Summer Edition: Meet, Make & Munch

So, we’ve returned to school and work, any summer sunshine has well and truly disappeared, and I’m beginning to embrace the coolness of Autumn, with the cosier evenings. Having been spoilt with several holidays this year for one reason and another, we didn’t have a main week or two away this summer…for the first time ever. And, I have to say, it was really nice having weekends away, days out, time to rest and potter and just enjoy spending time with the family. So for this period, I’ve combined the meet and make, and the Munch is make-ahead camping related too!

Meet & Make… a weekend of it!

Be it a festival, a family meet up, or a weekend away with friends. Ours have mainly involved the tent and we’ve been super lucky with the weather! In between bouts of thunder storms and persistent rain, we’ve managed a night wild camping on the beach at Lowestoft’s first solstice festival, First Light. Brilliant fun, late nights, early mornings and loads to do for everybody! Just great.

Next was a camping weekend locally to celebrate the Mexican side of the family arriving for a few weeks! We camped at Barleylands (who knew?) and it’s not, strictly, what I would call a campsite, but it’s a super low price of around £10! There’s a large field, a stand tap and a very clean shower and toilet block…all your basics. And, of course, having Barleylands on your doorstep means you’ll never been bored for something to do. There was loads of grassy space to play cricket, football, etc. And with barely anyone else there, space to make a noise and run around. Off the ground barbecues are allowed too! There’s also a camping offer for two days at the farm park plus camping for, virtually, the same price as a day’s entrance and camping. Brilliant value. We followed it up with an outdoor, bring your own, Sunday lunch at Maldon Smokehouse. Delicious.

Our next camping weekend was with friends on the edge of the New Forest for a visit to Paulton’s Park, home of Peppa!

A brilliant campsite, Green Hill Farm, which has a play area for children, including a zip wire and a little splash park, all sorts of camping pitches including free-space camping in the fields at the back, (perfect if you go as a group and want an area to yourselves), a bar, a food van each night, award winning shower facilities and a laundry room and freezer. Everything was perfect, and only 20 mins from Peppa too!

We visited Bournemouth on the Saturday, spent a few hours on the beach, ate at Harry Ramsden’s and gave the children £1 each on the amusements! Their favourite thing of the weekend? The freedom of jumping in the waves!

Having no summer holiday booked, we also disappeared up to the Lake District to watch my husband participate in the Buttermere SwimRun. Don’t ask. Having left it incredibly late to book anything, camping, b and bs and hotels were all fully booked. We were lucky to find a static caravan at Low Briery which, as I’m a first time caravaner, I was very excited about.

It’s a lovely little park on the river, a kilometre from the centre of Keswick. Now, be prepared for rain…it literally didn’t stop from the second we arrived to the moment we closed our car door to leave!! The caravan was really lovely, spacious and clean. I took ready prepared meals in the coolbox that I could just heat up in big pans so I didn’t actually need to prepare anything when we were there. There’s loads to do for families in and around Keswick: indoor climbing, indoor soft play, a huge toy shop selling every jigsaw imaginable, delicious food at independent cafes and tea rooms, a Puzzling Place where nothing is as it seems…just loads of fun.

Not to mention beautiful walks and scenery. We had such a fab weekend, I’ve booked to go back next year, albeit further south in the lakes for a difference experience.

And, as a special treat, my husband also booked us, just us, a weekend in Lisbon for our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

Lisbon is brilliant…lots to see and do in the centre itself, good food, though you may have to search it out. Check with google reviews before you sit down and you’ll find some great little treasures. If you really love food, definitely try out the two large food markets while you’re there. We stayed at hotel Teatro B and B which is perfectly located to walk everywhere.

Our last weekend away was down at the River Cottage summer festival. We’ve previously been to Just So and Carfest but couldn’t face the crowds this year so opted for something smaller, and a lot less pricey. Tickets were only £95 per adult, for the weekend camping, including festivals tickets, and children were free. There was enough to do for a couple of days with two children, tractors and transportation was laid on to get your camping stuff from the carpark to the campsite and back again, and, for once, the weather held and we had a hot and sunny weekend.

