Blackberry, lime & white chocolate fool

One of our favourite late summer activities is to go blackberry picking and the hedgerows and fields are full of them at the moment. We collected a container full earlier this week but it's so tempting to bring some home every time we go walking.

Just in case you're finding all of this free fruit irresistible too, I thought I'd share with you one of our all-time favourite recipes for using them up: blackberry and white chocolate fool. The original was torn from a long-forgotten magazine and I've made it many times, adapting the flavourings and method to something that works for me every time. This week I decided to add a refreshing hint of lime.

Blackberry, lime and white chocolate fool

First, make a puree.

400g blackberries
75g soft brown sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime

1. Put the blackberries, sugar, zest and juice in a pan.
2. Heat until the berries are very soft, then push through a sieve. Discard the seeds and let the puree cool.

You can make the puree a couple of days in advance and leave in the fridge until you're ready to make the fool.

250g white chocolate
150ml Greek yoghurt
200ml double cream

3. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water and leave to cool slightly.
4. Stir in the Greek yoghurt until well mixed.
5. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and gently fold it into the chocolate mix.
6. Give the puree a good stir to make sure all the liquid and thicker bits are thoroughly mixed together. Now add to the chocolate cream mixture a few tablespoons at a time, folding in gently. Keep tasting after each batch until you get the desired flavour. You may not need to add all the puree.
7. Divide between individual glasses and chill well until ready to serve.

Mmmmmmmmmmm! So, so good! We never get tired of this recipe and you can guarantee I'll be making it again many, many times. We're having some for dessert tonight and I can't wait!

If you still have some blackberries left, how about this Blackberry and Cinnamon cake recipe which I also made this week.

The kitchen filled with the most amazing cinnamon smell as it cooked. The cake itself is lovely and moist with a slightly crisp top. Another keeper though, if I made it again, I'd use bought blackberries as the wild ones were a bit too seedy. The original is by Ursula Ferrigno and was in Good Food magazine but you can find the recipe here.

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Hope you're enjoying your weekend. We headed back up into the hills around Rivington today and had a lovely day exploring in the fresh air and sunshine. The weather doesn't sound promising tomorrow but that's ok as I have quilting and crafting planned. For now though, I'm off to eat blackberry fool! x

Canal festival

Well, I haven't been doing much blogging lately for various reasons, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things. I still have a couple of day trips from our staycation in July to share with you but, today, I want to take you back to last summer when we visited the Burnley Canal Festival, which is taking place again this Bank Holiday weekend. I half wrote the post at the time but it was one of those which just didn't seem to want to come together. I really liked the photos though so, I've dusted it off and am putting it out there, for better or worse.

There's an old saying that you wait ages for a bus and then three come along at once. Last summer it was all about canal boats. Until then I'd probably not seen any in months, if not years, but then there were walks along the canal at Parbold and Oxford, and the visit to Yarndale.

I'm always looking for new and interesting things to do and the canal festival seemed to fit the bill. Our journey took us to the town where Chickpea's boyfriend lives and where we had to change trains. Even though we were only scheduled to be there for 20 minutes, he still came to the station to spend those few minutes with her - so sweet :) (Just in case you're wondering, he was invited but couldn't get the time off work).

As we walked along the canal from the station, we could see the boats lined up. This one had some lovely floral barge art at the front.

However, it was nothing compared to this barrel. Wow!

So much pretty bunting! I think this one was my favourite.

Several of the boat owners had dressed in traditional costume.

I was also thrilled to see a couple of men playing traditional instruments - the accordion and the spoons!

As well as all the exterior loveliness, there were a couple of examples of cosiness inside. I could easily have curled up in this space with a good book and a cup of tea.

One of the boats was a stall selling traditional goods such as these rag rugs and brass ornaments.

A lovely example of a rag rug was in the Victorian parlour of the Weavers Triangle visitor centre where you could sit by the fire to enjoy a drink and a piece of cake.

A nice slice of fruit cake for me and biscuits for Chickpea.

There were also a few exhibitions including a model fairground. We spent ages looking at all the little details.

After a wander around the visitor centre, it was time to continue our walk along the canal.

This stretch of canal is known as the Straight Mile and carries the Leeds-Liverpool Canal 60ft above the town. It was built between 1796 and 1801. Just above the canal, you can see the stands of Turf Moor, home of Burnley Football Club. There was a match on that day and we could hear the roar of the crowd as we walked along the tow path.

We'd headed in this direction because we'd been told a horse-drawn barge was on its way. Sure enough, Sue Day and her horse, Bilbo Baggins, soon appeared towing their boat, Elland. She's a member of the Horseboating Society and one of only a handful of horseboat operators.

Here you can see just how high the canal is above the town as we were walking along level with the roofs of the terraced houses.

