Food Glorious Food

 Seeing as how I am unable to go exploring very often at the moment, I have turned to one of my other delights - cooking.

Now, I don't claim to be anything more than competent, but it's something I really enjoy - especially when others appreciate my efforts by eating the food! I have a large collection of cookery books from all parts of the world, but some are very old ones full of traditional and historic recipes.

I hate people who say that the British Isles have no cuisine. We do. And a lot of the most delicious recipes are those that have been handed down through families, often for many generations. The dishes are generally simple, delicious, and usually made with seasonal ingredients.

When I was young, my father had a huge garden where he grew all the vegetables we needed throughout the year, as well as soft fruits and orchard trees. Many of the recipes I cook make the best of these ingredients, and my voyages through my British cook books have reminded me just how many good dishes and cakes etc. are regional, or universal with regional variations.

So I have decided to add a little more information to the County pages, selected from the left-hand menu. As you scroll down each county page menu, at the end of the places you can visit, you will find recipes that are local to each county. Some will be named for the county (e.g. Yorkshire Puddings), and others for a specific place within a county (e.g. Bakewell Tarts). One or two have no obvious connection to a place, but I happen to have discovered the origins (e.g. Gypsy Tart)

I accept no responsibility if my recipes are not the same as yours, but these are MY family recipes, not yours. They are old and well-tried recipes that we eat on a regular basis, and some have been adapted to suit my family's likes, needs and dislikes. For instance, you will not find any alcohol in my recipes, but where a recipe would normally include alcohol, I have replaced it with my alternative liquid.

It is obviously going to take me most of the winter to get this underway, so keep checking back, and I hope you find something you and your family like.

Farm Shop visit.

There's a lovely farm shop on the outskirts of Brookland, where I get my fresh vegetables and fruit, and where the lady makes her own sausages in a wide variety of flavours, depending on the season. Our favourite is Pork with Cheese and Marmite. 

It's called The Old Tractor Shed, and all they stock is locally sourced and thoroughly delicious. Today's haul also included banoffee meringues, sparkling fruit drinks, pickled pears, and a carrot and cardomum chutney.

So, Twinkle duly weighed down with seasonal veggies, I decided to stop a couple of times on the way home, and add a couple of small items to places already covered. Thus I have finally added the village sign for Brenzett, and the new memorial in the middle of Ham Street.

Off now, to make a big batch of leek and potato soup for the freezer, and then decide what I can do with an assortment of tomatoes in all colours, shapes and sizes..............

More of Faversham.

One of the things I didn't manage to do when I took a stroll around Faversham in Kent, was visit the church of St. Mary of Charity in the town centre.  

There was a service in progress at the time, so of course, I couldn't intrude. There are still other areas of the town I haven't walked yet, but this was by far the most important.

Today I managed it. It was in the process of being cleaned, and was virtually unlit, so I couldn't photograph everything clearly. There are also a lot of monuments mounted high on the walls that I couldn't read, and still others that are worn away so much as to be indecipherable.

However, I have noted what I could, and I hope further investigations will reveal even more of interest.  I'm about to start uploading some 70-odd photos, and then I will start researching what I can. 

I've included a little about King Stephen, who was buried here, but it is well-worth finding out more than I can put here about him and the Empress Matilda.

The Elham Valley

One of the roads around here that I really love to ride is that which runs through the Elham Valley. It goes from the A2 Dover-Canterbury, just above Barham, down to the A20 just below Etchinghill.

There's some attractive villages along the way too, and a lot of history!. As usual, I worked out where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to see, and it should have been easily achievable- do the entire length of the valley and then turn left and pick up a couple of extra villages on the end.

Problem is, the British weather thought otherwise. I managed to get half way along, and it started to rain. Only lightly, but I had three washing machine loads on the line at home drying. Oh well, there'll be other days.

So, I covered tiny little Postling, then on to Etchinghill, Lyminge and Elham, with a tiny diversion between Postling and Etchinghill to find a small war memorial alongside the A20 where it just encroaches on Sandling.

Now, when I got to Elham, I walked around the village, and as I walked back to Twinkle, the bell on the church clock reminded me it was lunchtime and I was hungry.

I was almost back to the Abbot's Fireside, when I spotted a new tea rooms that wasn't there last time I went through the valley.