Since it’s really a feast over fire food festival, and a small festival at that, no camping stoves of any sort were allowed, which made taking food slightly more difficult, but I packed a range of salad / picnic type food and we managed very well! The festival food vans were delicious, and the slow cooked whole lamb over the fires, just scrummy. We mainly did children’s activities: bubble man, arts and crafts etc, which were great, but there were also many talks for adults, walks and forages, etc.

Lots of packing and unpacking has certainly gone on in the last few weeks, but it’s all been great fun!

Munch:

On the camping theme, I thought I’d share some of my stand by, make on the hoof or before you go, family meals that you can take with you frozen to help keep the coolbox cool, leave to defrost and reheat there.

One-pot dinners like bolognaise (there’s a super quick 10 minute one here) or stew always work well (look over at Bon Appetit for some different ideas, there’s a delicious herby summer lamb one) and you can simply reheat and cook pasta or rice to go alongside. We usually have a bbq on the first night with a premade at home salad to keep it easy, thus also giving the other food time to defrost, although you may still need to take it out of the coolbox to defrost properly the next day!

Things that worked well this summer were chicken fajitas, easy to make while you’re camping or even ahead of time. I spice the chicken pieces, then freeze. Pre-chop the peppers and onions, make up the tomato sauce to add and freeze that separately too. Then it’s simply a case of frying it all together, serving with wraps, salad and sour cream. I now have a new favourite recipe for these which you can find here.

I also tend to do a curry which you can make totally in advance and just reheat. You can toast the naans on the bbq or over the gas quickly and cook rice to add. Again, I have a new favourite recipe for this which is super tasty, and comes from Gousto.

Phew…what a few weeks. Brilliant fun and it felt much more relaxed than our usual summers.

First Light photo credit to Fiona Paterson…many thanks Fi, they’re awesome!

March’s Meet, Make & Munch

The last week of March was one of the busiest of my life, filled with lovely things to watch and see but not a moment to stop. Showcases at the end of term, both for my big girl and myself as a teacher; choir competitions, which saw them through to the finals this week; brownies’ end of term activities; final dance and gym sessions; piano exam practice … you name it, we fit it in!

Meet:

But the final week all began with a weekend away with friends in Belfast, a city (and in a country) I’ve never visited before. The absolutely perfect place to meet up with people you haven’t seen for a while, or good friends you spend every minute with. We fit so much in from arriving late on Friday night to leaving mid-afternoon on Sunday…we just didn’t stop. Saturday morning started with a drive out to The Giant’s Causeway, free to visit but maintained by the National Trust. We stopped en route for a hearty Irish Breakfast at Logan’s of Cloughmills and left with several ‘take away’ items for later in the day, including raspberry scones and pork, apple and caramelised onion sausage rolls! The interesting part of breakfast was the ‘vegetable roll’: When we enquired what this was, we were told “Well, it’s sausagemeat with leeks and herbs and spices!” We all opted to keep it on our plates and it was particularly delicious, along with the potato and soda breads.

Another half hour later and we were walking along the coastal path to The Giant’s Causeway. It’s one of those places that sort of calls you, as sirens call to mariners, and keeps you there, wandering silently, staring into the sea, pondering life. The hexagonal columns don’t cover as much area as I had imagined, but encourage climbing, scaling and contemplation.

A little way further up the coast is the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, created by salmon fishermen in 1755 to cross to the little island. Book timed tickets ahead of your visit from the National Trust. Most of the island was closed of when we visited, I’m guessing to prevent tourists disturbing the pairs of breeding birds nesting against the cliffs and in the grasses, but I can imagine views from the top must be wonderful.

It was then back down through Bushmills, the only sadness being that we couldn’t take any whiskey home on the aeroplane, and off to Harry’s Shack on Portstewart Strand for lunch. The menu choices were great, but after a busy morning, we opted for fish and chips, which were delicious, walked off with a 2/3 mile beach amble afterwards. And the sun shone!

