Bento boxes in Walrus
Grease at the open air cinema
On our motor boat on Lake Windermere
I have now returned to work following a wonderful week off.
On Monday we went to Hebden Bridge to stay with a family friend in her hotel. She had allocated us her 'Juliet' room, a lovely room with a balcony. In the evening I wore my new mint green Grecian dress then we met in the bar for wine before going to Rim Nam, a local Thai restaurant. The food was fantastic! Giant juicy prawns, succulent duck, lots of crispy, meat filled parcels dipped in salty soy and then a desert I wish I could remember but by then a wine fuelled fog had surrounded me.
Tuesday was spent wandering lazily round the shops and reading the latest OK! and Heat with big mugs of tea, slightly regretting the amount of wine I drank the night before. For dinner we went to a great pub, The Stubbings Wharf, for local cider and excellent pub grub. I had game stew in a huge Yorkshire pudding and the boyfriend had steak and ale pie. This was followed by a huge portion of treacle sponge and custard for me and cider sorbet for him. Both lovely. Then it was onto my friend's bar for their weekly quiz, where we missed out on first place by 1 point! I can't take any of the credit though, I only managed to answer the maths question. This wasn't down to too much wine, just my inability to retain general knowledge. I have since learnt though what the Kremlin is.
Wednesday was home to Manchester, a quick outfit change then straight to Selfridges. I bought a black and cream striped mini-dress from Warehouse and a new pair of leggings from Topshop. I could have bought much more, namely a pair of black trousers for work that fitted perfectly and a cute red puff sleeve jumper, but I resisted. I love wandering around Selfridges, especially the food section, lots of huge bowls of delicacies and delights that leave me lingering in front of the glass counter and ridiculously expensive American breakfast cereals that remind me of childhood trips to Florida. There are often new oils and balsamic vinegars to try and the spice section never fails to excite. Recently I bought some unexpectedly super-hot paprika which I tried in a Spanish beef stew, and loved, so this time I bought the sweet version. Then I headed to Marks and Spencer for fresh bread, three different cheeses, Parma ham, plum tomatoes and chutney, all things that make for a very tasty, but effortless meal.
Thursday we got an early train to Windermere hoping for sunshine, a boat trip, fish and chips and lots of greedy ducks to feed. The pretty tourist town delivered, with the exception of rubbish 'chippy' chips (coming from Grimsby I have high expectations of fish and chip shops). We had a fantastic day, thankfully we had remembered the factor 30, with my red hair and pale skin I am very careful in the sun. Plus tans are horrid and the plan is to look 35 when really I am 50. We had to endure a long and noisy two hour train journey where a group of teenage campers sang every track on their I pod libraries, out loud and might I add, terribly, and, to make a bad situation worse, a group of toddlers squealed for a whole hour without once being told by their parents to shush. Then we went to Spinningfields to watch Grease at the open air cinema. Our seats weren't great but the popcorn and complimentary glass of Eve certainly helped and we had fun. I walked home singing...'totally devoted to youuuuuuu'.
On Monday we went to Hebden Bridge to stay with a family friend in her hotel. She had allocated us her 'Juliet' room, a lovely room with a balcony. In the evening I wore my new mint green Grecian dress then we met in the bar for wine before going to Rim Nam, a local Thai restaurant. The food was fantastic! Giant juicy prawns, succulent duck, lots of crispy, meat filled parcels dipped in salty soy and then a desert I wish I could remember but by then a wine fuelled fog had surrounded me.
Tuesday was spent wandering lazily round the shops and reading the latest OK! and Heat with big mugs of tea, slightly regretting the amount of wine I drank the night before. For dinner we went to a great pub, The Stubbings Wharf, for local cider and excellent pub grub. I had game stew in a huge Yorkshire pudding and the boyfriend had steak and ale pie. This was followed by a huge portion of treacle sponge and custard for me and cider sorbet for him. Both lovely. Then it was onto my friend's bar for their weekly quiz, where we missed out on first place by 1 point! I can't take any of the credit though, I only managed to answer the maths question. This wasn't down to too much wine, just my inability to retain general knowledge. I have since learnt though what the Kremlin is.
