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Camping Visits

National Events and Trip to the Seaside

It has been a while since I wrote a blog but I am away in my caravan just now and it feels so relaxing the time is right to put fingers to keyboard. May was a fun month for me, workwise I was involved with a couple of events with the Caravan and Motorhome Club. In normal times there is a rally called The National which is a very popular event. This year once again it was held virtually and I had a couple of things to do. The first was setting the baking challenge. The competition was to make a cake to my recipe and then decorate and top it with a National theme. I made mine using video clips to show my process and it was such a laugh doing it. My cake looked quite splendid too!

The next event was hosting an Zoom BBQ. I was very excited about this as I have become like so many people a bit of a zoom expert with most of my work being conducted this way. We hitched up the caravan and travelled down to the Gatwick Club site to stay for a few days and have the BBQ on the Saturday. I made some chicken and pineapple skewers, a glaze of homemade BBQ sauce and a tropical tomato salad. It was great weather for it and it was really great to do.

The day after this we hitched up again and moved in very slow Bank Holiday traffic to the Brighton club site which is only normally a half hour journey. The sun was blazing and the Brighton Blue sky was waiting to welcome us.

It was our eldest daughters birthday so and she lives in Brighton so we were delighted to be re united with her and to enjoy time on the beach and in the green spaces in Brighton of which there are many.

The weather remained perfect for Al Fresco cooking so we got busy with the BBQ once again. This time we gave the charcoal a turn instead of the Cadac which I used for the zoom. I love all the smoke and traditional smells it gives off.

I made some lamb and feta burgers with chopped up apricot in the mix too, I griddled some of the apricots on the BBQ too along with good old bangers and glazed chicken thighs. very scrummy with a cold glass of rose to help it all along.

caravanners and motorhomers that hook up to electricity might be interested in one of these. I bought this Instapot mini airfryer for this trip and I have used it for loads of things, the chips here are the best! https://www.instantpot.co.uk/

We are still on the site at Brighton and are looking forward to another couple of days here. the site is a perfect location, hidden away up by the Marina but just a ten minute walk to the regular as clockwork buses into town or a nice walk along the beach to town if your are after a bit of a leg stretch.

I will be using the caravan a few times this summer to attend Food Festivals where I am booked to work, Bath, Blenheim and Denbies to name but a few these are with https://fantasticfoodfestivals.co.uk/ but I am also booked with https://www.channelevents.co.uk/ and https://chesterfoodanddrink.co.uk/ I find it really useful to have my kitchen with me on my travels. Now I really must get out and sit in my deckchair, bye for now!

Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Final Day, blogging off!

Well as promised this is the last blog of the current run. We have had such a great trip away and writing this blog each day has made me stay motivated to get the most out of everything. Today we have stayed onsite most of the time bar a bit of grocery shopping. I have got up to speed with some admin, remember a caravan can be lots of things and today it has been office.

Teardrop
Campers
Teasels onsite

I took a walk around the site here at Brighton. There are so many different styles of leisure vehicles around. Here are a couple of pictures of two that took my eye. The teasel shot was the hedgerow up on the top level where there are some gorgeous glamping pods. This site has three different styles of glamp to choose from, the new glamping ones here

The new glamping pods
inside view

These pods are very new and are very modern and well equipped, designated parking bays, bike shelters too. There are two of the more traditional wooden pods near reception plus two beautiful airstreams.

Brighton is a very popular site as the town has so many attractions on offer. Its such a brilliant idea to be able to hire a unit, excellent value too.

While I was walking about someone called my name. It was Tom that does the filming and what have you got for the Caravan and Motorhome Club, he was onsite with Bill from the online publication Caravan Times. We had a good old catch up, he is operating a zoom call for me with Matt Allwright next week so he was able to tell me a bit about how that will work out. Such a small world is campsite life.

The campsite has a playground for young children and a dog stretch leg area too. Didn’t see any children this time as its back to school now but plenty of great dogs, most of them just watching the world go by.

