July Roundup

Here's what we ate in July!

• 31st: Garden Fritatta
• 30th: Chili bean bake with sour cream mash
• 29th: Summer Lasagne with Goat Cheese
• 28th: Salmon with bean and cucumber salad
• 27th: Rice & Red Beans with Chicken
• 26th: Away
• 25th: Away
• 24th: Away
• 23rd: Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Salad
• 22nd: Honey and Sesame Chicken
• 21st: Spaghetti Bolognese (Geoff - Kate out)
• 20th: omelettes
• 19th: Chickpea & Spinach Curry
• 18th: Sausage and Puy Lentil Bake
• 17th: Mushroom Risotto
• 16th: Red Chicken Curry
• 15th: Cheese and Onion pasties
• 14th: Stromboli (one for Cubs, one for home)
• 13th: Ratatouille with goat cheese, lamb cutlets
• 12th: Tikka Salmon
• 11th: Sticky Pineapple Pork
• 10th: Gooey pasta bake
• 9th: Leftovers (cold chicken, paella)
• 8th: Mixed Vegetable Paella
• 7th: Roast Chicken, roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy
• 6th: Stir fried minced beef with chili, roasted rice and lemongrass, rolled in lettuce leaves
• 5th: Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Crunchy Salad
• 4th: Linguine with petits pois, braised little gem lettuce, parmesan and garlic
• 3rd: Courgette, sweetcorn and chorizo tacos
• 2nd: Leek and Rocket Soup, Biscuits with cheese and chives
• 1st: White Chili

July 31st: Garden Fritatta

recipe source: no idea

notes: this is one I've had for ages, and made several times in the past. Recently, Olivia has been learning to tolerate (if not actively like) dishes with larger amounts of egg in them, hence the influx of quiches, tarts and fritattas. We had this with crusty bread. Yum. I put in 7 eggs instead of 6 as it seemed silly to leave one lonely egg, and anyway, there were 5 of us eating it...

July 30th: Chili bean bake with Sour Cream Mash

recipe source: Good Food Magazine

notes: tasty. A few alterations, as this was one of those "what can I make from stuff I have in the house" meals - first off, I halved the recipe, as I didn't need to feed 10 people. I only had one pepper, so I used that. Then, I added a red chili I had knocking about and put yogurt instead of sour cream in the mash. Also, had no chives.  Still tasty, though!

Today's cycling event

Was more in the participatory nature, than the observatory. Alex, Olivia and I went for a ride up to Wimbledon Common, around the common, and back - we got out the Merton bike map and calculated it was about 12K or so in total. 

We didn't visit the Windmill Museum, as it is only open on weekends, 

but of course we did take the opportunity to eat & drink out of doors...

July 29th: Summer Lasagne with Goat Cheese

Recipe source: Sophie Grigson, Country Kitchen

notes:  I confess to not making tomato sauce from scratch. Otherwise, I followed the recipe on this - it was really nice. The goat cheese made it a little more piquant than something like mozzarella, but still satisfyingly cheesy. 

Tour de... Kingston on Thames?

Here's the peleton (in the ladies road race), racing past in the rain - which got a lot worse just a few minutes later - we all got drenched. Not as much as the riders, of course!

Notice how it's nice and sunny while we are waiting (this is a good thing, mind you, given that we were standing there for about an hour). 

Got a prime spot on the bridge, so we could have a look along the river while waiting...

This was right when we got there - it got a lot busier closer to the expected time for the leaders to come through. Sarah was going to come originally, but when the weather got more dubious looking she decided to stay home. 

You can see the sky beginning to darken ominously...

Here's our view, when we leaned out over the barrier. At this point, about 15 minutes before the leaders were expected, it was just a little drizzle.

About 10 minutes before, the police bikes started coming through...

and then the cars...

news helicopters...

and finally, the riders - I didn't manage to snap the lead three, by this time it was raining quite hard and I just didn't manage to get the shot in time (they pass in about 1 second!) - but this is the front of the peleton coming up on us...