Wednesday was home to Manchester, a quick outfit change then straight to Selfridges. I bought a black and cream striped mini-dress from Warehouse and a new pair of leggings from Topshop. I could have bought much more, namely a pair of black trousers for work that fitted perfectly and a cute red puff sleeve jumper, but I resisted. I love wandering around Selfridges, especially the food section, lots of huge bowls of delicacies and delights that leave me lingering in front of the glass counter and ridiculously expensive American breakfast cereals that remind me of childhood trips to Florida. There are often new oils and balsamic vinegars to try and the spice section never fails to excite. Recently I bought some unexpectedly super-hot paprika which I tried in a Spanish beef stew, and loved, so this time I bought the sweet version. Then I headed to Marks and Spencer for fresh bread, three different cheeses, Parma ham, plum tomatoes and chutney, all things that make for a very tasty, but effortless meal.
Thursday we got an early train to Windermere hoping for sunshine, a boat trip, fish and chips and lots of greedy ducks to feed. The pretty tourist town delivered, with the exception of rubbish 'chippy' chips (coming from Grimsby I have high expectations of fish and chip shops). We had a fantastic day, thankfully we had remembered the factor 30, with my red hair and pale skin I am very careful in the sun. Plus tans are horrid and the plan is to look 35 when really I am 50. We had to endure a long and noisy two hour train journey where a group of teenage campers sang every track on their I pod libraries, out loud and might I add, terribly, and, to make a bad situation worse, a group of toddlers squealed for a whole hour without once being told by their parents to shush. Then we went to Spinningfields to watch Grease at the open air cinema. Our seats weren't great but the popcorn and complimentary glass of Eve certainly helped and we had fun. I walked home singing...'totally devoted to youuuuuuu'.
On Friday we went to Walrus for bento boxes (very tasty but soggy tempura prawns) then wandered to the Chocolate Cafe for hot chocolates and chocolate marshmallows, both gorgeous. We sat in the sunshine and watched the world go by. Then it was home for a short sleep, (just a short one, you should never over cook the power nap) before getting dressed up and heading to EastzEast for possibly one of the best Indian meals I've ever had. A busy restaurant with a good atmosphere, excellent service, nice wine and a very good choice of dishes. To kick-start we had poppadoms and the pickle tray which had pickles I'd never tried before, like plum and ginger. For our main course I had the prawn dopiaza, the boyfriend had the chicken shashlik which is served with a masala chickpea sauce, and we shared a peshwari naan. For pudding I chose a traditional Indian desert that was soft white patties in a milk syrup delicately flavoured with saffron, cardomon and pistachios. It was all delicious. I have been raving about it ever since and can't wait to go again. Next time I'll make sure I haven't been out for lunch only hours before and actually have an appetite.
Saturday we had a very late breakfast in Cup and bumped into my friend, her husband and their beautiful son Roman. Then we saw The Taking of Pelham 123 at the cinema which we enjoyed. I had planned on seeing Coco Before Chanel, but I hadn't realised this was in French and rather shamefully subtitles on the big screen are a bit too much for me. I'll wait for the DVD.
Sunday was back to Hebden Bridge to meet my mum and sister and their men folk for Sunday dinner, expertly cooked by my friend. It was gorgeous! Roast chicken, huge Yorkshire puddings, creamy mash, lots of veggies and excellent homemade gravy. The sun was still shining and we were home in time for Jam and Jerusalem and Louis Theroux's latest.
You'll notice that food featured heavily in our week off, as a result this evening I will be torturing myself in front of my Davina DVD in the hope that if I get off my ar*e and do it three times a week I'll be back to my normal size in a month or so. Here's hoping.
It was a pleasure to spend a week with the boyfriend, he is rather good company!
Sunday was back to Hebden Bridge to meet my mum and sister and their men folk for Sunday dinner, expertly cooked by my friend. It was gorgeous! Roast chicken, huge Yorkshire puddings, creamy mash, lots of veggies and excellent homemade gravy. The sun was still shining and we were home in time for Jam and Jerusalem and Louis Theroux's latest.
You'll notice that food featured heavily in our week off, as a result this evening I will be torturing myself in front of my Davina DVD in the hope that if I get off my ar*e and do it three times a week I'll be back to my normal size in a month or so. Here's hoping.
It was a pleasure to spend a week with the boyfriend, he is rather good company!
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