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.