A Mancunian take on Foodie Penpals

Ms Tagalong tried not to get her hopes up too high this month. The non-arrival of August's Foodie Penpals parcel made her so sad!

But with impeccable timing for Halloween the parcel from the lovely Kim in Manchester arrived bursting with sweeties!

Sweeties? 'Mmm, not food but just as good,' said Mr Ideasman as he watched Ms Tagalong decant the Halloween jelly beans into a bowl.

Kim said they are very good beans, no artificial flavourings, no additives and Ms T is determined to eat them before any little ghoulies or witches turn up on the doorstep demanding treats.

Kim also sent some of her favourite large smartie type sweeties called vice versas. No colours here just chocolate and more chocolate! The package included some black pepper ramen crackers and a pack of herby snack biscuits of Mediterranean origin. Variety being the theme of her pack she also sent a tin of Polish chicken pate!

A pack of On the go trail mix will pop into Ms Tagalong's pocket the next time she goes off investigating some garden or the other!

As Ms Tagalong's Foodie Penpals recipient is not a blogger this is a photo of what was sent her, herbs and spices from the Mediterranean plus ingredients for a Catalan Romesco sauce.

Ms Tagalong just loved tasting this Romesco sauce on her travels and so ths is a link to a recipe for it. 

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THREE THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT GARLIC!

Mersley Farm - Garlic Farm 

All good gardens should have an ample supply of garlic growing, but which variety is best? Ms Tagalong set off to find out by visiting the world famous Garlic Farm in the Isle of Wight. Tucked into the lee of surrounding hills, protected from prevailing winds and with abundant spring water the farm buildings come into view as you drive up Mersley Lane.

Man has lived on this site for at least 6,000 years but there seems no proof that garlic has been grown here for that long!

In fact garlic was brought to the island for homesick French soldiers during the last war and as garlic is now a staple for most kitchens its popularity is timely.

For thirty years the Boswell family has scoured the world for the best varieties and strains to grow here. They supply over 15 types brought from as far as Kazakhstan and Central Asia. 

You probably don't need so many in your community garden! Ms Tagalong and friends walked around the farm with nary a field of garlic in sight. Apparently their rotation requirements need the farm to use other farmer's land for their crops.

Moldovian garlic is great for bread, elephant garlic great for baking and Chesnok Wight a very fiery one to be used with care. 

Trying the different garlic products in the education centre was a highlight which Mr Ideasman deemed necessary to repeat after the walk! Vampire pickles, mayonnaises, mustards and relishes were all on sale in the well-stocked shop where Flavia was serving for her fourth year. Not a local, she comes from Shropshire every year with her parents for her summer holiday and spends it working in the cafe. A secret teenage garlic lover who has read too much Twilight?

Ms Tagalong bought a few varieties to sample but sadly can't bring them back to Australia. That might be good for the alliophobics amongst you! (people with an irrational fear of garlic)

Garlic facts you might not know, (courtesy of Mersley Farm)

1. Gardeners can use a spray of crushed garlic in water to combat aphids, whitefly, spiders and other pests.
2. 
   Folklore has it that carrying a garlic clove with you when travelling over water will prevent you from drowning. (Ms Tagalong wished she knew that before she got on the Isle of Wight ferry!)
3. Fifteen pounds (about 7kg) of garlic would buy a healthy male slave. Now that's interesting! Oh, this was in the reign of King Tutankhamun of Egypt, all those years ago.

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What to do with 1,221 random wooden objects!

No gardens in this one but a lot of recycled wood! Mr Ideasman, as you may know, is happy to be working with, viewing, touching, planing, varnishing or even just sanding wood, so the boat sat on the dock in Weymouth drew him like a magnet to its shiny surface. Forget Olympic sailing for a moment or two, let him find out about this boat.

He spoke to Don Manson, one of the builders of the boat. He, like Mr Ideasman, was running his hands over the bow, touching the outlines of numerous objects used for their wood.

‘They’re not just random pieces,’ he said, ‘ for instance this hairbrush here was donated by someone who used it to brush the hair of stars at Elstree Studios.’

Every piece has a story. Don showed Ms Tagalong his donation, a clothes peg, its outline clear amongst the hockey sticks and tennis rackets. Even the sawdust was saved and made into bookmarks. Ms Tagalong’s bookmark states that it is made of the Victory, a shelfing unit from Ikea, boxwood planted in 1166, the floor of a Royal palace amongst a wonderful collection of 1,221 pieces indeed.

This unique idea dreamt up by two artists over ten years ago received Arts Council funding and it was even part of the UK’s bid for the Olympics, so where better for it to be displayed than at the Olympic sailing venue.

The boat which took over 18 months to be built by four professional boat builders and teams of volunteers actually sails, although Don hastened to add that it was not a racer!

So with that Mr Ideasman pushed Ms Tagalong along the quay to see some real racing!

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Chocolate and beetroot?

Never one to miss an opportunity Ms Tagalong visited a vegetable garden high on the White Cliffs of Dover.   She and Mr Ideasman were whiling away a few hours before their ferry to foreign climes, spending time in the National Trust cafe at the cliff viewpoint and walks located directly above the port.

Queuing up, a notice proclaimed that the chocolate and beetroot cake used beetroot from the garden and garlic also for the garlic mushrooms on toast, both specialities of theirs.

Vegetable slice with salad and chicken and bacon salad though were the order of the day for these two garden adventurers.

