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Country Fest even better |
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Cecilia's blog
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By Cecilia on
Monday, May 31, 2010 4:40 PM
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I have to say I enjoyed this year's installment of Country Fest (May 29-30 at the County Show grounds in Crookland) even more than last year. There was lots of gorgeous food to buy and try, and we had a great day.
Holker Farm Dairy produces two raw ewe's milk cheeses, St James, a wash rind cheese, and Swallet, a less matured cheese. Martin and Nicola are opening a cheese shop in Cartmel on June 5 – selling both British and continental cheeses.
The new shop is at Unsworth yard, a new development of small shops in central Cartmel. The shop will be open 10-5 every day.
We were very happy to see Mr Vikki back in action, after they were so badly hit in the floods in November. He is another Cumbrian producer who has made it into Fo ...
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Farm trail competition for young at Fell Gather |
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By Cecilia on
Monday, May 31, 2010 7:17 AM
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On June 12 there's one of Cumbria's best foodie events of the year. Fell Gather, organised by members of the Cumbria Farmer Network and held at Mitchell’s Lakeland Livestock Centre in Cockermouth, aims to explain and show the connections from field to plate and celebrate all aspects of Lakeland food and farming.
This year there's a great competition for children and young people visiting the show. They will be able to trace their own local food chain from fell and field to fork in a special competition trail around the Livestock Centre.
Scott Downton and Abigail Newton from Lakes College will be involved in the preparation and cooking of Herdie burgers at Fell Gather later this month.
“Visitors a ...
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Lucy's wins dessert award |
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By Cecilia on
Monday, May 24, 2010 12:20 PM
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Lucy's of Ambleside (Church St, Ambleside) has won an award as the Best Dessert Restaurant outside London. This is the 8th year of the Rémy Martin Restaurant Awards, presented in cooperation with Harden's Restaurant Reviews and Lucy’s of Ambleside has won the Coeur de Cognac Best Dessert – Rest of UK award.
Given the Lake District's renown for tea and cakes, Lucy Nicholson’s acclaimed Ambleside venture is a fitting first winner of the Coeur de Cognac Best Dessert award. If you live in the Lakes, this will come as no surprise, Lucy's made a real name for herself as the queen of puddings, and at the Ambleside restaurant there's an 'Up the Duff Pudding Night' every month, when nothing but 'afters' is served.
So – big congratulations to Lucy for the award, and also for the fact that the Church Street establishment was listed in Country Living Magazine as one of the country's top 25 tea rooms!
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Country Fest is Back! |
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Cecilia's blog
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By Cecilia on
Friday, May 21, 2010 7:50 AM
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Last year the organisers of the Westmorland County Show took over what used to be the Westmorland Food Lovers Festival and created the new Country Fest, giving visitors a taste of the countryside. This year's Country Fest will be held at the County Showfield, Crooklands on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 May, 2010. There will be a chance to meet food producers from Cumbria and the wider Northwest, and there will be cooking demonstrations using their produce. There will also be a Why Farming Matters show, a Pet Corner and various children's activities, as well as a beer festival, and stands and information on growing your own.
This was a great event last year, we'd recommend you come along this year!
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Orton celebrates 100 markets |
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Cecilia's blog
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By Cecilia on
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 8:47 AM
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Saturday May 8 saw the 100th Farmers Market in Orton and there were celebrations and a special cake as well as a new stallholder to join the team. To mark the 100th Farmers’ Market, stallholders had invited the villagers of Orton to a post-Market party with a fantastic buffet spread of local produce and a special cake, made by Jackie Mayes of Brampton near Appleby.
“Orton is such a peaceful place most of the time and we realise how much the villagers put up with once a month when we’re here,” says Market Coordinator, Leanne Duerden. “We decided that it would be good to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued patience and support. Invitations went to every house in the village and it was great to see so many people in the M ...
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Gordon's looking for best restaurant |
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Cecilia's blog
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By Cecilia on
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 12:24 PM
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I just had a call from a company called Optomen, who produce Gordon Ramsay's The F Word. Last year they ran a section in the programme looking for the best Indian, the best Italian and so on – in the country. You may have seen it, I watched a bit. Anyway, this year Mr R is doing a whole tv series dedicated to looking for the best restaurant in the country. And they are apparently not looking for the stared and rosetted establishments of this world!
Below is the blurb from Optomen - go on, nominate your favourite Cumbrian restaurant! Or, if you nominate three or more, you may have a chance of going along and eating with Gordon himself.
My nominations will be: the Jumble Room, the Yanwath Gate Inn and the George & Dragon.
Here's the Optomen bit:
RAMSAY’S BEST RESTAURANT
DO YOU KNOW BRITAIN’S BEST RESTAURANT?
Gordon Ramsay is look ...
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Wild and Fruitful heads for Fortnum & Mason |
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By Cecilia on
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 9:55 AM
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Jane Maggs of Wild and Fruitful, who we wrote about here a couple of weeks ago, did indeed win the Artisan category of the Marmalade festival, with her Lemon & Lavender Marmalade. We tasted it – all the artisan entries could be tasted in the old barn – and it worked superbly, and had a strong marmalady taste. This now means that Jane's marmalade will be stocked on the shelves of Fortum & Mason on Piccadilly in London. So big congratulations to Jane, and her colleague Jill Perry!
Jane accepting the award at Dalemain House on Feb 14
And here are some of the individual categories, on display in the house.
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Another coup for the Jumble Room |
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By Cecilia on
Monday, February 15, 2010 9:18 PM
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The fabulous Jumble Room down the road from us in Grasmere, tops the list of the TimesOnline's 20 "great little restaurants in Europe", chosen by their food writers. The verdict:
"This is the heartiest, happiest restaurant in the Lakes, squashed into a
corner cottage in Grasmere and serving hearty plates of stilton crostini,
Lebanese lamb and pumpkin risotto. The food is as eclectic as the decor, a
mad melange of country kitchen, 1950s kitsch and tart’s boudoir."
Hear, hear! Big congratulations to Andy and Chrissy!
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Sun due to shine on Marmalade festivities |
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Cecilia's blog
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By Cecilia on
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 2:58 PM
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Four days and counting, until Cumbria's favourite winter food event, the World's Original Marmalade Festival at Dalemain House. Don't miss it and make sure you support the food producers from Orton Farmers' Market by buying some of their fantastic fare!
Here's some info from the Festival organiser's press release:
The event on February 14 runs from 10am to 4pm and features world-class marmalades nestled along home-made favourites, which might have tempted the marmalade judges’ taste buds just as much and become rising stars of the marmalade world.
The prizes will be handed over at 11.30 am, including the Silver Cup for the Best in Show, presented by The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers. It will then ...
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Wild & Fruitful return to the Marmalade Comptetition |
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Cecilia's blog
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By Cecilia on
Tuesday, February 02, 2010 2:35 PM
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Jane Maggs, of Wild & Fruitful, must be Cumbria's top entrant into the Marmalade Competition held at Dalemain House during the 2010 World’s Original Marmalade Festival on February 14.
Jane, based in Wigton, won a Silver and two Bronze awards in the Artisan category of the 2009 . She and her colleague Jill Perry are currently preparing her 2010 entries and will again be competing in the Artisan category, in which any winner of a double Gold award will this year have the opportunity to have their marmalade on sale in Fortnum & Mason, London. Last year, Wild & Fruitful submitted its Seville Orange Marmalade with Whisky, Clementine & Cumquat Marmalade and Dark Seville Orange Marmalade. The first won Silver, whilst the other two both won Bronze.
Jane and Jill
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