The Elms, Suffolk

Breakfast: Bacon Sandwich Lunch: Scotch Egg/Pork Pie and Pickles Dinner: Tartiflette Savoyarde with Taleggio, Salad Breakfast: Maggie had hers in bed, whilst a normal working day for me Lunch: The weather turned again today, chilly and miserable. Not looking much better for this week, and so no gardening.  But the vegetable plots need to be tended still Tartiflette Savoyarde (with Taleggio) Dinner: Roger & Carey introduced us to Tartiflette (basically Potato, Lardon, Onion, Cheese & Cream) when we stayed with them at their chalet in Morzine a few years ago.  We didn't have the traditional cheese Reblochon to make it with so Maggie made it with the Italian cheese Taleggio. It worked well, but of course not quite the same taste. A bottle of crisp  cold Vouvray from Morrisons (on offer at £7.00 from £8.75 at the moment )

Breakfast: Egg, Bacon, Black Pudding, Mushrooms, Toast Appetiser: Cheesy Baked Potato Skins / Burrata, Tomatoes, Garlic Bread Lunch: Slow Cooked Beef Short Ribs, Cheeseburger, New Potatoes, Coleslaw Dessert: Toffee Popcorn Ice Cream 99's Breakfast: We would usually cook an 'English' breakfast more often, but have not had black pudding to hand. No reason, we just forgot to buy it. It made a nice change BBQ with Lewis & Rachel Table set to shelter from the wind Beef Short Ribs & Cheeseburger Appetiser: Not everyone likes Burrata.  Lewis & Rachel visited today for an afternoon bbq.  Along with Charlie & Millie. Charlie & Millie Lunch: Slow Cooked Beef Ribs.  Cooked carefully these are delicious and meaty.  Make a dry rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and a little cayenne.  Rub the ribs with a little Worcestershire Sauce (or Bovril/Marmite) and coat in the dry rub.  Heat the bbq to 120c an...

Breakfast: Hot Smoked Salmon Flakes, Scrambled Egg Toast Dinner: Pork Nachos A quiet day food wise for us.  We had a busy day yesterday and a lazy start to the day Nachos Flaked Salmon & Scrambled Egg Dinner: The loin of pork, sliced and in the freezer comes in useful for a quick dinner.  Defrosts very quickly.  I have added a photograph of a serving of the Nachos, but I dont seem to be able to do it justice The nachos is assembled very quickly and into the oven Planning some menus for next week with family and friends also Just a general note on our visit to the supermarket today.  There is that feeling that lockdown is over.  Of course, there are still queues, and people are socially distanced and aware, but not quite as conscious. 

Breakfast: Sausage Sandwiches Lunch: Scotch Egg & Coleslaw Appetiser: Seared Scallops, Grilled Prawns, Wild Garlic & Rosemary Bread Dinner: Hot Smoked Salmon, Samphire, Fennel Salad, Beetroot & Horseradish, New Potatoes Dessert: Buttered Toffee Popcorn 99's Breakfast: Leftover sausage sandwiches made an easy start to the day Lunch: As we had guests we liked to make the garden look neat and tidy, so mowing the lawn and weeding, a quick scotch egg from the coop Garden Dinner with Amber & Michelle Dinner: Michelle & Amber came for dinner in the garden.  We have known them for some while now and it was lovely to be able to get to spend some real time with them and the weather was perfect for a summer dinner.  They are collecting their puppy rescue dog on Saturday morning, so Hobo has Archie for the weekend to play. They are really good friends and it is heartwarming to see them tumble around the garden together Seared Scallops & Prawns ...

Breakfast: Bacon Sandwiches Lunch: Cheese & Tomato Sandwiches Dinner: Revett Sausages, Pork Loin, Potatoes, Garlic Mushrooms Bacon Sandwiches Revett Sausages Breakfast: Last pack of the bacon.  New cure in today, so at least 6 or 7 days for the batch to cure and dry Lunch: A quick sandwich, Maggie full on in the garden, weeding and planting in the heatwave Dinner: Ingrid came to dinner on Monday and gave us a gift of pork sausages from Revett Butchers in Wickham Market. Very good sausages, very meaty and tasty.