When we arrived back at the Weaver's Triangle, more of the boats had finished being decorated. This was our favourite...

Look at all the knitted dogs!

We enjoyed our visit to the Festival, though I have to say it was a little disorganised and some of the promised entertainment didn't materialise. However, if you're in the area this weekend, it's worth taking a look as it's a free event. Sue and Bilbo Baggins will be making an appearance on Monday.

Enjoy your weekend, whether you're having a long one here in the UK or a shorter one elsewhere. x

Cookery book challenge: weeks 25-28

It's time for the regular monthly update on my personal cookery book challenge. If you're new to the challenge you can find out how it all started here.

Looking at the recipes it was a pretty good month and I don't think there's anything I wouldn't be happy to eat again. Let's see what was on the menu this month.

Week 25, part 1 : Roast chicken and other stories - Simon Hopkinson & Lindsay Bareham

This book was voted one of the top cookery books by other chefs. Needless to say I decided to buy it and, needless to say, I've hardly used it. The recipes are organised by ingredients and there are some...er... unusual ones: brains, sweetbreads or tripe anyone? (I have eaten two of those). Like several of the other books I've reviewed so far, I enjoyed the writing and anecdotes for each chapter and recipe but didn't necessarily want to cook much in it. Having said that....

Poached cod with lentils and salsa verde

The book contained probably my favourite of this month's update. The salsa verde was the star of the show and its mustardy tang combined with the mellow sweetness of the cod and the pepperyness of the lentils was perfect. I used the leftovers of the salsa to stir into other dishes and it really enhanced the flavour of those too. I also liked poaching the cod: I find it easy to overcook fish and this kept it lovely and moist. Safe to say I'll be making this one again.

Week 25, part 2 : Nigel Slater - Real fast puddings

What's this? 2 books in one week? Yes, I'd meant to exclude books which only include desserts so, when this came out of the hat, we decided to draw another for a savoury course.

I have the companion to this one (Real Fast Food) and, as you'd expect, both are filled with quick and easy recipes. Ironically, I think I chose the longest recipe in the book!

Rice pudding with rosewater, cardamom and pistachio

The pistachios were probably superfluous but the rest was delicious. We love rice pudding anyway so it was nice to try a variation with some 'fancy' flavourings.

Week 26 : Salads - Lyn Rutherford

Another discount shop find if I remember rightly. It was a good time for it to be drawn out as it coincided with a hot spell. It's easy to get in a rut with salads so it was nice to have some new ideas for inspiration. We've marked out quite a few recipes so I think we'll be coming back to this one again.

Fresh apricot and rice salad with grilled goat's cheese

A light and refreshing dish with a lovely combination of flavours. I did have way too much rice for stuffing in the apricots so chucked the rest on after it had been photographed. If you'd like to try it, you can find the recipe here.

Week 27 : The Naked Chef - Jamie Oliver

We've been watching re-runs of 'Jamie's 15-minute meals' on TV recently, so Chickpea was really happy when this came out of the hat. However, she soon decided it was written 'before he became cool'. It seemed so funny to me that she considers the mature Jamie to be much cooler than the hip and trendy younger version!

What she meant was that she thought his recipes are now more accessible to the average person with easier techniques and common ingredients. One of our all-time favourite recipes (Tray-baked salmon with green beans, anchovies and olives) is in the book but we decided to try a couple of others.

Tagliatelle with baby courgettes, lemon and basil

An easy choice as our first crop of courgettes (pictured at the top) were ready for harvesting. The main flavours are lemon and parmesan and that's rarely a bad thing. A lovely summery dish and very quick to prepare.

North African lamb with chilli, ginger, chickpeas and couscous

Tasty and gently spicy, this went down a treat. The recipe doesn't seem to be available on 'official' sites but you can find it on several blogs such as here.

Week 28 : The French Market - Joanne Harris and Fran Warde

Joanne Harris is the author of Chocolat, which I haven't read, though I love the film. The book includes beautiful photos of life in the French region of Gascony which makes you want to rush over there immediately. Unfortunately we were less excited by the recipes. One of the problems is that all the recipe titles are in French with no translation which Chickpea, in particular, didn't like. As she pointed out, unless you speak French, you have to read the ingredients to find out what you'll be cooking. We did find a few recipes to tempt us though.

Salade Toulousaine

The main ingredients for this are sausages, haricot beans, chickpeas and tomatoes. It was tasty enough but I just felt it was lacking a few extra ingredients. I've made something similar which included roasted peppers and that would have give it a bit more umphh. I had the leftovers for lunch the next day with some pesto and grated cheese (also leftover from other recipes) and that worked well too.

