Tuesday 16 October 2012

Cider Making!

I think it's safe to say a great time was had by all, Sue put it best on her Facebook update: "had a wonderful day making apple juice for cider with Carol Kirkup, Tracey Bennett and friends - amazing what you can do with a few barrows of apples, a garden shredder and a borrowed cider press. The shared lunch was delicious too -that really is what community is all about"

So true, a day only to be topped by our Xmas party where we get to drink it! I won't gush further but will let the photos do the talking.

First, collect apples by the barrow load













Next, organise a production line of small children to put said apples into a garden shredder.































Shred the apples neatly into a bucket, making sure no-one gets struck by half shredded apples flying out of the top.









Load the shredded pulp into a borrowed apple press and sqeeeeeeeeze.













Juice!















Pause for lunch. (Don't want to overdo it)













And finally - the product of our labours, 7 gallons of apple juice hot footing it to Mark's brewing cupboard. How many pints each?? Roll on the Christmas Party!

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Waveney Valley Food and Drink Festival

Seeing as it was crying out for a visit, we complied and went to the Waveney Valley Food and Drink Festival last weekend. The setting was lovely, as you can see right in the grounds of Bungay castle. It was a smallish affair but a great chance to meet other food producers in the Waveney Valley area.

I was quite taken with The Milk Shed, sellers of raw milk. If you ever travel the A143 towards Yarmouth you may have noticed their signs on the road just before the Grain brewery. They also have a Facebook page where you can see their eponymous Friesian shed which has tickled me so much I may have to actually visit.

I have talked about the concept of a Norfolk Road Trip before and the Milk Shed sits nicely among the smallholdings, farm shops and brewery on the Waveney Valley route.

PA Mobbs were also there advertising their 'Village Drop' scheme for Xmas turkeys. In a nutshell, if a group orders 10 turkeys and collects them a nominated drop off point, they'll get an 11th turkey free, so essentially a 10% discount. Birds cost from £40 for a 4kg one right up to £76 for 10kg. I did consider whether we should try and organise this for ourselves. Personally I can't participate as I will already be away for Xmas by the collection date but if anyone thinks they may be interested, let me know and I'll let you have the full details.

Another bargain heads up: Just Truffles in Harleston are offering 10% off Xmas orders placed between 6th and 10th November. For those that may not know, Just Truffles handmake truffles and chocolate products, their website is here.

There were loads of other interesting traders, too numerous to mention, the chicken sausage people, the duck and orange pie people, the pig cheek pie people, as well as a few 'usual suspects', The Flying Chef (hot dogs) the goat cheese people from the farmers market, St Peter's brewery etc etc

We really are lucky to live where we do, we're surrounded by some amazing food producers, I really don't understand by Norfolk isn't feted as a foodie haven in the manner of Shropshire. This is one of my motivations behind this blog, to raise awareness of the food culture around us.