Boules

John and I had a quick boule off! I actually won, must be a fluke that as I am normally rubbish. This was a set of boule I bought for birthday boy as he was embarrassed playing with the plastic coloured ones we had in the van. So good to spend a day pottering around. Just one more sleep and one more dinner before we up legs, hitch up and go back to Wakefield.

Here is the last supper. Modified from a Rick Stein recipe its a Croatian casserole. I made it in the slow cooker, beef in balsamic vinegar with red wine, lardons, apples and dates, sort of a European sweet and sour.

So its home sweet home tomorrow, a journey of about six hours will just about do it. We have had the most fantastic touring trip and already planning the next one. Thanks for following my shenanigans and look forward to inviting you along again soon. Thanks to the Caravan and Motorhome Club wardens we have had the pleasure of meeting, some for the first time some from previous trips, Heidi Hi!

Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Double Day Blog. Brighton

Silke

If you read my last blog then you are up to speed with the makeshift cake we made for Silke’s birthday. When we brought it out on the birthday itself it had actually shifted, if you look you can see it is sloping. Fortunately the rainbow propped it up so we just told Silke the unicorn was having a snooze. She was of course delighted with her cake, which is all that matters. Four year olds can easily HATE things if they take against things!

Ribbon Dance

With a slice of sugary cake inside her Silke had plenty of energy that needed to be spent. A swift ribbon dancing session did the trick and then we sat down to a game of pass the parcel. After a few tears initially when the parcel didn’t stop with her every time she did eventually understand the concept and enjoyed us all getting a chance to unwrap a treat, I got a temporary tattoo (2 days later it still is firmly in place, so pleased I didn’t go with her wish of sticking it on my forehead). Of course by some miracle the final unwrap landed on her lap and she won the prize.

Armful of babes

With the birthday celebrations finished we made our way back once again to the campsite. As I said before the buses in Brighton are so frequent and in all directions we never wait more than a couple of minutes and then the ride up towards the Marina where the campsite is takes about ten minutes or so.

Once off the bus there is a very pleasant ten minute walk over the park to get back to the campsite. Look what we found this time, on the tennis courts there appeared a pop up Covid Testing tent!

sdr
Just a walk in the park!

The next day the weather looked very good. We needed to go back to see the family again as this time it was Silke’s dads birthday and we were going to look after her so they could go out for a spot of lunch. We togged ourselves up for a brisk walk from the campsite into town. The sky was what I always call Brighton Blue and everything looks so cheerful and like a proper seaside with that sky as a backdrop. The walk takes about three quarters of an hour and its along the front pretty much all of the way. There is a little train that runs from quite close to the Marina down to near the Pier. It is called The Volks Train. https://volksrailway.org.uk/ The train was originally opened in 1883. It was invented by Magnus Volks and is the worlds oldest operating electric railway. So if you fancy taking the weight of your legs on the walk perhaps you could try this.

Volks Train

We carried on shanks pony and the next thing on my radar was this statue, who is it? this fine athlete?

Steve Ovett

We finally made it to the Pier. Not too busy today but everything was open and it is free to have a stroll along. Here is the link for you.https://www.brightonpier.co.uk/

of course this is not the first pier in Brighton. The original pier was opened in 1866. It is opposite The Grand hotel and was the first pier to be Grade 1 listed. It became derelict and was closed in 1975. The bad storms in 2002 caused lots more damage and then fires destroyed most of the remaining structure. Its framework still remains and we love to watch the massive murmuration of starlings at sundown.

My all time favourite funfair ride is the galloping horses or as it is properly called, a carousel. As we walked along I spotted it was up and running. The cost was three pounds so I hopped aboard. Everything was wiped down before you take a saddle and then the music fires up and off we went. I loved it, big kid!

Giddy Up!
Eye 360 Selfie

Almost at our destination just two more photo opportunities to squeeze in the walk. The British Airways Eye360 can be seen from miles away. I have still not plucked up the courage to take a ride but it is on my list of must do things. On a bright day like today it must have been fab up there.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_i360 I decided today a selfie would have to do.

