Today I'm writing about something a little different - a very special foodie day at River Cottage HQ! As a full time, work from home mum, I very rarely get a day away from the children, so when the opportunity came up for a chance to spend the day at River Cottage (THE River Cottage, of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall TV fame!), I decided that I was going to do whatever possible to get myself there.
Thankfully I have the best mum in the world, who swooped in and traveled two hours each way to come to my rescue on the childcare front (thanks Mum!). With that major obstacle sorted, one sunny morning last month I got up at the crack of dawn to meet up with a couple of other local bloggers* for a trip to Devon and a perfect foodie day!
When we arrived, there may have been a few squeaks of excitement, firstly when we spotted the River Cottage HQ sign and next when we saw our transport down the the farm arrive in the form of a massive tractor! The weather was on our side, with plenty of blue in the sky, though the warmth of the hay-bale filled yurt complete with wood burning stove that we crowded into on arrival was appreciated first thing in the morning. Once we'd been briefed with the plan for the day, we moved on to a marque with a gorgeous view of the Devon countryside and plenty of tea, coffee, gorgeous pastries and other delicious nibbles fresh from the River Cottage kitchen to wake us up.
Once fed, we broke off into groups and I headed out in a small group with the assistant gardener Jim Budden to tour the gorgeous kitchen garden and farm. We learnt lots about organic gardening and farming, including how crops are rotated and certain plants are grown together to help keep off the pests without all the chemicals. Jim was really enthusiastic and clearly loves his job, and the farm was beautiful and peaceful, with lots of happy hens and some very friendly piggies!
Once our tour was finished, we headed into the cookery school to make bread and butter from scratch with head chef Gill Meller (another squeak of excitement there!). We started by making butter from nothing but a jug of cream (I had no idea it was so easy) which we then decorated with herbs and edible flowers raided fresh from the kitchen gardens. We then used the buttermilk left from our butter making and some blackberries foraged from the farm in a delicious soda bread recipe, which was another new recipe to me. Now that half term has arrived I have plans to recreate the bread and butter recipes with Small Child in the next day or two, so I promise to share the recipes with you very soon, they're perfect for cooking with children!
After our efforts in the kitchen I was getting hungry, so I was very happy to find that lunch time had arrived, and what a lunch it was! I haven't really got the words to describe that lunch, but suffice it to say it was possibly one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten! Everything was made fresh on the day (even the ice cream was churned that morning) from organic home grown and locally sourced produce, including slow cooked beef ravioli, beautiful buttery corn on the cob and fennel meringue with foraged damsons and salted caramel ice cream - a thousand times yum!
After lunch we headed off for a food styling photography session with one of my favourite bloggers Lucy, of Capture By Lucy (if you don't know her blog, do go and visit, it's just beautiful!). Lucy was her usual inspirational self, full of useful tips and encouragement, and her session rounded the day off beautifully.
We finished up with coffee and a quick catch up with blogging friends, then regretfully jumped back into the tractor for our ride back up the hill and the long journey home.
It really was an absolutely perfect day - what could be better than a day of good food, friendship and photography in such beautiful surroundings? If I ever get the chance to go back to River Cottage I'll grab it with both hands, and would encourage you to do the same!
Grace
*Many thanks to the lovely Carrie from Time to be an Adult for driving us there and the lovely Sara-Jayne from Keep Up With The Jones Family for the company along the way! Thank you most of all to Foodies100 and River Cottage HQ for organising the event and inviting me along, it was just wonderful!
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