And that concludes the latest installment of the Cookery Book Challenge. I thought our enthusiasm would have waned by now but we still get excited when doing the weekly draw. Which is lucky because I think there are still another 20 titles to go!

The weekend starts here everyone - hope you have a good one. And a big welcome to my new followers and readers. xx

Silverdale

Today, I'm taking you back to July for our next outing, a day trip to the coast. Last year I wrote about our visit to Arnside and today our destination was Silverdale, just a few miles south.

You'll have noticed in my Scavenger Hunt entry that there were a couple of photos taken in Silverdale. One of the places we wanted to visit was the Wolfhouse Gallery. The last time I'd been here was many years ago when I spent the summer volunteering at the nearby RSPB Leighton Moss reserve. I remembered it as having a lovely atmosphere and lots of interesting art and crafts for sale. The decor has changed but the atmosphere is the same.

The cafe used to be in the same building as the gallery but is now separate. I'd highly recommend a visit as the cakes are amazing! Well, mine was anyway: strawberry and passionfruit and one of the nicest cakes I've ever eaten!

Suitably refreshed it was time to start our walk. This is Gibraltar Farm.

And this is Lindeth Tower. The Victorian writer, Elizabeth Gaskell, holidayed in both the farm and tower in the 1840s and 50s. There's an article here which gives more of the history of the tower and has a couple of photos of the interior.

We carried on down the lane...

before turning off onto the limestone cliffs of Jack Scout.

Just as you enter, there are the remains of a limekiln where slaked lime was made for use in building and agriculture.

The information board shows you how it would have looked when in use.

Onwards, following the path through the trees towards the coast.

In one of the trees I spotted this yarn-bombing! Such an odd place to find it!

Carrying on along the path there was a tantalising glimpse of the sea.

Limestone crags up to your left.

And falling steeply away to the beach on your right, as the path meanders around the promontory.

I think the buildings in the distance are part of Grange-over-Sands.

Finally, you emerge to a full view of Morecambe Bay and the vast expanse of sand, sea and sky.

Isn't it funny how people have completely different reactions to things. When I look at these views, it's as if my whole body sighs. I feel calm and relaxed and could sit and look at it for hours. Chickpea, on the other hand, is unmoved by it all, finding it 'boring, empty and lonely'. She also doesn't like the smell of the sea! Isn't that one of the best bits? Too bad, I'm going to carry on dragging her to the coast anyway, as well as walking in the woods which is her favourite place to be: she gets the same sense of calm amongst the trees. I love trees and the countryside too but it's the sea which is my first love. Well, looking at it, not being in or on it!

Anyway, back to the walk. I think this is wild thyme. If I'd identified it at the time, I'd have given the leaves a good rub to release their scent.

And this is Lady's bedstraw. I do love it when plants have poetic names!

Can you see how the tree/shrub on the left has grown bent over because of the strong winds which come off the sea? Luckily, it was a lovely day with only a light breeze while we were there but it clearly gets quite wild!

Harebell

At last, a path down to the beach.

Thrift

I clambered over these rocks but Chickpea is less sure of foot and refused to follow. All the rocks are the remains of an ill-fated land reclamation scheme of the 1800s. I'm not sure why it failed but Morecambe Bay is notorious for quicksand and fast moving tides.

Partly for that reason (and I didn't know the tide times), we only had a brief walk on the edge of the beach before heading back up into Jack Scout and through the gate back to the lane.

Further up the lane we arrived at Jenny Brown's Point.

Where there's a well-positioned bench.

This is where we ended our morning walk. You can carry on around the corner and follow a circular route back to Wolfhouse Gallery but we were getting hungry and decided to take the shorter route back along the lane.

Taking time to admire a goldfinch posing in the sunshine.

This is the bench where we ate our picnic and where we found the memorial paving stone for Ted, that I showed you in the Scavenger Hunt: Ted who never tired of the view.

And here's that view again. There's a camp/caravan site at Gibraltar Farm on the left and the views must be pretty spectacular from there too.

After lunch, we decided to head down into the village towards the shore, past these pretty cottages.

And I loved this red door with all the heart decorations.

Down on the shore, I spotted more yarn-bombing...

...some common sea-lavender...

...and several oyster-catchers.

We started off near the cottages and only managed to walk this short stretch along the shore before, all too soon, it was time to head for home. We'll definitely be back again to soak up more of those glorious views and also to explore some of the other footpaths in the area which take you through Chickpea's favourite place, the woods.

Talking of Chickpea, what do you think was her favourite moment of the day?

Yep, she got to stroke a local cat :)

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It's been a quiet few days even though it has also been my birthday! Whaddya know, 21 again! For various reasons, mainly health and scheduling, I wanted a quiet time this year but received some lovely gifts and cards from family and friends. Another year older but no more wiser :) x