Port Sunlight Christmas Food Fayre

We had intended to go along to the Fayre for the opening of the festivities on Friday evening, when there was a lantern parade and Santa was arriving with real live reindeer, but the weather conspired against us, and we didn't actually get along until late Sunday afternoon, just before closing. But it was still busy, and there was  plenty going on.

There were stalls filled with cakes and sweets, chutneys and jams, olives and cheeses, nuts and ... wine.

Unfortunately we had just eaten, and couldn't manage the many tastes that were on offer ... note to self ... go on an empty stomach next year! We did buy some tasty smoked mackerel, salmon and ham which have been squirreled away in the freezer for Christmas.

 There were also stalls selling lovely decorations ...

 I'm drawn to these two trees ... if only I was as disciplined as this when it comes to my own tree!

 A brass band was playing Christmas carols throughout the afternoon. Very festive! 

Of course, no trip to Port Sunlight would be complete without a quick visit to the lovely Lady Lever Art Gallery, where we visited our favourite paintings and browsed in the shop. I was tempted by the glass tree ornaments here, and two pretties came home with me, to be hung on our tree, hopefully, later today!

Soup Kitchen

Over the past few weeks I've been making lots of soup ... it seems just the thing to comfort us on these dark days.
So far I've made:

Mushroom
Red Pepper and Courgette
Butternut squash and rosemary
Winter vegetable
Minestrone
Lentil
and right now I've got a pan of oxtail soup bubbling away on the hob ... it needs to simmer for 4 hours to make the meat tender!!! I think I'll make some dumplings to serve with it tomorrow.

My favourite so far has been Chicken, Sweetcorn and Noodle which had a definite Chinese flavour.

I've got into the habit of making a stock every time I have a chicken carcass and then trying out some recipes. Having time to cook has been one of the upsides of convalescence. We've never eaten so well!

I've been using up one serving and then freezing the rest in single portions. They will be handy for me when I return to work. I know I'll be having a super healthy lunch with completely natural ingredients (which is my aim for all our meals these days). I've bought myself a smart soup flask too and a new lunchbox.

I actually found my old lunchbox in a cupboard the other day, where it had been flung on that awful day in May when I had to leave school ... dare I say it .... yes ... horror of horrors ...it still had something unidentifiable lurking in a plastic box. I nearly threw up!!!!

Next job is to make up a batch of super healthy sandwiches to go with the soup!

Inspired by this.... The Great British Bake Off ...

... and with lots more time on my hands than usual,  I have taken to baking....

Mary Berry's Victoria Sponge with my very own strawberry jam

Plum Traybake

Plum Cake ... both delicious.

Slightly overdone Apple Cake - I was distracted when Mr B arrived home from work.

Blackberry and Apple Crumble with extra crunchy topping ... I think it will need lots of custard!

... and a disaster. This was meant to be a teabread but turned out like a brick!

Oh well, I guess I won't be making it through to the next round!

A Postcard from Ruthin ...

I've spent a few days just resting up, but by the weekend I was ready for an outing. On Tuesday we'd passed throught the lovely little town of Ruthin in North Wales. I thought it deserved a closer look, so that's where we headed. First stop was the Ruthin Craft Centre, where we had a delicious lunch and then we browsed round an exhibition called 'Smile'. It was full of quirky pieces that did, indeed, make us smile.

This sums up fell walking for me, which is why I stick to lower ground!

These little figures were sweet ...

But our favourite was this piece called 'The Upholsterers'...

an old chair was being mended by tiny creatures ...

They reminded us of the Borrowers

This piece amused me too, you could turn the handle ever so slowly and all the figures moved ... great fun!

Ruthin has very old buildings and lovely little shops full of pretty things.

We loved this one...

... but our favourite was this wonderful deli called Leonardo's where we spent a fair bit of money on good things to eat. My home town sadly lacks a deli (we did have one when we first lived here, but it met its demise with the arrival of Tesco ...unforgivable!) so we might be returning in the not so distant future.

Good food ...

Today we visited the Wirral Food and Drink Festival at

Claremont Farm in Bebington

The farm shop was full of lovely fresh produce

A pretty corner ...

The smell of freshly baked bread led to our first purchase ... a handsome olive baguette

closely followed by some wonderful paella

which we had for a picnic along with freshly squeezed orange .. delicious!

We were intrigued by this wooden cupboard ... and discovered it was for smoking kippers!

There were stalls selling all sorts of wonderful things....

Music, Morris dancers, blue skies and warm sunshine made for a carnival atmosphere...

We liked these little fellows best of all .... so cute!

Hope the sun was shining for you today, whatever you were doing!