Wedding Bandstand

This photo is of this gorgeous bandstand that is registered for weddings. Underneath it there is a cute café with inside and outside seating. I have yet to see a wedding taking place but sure it would be so romantic, perhaps if I get married again lol!

There is so much to see and do in Brighton. It has its very unique vibe. I really love to visit and the Caravan and Motorhome Club site is tucked away in a hollow just behind the Marina. This site also has glamping pods and airstreams that can be hired too, here is the link to the site.https://www.experiencefreedom.co.uk/locations/regions/south-east/east-sussex/brighton/

It is our last day of this caravan trip tomorrow and we are staying on site. I shall take a few pics and post them on my last blog. We intend to have a game of boule, a few drinks and a gentle day doing nothing in particular, see you tomorrow!

Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Day 14. Birthday 1 Blog

Birthday Benedict

Day 14 of this caravan blog off is all about John. John my husband of thirty years looks forward to his birthday. He tries very hard to discover what his presents are and for sure would be trying to guess what they are. He was 73 yesterday…… unbelievable, how could that be? It seems the third week in September has the most birthdays, something to do with it being 9 months after Xmas, too many tipples maybe! Anyway, we have three birthdays in this one week and Johns comes in first. Last week you might remember that Terry cooked an eggs benedict when we were still in Malvern. I decided to do the same dish for birthday breakfast. It worked perfectly and we both ate every scrap.

After John had opened his presents and his six cards (as you get older you get less cards not more, unless you are Sir Tom lol) We got ready to go out for a couple of hours. Our daughter Kit, her partner Finn and the baby were collecting us to go out for a spot of lunch. The weather was blustery and showery so we got our cagoules on and out we went.

Birthday Blue!

Our carriage collected us from outside the Caravan and Motorhome Club site here at Brighton and we drove just a couple of miles to Rottingdean. After trying to find a country style pub but failing to find parking we settled for a Greene King chain pub called The White Horse. It was perfectly fine. In fact it had a commanding view of the choppy sea. All Covid measures in place and fab people looking after us. John loves fish and chips so I gave in once again and had the same. We did discover they do a decent vegan menu too.

https://www.greenekinginns.co.uk/hotels/white-horse-hotel-rottingdean/

After such a big breakfast and lunch the next thing on our agenda was a snooze! We were dropped off at the site and got settled down for a couple of hours rest. John started to have a look at his presents. We call him Mapman sometimes as he is very keen on maps. Our girls had ordered an ordnance survey jigsaw of where we live for him, hours of fun ahead!

I needed to reset myself as I had volunteered to cook for the last of this seasons run of cook a long live with Great British Food Festivals. Normally I work with this company and do live cooking and baking demos at their food festivals up and down the country. With everything scrapped for this year they decided to do some fun cook a longs on YouTube. As it was Johns birthday I said I would demo my take on beef stroganoff. This involves setting my phone up and zooming using my tripod, here you see me setting up. below the pic you can see the link to take a look.

https://cookalonglive.com/info.php?id=45

The recipe worked out for everyone and we had a good laugh along the way. You can still view all of the cook a long sessions on the Great British Food Festivals Youtube. We set the table and opened a very good bottle of Burgundy that our girls had given to John and tucked in once again.

Table for Two

After we had cleared away John started on his presents again, thank goodness not the jigsaw. I had bought him a book that Matt Allwright (him off telly) had published last month. Matt and I did a little forum together at the NEC caravan motorhome club show back in February and he is so lovely and I felt confident John would love the book. He does, glued to it! Look here he is… I bought it through Amazon, here is the link

So there we have it, for once a blog that is not all about me 🙂 Now I need to get myself organised for the next birthday looming, Silke turns 4 on day 16 blog, I need to sort a cake!

Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Day 13,blog, sea swim!