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs on Toast Lunch: Hot Smoked Salmon & Pickles Dinner: Out at Andrew & Alison's We had a lovely evening in the sun at a socially distanced dinner party hosted by Andrew & Alison in Bedfield, along with Steve & Marion Gammon Ham Melon in Herb Dressing Socially Distanced Dinner It felt very comfortable and safe.  Seating well spaced for pre-dinner drinks and individual portions of nibbles. And then individual tables for dinner itself, in the evening sunshine, restaurant style. A very refreshing and interesting starter of Melons in a herb and chilli dressing.  The entree was lovely gammon ham, new potatoes and green beans, oven-roasted tomatoes with beans, and a jus from the cooking juices.  Dessert was chocolate brownies and strawberries from the garden and Marion had made a caramel choux pastry with cream.  A real pleasure - thank you

Breakfast: Cheese Scones & Coffee Lunch: Ham & Cheese Sandwiches Appetiser: Hot Smoked Salmon, Beetroot & Horseradish Relish, Lemon Mayonaisse Dinner: Cold Meats (Leftovers), New Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Fried Vegetables Breakfast: We visited Bedfield Playing fields for the pop-up (Tuesday morning) post office, and had breakfast at the pop-up cafe which is organised by Alison & Andrew.  Nice to socialise and have breakfast in the sunshine Hot Smoked Salmon Cold Meats & Corn Appetiser & Dinner: This was a use up of the leftovers from last nights dinner party (Hot Smoked Salmon & Beetroot / Lamb) and BBQ chicken and pork from Saturday evening. A bottle of Pecorino (Terre di Chieti) from Waitrose Colour in the Garden It was nice and relaxing in the evening sunshine again. And finally, we seem to have some colour in the garden, all due to Maggie's continual hard work and planning

Breakfast: Egg & Bacon Sandwich Lunch: Ham & Coleslaw Aperitivo:  Jerusalem Artichoke Crisps. Aperol Spritz Appetiser: Hot Smoked Salmon, Salad Leaves, Beetroot & Horseradish Relish, Lemon Mayonaisse Dinner: Butterflied Leg of Lamb, Balsamic, Garlic & Rosemary, Dauphinoise Potatoes, Baked Fennel with Cheeses, Grilled Asparagus Dessert:  Toffee Popcorn Ice Cream Cornets 99 / Orange & Lemon Cake with Creme Fraiche Dinner Guests We had a 'proper' garden dinner party.  Socially distanced with our maximum gathering of 6 people.  Georgina & Ron, Rachail, Ingrid and ourselves.  Lovely evening weather-wise. We sat and chatted, ate and drank until late in the night.  I only have a couple of photographs of the food and the event, it just seems too rude to take pictures like we normally do, when you have guests. Just a little planning, serving the social groups with individual bowls and spoons etc Jerusalem Artichoke Crisps Ap...

Breakfast: Cereal & Muesli Lunch: Ham & Mustard Sandwich , Tesco Wild Garlic Ciabatta/ Sourdough Bloomer Dinner: Garlic Bread / Pizza /  Ice Cream Lunch: Spotted the wild garlic ciabatta at Tesco, and it was quite good.  Think that it will make a great bruschetta or crouton Dinner: Amie, Ben & Fred visited for Pizza this afternoon.  The weather was warm enough for the afternoon and early evening.  The Ooni 3 can easily be set up to burn wood and charcoal instead of wood pellets. Pizza

Breakfast: Bacon Sandwiches Lunch: Mortadella, Artichoke Hearts, Cornichon, Sun Dried  Tomatoes Dinner: Burrata & Piadina, BBQ Belly Pork, Chicken Thighs, Saute Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Baked Garlic Brocolli Dessert: Butter Toffee Popcorn Ice Cream, Soused Cherries, Meringue Lunch: Lidl had an Italian week and saw this.  Nice with the artichokes. But then artichokes make many things better Dinner with Lynn & Millie Chicken, Pork & Asparagus Meringue with Popcorn Ice Cream & Cherries Dinner: We had a long-standing reservation this evening for Lynn & Millie.  The weather hold, although a breeze took the edge off the temperature.  But we survived with windbreak and the fire pit. Lynn & Millie have joined us in Italy every time we have rented since 2011 so an Italian appetiser was the right choice. Pork & Chicken in a Korean style bbq sauce with Asparagus which is at the height of the season in the UK....