One bottle of sparkling Kingsdown rhubarb (my new favourite) and a delicious cheese and tomato sandwich later, served by a lovely lady, I thought this is so me.

It's a very pretty place, the food and drinks are locally sourced, the service is impeccable and the pricing appropriate to the style of food they serve. I for one will make it a regular stop every time I pass between those hilly sides.

So, unusually for me, this is a firm recommendation: 

Go on, treat yourself - The Elham Tea House, two doors down from the Abbot's Fireside in the centre of the village, right on the main road. Please visit and show your love by signing the petition on the counter, to stop the Parish Council limiting their hours unfairly.

Elham Tea House

clicky-wicky their web-site above too.

Menu

OK so over to the Kent section now to work on the pages for Postling, Etchinghill, Sandling, Lyminge, and Elham. 129 pictures to sort through, so it will probably take me the rest of the week to get it all online. And the rest of the Elham Valley will go back into my system to be done another day.

Sevington

Had to get a bike MoT'd today, and there was enough time left for a little country ride, and a visit to Sevington church.

Sevington, a tiny suburb of Ashford where the church is now divorced from its parish, separated by the new ring road, is quiet and peaceful. The church lies at the end of a lane which goes nowhere. You can hear the sound of the traffic rushing past on the dual carriageway and the M20 nearby, but as you get closer to the church, those sounds fade, to be replaced by bird song. Once inside the church, peace reigns.

New page under Kent coming up shortly......................

Sussex in the sunshine (well, until it rained, of course)

 Yesterday me and The Other Half went for a ride down through Sussex. We passed through Burwash in bright sunshine, and had to pause for traffic right by the church. 

It looked beautiful in the sunshine, so today, having a free day, I thought I'd head back there, and have a proper look around both the village and the church. 

I was met in the church by a group of people, enjoying their Monday coffee morning. I was promptly given a cup of coffee, and invited to join them for a natter.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those lovely people, who made me so welcome. I enjoyed our chat - and the coffee. 

So - to the point of today's visit. I've taken loads of pictures of both the church and the village. As usual, it will take me a couple of days to upload the pictures, and a little longer to research the finer details. 

On this trip, I decided not to visit Batemans, the former house of Rudyard Kipling. That deserves a longer period of time for a visit than I had available today. Also, I prefer to keep 'indoor' visits for less clement weather, and use these warm and sunny days for visits by motorcycle.

A break, but no holiday.

 I'm afraid there will be a break from my wanderings for a while now. I start chemotherapy in a couple of days, and of course, have no understanding of how it may affect me as yet. 

But, I will use my time wisely, if I can. I may not be able to ride my bikes over the next few months, but if I can, I will try and do some gentle train trips to places where I won't have to do too much walking. 

Failing that, I still have loads of research to do on the people and places I've already covered.

OK - see you on the other side................................

And that reminded me that...............................

Yesterday's little trip to the Kent & Canterbury Hospital reminded me that there was still a lot more in Canterbury to investigate. Finding myself at a loose end today, I hopped on the train and spent another couple of hours exploring more of the city centre. 

I'm in the middle of updating the Kent/Canterbury page, with new stuff and revisits to places already partially explored. 

And I've still not seen the half of it...........

Oh my, how it has changed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Today I had an appointment at the Kent & Canterbury Hospital, which is a huge sprawling complex with no accident and Emergency facilities. I was actually quite looking forward to it, as I lived in Canterbury for a while and my son was born in what is known as the '1937 Building' of the hospital.

I am going to add a small article about it on the end of the Kent/Canterbury page.........

Finally ......................

Was having a good day today, so decided to take Twinkle for a run. (wasn't quite up to riding the Yamaha). So, Twinkle being Twinkle (sweet little underpowered thing that he is) and the sun being all shiny and hot, it screamed out for a trip out into the wilds of Romney Marshes and environs.

So, we have High Halden, Rolvenden, Rolvenden Layne, and Wittersham for you to peruse, plus failed attempts to access the churches at St. Michael's and Reading Street - the pages have been started, but not a lot there yet. Also managed to add a shot of a building that was originally a cinema in Tenterden, but which is now a pretty little row of shops.

It felt good to be on the road again, but I now have loads of research to do. It's going to rain all weekend it seems, so that gives me a chance to do it.