Day 13 started with a quick radio interview with BBC Radio Sheffield. All Bake Off chatter as the new series starts tonight. It is much heralded due to the filming conditions around a Covid bubble. Well done to Love Productions for pulling it off.

After that we needed to get some groceries. There is a big Asda close to the campsite here at Brighton or a Lidl, plus lots of small shops. On the way back into the site we spotted something new, hire bikes! Then lo and behold an Air Ambulance landed at the side of us. Very exciting for a Tuesday morning.

Park at entrance to the site
Morning practice

We had made plans to go to the beach today as it was forecast to be the last warm day of the current good spell. It is also the Autumn equinox so it seemed a symbolic day to have a dip in the briny. Our daughter suggested a quiet beach close to the campsite at Ovingdean. It was perfect as we had our little granddaughter Silke and baby grandson Nicu with us. We timed it so that we got there when it was low tide and we could have a poke about in the rockpools.

Then we found a patch of sand on the otherwise pebble beach. It was time for a bit of sandcastle building. Silke was determined to go it alone.

We had a snack from the very good small cafe and a cold drink and we waited for the tide to come in a bit so we could have a dip. The weather changed very suddenly and became over cast and cool. Autumn arrived, just like that. We stripped off and in we went. I must admit I took quite a bit of cajoling but once in it was perfect. There is something called grounding apparently which is best done in a body of water, good for the soul and all of that. I must admit it was very exhilarating, I loved it.

Silke

After we came out of the sea it was time to head back to the caravan and have a good hot shower in the facilities block and freshen up. The facilities here on the Caravan and Motorhome Club site are spotless, warm and even have piped radio playing! We had a cuppa and then headed into town on the bus. Remember it is Bake Off tonight and we were going to watch it at our daughters flat. We ordered in a takeaway, a very rare treat and settled down to enjoy. Silke went off to bed but baby Nicu stayed up a while, he is the most smiley baby ever.

Arriving to watch Bake Off
Nicu

We all thought the first episode was very good. The bakers were very relaxed and they did look to be having the best time. It is a very unique experience and the show is very special, iconic really. After we had dissected the show and had a couple of drinks we headed back home (caravan) ready for day 14, which will be Johns birthday, so more high jinx to come!

Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Caravan Blog, Day 9.

One of the reasons I decided to blog this trip was to ensure we got out and about and saw local attractions. It is very easy on this type of holiday to get into the groove of staying around the site and putting off venturing out. You get into the relaxing vibe, which is great sometimes but does mean you can miss out on things. So here we are on day 9 and we are heading to the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth. I last visited in the 1960s when I was a youngster, we have photographs posing by HMS Victory but of course back then the Tudor warship Mary Rose was still resting at the bottom of the Solent. So hold on to your hats off we go!

Hello Sailor!

Wow, when I spied this massive sculpture it reminded me of The Kiss by Rodin. Very passionate. Can you imagine all those sailors docking into the harbour after a stint away and their loved ones waiting to welcome them home? Its not the first thing you see when you get into the Historic Dockyard though. the first thing is HMS Victory, in all its pot bellied splendour. Fantastic, utterly breath taking. This warship was one of the most successful of all time, leading fleets in historic wars such as as The American War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars. Nelson died on board too, another iconic moment in history. He was fatally shot on 21st October 1805.

HMS Victory

We had booked ticket to go in to see the Mary Rose. Mary Rose was a Tudor warship. It was built for Henry 8th in 1510. She fought battles for over thirty years against the French. She capsized off the coast of Portsmouth during the Battle of the Solent in 1545. Almost all of the 500 crew were lost to the seabed along with all of their possessions. For centuries she lay there and after 400 hundred years a complicated salvage operation commenced. The Mary Rose rose again in 1982 and a collection of over 19000 items were recovered and these are all on display in the Mary Rose museum. The full skeleton of the ships dog is there too, possibly a whippet, used on board to catch rats! The name for the ship was chosen by Henry 8th. Mary for his sister and the virgin Mary and Rose for the Tudor Rose, I thought that was very touching.