Glad we went, even though we got a bit wet!  And Team GB won silver, so that's good, too.

July 28th: Salmon with bean and cucumber salad

Recipe source: Waitrose magazine, June 2011

notes:  I did make the salmon as well, and some new potatoes, but forgot to take a photo until the meal was almost done (leftover salad for lunch tomorrow). The salmon was just on the right side of cooked (i.e. not cooked enough for my mother) and the salad was nice, despite me having to sub peas for soya beans as the supermarket didn't have any and I didn't happen to have any in the freezer, which I often do.

Snickerdoodles

Sorry, American Museum in Bath, my Snickerdoodles are better than yours. These, actually, are largely Olivia's, though I did help a bit (with advice, mostly). They were still substantially better than the American Museum's Cafe. The view, however, wasn't nearly as nice...

July 27th: Rice and Red Beans with Chicken

Recipe source: Good Food

notes: This was nice, not particularly exciting, but certainly ok. 

Bath - Day 3

Started with a visit to the Fashion Museum and assembly rooms. 

Unfortunately, no photos allowed in the Museum, except for this bit where people could try on period dress. Both girls were gobsmacked at how heavy the dresses were.  These were Victorian, of course, not Regency like a lot of what we've been seeing in and around Bath.

Also popped up to visit No 1 Royal Crescent (again, no photos allowed inside), 

then on a stroll through the nearby gardens, spotted this great mini-golf course, so had to have a go. Sarah won.  I lost. Oh well.

Had some tea at Sally Lunn's, the oldest house in Bath, and tried the famous Sally Lunn buns (Sarah had scones). 

And finally finished up with a visit to the only one of the residences Jane Austen lived in in Bath actually marked with a plaque - and frankly, it wasn't any too prominent.  And then, home on the train - a great visit, but good to be back.  More photos from today's outings in my flickr album.

Bath, Day 2

After breakfast, we headed out to the American Museum, which is out by Bath University - a short bus ride out of town. We were a bit early, as the museum doesn't open until noon, so we followed a local public footpath for a while and found a lovely tree under which to sit in the shade and read - and it was so hot today that we really needed the shade!

The museum had a nice display of American history - including the requisite dressing up - 

cornhusk dolls,

beaded moccasins. 

a nice collection of quilts, 

furniture, and various other instances of the decorative arts.  I've put a lot more photos in my flickr album.

We had some tea on the terrace, 

a peek in the Folk Art Gallery, 

and a stroll around the Mt Vernon garden.

After coming back to Bath Centre, we hung out for a while in the hotel room, mainly to cool down, and then headed into town again for some dinner.  A good day all around. Tomorrow, we hit the Fashion museum and No 1 Royal Crescent - the bits of Bath a little north of where we are staying...

Summer of outdoor drinking continues...

More outdoor drinking  - ok, technically the photo above isn't outdoors, but it was in a very sunny window, so it sort of counts.  This was breakfast (one of the joys of being on holiday is eating out for breakfast).

But here we are actually outdoors, on the terrace at the American Museum, having some tea in the sun. Gorgeous.  Although my snickerdoodles are better than theirs, even if I do say so myself.

First Day in Bath

We started our visit to Bath with a trip to the Abbey (which you can see behind the baths here), and then visited the Roman Baths (I was there years ago with my mother, but they've redone the museum completely since then - for the better, I think, and with a nice, simple to use, audio tour).

After checking into our hotel and resting our feet for a while, we went back out to the Jane Austen Centre.  Here's Olivia modelling a bonnet and parasol.  She looked a lot more Regency than either Sarah or I did.

Late in the evening, we went out for some dinner, then a walk around, and along the river.  A nice first day. I've posted more photos on flickr, Day 1, part 1, which covers the Roman Baths and Abbey and Day 1, part 2, which covers the Jane Austen Centre and some other random strollings around Bath.