Eating In Style

Do you remember our Gold Ball in December? As well as it being a brilliant night, 

with lots of very silly moments (fyi this was NOT my Ball outfit, I had to wear this to protect my dignity), we somehow managed to raise £6,500 for two wonderful surfing charities - Umthombo in South Africa and Surf Relief UK here in North Devon.

Our biggest fund-raiser was the charity auction. There were some amazing things that people had donated. Everything from a ski holiday to..

 a luxury weekend away at an award-winning glamping site (The Bivouac), to signed Freddie Flintoff's boxing gloves,

and a meal cooked for you in your own home, by our local gastro-pub 'The Rock'. The Rock Inn is the most popular choice for the Friday night of our wedding weekends. There is a conservatory out the back which can seat a large number, perfect for an arrival meal for guests.

When they are not cooking great food, The Rock is most well-known for its sponsorship of a very successful and talented local Netball team - 'Georgeham Rocks'.

(well, not really but we try our best).

So a group of us got together and, thanks to the cool, calm and collected Mr P, we successfully bid for the Rock meal in the charity auction!

It took place on Thursday. We were very excited. Everything looked amazing when we arrived.

As soon as the coats were off, the charming Mark (front-of-house at The Rock) served us Prosecco, Tempura King Prawns and

a smoked salmon delight!

We ate and drank sitting by the fire and feeling like royalty.

Everything had been thought of. They brought the tablecloth, the glassware, the candles, the lot.

Scott, our chef, has had extensive experience in this area. He used to work for an agency that supplied chefs for people's own homes. 

His CV is pretty impressive, he has worked with Marco Pierre-White in L'escargot and many other places that I can't pronounce. We are lucky to have him in our Shire.

So, to kick off: Amuse bouche of beetroot and vodka jelly with a cauliflower puree.

The colours were gorgeous.

My favourite dish came next - pan seared king scallops, quenelle of crab, crispy pancetta and sauce Jacqueline. Delicious!

Next up..line caught seabass fillet with a saffron and mussel beurre blanc.

The wine of choice for these dishes was Picpoul de Paiet. La Cote de Flamenc 2011.

It was brilliant being so close to the action and seeing it being masterfully put together. No sign of a horse anywhere (and trust me, I was looking). We delved into some apple and calvados sorbet to cleanse the palette, before we were presented with the next dish.

Now this one pushed the boundaries for me.. Paupiette of guinea fowl stuffed with foie gras and Exmoor blue cheese and thyme jus. I guess I should be grateful as when we arrived in our village in 2008, squirrel was on the menu!

As Scott and the team prepare the next course,

We invested in some high brow conversations (probably along the lines of surfing). This course was washed down with a nice glass of Riebeek Shiraz Reserve - 2007. 

Now I have to tell you that none of the men (apart from Mr H) were drinking (due to a small matter of a marathon in the Gaza Strip coming up), so us girls (and Mr H) were really quite sozzled by this stage. You can tell this by the way I had dumped my knife and fork on the slate in the picture of the guinea fowl! Ha!

Next up: Pave of Spreacombe (a place down the road) venison loin, creamed savoy cabbage and bacon lardons, mini fondant potato and port jus. 

Another wine change...this time Pinotage L'Avenir -2011.

Good idea Mrs P to drink water (I wish I had thought to do that).

A selection of West Country and Normandy cheese (camembert) and spiced fruit chutney followed...

accompanied by Warre's ten year old Tawny Port.

I think Mrs H was getting a bit tired by this point? But we still had another course to go! Also I seem to remember Mark furnishing us with some powerful elderflower cocktail. I think he said the ingredients comprised of elderflower and errr, Gin? 

Now, my friend Mrs P is a very attractive woman normally....

but just look at what this drink did to her! This could almost be a caption shot for what Mr 'sober-as-a-judge' P is thinking at this moment. 

And it wasn't just poor Mrs P, I have no idea what tickled these two?

Sadly I did not get a picture of the dark chocolate soufflé, raspberry compote and vanilla shortbread (and the Chateau Theulet Monbazillac - 2009), but needless to say it was absolutely delicious.

By the time the coffee and petit fours came around, I have to say there was not much room left..

But Mr H and Mr. G, can always be relied upon to keep going (as well as hoover up anything else we couldn't quite manage!)

Oh, and err Mrs P it would seem ;)

Rock Boys, THANK YOU! You did such an amazing job and we loved every minute. Same again next year, yeah?

X

Feed the Birds

The beautiful snow arrived at Pickwell on Friday. I know we had less than others, being so close to the sea, but we have really enjoyed it. It does make everything even more beautiful and magical, just like a scene from Narnia! There are some wonderful photos that Susannah took on our facebook page if you would like to see more. The snow is lovely for us, but always makes us mindful of our Pickwell feathered friends who find it tricky to find food.

Molly got this great book by Stephen Moss for her Birthday which we absolutely love (highly recommended for adventurous, nature loving families). There is an enticing trailer for it on you tube.

We have been out spotting birds in the snow with the aid of the 'guide'. We have a little Wren that flutters around the herb garden that we can watch from the kitchen window and also a Wagtail, who sits on our sill, that we are particularly fond of.

So in light of the challenging conditions, we decided to make some 'fat balls' from a recipe in the book as a special treat to feed the birds.

We didn't have any coconut shells to hand so searched in the garden for pine cones to fill instead. The fat and seeds can collect really nicely into the cone and it gives the birds something to hold onto. First Millie-Grace melted some lard in a pan.

Then we stirred in the seed.

There was however, rather a horrible smell to the melted lard, which was particularly difficult for Molly who is a vegetarian!  She decided to sellotape her nose to escape from the smell! Since making our 'fat ball' lots of people have suggested just mashing the lard and seed together to avoid the smell. We are definitely going to do that next time!!

We then spooned the mixture onto the pine cones....

and left them to cool and harden.

All ready to hang on the tree.

Ta da!!! Lunch is served birdies!

We have put lots of bird boxes around the Pickwell woods to encourage nesting.

I wish we had put a little camera in them, I would love to see if anyone is in there.

Believe it or not this unsuspecting mound of old wood has a hedgehog house under it. We are hoping it has a sleeping hedgehog in it too, shhhhhh!!

So just enough time to play in the snow before it all melts. I wonder what she is making??

And Zac??

Surprise, surprise, a snow man!! Cute!!

A balancing thing?! And then....

a snowman....maybe a slightly muddy Scout sort of snowman!!

All the while Mrs Blackbird was hopping about us until....

Mr Blackbird came along singing at the top of his voice and they frolicked around the garden. Here they are on the roof, courting perhaps? A bit early, I know, but the start of spring is most definitely in the air!!

We hope that our Pickwell guests will enjoy our amazing wild birds from Owls, to Robins, Buzzards to Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, all frequent visitors to the garden. For the younger visitors there is a 'spotter back pack' in the games room complete with binoculars, spotter sheet, bird book and clipboard. Happy spotting Pickwellers and here's to lots of garden adventures in 2013!!