Mary Rose

After that we sat and had a bit of lunch watching and waiting! We had been told that one of the aircraft carriers in the harbour was due to sail at 1.00pm. We knew this would be a sight to behold so waited and waited and waited. There were crew on board and signs of things about to happen but after a couple of hours rumours came that the mission had been postponed, ah well it had been grand sitting in the sun.

Prince of Wales Aircraft Carrier

I just love a boat trip. Last year we had a cruise on the Norfolk Broads for a couple of hours (yes I know literally know how to push the boat out we do!!) So this year it had to be a ride around Portsmouth Harbour. We were on the last sailing but I am so glad we did it. The commentary was very good. We were told lots of history about pretty much everything we could see. warships, banana boats, ferries, tugs, the Spinnaker Tower and such a lot more. Worth every penny of the ten pound per head ticket.

Ship Ahoy!
Selfie, No I am not water skiing!

After a very full day we headed back to our Camping and Caravan Club site near Fareham. This site is as usual fab in itself but there is a section reserved for folks needing an overnight before setting sail to France or Spain. Brittany Ferries sail from Portsmouth, so that’s worth knowing about! The campsite has a fish and chip van visit on Friday teatimes. It came highly recommended so we decided to have treat and a rest from cooking for me. However I couldn’t resist making a starter, not something we often bother with. the words Mary Rose had been playing in my head all day. Prawn cocktail it had to be then. The pink sauce that you get on the classic retro starter was developed by the chef catering for the restoration of the Mary Rose. The cocktail has been around for years so I don’t know how true that is. What I do know is how easy it is to make. A combination of mayo, ketchup, drops of Tabasco and a squeeze of lemon and that is it. So tangy and delicious! The fish and chips along with bread and butter and mushy peas were fantastic.

Plenty of salt and vinegar!

I did manage a tiny bake before we set off out for the day. One of my facebook/Twitter friends Brendan Kailer Lieb had offered me a recipe for apple topped biscuits. I still have Elgar’s apples to use so I gave them a whirl. Quick and easy and now all eaten, they were smashing, thank you Brendan.

Elgar’s apples once again.

Quite a hefty days blog but I hope you have enjoyed it. Here are a few links if you need more information

https://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/southern-england/hampshire/rookesbury-park-caravan-club-site/

https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/

There we go , signing off for another day 🙂

Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Day 7: Caravan Blog Off (don’t go to sleep)

A whole week has been and gone since I decided to write this blog. A good thing about writing it is that it makes sure that I get something done each day. Caravan, motorhome or camping holidays are good news for lots of people, especially now with the pandemic causing havoc with holiday plans. It is sort of the essence of the experience that you are outdoors much of the time and social distancing is in place with everyone having their own emplacement. This style of holiday really means you can be as busy out seeing and doing as you wish or can just put your feet up and relax. I try to do a bit of each and the blog ensures I find something of interest to absorb and write about.

If you have been following the blog each day you will know we have been at Malvern in Worcestershire. Terry and his little dog Meg joined us for a few nights and we had a great time. Quite busy, with cooking antics as well as getting around the area. We waved goodbye to them and then we hitched up and pointed the Sat Nav in the direction of south. We had booked our next stop at the Caravan and Motorhome Club Site near Fareham in Hampshire. It is only a handful of miles from Portsmouth and the ferry ports to France: https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/southern-england/hampshire/rookesbury-park-caravan-club-site/

The weather for the journey of about 130 miles was once again great. Blue skies, full sun and the roads were surprisingly quiet. We turned off the motorway near Newbury and it all seemed very familiar to me. Each week when I was filming for The Great British Bake Off, I disembarked the train at Newbury and waited for the bakers mini bus to pick me up and take me off to the hotel. Ah happy days!

We made it!