The evening began with cocktails in the beautiful piano bar of the world’s most bombed hotel, the Europa. What a way to start your evening…cocktails, music, a comfy chair after all that walking, 14.5km by the way, and lots of laughs. A pub crawl through several other great bars and pubs afterwards and topped off with what was probably the best pizza in the whole of Belfast from Reggie’s Pizza, made for a great end to a great day. Reggie was kind enough to stay open for us when we stumbled in around 10.45pm, and the hand stretched, stone baked pizzas were just delicious…I’m a firm believer that the taste of food is not only about the food itself, but the place, people and atmosphere … those things have to combine for it to be perfect. And it was.

Sunday began with more walking to St. George’s Market but we were rewarded once we arrived. A plethora of craft, fresh artisan produce and delicious food greeted us and we spent over an hour just wandering and taking it all in. Those who know me know I love a good market! From there we went on to Titanic Belfast, only stopping to gasp at a seal, let’s call him Nyx, we spotted in the River Lagan! I was really impressed with the museum. Very interactive and I discovered so much, which I never normally do as I get bored quickly! Tickets include a visit inside the only surviving White Star ship, the SS Nomadic. Highly recommended.

We finished our visit with a short turn inside at Crumlin Road Gaol, another fascinating place, full of history, both recent and Victorian. And after another 8.5km covered, finally boarded a plane back to London.

If you’re looking to book a weekend away with friends, or with family, I really couldn’t recommend the city more. Just brilliant!

Make & Munch:

So, for the first time, the Make and the Munch fit together this month. Inspired by the recent release of the Ooni Koda has fired pizza oven, and its sisters, the Ooni 3, 2s and Pro, I made the decision that if we wanted gas fired pizza, we may as well cook it on the bbq or in the oven, something I tested last summer using a baking stone. It works well but you don’t get the leoparding (spotting) or browning on the edges, or that smoky taste. So I decided, as you do, to build us a wood fired pizza oven. Having seen Jimmy Doherty make it look easy on Jamie and Jimmy a few years ago, I gave it a go: purchased two pretty hefty frost proof terracotta pots, an insulation blanket and some fire cement. It’s not difficult, and actually quite a quick process to make once you have what you need.

1) Use a flagstone big enough for your biggest pot and lay out your red clay bricks.

2) Build a quick, nailed together, wooden frame around them and remove the bricks.

3) Use sand on top of the base to level the bricks, no need for mortar or cement. I left an area of lower bricks in the middle as I wanted to use a pizza stone as the main cooking area, not bricks.

4) Place your stone, if you’re using one, on the lowered bricks, ensuring the top is level…use a hammer and piece of wood to tap them into place to the correct level.

5) Use an angle grinder to cut a 10cm by 30cm opening in each pot at the rim. Up-end your smaller pot centrally and cover with the insulation. Use a mask and gloves while you cut it to shape and form it around the pot.

6) Cover the small pot with the larger pot and seal around the base with the fire cement.

7) Light a small kindling fire centrally within the pots, not near the edges, to prevent sudden heat cracking the pots, although this will happen at some point no matter how carefully you build the heat as you’re using pots, not making it from thick clay walls! Keep this small fire in for several hours to begin to ‘cure’ the cement.

And you’re ready to go! Light a small fire, build it gradually. Once it’s hot and nearly burnt out, add a larger piece of wood and push to the edges. To be certain, using an infrared thermometer on the cooking surface will ensure your stone is hot enough (between 420 and 450 degrees c) but I winged it on our first use. Simply make your pizza, launch, and watch the deliciousness cook in front of your eyes!

You can find a list of products and links I used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, although the bricks, slabs, wood etc, we already had in the garden! I opt for a basic Ooni dough, topped with a homemade tomato sauce with pepperoni and mozzarella. Don’t forgot to dash a few basil leaves around and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the top before cooking too.

For the tomato sauce, fry a little chopped garlic, season well with salt, pepper and a little sugar to combat the acidity of the tomatoes, add a can or two of tomatoes, rinse the cans with a small amount of water and let it all bubble down and reduce for a couple of hours. I then bag up into portions and freeze.

Dough recipe

Insulation

Pots from local Abercorn garden centre

Fire cement

Metal peel to turn and retrieve pizza

Pizza stone and wooden peel

Infra red thermometer