My Blog focuses upon foraging and learning traditional methods of food preparation and preservation, working towards creating a banquet where everything served comes from the Estate. Rich
Whereas my blog looks at the flora and fauna to be found on the Estate, through the year. Whichever you are interested in, we hope you enjoy them. Em
Bannock Cross Buns
Try Bannock Cross Buns this Easter With Easter approaching I thought i would try an alternative to traditional hot cross buns. Sourdough Selkirk Bannock Buns. Thomas Rocliffe, a 14th-century monk, is widely credited as making the very first hot cross or Alban bun in...
Cheesy Does it !
Making Homemade soft cheese is both easy and rewarding and can start you on a quest leading to greater things. Cheese in all is various forms has been part of Human culture for thousands of years and its true origins are unknown. Principally it began as a means of...
Plenty of Dough !
Baking Sourdough Bread Having made the Sourdough Starter (Levain) you can now embark on making your own Sourdough Loaves. If your starter has been dormant you will need to bring it back to life by feeding and watering it a few days before using. As mentioned last...
Sourdough Starter for Ten
For anyone who loves toast there is nothing finer than Sourdough bread to make it from. This traditional loaf is thought by many to be the domain of specialist Artisan bakers and many are willing to pay accordingly for it. But it is actually fairly easy to make yourself.
Homemade Tandoor Oven – Coming Soon
Stir Crazy Christmas Pudding
Christmas Pudding. There are many variations now but the traditional version should be a fruity sponge with citrus and spice. Traditionally it would have 13 ingredients representing Jesus and his 12 disciples. Stir Up Sunday started back in Victorian times, and was a...
Mulberry Mayhem
Mulberries 'Round and round the mulberry bush' goes the 19th Century Nursery Rhyme.The song and associated game is traditional, and has parallels in Scandinavia and in the Netherlands (the bush is a juniper in Scandinavia) perhaps an updated version might be a Juniper...
Flat as a Pancake – Day
It's Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras / Pancake Day and traditionally as the last day before the start of Lent, luxury or rich foods were finished off before the fasting of Lent. The pancake symbolises such foods for 'Mardi Gras' which literally means Fat Tuesday. This...
Let them eat Cake!
The traditional Christmas cake is the merger of two dishes traditionally eaten around the Christmas period, Plum porridge or pottage and the Twelfth Night cake. The plum porridge was first cited in 1573 and was...
Don’t mince your words
It just wouldn't be Christmas without Mince Pies! Heralding from the time of the Crusades these seasonal treats were first introduced by troops returning in the 13th Century. Originally containing meat, suet, fruit and spices they were a...