture.  That's one of the reasons I prefer self-catering holidays

On Sunday I felt proud to wander around Abbey Leys farm, High Legh at the monthly farmer's market because it was so like that French market experience.  The snowdrops were glistening in the hedgerow and everyone had a spring in their step because it was unexpectedly sunny.  I got a real kick out of talking to stall holders because they really know their stuff and were pleased to be able to showcase their lovely produce to an appreciative audience. 

A friend and I have realised that we are sometimes a bit too busy to do all the local shopping we would like, so have started to text each other when we are about to shop.  That way, we go out half as often but get to enjoy local food just as much.  For my part, this is entirely a win/win situation because I get to spend even more time at the market since I am now shopping for two!

Beary good time had by all

Well, Thursday night was a great success.  I found myself at the Barn Owl, Lymm.  Having made a pledge at New Year not to drink alcohol Monday, Tuesday or Wednesdays, I was glad to be at a meeting on a Thursday so I could partake without feeling guilty! 

If you're not familiar with the Barn Owl, they always have a selection of real ales on tap.  Thursday evening didn't disappoint, and I tried a Beartown.  A lovely ale: pale and fairly light.  Kept really well by the expert staff at the Barn Owl to make an enjoyable pint (or two, ha ha!). 

I'd love to extend my alcohol-free pledge to include Thursdays, but it's too difficult with tempting ales like this on offer.
Lisa Reid

Parsley perfection

Gosh, I'm a little behind with blog posts!  So many local foodie things have happened in our house over the last few days, that I can't keep up.  First up, after my visit to Lymm market on Thursday, I washed off the HUGE bunch of parsley I bought for 50p...yes 50p.  I love a bargain: it really puts a spring in my step.  I can't help pulling a few leaves off every time I am in the fridge because it is so glossy and green. 

My aunty gave me a gammon joint, so I pot roasted it with veg, and all the parsley stalks.  It fed 8 of us that evening easily.  Whenever I cook gammon this way, I pop some red lentils in the pot after removing the joint and some of the liquid for gravy (we are northeners after all!).  I leave it simmering for 15 more minutes and then zizz up with a blender to make delicious soup.  If I have leftover gammon, I then flake it in. 

As a result, I made 15 meals with this joint and a few vegetables: 8 for gammon dinner and a further 7 soup portions. 

Lisa Reid