Dorking, Food, Photographs

Lanzarote Cuisine

Originally uploaded by Yppop

It was a good thing I was recovering from illness when we went to Lanzarote. It saved me from being bothered about the lack of decent quality food there, that is, on the entire island.
This is an example of the random things found at the breakfast buffet at our otherwise [...]

A week of sunshine in Dorking is bringing with it tweeting birds and bursting buds.
Here is a macro shot of a willowesque catkin. It starts with a furry catkin that then blooms with these pollen-ended covered filaments

Noticing Jazzamatazz’s use of my Brockham bonfire pics got me thinking, is village life nice around here, or isolating?   We seriously considered getting a house in Betchworth but it was tiddly, overpriced and oh yeah, minature, but surrounded by beauty
Jazzamatazz describes the big village event as being a very good excuse for a family [...]

In 2007 we made a Nower Blackberry & Apple Crumble, after going blackberrying one saturday. This kept us in puddings for some days, albeit not sequential.
The Nower starts in Dorking and can be traversed all the way to Guildford.  At the Dorking end there is a field full of blackberries.  Being unprepared we emptied out [...]

Thinly sliced cured beef, homemade with the beef bought in Whole Foods, High Street Ken.  Just add salt, sugar and thyme.

A star shining through the bushes in Box Hill

Taking us all back to our childhood, we made some cakes recently…all 5 of us, like a production line. Taking full advantage of the Kenwood Major except for the butter icing which was hand beaten by my father in-law.
Here are some sugared violet petals on a vanilla cream

This is the product of the Delia Smith’s “How to Cook One” Coffee and Walnut Cake. I had to put in a great deal more coffee and sugar to make the icing flavoursome. It lasted sufficiently for about 5 days which was good.
It really was a ‘gateau’, rather than cake, me thinks. [...]

I was tipped off by The Dorking Blog (manic depressive local blogger with an ear to the ground) that the local chocolate shop, which as he rightly says hardly ever opened, had changed hands. Since I am a big fan of good local stuff, I thought I’d drop in and check it out.
The chap (owner?) [...]