The Caravan Show, eBikes, and a Spot the Difference game

Posted on October 14, 2014 | 1 comment

Today was our visit to the Motorhome and Caravan Show 2014. We had a shopping list. We wanted a cover for the van, to protect against autumn leaves and winter rain, and a solar panel for the nicer days. We wanted to look at holiday sites both in the UK and in Europe. And, no doubt, we’d come across some accessory or gadget or another which looked like fun.

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Blackmoor Apple Tasting – apples, chickens, morris, and fun for all the family

Posted on October 12, 2014 | 3 comments

One of the high points of early autumn is a visit to the Blackmoor Apple Tasting Day, so much so that we drive 60 miles to get there! We’ve been regulars for quite a few years now. Last year it wasn’t held, and we feared the worst, so we’re delighted to see it back for 2014. Blackmoor Apple Tasting Day

The weather was kind. Calm, a bit chill, and with an early mist. Perfect for a wander round, tasting apples, buying a few raffle tickets (we didn’t win), and admiring the displays.

Here’s our visit in pictures.

We made straight for the apple tasting. We've bought several trees on the strength of this tasting in previous years ...

We made straight for the apple tasting. We’ve bought several trees on the strength of this tasting in previous years …


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A hat-trick for the JO Home Cooker

Posted on October 9, 2014 | 1 comment

As always, with a new gadget, there’s a temptation to over-use it in the first flush of enthusiasm. But I have to say, after our initial risotto, the next three experiments have been remarkably successful. I won’t keep posting pix of the machine itself, because they would become repetitive. It is, after all, just a self-stirring saucepan.

First up, pytt i panna.

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Pleasing purchases: Jamie Oliver Home Cooker

Posted on October 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

Years ago we were given a gadget called an SEB Le Saucier. It was a self-heating self-stirring saucemaker. It wasn’t brilliant, because the stirring paddle was just a smidgeon too far away from the base and sides of the pan, so it was only too easy for ingredients to catch and burn. We used it only occasionally, and so it lasted for many years before it finally gave up.

More recently, I’ve been casting lustful eyes on a Thermomix, with its far more sophisticated chopping, stirring, heating, and steaming functions, but the price is astronomical at around nine hundred pounds.

Then, the other day, we saw in Costco the “Jamie Oliver Home Cooker”.

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The Cake and Bake Show 2014

Posted on October 3, 2014 | Leave a comment

Last year we went to the Cake and Bake Show because we won a pair of tickets. We enjoyed it so much that we went again this year. We had a great day, but perhaps not as fantastic as in 2013. There was loads of pizzazz, with TV chefs and personalities all over the place, and some wonderful sugarcraft on display, but for our bread-making interests there was perhaps just not quite enough substance.

We went to a bread making “masterclass” given by the very talented Richard Bertinet, who runs the Bertinet Kitchen Cookery School in Bath.

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The bantams go to the church fete

Posted on September 29, 2014 | Leave a comment

Our local church decided to expand their normal harvest festival with the addition of a rather grandly-titled “Autumn Food Fayre and Farmers Market”. It sounded like a good cause, so we (well, I, actually) volunteered to do a display of rare-breed chickens, and to bake some bread for their cake’n’bread stall.

The stated objective was to raise money for charity. I don’t know exactly how much they raised, but if it was a couple of hundred quid*, I’d be surprised. So that’s a fail, then. But everyone concerned seems to be delighted. It was, apparently, a “great community event”. So I too will accentuate the positive, and agree that there were plenty of visitors, and that a good time was had by all.

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An afternoon with the chickens

Posted on September 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

We’re still very taken with our new bantams, but just to show that we haven’t lost our affection for the Ixworths, here we are handing out the last of the blackberries to them. Blackberries are one of the very few treats that the cockerel won’t share. They’re just too good …

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More about bantams

Posted on September 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

After they’d got accustomed to their run for a couple of days, we thought we’d let the bantams out onto the grass for the first time. The cockerel was the boldest.

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A loaf of bread, a jug of wine

Posted on September 17, 2014 | 1 comment

I took a chance and ordered a hand-held steam cleaner. Judging by the reviews, these devices are pretty useless for the task that they’re designed for, but I wanted a cheap and easy way of simulating a steam injection oven. And, to my relief, it worked.

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Three themes combined: caravans, chickens, and cheese

Posted on September 16, 2014 | Leave a comment

We spent a few days in Torquay, partly for a family visit, partly because we were itching to try out the new caravan, and partly to visit a couple of poultry breeders. And the cheese? Read on …

We stayed at Widdicombe Farm touring park, just outside Torquay. This site receives rave reviews, and I can understand why. The site is terraced, so everyone gets a good view of the surrounding countryside.

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