Lorna, behind the counter, gave directions and Mr Ideasman trotted dutifully behind Ms T up the hill towards the National Trust offices. If truth be known, Mr Ideasman helped pull Ms T up the steep path! Two men on ladders painting looked confused as the intrepid duo poked their heads over the top of the fence searching out the luscious beetroot.

Once spied and duly photographed, Ms T hotfooted it back (easier down than up!) to acquire the recipe for that fantastic cake.

'Oh, the chef has gone home', said Lorna.

'Yes he has but it's all online now,' said a young kitchenhand.

So if you are wondering how to make this with those lovely beets from the garden, here is the link:
Montacute House Chocolate and Beetroot Cake

Ms Tagalong wanted an excuse to visit Montacute House!

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Rainy day River Cottage Canteen and Deli

The bright green paint job stood out off the square in Axminster, Ms Tagalong could spot it even in the pouring rain. 

Mr Ideasman had wanted coffee and cake but being later than eleven they had timed their arrival to pour through the doorway with the grockles queuing for something to do in the incessant rain of the Jurassic coast.

As the doors to the canteen opened dead on midday the wet jackets shunted forward past the table with a wailing baby.

George the pastry chef had concocted some interesting cakes. Millionaire’s shortbread, parsnip, apricot and walnut cake, Eccles cakes and chocolate mousse cake. Mr Ideasman plumped for an Eccles cake and Ms Tagalong the parsnip cake.

The Eccles cake was the hit of the day; the best Ms Tagalong had ever tasted, plump currants and caramelised brown sugar. So good that two more had to be purchased for a later picnic.

So where were the illustrious duo? Hands up those who have heard of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall! Thought so. This is the lower cost option for River Cottage dinners. Set choices of menu served in the canteen with verve and vigour from locally sourced produce. The equally famous River Cottage Canteen and Deli.

An old fashioned deli case packed with all varieties of pies greets you as you enter, with shelves behind bursting with local beverages, ciders, teas, elderflower, dressings and oils.

Chris the maître d’hote was bustling, hurrying, scurrying, putting tables together in the café part to provide extra canteen seating for the salivating families.

‘Absolutely full, I’m sorry, there’ll be a half hour to forty-five minute wait.’ Disappointed faces and dripping people were turfed out into the rain. Mr Ideasman reckoned they should really have a sign outside saying, ‘Full, come back in ½ hour!’

Ms Tagalong would really like to return for some of that ‘freshly cooked, fabulous food in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.’ She is checking her diary now to lock in a date.

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At snail's pace

Foodie Penpals month 3!


Ooh, Ms Tagalong was so excited to find that this month she was paired with a Malyasian foodie living and working in Ukraine.

The mind boggled. What would she be sent? Nasi goreng with cherry compote? Goulash spice for noodles?

The lovely Shaila Ja who has been living in Ukraine for a while said she would do her best to send spicy things.

Ms Tagalong, as is her wont, waited for the postman right up until the day she left for the Lake District. Ukraine post must be slow as sadly no parcel arrived.

So here she is late with her post, unable to meet reveal day deadline and still imagining what is in her parcel.

Snails have been a problem this year, along with huge black slugs, and it is they who must be bringing the parcel from Ukraine as it has still not arrived.

Ms Tagalong will just have to wait… something she does so well!

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Ynyslas or vegetable colourscapes

Rosie and Olivier's dedication!

So impressed was Ms Tagalong with CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology)  that she took their recommendation to visit Ynyslas, a community garden project a few miles away near Borth on the mid-Wales coast.

Mr Ideasman drove the Bongo into the walled garden. No-one in sight. But before they could go off nosing around, Peter, 'the owner' of the land appeared from the blackcurrant bushes.

His initial reticence receded as Ms Tagalong mumbled and bumbled her explanation of why she was there and summoning his partner, Lynne, they explained more about the garden.

Healthy crops in one of those greenhouses

You have to go back to the industrial revolution really, the start of railway lines coming down from the Midlands. Borth became a holiday destination with no food! Ever entrepeneurial, the railways built this large walled garden with lean-to greenhouses on all sides and many very large ones in the middle. Several still stand today, some repaired, some in disrepair. Not surprising as there are over 600 panes of glass in each one!

Mr Ideasman was jumping up and down with excitement,

'This place is the real beginning of tourism,' he said.

So from 1876 this was a nursery supplying food to the railway hotels in town and the visitors to the railway cafes. Lucky them, their soil was shipped in from Ireland. The local port shipped out slate and brought soil back as ballast.

But enough of the history. What about community gardening? Peppercorn rents have allowed various groups to have a go at community gardening, well, gardening for the community, trying to provide box schemes for locals to have organic produce.

Like Bosavern, in far Southern Cornwall,  distribution is difficult. Chatting to Rosie and Olivier, two of the present Green Isle group, Ms Tagalong bowed down before their dedication.

Patiently picking leaves from cut and come again lettuces, discarding the curled and browned, they had arrived by bike from Borth station.

They said they were relative novices but their credentials seemed pretty good to Ms Tagalong. All four had met at CAT and were using this as a learning experience, what grew well here and what didn't. Not a good Summer to be experimenting really, thought Ms T. What could survive deluge, perhaps?

But it was time for a cup of tea, Ms Tagalong and Mr Ideasman went back to the main house which used to be the office for the railways and spent a happy hour discussing things artistic and Antipodean with Peter and Lynne who are the artists and masterminds behind Colourscape. You never know who you'll meet!

Peter and Lynne's restored greenhouse

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