The Ensign Ful-Vue

Last weekend I had the most wonderful time in the West Country visiting my very best friend the Magpie. We spent an afternoon in the beautiful town of Bath, sampling the fine public houses and their ales and perving on the magnificent Regency architecture, and upon browsing in a little street market I came across this delight... the Ensign Ful-Vue.

Some time ago I watched a fascinating documentary about Vivian Maier, the American/French nanny/photographer who went about in the 1950's and 60's snapping New York and Chicago's streets and it's people with her Rolliflex. Ever since then, I've been keeping an eye out for a box camera with a viewfinder on the top and this baby was just the ticket. 

It's a very simple camera with a 1/30 shutter speed (note to self: keep a steady hand) and takes a medium format 120 film - an added bonus as I've just found a local photo shop in Hastings that sells and processes 120 film in-house! Woo! I'm going to load it on up and I can't wait to see what it produces!

Dark Star

Last weekend I was taken on a tour of the Dark Star brewery - a much welcomed birthday surprise from Simon! Originating in the cellar of a Brighton pub, The Evening Star back in 1994, the Dark Star Brewing Company takes it's name from the strong dark strong bitter brewed by the young Rob Jones (Dark Star's head brewer) for Pitfield Brewery in London back in 1987 which was subsequently named after the song of the same name by The Grateful Dead.  

The brewery has since grown in size and relocated twice to where it is now; Partridge Green, West Sussex - a bus ride through the beautiful Sussexian Downs from Brighton. Upon arrival to their warehouse brewery we were greeted with a "please make your way over to the crates where the talk will take place and start drinking." Well OK if you insist..

 

The talk was very interesting, informative and we learned all about the history of the brewery and the brewing process..

 

Whilst sampling a great many of the delicious Dark Star ales on offer..

And for afters we had a table reserved at the brewery tap in the village, The Partridge for a lovely lunch in the sunshine..

 

And of course, we procured a couple of pints to take home!!

Baked Eggs

When you fancy something a bit different to the usual boiled/poached/fried egg on toast, I recommend you try baked eggs! Simple to rustle up and very tasty; perfect for a Saturday or Sunday breakfast or brunch.

Serves 2

- Knob of butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 handfuls of grated cheese
- Nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- Spinach, cooked and drained (cooked mushrooms would also work very nicely)

Here's how:

- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Smear some butter in two ramekins. Layer in your spinach (and/or mushrooms) and a little grated nutmeg.
- Crack an egg over the top, followed by grated cheese, salt and pepper.
- Place your ramekins in a deep baking dish and fill the dish with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the egg yolks are to your liking. 

Sit down and enjoy.

Sweet & Spicy Popcorn

Here's another warming autumn snack for y'all... Sweet and spicy popcorn. I found the recipe here but increased the measures of spices slightly and used maple syrup as a substitute to agave.

You will need:

Sunflower oil
Corn kernels
1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon
Good drizzling of maple syrup

Method:

Heat the oil. Pop the corn. Sprinkle over the spices. Drizzle over the syrup. Eat the delicious popcorn.

Cheddars

These little rich cheesy biscuits with their kick of red chilli are perfect for autumnal comfort snacking. I enjoyed them dipped in a home made cauliflower soup but they would also be a great accompaniment to a nice real ale or a cocktail. Here's how to make them.

You will need:

200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
150g extra mature Cheddar cheese, grate
1 whole medium free-range egg, plus 1 egg yolk

NB The mixture is very dense so these little babies are best made in a food processor.

Put the flour, salt, chilli flakes and cheese into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until just combined. 

Add the diced butter and run the machine until the ingredients look like coarse sand. 

Add the whole egg and the yolk and run the processor again until the ingredients come together to form a firm dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a log shape with your hands. Bang the roll down on the work surface a few times to expel any air pockets that may have formed.  With your hands, roll the dough until it forms an even cylinder roughly 50cm long. Cut into 3 equal pieces, then wrap in greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. (The dough can be stored for up to 3 days).

When ready to bake, heat your oven to 200c.

Cut the dough into 1cm thick discs and place on a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

And proceed to devour.

Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival 2012

This weekend the 15th/16th September was the Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival. The festival is now in its seventh year, however it was our first time to visit and I have to say we got rather over excited about all the delicious fresh locally caught seafood, locally made wines and locally brewed ales and ciders on offer and wanted to try everything! 

We managed a rather decadent 4 delectable lunches; fish soup with bread, hot smoked salmon with bread and salad, Pollock goujons with samphire and home made chilli jam and Caribbean barbecue jerk fish with jollof rice each washed down with tasty local tipples from Battle Cider, F.I.L.O, Dark Star and Sedlescombe Wine. Simon then got hungry again later on and finished up with one of Tush & Pat's Famous Fishermen's Rolls.

Phwoar. Looking forward to doing it all over again next year!

Jack-in-the-Green Festival, Hastings

I'm so excited for this May Bank Holiday the Jack-in-the-green festival takes place in Hastings! It'll be the first one I've been to!

This time of year has long been an important part of the annual calendar because it marks the beginning of summer and as such has always been a day for celebration.

In the 16th and 17th centuries in England people would make garlands of flowers and leaves for the May Day celebration and they became increasingly elaborate. By the 18th century, decorations had become a matter for competition, milkmaids in London carried garlands on their heads with silver objects on them, but the crown had to go to the chimney sweeps... Their garland was so big it covered the entire man!! It became known as Jack in the Green.

The Grand Procession takes place in Hastings Old Town on Monday 7th May.

Bodiam Castle, East Suusex

Last weekend we visited Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. Bodiam Castle was built in 1735 as a defence against the French during the Hundred Year War and also served as comfortable home. The exterior is pretty much intact and the castle sits in a beautiful moat. The interior features fireplaces, spiral staircases, a well, walls and window frames, even medeival toilets(!) enough of which survive to really get a feel of what it would have looked like...