Christmas Weekend

Christmas Abel

Pheebs, Abel and I had our first Christmas open house at the weekend where we invited our friends and family to drop in for a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. We were extremely pleased at the number of folks who dropped in and it was certainly a great way to catch up with everyone. We think this might turn into a regular yearly event but perhaps we’ll make less cakes and biscuits next time otherwise we’ll have too much leftover……

A big thanks to our friends and family who make the effort to attend! πŸ™‚

A weekend in Fowey

View from the Cormorant

Just spent a nice long weekend at the The Cormorant Hotel in Fowey, Cornwall with Pheebs. This is actually the hotel in which we got engaged at so it was quite nice to return to the scene of the crime so to speak. The view from any hotel room, the food and wine quality were just as good as I remembered. We even returned back to the Lost Gardens of Heligan which whilst is still a magical place, wasn’t quite as vibrant as it was in spring. Still, it was a very pleasant weekend away with my wife. πŸ˜‰

Older….

Another milestone today in that I reached the grand old age of 38! Celebrated with a family and friends with a meal at the Anchor Inn, at Lower Froyle. I’d definitely recommend a visit as the atmosphere, staff, beer and food all top notch! πŸ˜‰

Lamb/Beef Pilau

Ruth (Phoebe’s Mum) gave me this recipe which we had when I visited at some point in the past.

Serves 4
Preparation Time: 16 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:
8oz basmati rice (Ruth cooks hers first and then adds to the meat)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8oz minced lamb or beef
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground or fresh coriander
1 1/4 pt veg stock
4 1/2oz dried apricots sliced (optional)
2 courgettes, chopped
2 tbs chopped fresh mint

Method:

Cook rice until tender and set asside. Heat oil in large shallow pan and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Turn up the heat, add the mince and fry until it browns. Add the spices, pour over some stock and simmer for 2/3 mins until the stock has gone. Stir in cooked rice, apricots + courgettes, remaining stock and bring to boil. Cover and cook over low heat until everything is well mixed and absorbed (around 10/15 mins). Season to taste, stir in chopped mint and serve.