Breakfast: Bacon Sandwiches Lunch: Burrata, Tomatoes, Piadina Dinner: Pizza Night Lunch: So simple, transports us back to Italy in our hearts.  Trying to find time to attempt making Burrata again Ooni Ready for Pizza Garlic Bread Pizza Dinner: We had planned for Amie, Ben & Fred to visit in the garden this evening for a pizza night. However, the weather (again) was not reliable enough to enjoy the evening.  As the dough was made we continued with pizza for ourselves and will try another evening.  The dough is balled up and in the fridge. It can stay there for about 72 hours and will then be perfect.  After which it can be frozen and still performs well. Fine asparagus was good on the pizza Burrata & Piadina

Breakfast: Muesli & Cereal Lunch: Cheese & Tomato / Chicken Sandwich Dinner: BBQ Lamb Ribs/Lamb Chops, Grilled Garlic Courgettes, Minted New Potatoes Today started with heavy rain and thought the day was going to be a washout. But it brightened enough for Maggie to get back into her painting mode.  A nice shade of grey this time! BBQ Lamb Ribs & Courgettes Dinner: The Lamb Ribs were good, cooked mostly the same as last time, but perhaps a lower temperature and for slightly longer for the first cook, just coated in olive oil and sprinkled with an Italian meat seasoning (salt/fennel/rosemary/thyme). I also trimmed the outside skin from the ribs and this made them tender, once the fat had rendered away.  A regular for summer I think Courgettes thickly sliced and into garlic and olive oil marinade then toasted over hot coals. Simple food is sometimes the best.

Breakfast: Bacon Sandwich Dinner: Korean Belly Pork, Korean Chicken Thighs, Grilled Asparagus, New Potatoes Breakfast: Down to the last pack of bacon, just about to start another cure. I think I will keep it the same as this, but leave to age for another 2 or 3 days Lunch: We skipped lunch. We visited Roy Cox at Welshwood Manor today. It is his 81st birthday today.  The nursing home has set up a very professional visitors room, with a FULL perspex screen, easy entrance for the visitor through french doors.  Pork Belly Slices & Chicken Thighs Bacon Sandwich A lovely 45 minutes with him, and of course Lynn.  We did laugh.  Roy, we were also sad that we couldn't come in and join your birthday tea(beer) Dinner: Belly slices, slathered in bbq sauce (we used Stokes Korean Sauce but any will do ), wrapped in foil and cooked on the bbq (or oven) for an hour. Open the foil and add a little more sauce and cook for another hour.  They will fall apart.

Breakfast: Bratwurst & Egg Sandwich, Cereal Lunch: Chicken & Mayo Sandwich Dinner: Beans on Toast (Cassoulet) , Chip Sandwich Breakfast: Bratwurst makes a nice breakfast sandwich. Lunch: Chicken from the bbq on Sunday evening. Maggie had another busy day in the garden.  All of the tomatoes planted Dinner: We had planned tthe o buy Prawns and Scallops from our fishmonger but he failed to turn up! You know when your taste buds get going and you are in that mode.  Nothing else seems good enough Chip Sandwich & Beans on Toast Breakfast in the Rose Garden So, Maggie chose a chip sandwich and I had cassoulet with Toulouse sausage and Confit Duck vacuum packed in the freezer from before the lockdown. So not quite beans on toast for me We have found our local co-op has Verdicchio Castelli di Jesi 2019 at £5.99. Really good, needs to be served very cold

Breakfast: Muesli & Cereals Lunch: Tuna Chopped Salad, Sourdough Rye Bread and Laughing Cow, Vegetable Sticks, Dinosaur Bread Dinner: Cheeseburger, Bratwurst, Garlic Grilled Mushrooms, Minted New Potatoes Dinosaur Bread Tuna Chopped Salad Lunch: We had a visit from Amie & Fred today.  Lunch in the garden, Tuna Salad for us, Dinosaur Bread & Laughing Cow for Fred.  And then honey ice cream in a teddybear cornet Lunch for Fred Ice Cream Cornet Dinner: I love the smell of burgers cooking on the bbq.  The air is filled with a unique aroma that reminds me of visiting USAF bases around Europe many years ago, officiating football games surrounded by spectators and the scent of grilling meat. Cheeseburger & Bratwurst We are also going to try eating and cooking (even) more garlic to fend of this wave of mosquitos.