I always love arriving at a new destination and this was a first for me. The welcome from the wardens on site was lovely. The little shop had a good selection of groceries and holiday bits and bats. We found ourselves a pitch and started the process of setting up. Now we have done this so many times it really should be a breeze but we always seem to find a problem that stumps us. This time it was getting the van level, we had the blocks and extra lumps of wood. I have a mini spirit level that I use for my cakes too. Could we hummer get it right. We sort of compromised in the end and decided that if it was a bit slope-y when we were trying to sleep we would say it was the wine we drank with dinner!

Our trusty steed, she is only about 20 years old!

Once we were up and running it was time to do a spot of people watching. From our pitch I can see one lady under a parasol crocheting, I can see one lady in a horizontal position baking herself (it is hot), one gentleman is changing a wheel on his bike and everyone else seems to be sitting with a cold drink in their hands. When we had Terry with us we didn’t bother watching TV but I fancied catching up with the goings on on Coronation Street so we got the set fixed up. Slight hitch in that we couldn’t figure out how to plug in the booster cable. the warden came down and showed us, he was so nice. I felt a bit of a goon as once you knew it was obvious!!

I had another cook a long live booked in the evening. I was hosting so I had to get myself geared up for that. The whole thing is done by zoom so a good wifi connection is important. The club wifi was fine. The dish we were cooking was egg curry. I had forgotten to buy eggs so I used a tin of butter beans and some par boiled potato. It was actually very delicious, I even saved a bit for breakfast…. I know I know but the flavours intensify overnight especially eaten cold!!

Curry for Breakfast

So just a short blog today as it was a travel day but I have a visit and a recipe in mind for tomorrow so watch this space, same time, same place tomorrow! Thanks for reading x

Baking Caravan Blog September 2020 GBBO Visits

Caravan Blog: Day 6

Eggs Benedict

How do you like your eggs in the morning? I like mine with a smile! That’s how the song goes. Well to start our day off with an energy boost I made eggs benedict, first time ever. Terry showed me the ropes as it is his regular brekkie. Very delish. it is a toasted muffin, or in our case sliced bread with grilled bacon, poached eggs and a dollop of hollondaise sauce. terry likes to add a bit of parmesan and a trimming of green herbs, we used parsley and that is it. Apparently it was invented by a chef in the 1860’s for a Mrs Benedict who was fed up of bacon and eggs. We cheated (camping allowed) and used a packet of hollondaise but I did learn a crafty trick with the poached eggs. Terry cracked each one into cling film draped over a cup and made a little bag containing each egg, twisted secure at the top. All the eggs went in the pan at the same time for three minutes, and hey presto, perfect poached eggs!

The reason we wanted a hefty breakfast was we were going to walk along the Malverns. We set off in the car and found a place to park up and began the climb along the tops. very hot and very beautiful. I decided to take Terrys little dog Meg and wait it out in the shade while John and Terry went up to the beacon. It was really grand!

Malvern Selfie

We headed back to the caravan and camping club site at Malvern where we were pitched, had a shower and cuppa and then headed off to a farm shop that had been recommended to us. Clive fruit farm – it was on the edge of Upton on Severn. We had decided on a BBQ for tea so we bought what we fancied from the butchers department. I spied a big barrel of what was called Wobble Juice so decided it was too interesting a name to ignore. Scrumpy pressed on the farm! I bought some to take back to the caravan, well it had to be done! We had an ice cream and headed back to site.

John fired up the charcoal BBQ and I assembled the Safari Chef 2 Cadac. We had lamb burgers, sausages (of course) and I skewered up some pork for kebabs, which were doused in the wobble juice! It was a real feast and the evening was still warm and sunny.

I used up some left over mash and transformed them into potato cakes, I just added plain flour, goat cheese and spices. I used the cadac to heat them up and they got a fab crusty bottom on them!

We also had afters! remember all those Elgar’s apples? Terry used some up and made apple cream horns with from scratch puff pastry, hey how about that then!!

