They broke the mold when Thin Lizzy formed…..
More often than not I think Thin Lizzy are my favourite ever band. Phil Lynnot was one of rock’s finest ever song writers and his passing was a sad day indeed. I have been a fan of theirs for years, way back when I would babysit for a […]
A recipe for baked coconut tarts…..
Here’s a recipe kindly donated after much pleading for a good old coconut tart. Sharon bakes lots of these and other treats for family and friends and as I am too far away to scoff one I’ve had to settle for second best, the recipe. I think it’s great that […]
One for a cold Cumbrian night…
I’ve put a new menu in the downstairs bar and brasserie in our hotel in the Lake District, it will run until early to mid Spring when the weather (I hope) will warm up a bit. One dish that is already proving to be a winner is our beef and […]
Deja Vu, part two!
The more observent readers of this blog might recall this image from an earlier post….
Or is it?
It made me stop and take a second look, thinking I was back in Lincolnshire for a moment I snapped away. I had promised myself to return to Chambers Farm throughout the seson to see […]
How to cook my dinner in two minutes!
By the time I get home I have little energy for cooking, my life is dominated by food and sometimes one’s own pleasure for eating can be diminished by a fourteen hour day or a seven day working week. Sometimes I just want fast food…
So here’s my version […]
You can always rely on nature….
My friend’s work van sits idle in his driveway, a year ago he faced months of guaranteed work, his work gave others work, their work fuelled other businesses and around we all went blissfully ignorant of what we now face. Today he told me that I looked knackered, I admitted […]
A little cheer for you all…
We all have our bad days, they’ll be a few to come this year no doubt and I am reminded of a few lines written by someone who knew…
“Always, when you think you can’t carry on,
A little light from somewhere comes along,
That once again you overcome and cross the line
To […]
It doesn’t come much better….
Any chef will tell you that finding a good butcher who can cope with the demands of a busy catering operation can be hard to find. You may think this strange but many butchers are now often little more than a shop front for a factory distribution operation. Smaller, family run […]
Filling your lungs with Cumbria’s finest…
It’s been a long day. I walked into one kitchen in Cumbria in the North West of England at six thirty this morning and walked out of another some two hundred miles away at nine thirty this evening. I am back home and it feels good but despite the creature […]
How to make a ploughman’s salad….
A staple of any menu in any of the restaurants I look after is a ploughman’s salad. For me it is a classic lunchtime dish and one that if well executed really is hard to beat.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a ploughman’s salad is basically a robust […]