Breakfast: Boiled Egg, Rye Sourdough Toast Lunch: Burrata, Cherry Tomatoes, Piadina Dinner: Lemon, Garlic & Rosemary Spatchcock Chicken, Garlic Courgettes, Braised Fennel with Cheese, New Potatoes Breakfast: There was a loaf of bread I hadn't seen before in LIDL. Crusty Rye Sourdough. Really good LIDL Rye Sourdough Boiled Egg Lunch: The tomatoes were very sweet, the Burrata creamy and delicious.  Perfect lunch in the garden Burrata, Tomatoes & Piadina Dinner:  Not under a brick this time as I made a paste marinade.  Grated zest of a lemon, grated garlic, rosemary, thyme, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, olive oil.  Mix well (best with a pestle and mortar and coat the flesh side, work some of the paste under the skin of the breast and then spread the rest on the skin.  In the bbq not directly over the coals and cook for about an hour.  Rest for 10 minutes. Lemon, Garlic & Rosemary Chicken Braised Fennel & Cheese Sl...

Breakfast: Bacon with LIDL GI bread Lunch: Pate & Coleslaw Dinner: Lamb Ribs / Sirloin Steak, Baked Potato, Corn on the Cob Breakfast: At last, the weather has improved, and what a lovely day.  I took an early trip out to LIDL for bread, and to get some timber to build a new raised bed for Maggie.  It will be for an overspill of vegetables for this year, and she intends to use it for cut flowers. Lamb Ribs & Sirloin Steak Lunch: A quick break from the garden, weeding and lawn.  We had a Greenthumb lawn treatment this week and with the rain we had it is looking really good. But it does take some work, especially as our ride-on mower has given up Dinner: We sat and relaxed for an hour or so and shared the drink with the mosquitos.  We are trying to tackle them and spray light candles and burners, but they are certainly rife this year Aperitivo & Mosquito Spray A new choice for us with the Lamb Ribs. Was not sure how they would turn...

Breakfast: Bacon & Toast Lunch: Ham & Cheese, Pate & Toast Dinner: Pan-Fried Skate Wings, Buerre Noisette, Grilled Asparagus, New Potatoes Lunch: A quick sandwich.  Maggie is working hard in the garden with all of the planting.  Most of the summer vegetables are in now, just tomatoes to go in at the weekend. And a couple of days of rain adds a big task of weeding.  And also we seem to have swarms of mosquitos, and they bite!  The field behind the house is full of rape, so not sure if that has added to the problem Pan-Fried Skate Wings Dinner: This was a single skate wing divided into 2 portions.  Used the mini kamado for the asparagus first, then pan-fry the skate, quickly make the nut-brown butter sauce.  Add more butter to the pan after the fish is cooked and removed.  Heat until the butter is just turning nut brown, remove from the heat and add a squeeze of lemon juice.  Caper, parsley can also be added for a little mo...

Breakfast: Sausage Sandwich / Bacon Sandwich Lunch: Curried Lamb & Cauliflower Soup Dinner: Southern Fried Chicken (KFC Recipe), Skinny Fries & Coleslaw Breakfast: Leftover sausage from yesterday for me, Maggie bought streaky local bacon from the corner shop in Otley.  It is tasty but too salty. Lunch: The last of the leg of lamb from last week made into a soup.  Still cool outside so soup seemed the most suitable lunch Southern Fried KFC Chicken Curried Lamb Soup Dinner: Shortly after lockdown I saw a Facebook post about the secret KFC formula.  KFC would be close to the bottom of our list of convenience food but we do like Southern Fried Chicken. So I tried the online recipe I found here but changed it do the final coating with breadcrumbs.  KFC deep fry their chicken in a pressure cooker and so I wanted to protect the meat a little whilst cooking, and Panko crumbs are always good.  Give the recipe a try, there is a 'healthy' ...