Soft shell crabs at Automat

We had an amazing trip to a gorgeous diner called Automat while we were away - our food was so good that i just had to take a picture...




I had a soft shell crab 'po boy' which if you could hear my rubbish impersonation of a New Orleans accent, translates as a 'poor boy'. Trust me there was nothing poor about it in the slightest! I've always wanted to try one after reading recipes with them in, and now I have and it was very well worth it!

Now I just need to find more of them and to start walking back to Yorkshire to burn off all the calories that are in them!


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Why I love Chelsea ...part two

Chelsea flower is a ritual for us, an annual pilgrimage to the place where gardening dreams become reality, and a really good excuse for a top girly day out!

My highlights this year were the
The b and q garden with it's bug hotel...



Cleve Wests gorgeous best in show garden with it's inspired yellow and red planting...


Tom Hoblyns Cornish garden with it's fabulous dinosaur eggs, I mean pots...


And the beautiful Yorkshire art garden...


I also spied my dream car...


complete with picnic and radio- perfect!
We had a fabulous lunch, duck fritters with quails egg


Rump steak with all sorts of lovely stuff...


And a 'deconstructed' cheesecake - which apparently means not put together! Either way we wasted no time in deconstructing it further...



And of course there were the plants, so many plants! We did our best to resist all day but when the four o clock bell rang there really was no stopping us.

Thank heavens for black cabs...



now all I have to do is get them back to Yorkshire and get planting...

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Our Yorkshire Getaway...

Now I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong impression and think we're always off gallivanting, but this week is a very busy one for me, my wedding anniversary (8 years1)and birthday (too many years!) fall within 6 days of each other - and if that's not an excuse for a bit of gallivanting, I don't know what is!

We took up the lovely FreerangeGrandparents offer of a sleepover for the Wee Ones and snuck off to Crab Manor over in North Yorkshire. I cant believe I didnt photograph if from the front as its quite a beautiful building, but you can check it out at www.crabandlobster.co.uk Its a Manor House hotel attached to a restaurant, but it's so much more! Every room is themed around a famous hotel around the world and styled accordingly. Even though we'd read the brochure we still didnt really know what to expect, but I can definitely say it was out of this world!

This was the view from our window - I wish my lawn looked that green!



These gardens surrounded the path to the restaurant...





I do love a claw foot bath - I could have stayed in there all weekend...



This was our room 'The Ritz' - well we had to go for a London hotel didnt we!



The restaurant has to be seen to be believed. No photo could really do it justice and I didnt have a flash on me, but it is packed to the rafters with truly eclectic paraphernalia, everything from an antique wicker bathchair to racing paddock passes hang from the ceiling and your eyes are drawn to new wonders wherever you look. We are thinking about going back and sneaking our own memento onto the shelves to see if anyone notices!



There were surprises to be found all over the Manor - a 12 foot stuffed Yeti (described as the 'night porter'!)and gorgeous vintage furniture - but BHs favourite was this little note that awaited him in our room...



Needless to say it was a very successful treasure hunt!

A grand day out...

Just in case anyone thinks that Yorkshire food is all black puddings and treacle tart (not that there is anything wrong with them), I thought I would mention our local Michelin Star Resteraunt, the Pipe and Glass - that's right Michelin - out here in the wilds - we know good food when we taste it!

BH took me there last year before they got the award and we were blown away. Food is sourced locally and the quality is amazing. The restaurant is in a 15th century gatehouse and has a really warm and cosy atmosphere - log fires aplenty! The menu has lots of local game and shellfish showcasing the fabulous richness of our local harvest.

But just in case you think im having delusions of a career as a restaurant critic, let me tell you why i'm really mentioning them. On the day their star was awarded, before it had been made public and unbeknownst to me, I phoned the chef proprietor and asked if he would play host to thirty inner city school children as a reward for there hard work at cooking club. I didnt really think they would, but hey - nothing ventured, nothing gained...and they said yes!

Today was our visit and they couldnt have made us more welcome. The chef/owner James, his wife Kate and there gorgeous baby boy met the children off the bus and welcomed them without reserve into their establishment. We spent the morning learning how the business works, what jobs people do and touring the kitchens.

Chef Mackenzie sat the children on the lawn and talked them through a sumptous table of ingredients, showing them everything from celeriac to fresh and live langoustine. Our children were amazed and enjoyed tasting fresh herbs and smelling vanilla pods and cinnamon sticks.

We toured the herb garden and got a detailed tour of the kitchen (I have total stove envy!) and to top it all the children were kept refreshed with freshly baked cookies and juice served to them by the waiting staff.

I love the Pipe and Glass...Not just because it serves the most creative and delicious food, but because they made our children feel so special and put such a lot of effort into fostering a love of food and cooking in eight year olds. Thankyou P and G!

And now they have accomodation too ( i took a sneaky peak - tres luxurious!) so BH if your reading this, here's the link, www.pipeandglass.co.uk, hint hint!