Found out that we can buy fresh local blueberries right on our doostep here in West Suffolk. Jo Garden grows them at Hepworth www.gardenberries.co.uk and makes the best blueberry jam there too. She also sells the bushes ( currently on a special offer) if you want one in your garden to sprinkly a few on your cereal every day. Of course you can buy blueberries cheaper in supermarkets but it's a bit like blackberries - why would you buy them from a supermarket when you can get them from a farm or a hedge near you?
Here is the dip and the vanilla cream terrine made from the yoghurt, which is now coming to an end. It really was the thickest, tastiest and most versatile - so I am converted. See Madame Maincourse's comment to find out exactly what she did. Recipes later.
Tracey Macleod features The British Larder (near Woodbridge) in last weekend's Independent. Also listed are Trinity at Crown and Castle in Orford, Maison Bleue in Bury and The New Roundhouse at Thorington.
A small but lively event in a small but lively village - with really good cakes (especially the gingerbread) and hot chocolate or tomato and basil soup to sip while we watched the cheesiest outdoor cinema I have ever tasted.
Had a little wander round the shops while my son played football and bought a whole chicken from this butchers. I've shown him how to joint it and make coq u vin with some of it, saving the rest for another meal. It was £6 - way more than a supermarket but we could certainly taste the difference. Grow my own veg but the sign on the shop opposite was tempting too as have just been on an apple hunt with my sister. Found lovely sweet wild ones that were just like Gala - apart from the holes.
Been out for blackberries after reading that there are about 140 different types out there. The writer lived in London, recommended only picking above waist height (!) and suggested you buy sweeter varieties from a supermarket as the wild ones have to be cooked to be sweet - lol...
Suffolk foodie is one year old today. Celebrate by going to Lidl for my utter favourite bar of dark chocolate with nuts in, and find Caribbean meat patties! Expecting them to taste awful but they are surprisingly authentic (well, they are made in Birmingham) with just the right amount of heat from scotch bonnet peppers. Although home made ones would have more filling it's not bad for Stowmarket!
We should really have a competition for the best produce displayed at the end of a garden.
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Aka a pumpkin (or squash) I bought from a side of the road, kindly labelled by the grower as I wouldn't have known what a Blue Hubbard was. A tiny bit under-ripe I thought, but very tasty as a roast vegetable, cooked and mashed into a fritter or made into a slightly curried soup.
So many tomatoes at the moment that I have had every recipe I can think of and made soup, pasta sauce, ratatouille and lots of others. But this was simple and delicious and used up a bit of old ciabatta at the same time. So easy I'm not going to put it in Recipes - just spread pesto (from a jar not home made) on the bread, halved cherry tomatoes and a shaving of parmesan, then grill until brown. If you teach your children this they can make it after school, and it works really well on half a muffin too, just call it mini pizza.
Here is my sad looking vegetable patch now that we are heading into the colder weather. A few swede and some celeriac for later, one row of carrots for the odd stew and some chard left. Everything else has gone - but at least I haven't had to buy any vegetables for the whole summer.