Frolicking Around the English Countryside

Today we took another traipse through the farms around Lancaster. It was the 'Forest of Bowland', although it is not really a forest, but an expanse of farm land. Apparently the word 'forest' was used to describe the king's hunting grounds originally.

The church nearby. Home to an award-winning gate. Yep, you heard me, GATE. Picture of said gate featured later. 

The award-winning gate..

..the plaque describing its award for creativity.

And at the end of every countryside walk, there lies a pub. I recommend the cider.

A Rustic Kitchen

At the request of my mother, here are a few more photos of the 'rustic' kitchen I mentioned before. There may be more to follow, as well as some of the rest of the house, as I find its aesthetic quite inspiring.

The Holly and the Ivy

Was asked to put a few branches of the holly we collected along with some Christmas bits and bobs, and turn it into a door decoration. Here is what one year at the Alberta College of Art, Design and Macaroni picture-making taught me....

A couple pine cones, some ribbon, twine, holly, random bits of bush and tree, and Christmas baubles...

...a bit of manual labor...

...and ta da!! 

We actually ended up flipping the ribbon the other way and hanging it upside down (so with the large bits of fern at the bottom) but you get the idea.

On the Hunt for Holly

So I have arrived safe and sound in Lancaster after a bit of a train misadventure involving a lorry crash on the tracks and a lovely wait in a tunnel. The family I am staying with live in an old complex of buildings that used to be an insane asylum. Their particular house belonged to the warden, or whatever his title would have been, and therefore, did not physical house the 'crazies'.

The frosty view from the kitchen window.

I love their rustic-looking kitchen. Big, heavy pots and pans, proper handmade brooms... God I can't wait to have my own kitchen....(but really, I think I'd settle for a shared one at this point, as long as it were clean...)

Notice the Delia Smith cookbook in the background. I will be assisting in cooking Christmas dinner, along with the two boys in the family, so any ideas you have for a traditional British Christmas dinner - I'm all ears!

The view from their front door. Lots of hills, covered in snow... Looks like I may get a white Christmas after all!

Lancaster is a lovely little town, from what I've seen so far, which, to be honest, has mostly been hillsides and the inside of pubs, but still. Its rather cold here too, even with my fluffy jumpers and authentic wellies.

The front of the building complex. Theirs is a section of this building (no, its not all of it.)

Today the weather was quite snowy and made driving far distances difficult so we decided to simply go for a walk in search of proper holly for decorations. I've never seen proper holly before and despite the wicked wind that swept across the hill, I was excited to do something that seemed so quintessentially 'Christmasy'.

After a brisk walk up the hill.... a holly bush!

Apparently the bigger and brighter the berries, the worse the winter is expected to be. Great?

....aaaannnnddddd SHEEP!

'kay so who's reminded of the Diablo Secret Cow Level from these staring sheep? Just me? ...Buller?

No! No! Too Much Cheese!

So I'm supposed to leave Nottingham on Thursday for my 2 week holidays in Lancaster, which means all that bloody cheese I bought needs to find a home. In an attempt to use up the mature cheddar I'd bought several days ago, I decided to make a quiche. Same one as last time - roasted cherry tomatoes and broccoli - but this one ended up looking a lot prettier so I thought I'd post a picture of it.

I tossed it all in the freezer for when I get back. Now I just need to find a use for white stilton and wensleydale with cranberry...

Breakfast of Champions

So breakfast is officially my favorite meal. Really always has been. Recently, I found a little breakfast blog with quite lovely photos called simply breakfast, that I had to share. That is, essentially, exactly what it is. A very simple blog, with pictures of, what are quite often, simple breakfasts. No need for elaborate recipes or complicated ingredients, just a tantalizing piece of sprouted grain toast smothered in almond butter and blueberry/raspberry jam, or a bowl of greek yoghurt with a drizzle of honey. Simple food never looked so good. Take a look.

More Cheese, Gromit?

Christmas time in Great Britain seems to bring about an abundance of...you guessed it....cheese! I've told you already about my lucky discovery of cheap cheese here, and my foray into varieties that were unbeknownst to me until recently.  One type of cheese that I've been eye-balling at Tesco but haven't had the occasion to try is Wensleydale. It comes plain usually but during the holidays, you can get rounds stuffed with various dried fruits including apricot or cranberry (they seem to enjoy stuffing lots of things with dried fruit here...cakes, breads, cheese...)

I never actually knew this, but Wensleydale is the cheese most often associated with Wallace and Gromit (if you don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you.) Sales of the cheese had fallen so low in the 90's, that the animated show mentioned the cheese on a variety of occasions and actually ended up saving the company. Now some rounds of the cheese even feature the characters faces on them, as a thank you. You can read more about the cheese and Wallace and Gromit here. Its a mild cheese, with a crumbly texture, and a bit of an acidic taste to it.

Having spent all day being very productive, doing research at a local trend forecasting company called The Designer Forum, I was getting peckish by the time I reached Tesco to pick up some essentials. Wanting something other than mini pork pies and sausage rolls (insert me rolling my eyes at the amount of pastry and mixed meat substances this country consumes here), I decided to pick up a little multigrain baguette and experiment with a new cheese. I chose the cranberry type and sat in the Victoria Centre mall while it closed (at 5:30 pm....what slackers) and munched on my bread and cheese, feeling as though I should have bought an individual sized bottle of wine to top it off.

I've had a chance to try a few of their basics now, including Red Leicester and Double Gloucester, which are pretty standard and taste fairly similar to Canadian orange cheddar and mature white cheddar, respectively, but I'm thoroughly enjoying having the chance to try new ones!