What a great finale to our few days at Malvern. We really have had the best time. To top it off the new bakers for The Great British Bake Off 2020 were announced so BBC Hereford and Worcester called us up during our BBQ to chat on air about the bake off, icing on the cake

Baking Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Caravan Blog: Day 5

Day five of my travel blog already. As I mentioned yesterday Terry from my Bake Off year joined us on the campsite here at Malvern Hills. We had a great site based first day with him but I had a visit lined up for us today. I had started to follow a patisserie wholesaler on Instagram, just because their beautiful wares had taken my eye. I have always been in awe of anyone that can make the patisserie that the french are renowned for. I discovered that the company is in Cheltenham just a half hours drive from the campsite. They agreed to show us their work and premises so off we went to find them.

When we arrived we were welcomed by Bee and she gowned us up to make us Covid safe and we went in and were introduced to her husband Xavier the Patissier. Born near Geneva he moved to the UK aged twenty and worked in the likes of the Ivy and Harrods, where he met Bee. Ten years ago they set up The Patisserie Box and supply to the wholesale market. Like everyone they have been hit hard by the pandemic but are up and running now and trying to adapt the the changing world.

Here we are with Xavier who shows us how to make the most delicious chocolate mousse with a hard to spell almondy biscuit base. I was mesmerised by the beauty of everything they made and was really delighted when we were gifted a few items to take away with us to sample back at the site.

Team of Four

Here is the link to their website https://www.thepatisseriebox.com/ I suggested they apply for Bake Off The Professionals and they told us they have been approached a few times but can’t afford to close down their unit for the length of time filming would take, shame as they are great!

Once back on site we settled down to relax and just enjoy the sunshine. It was so hot, everyone was out doing their own thing which mostly seemed to involve a BBQ and cold drinks. Our little trio plus Meg the dog had other plans for supper on a really hot day you have got to have some steak pie and mash, of course you do!! It was Terry’s turn to do the hospitality and he made a de constructed steak pie, the pastry was made from scratch, puff too! It was exceptional, as you can see I almost forgot to take a photo as we tucked right in, so excuse the half eaten potato tower!

Our plans for tomorrow include a walk up and along the Malverns and a trip into Upton on Severn. It will be our last night at the Malvern site and we are going to have a BBQ. Terry will be leaving to return home and we will head south but that’s all another day and another blog. So for today readers, cheers for staying with me and there is two more weeks of blog to come so stay tuned!

Baking Caravan Blog September 2020 GBBO Visits

Caravan Blog: Day 4

Here we are on day four already. Still the sun shines, it is so fantastic and makes a big difference to a trip. Terry – my friend that I met while we were both competitors on The Great British Bake Off – arrived onsite. He drove down from his home in his motorhome. It was so brilliant to see him again, we keep on touch by zoom but its always better in real life. We decided that we would do a local bake on site and video it. We came up with a Malvern Pudding. It is normally steamed but we decided to bake it in the oven to save the gas, steaming takes so long. The bake itself is like an apple cake (remember all those apples from Elgar’s orchard!) We made a caramel sauce to pour over the top. Everything worked out fine and the elderly gentleman next to us was intrigued with our antics. He said ‘please get an article in the Caravan and Motorhome magazine’ as he thought it would prove to be of interest to members, perhaps we will 🙂

See on this photo, Terry’s little dog Meg got a piece of the action. She is such a little princess and just as fluffy and even tempered as a teddy bear. gorgeous!

Remember the pizza dough I made yesterday? Well here is the result. We enjoyed it sat in the sun and we also had something very special to wash it down with. Terry has his own craft brewery and as a surprise brought us a big crate of three of his finest. I am not a beer connoisseur but these were really fine and a little history with each bottle. Also he brought cheese from his own cheese place and some honey from his bees.

We had a meal in our caravan. I made something from Rick Stein, not fish though, it was a Croatian pot roast, slow cooked in balsamic vinegar and red wine with dates and apples in the mix! Beautiful!!

So that was day four. A steady day all on the campsite. Next up is a trip to a patisserie in Cheltenham, see how the professionals do it, very excited to see. Watch this space, will report asap!