I Would Walk 500 miles!

Being a lifelong Proclaimers fan a chance to meet Craig and Charlie had me in a spin!

Sean wheels 500 miles and now does 500 more!

Sean Allerton from RAF Church Fenton is wheelchair bound after he was paralysed when serving with the RAF. Sean decided to set himself a challenge to wheel 500 miles.

The Proclaimers with Sean finishing his first 500 miles

So who better than The Proclaimers to set him off and most importantly see him home!

This former gunner wheeled for 6 charities that had helped him with his life changing accident.

Craig and Charlie were there to set him off on his way, sadly the weather was a little different on the way back! I went along with a friend who I begged an invite from. Thanks Ron.

Charlie Reid and Steph in the pouring sleet and rain (I look about 30 yrs older! bitter cold needed to try and keep my ears warm!)

Meeting Charlie on the walk was great fun. We discussed their gig at the Grassington Music Festival I went to see a few years back. Also the fact The Proclaimers are going back to America and doing a tour.

To sponsor Sean visit http://www.push500.com as he is now doing 500 more – Just as The Proclaimers sing!

But in the bitter cold of the airfield and the sleet and rain I kept thinking I need a hot toddy to warm me up!

And if I could of I would have given one to Sean and The Proclaimer lads.

So a Wild Cooks hot toddy with a difference

Please see recipe here…..

One vital ingredient is Honey and being a Yorkshire food fan it made perfect sense to use Yorkshire Honey- this is the ingredient that inspired the name of the latest resident in the Moon household please meet Honey!

This is Honey Moon! I know it is cheesy but i love it! We only call her Honey and occasionally Honey Monster!

Yes I have a hound! A King Charles Cavalier and she is 10 wks old.

I hope you try this simple hot toddy with a difference and enjoy!

 “I’m on ma way” as the boys would sing…

Lets hope it is “Sunshine on Leeds” soon a Yorkshire twist to a classic song from the guys.

 Steph x

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Skyfall in Harrogate!

00 heaven falling apples in Harrogate!

For wild cooks everywhere now is the time to fill your larders with some 00 Heaven!

James Bond- Daniel Craig is a local guy so perhaps he loves these apples as much as we do!

Bruised and battered apples that have done the ‘skyfall’ are the things we are all given and do not know what to do with.

The odd spot on the apple or slight bruising means eating raw is out of the question so why not roll up the sleeves wash your hands and get busy making some Autumn Chutney.

This is such a simple thing to make and everyone has a different recipe for chutney.

Here is my recipe but the advice I would give is do not be precious about your chutney. It is a robust thing just like Mr Bond!

THE RECIPE

A change of the recipe here and there makes this base your own and depending on your fruit availability can be adapted to other fruits –pears, plums and so on.

Chutney can more or less get out of any difficult situation you put it in and big pots of bubbling chutney can make amazing gifts at Christmas and not break the bank. Everyone will be impressed with your effort if nothing else!

Can you Adam and Eve it!

Steph x

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It’s raining in my heart! Blackberry to the rescue….

Well no wonder the blackberries are early the weather does not know what it is doing at present. Do not get me started on global warming!

Here is a global warmer with a difference!

Blackberrys

Why not try our Blackberry Rumtopf…

This is our seasonal innovation for the coming month, the blackberries are on every bush nationwide and it is time to fill your boots people!

This quick and easy recipe is a corker. A great idea for a Christmas gift with a difference.

PLEASE READ>>>

So were to find the blackberries?…

 Well they are to be found usually on the hedgerow around fields and often on roadside hedges.

The thing to remember here is if the road is a busy one leave them on the hedge as the car fumes will have affected the taste and rendered them nasty and inedible.

I usually go to the Golf Club woods here at Rudding Park and find plenty as well as other areas of the hotel grounds.

You can make up your Rumtopf with other fruits too…

What we are looking for is prickly brambles (no one said this was easy picking folks. Expect some light scaring! or wear rubber gloves…)

Look for the purple plump clumps of blackberrys

What fun and having a broken Blackberry phone at the moment these Ribena bullets of joy are definitely my Blackberry of choice given half a chance!

Bam a lam whoe Black Berry!!!

Steph x

(With sticky dyed fingers!)

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How Much Wood Would a Woodruff Ruff if a Woodruff Could Ruff …Ruff?!

First things first, eating enough of this forager find is said to help thin your blood, perhaps a good thing if you feel you’ve clogged up your arteries with rather unhealthy bbq/summer meals these last few months. However, even if you live by a healthy routine, i’d definately recommend giving it a go!

Sweet Woodruff

This find is sometimes called ‘wild baby’s breath’ and has a perfume flower that has been likened to vanilla and sometimes sweet hay.

Being a farmer’s daughter this is another smell I know well and hay time was always, without question, the best smelling time of the year!

But we are not here to make Pot Pourri (although it is supposed to be brilliant dried for that very purpose, I could make some for my Grandmother I guess!), we are here to cook. So what’s the crack…?

Well, anyone for a refreshing tonic tea?  Sweet woodruff makes a great cup of herbal tea, infusing both the vanilla and sweet hay flavours to produce a perfect summer brew.

Children may enjoy a glass of sweet woodruff infused milk, however having just looked after my two eight year old nephews I do not think they would have thanked me for sweet woodruff milk! I think they’d have much preferred a fruit shoot! Although they did love my mugwort beef stew (mainly, I think, because they did not know what it was!).

Perhaps I could make them something with wild raspberries, guys there are tonnes of wild raspberries around at the moment, it’s a great day out with the kids and you can all ‘fill your boots’ as they say! I recently went down to the golf woods here at RuddingPark and we made a great dessert from the raspberries we found.

Wild raspberry picking but watch out for those nettles!

Back to the ruff…

So what to do with sweet woodruff when you find it? There are so many recipes, from sweet jellies to marinades, syrups, desserts or even some of the more delicate fish dishes.

And more importantly what does it look like and where do you find it? We’re looking for a plant growing about 20cm in height, the flowers are small and white in colour with almost star shaped petals. The leaves are a very lush green colour with pointed tips and bunch together in groups of six to eight. The leaves have little hooks on them that stick to you like Velcro. The season begins in May time, so keep your eyes peeled from then on.

In order to grow sweet woodruff you need mildly acidic soil and shady areas. Even though it is a difficult plant to get going, once it starts it will really take a hold.

So there you have it folks, sweet woodruff is worth the effort to find. It is great in small quantities and is another wonder of this amazing world we love living in….

‘Sweeting out the ruff’ in the Rudding Park woods!

Steph x

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