One of our friends has invented this glorious desert full of Cointreau and well chocolate - want to know more? You’ll have to watch this weeks GMTV’s Chiefs at Sea competition. I think her’s is appearing on Wednesday morning and you can vote on which dish you like best!

The only trouble with this desert is my little girl is dying to eat one! (Or ten if she got the chance!)

• this week means the 19th-22nd July 2010

I got a dinosaur sandwitch cutter which I used on Jean’s cheese sandwitch - it wastes the crusts but then she doesn’t eat those anyway! I then made a landscape for the dinosaurs out of carrots which I cut into sticks, I made the ground out of ransom leaves (wild garlic) and some ice berg lettuce, then I got some sweet cisily leaves to represent trees along with the carrots.

Jean loves these dino landscapes for lunch and it has stopped alot of ‘Oh no not sandwitches :/

This year my little girl and husband were out with an elderly relative so I made my own meal of Goats Cheese and Sweet Pepper Pizza, Pepparoni and Baby Plume Tomato Pizza with cheesy garlic bread and baby leaf salad.

And of course triple chocolate cake - though Jean did help with that bit

This was very tasty and was washed down with pure orange juice

Unfortunatly I had an art project on the dinning table so we ended up on the settee but it was so easy that I am concidering making my own pizzas for future parties!

I will cover each of the recipies seperatly over the next few weeks!

It contained olives which my daughter now has in her lunch box, dried fruit, fiery nuts (which will be for my husband) and vanillia coated pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds - these are mine!

They each come with a health recommendation and they are sanctioned by the NHS I’ve claimed the seeds as they are good for the immune system and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact they are one of the tasty-est things I have ever eaten!

I infact want to get hold of more of these seeds to top some whole meal muffins - I think their sweetness would be a lovely contrast.

But basically we recommend them

AS IN THE FINE ARTS, the progress of mankind from barbarism to civilization is marked by a gradual succession of triumphs over the rude materialities of nature, so in the art of cookery is the progress gradual from the earliest and simplest modes, to those of the most complicated and refined. Plain or rudely-carved stones, tumuli, or mounds of earth, are the monuments by which barbarous tribes denote the events of their history, to be succeeded, only in the long course of a series of ages, by beautifully-proportioned columns, gracefully-sculptured statues, triumphal arches, coins, medals, and the higher efforts of the pencil and the pen, as man advances by culture and observation to the perfection of his facilities. So is it with the art of cookery. Man, in his primitive state, lives upon roots and the fruits of the earth, until, by degrees, he is driven to seek for new means, by which his wants may be supplied and enlarged. He then becomes a hunter and a fisher. As his species increases, greater necessities come upon him, when he gradually abandons the roving life of the savage for the more stationary pursuits of the herdsman. These beget still more settled habits, when he begins the practice of agriculture, forms ideas of the rights of property, and has his own, both defined and secured. The forest, the stream, and the sea are now no longer his only resources for food. He sows and he reaps, pastures and breeds cattle, lives on the cultivated produce of his fields, and revels in the luxuries of the dairy; raises flocks for clothing, and assumes, to all intents and purposes, the habits of permanent life and the comfortable condition of a farmer. This is the fourth stage of social progress, up to which the useful or mechanical arts have been incidentally developing themselves, when trade and commerce begin. Through these various phases, only to live has been the great object of mankind; but, by-and-by, comforts are multiplied, and accumulating riches create new wants. The object, then, is not only to live, but to live economically, agreeably, tastefully, and well. Accordingly, the art of cookery commences; and although the fruits of the earth, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea, are still the only food of mankind, yet these are so prepared, improved, and dressed by skill and ingenuity, that they are the means of immeasurably extending the boundaries of human enjoyments. Everything that is edible, and passes under the hands of the cook, is more or less changed, and assumes new forms. Hence the influence of that functionary is immense upon the happiness of a household.

….

Of course we now have foods made in vats and grown from solution, synthesised foods which were never alive in the first place - the impacts these have had on life style and health are many fold (good and bad) and complicated.

This is also interesting in light of cooked food being now thought to predate ‘modern’ humans and being an instrument in our evolution. Seeing as we get more nutrition from digesting cooked foods - hence whole foods helping modern society in loosing weight!

MEAT.–Beef, house lamb, mutton, pork, veal, venison.

POULTRY.–Capons, fowls, tame pigeons, pullets, rabbits, turkeys.

GAME.–Grouse, hares, partridges, pheasants, snipe, wild-fowl, woodcock.

VEGETABLES.–Beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, celery, chervil, cresses, cucumbers (forced), endive, lettuces, parsnips, potatoes, savoys, spinach, turnips,–various herbs.

FRUIT.–Apples, grapes, medlars, nuts, oranges, pears, walnuts, crystallized preserves (foreign), dried fruits, such as almonds and raisins; French and Spanish plums; prunes, figs, dates.

MEAT.–Beef, house lamb, mutton, pork, venison.

I’m not quiet sure what house lamb is but assume its some sort of lamb - here I go stating the obvious again!

POULTRY.–Capons, chickens, fowls, geese, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, teal, turkeys, widgeons, wild ducks.

GAME.–Hares, partridges, pheasants, snipes, woodcocks.

VEGETABLES.–Broccoli, cabbages, carrots, celery, leeks, onions, potatoes, parsnips, Scotch kale, turnips, winter spinach.

FRUIT.–Apples, chestnuts, filberts, grapes, medlars, oranges, pears, walnuts, dried fruits, such as almonds and raisins, figs, dates, &c.,–crystallized preserves.

We get to watch the plans and helicopters and occassionally their are classical cars lurking around, the pub itself has comfy chairs and reasonable prices. Their walls are festooned with pictures, paintings and photographs of plans, helicopters and over be the door that leads to the garden and veiwing plateform there are formular one pics.

The staff are friendly and the food is fantastic - though it does tend to be on the traditional English side of things with cheesey chips (£2!) and sunday roasts with heaps of veg.

They also have free Wifi and therefore are a convient bolt whole when we are say flooded out or have lost internet connectivity as we did in January.

I would recommend them to anyone and in fact when we have guests staying we like to take them there for lunch though that does rely on us having money to do so - but they are not expensive and you get a lot of food for the money.

Also brown rice has a habbit of cooking into a ‘rice paper’ buscuit in the bottom of the pot which is interesting.