Loadsa garlicHello June. These days I tend just to lurk here, and only post occasionally. I mainly post in uks and the Shedde these days. Ah yes; I...
On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 09:37:58 +0100, The Reids
Thanks - I hadn't been looking at the news much. There's only one of the family in Galicia. I haven't heard he's affected but as he's a vet I suppose there may be a knock-on effect. Most are in Asturias. I haven't heard of that area being affected as yet. I don't think they've been suffering the drought - it's surprising to see that damp Galicia has. My d-in-l might be quite pleased to see some fires in Asurias if it were only the eucalyptus groves that were burned. They were introduced artificially for fast-growing pit props for the mining industry and for paper making. Now they've taken over from natural oak, chestnut etc in many areas.
Her mother has been staying with them in Kent - lovely spot in a huge, almost deserted private park, thinking of another thread. (It used to belong to a stately home) Large shallow lake with ducks, babbling brook for Pooh Sticks, bridge for a troll (in the nicest sense) to live under... what a nice place for my two and three-quarter year-old grandaughter to be.
On topic ramble. They all came to stay last week so we ate well. Cromer crabs, whelks, prawns, samphire etc all fresh from Stamford market for the seafood feast - and reasonably priced. The brown crab meat was mixed with egg to make a spread. Surprisingly, given that they eat a lot of seafood that we ignore, samphire isn't generally eaten in Asturias although it certainly grows there. It went down well.
We also had some nice smoked cheeses and sausage (which went with full English breakfast) which I'd bought at a local show. They're evidently from a smoke house at Thorpe St Peter. Never heard of it before. It sems to be a tiny place not far from Skeggy. I'll check it out one day. We had a huge range of gorgeous cheeses because family here are on diet so we've been buying up cheese offers that were too good to miss faster than we've been eating them - Port Salut, mature Gouda, Gorganzola, Poacher etc etc.
We had a lovely big joint of beef for Sunday dinner - bought from very nice butcher on Oakham market. D-in-l did it in her favourite fashion from her childhood - pot roasted-braised with loads of onion garlic and white wine. Lovely with beans and potatoes from the garden. The leftover beef and gravy was gorgeous in sandwiches - reminds me of the tradition of pork and gravy dandwiches of the Black Country. Plenty left in the freezer, har har.
They went out to Whitstable for a day and liked it very much. They ate in an expensive and very good seafood restaurant. The staff commented how beautifully grandaughter behaved - she was the best behaved child they'd seen in months. This wasn't because of any inherent docility on her part - she is half Asturian after all - but because she enjoyed her meal so much, especially the mussels. Takes after both her parents. -- Phil C.
