THE BEST FISH AND CHIPS #1

I have had to call this post 'the best fish and chips number one' because I hold hope that out there somewhere there are more delicious fish and chips for me to discover. If I have found the best ones at the age of 27 then, frankly, I peaked too soon. I am worried though. Very worried, because these are so scrumptious I can't imagine better ones. The secret is beef dripping. Apparently this is the traditional (extremely unhealthy) way of frying fish and chips, but let's face it fish and chips are never healthy. Why on earth wouldn't you always use beef dripping to get the best possible flavour?

I have a small confession. They were so good I ate them in under five minutes and totally forgot to take a picture. I have a habit of doing this. Thankfully, whilst I was waiting for them, the shop itself provided ample photo opportunities.

The shop is in the Black Country Living Museum and you therefore have to pay entry to the museum and then buy the meal. Hardly the cheapest meal in the world then! However, the museum is a brilliant day out. 

OBJECT ENVY

A small selection of objects that I really want in or by my house. I found them all in the Black Country Living Museum. I know, I know, I am totally obsessed with this museum but honestly, it's brilliant. I am currently scouring etsy, ebay and local antique places for an embroidered picture but still haven't found the right one.

I can't remember what this car is annoyingly. Also a two seater, three wheeler car isn't exactly practical. This is a fantasy car.

Lovely thirties pink glass lampshade.

Enameled saucepan

Beautiful intricate ironwork

Abject object envy (A.O.E.)

BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM

In July my brother-in-law came to stay and we used it as an excuse to finally visit the Black Country Living Museum. We have been recommended this by many people and they were not exaggerating when they said it's a FANTASTIC day out. It is a very idyllic world with a huge array of interesting buildings, displays, tours and people. I enjoyed chatting with the mechanic in the vintage car building the most. A typical extreme enthusiast who held the most incredible amount of fascinating information in his head. We heard great stories about where each of the motors was used in the black country before finding a home here. It is a working collection and they often parade through the village. He was our first encounter with the staff and we instantly had a whimsical smile on our faces that lasted the whole day.

This is the village centre which houses the local 'supermarket', bakery, pub, corner shop, sweet shop and of course FISH AND CHIP SHOP OMNOMNOM (I'm not kidding - It's so freaking good I'm writing a separate post about it). There were vintage games on the village square that were...well surprisingly difficult requiring good hand-eye coordination...but good fun.

I would say, despite not having any myself, that it's a great family day out as well. There was plenty of great attractions for kids. There are regular lessons at the school house to give them a feel for an early 20th-century education (!) and an entertaining underground tour of the mine that all the kids on ours loved. You could even leave them at school whilst you indulge in a quick drink at the pub!

Happy Outing :)

LATEST FINDS IV: DESCENT INTO KITSCH

A slight(ly huge) hiatus in blogging. Sorry about that! The house is progressing nicely and I thought I'd share a couple of lovely items recently purchased from eBay. I suspect we have passed by vintage and retro and are heading down the difficult road to full on kitsch with my latest items. Kitsch is difficult to control. I now have the overwhelming urge to fill my house with brightly coloured plastic animals and have a slight obsession with wall mounted flying birds. Oh god help me. The first, a flying saucer like fifties (?) lampshade for the spare room.

Then we have THE BEST LAMP EVER. We found the spun fibre glass lampshade in the loft and already had it on a very dodgy base...but then perhaps this new one is even dodgier? 

Who couldn't love dried flowers and a shell suspended to perfection in resin?

Of course a shopping spree wouldn't be complete without another broken vintage clock. This is a westclox cream enamelled metal case with curved glass, complete with originally complicated winding mechanism. It tick tocks so we keep it wound down.

Happy Hunting!

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WARM SUMMER SALAD

Last week I was given a fantastic thank you present from one of my schools. They keep chickens and grow vegetables in the playground and had a bumper crop that week. I don't know if it was real or just the idea of eating home grown food, but it all tasted ten times better than supermarket stuff!

I need to find out what variety of potatoes the red ones are because they were gorgeous. The skins were almost like a plastic transparent film that flaked off and they were fuscia pink underneath. Any ideas? 

The beetroots were much prettier than supermarket ones and tasted stronger. I roasted them with carrot and sweet potato. Yum!

Today, I turned my attention to the peas and broad beans. Here is the recipe for my summer salad with grilled trout. Hands down the tastiest lunch I've had in months!

RECIPE

Serves 1 (but if served with bread or new potatoes could feed two with an extra piece of fish)

Ingredients

• 1 large fillet of trout
• 2-3 Parma ham
• Handful Broad Beans, double podded (see tips and tweaks)
• Handful Fresh Peas, podded
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 100g Asparagus tips
• Handful pea shoots
• knob of butter
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the grill to medium and place a frying pan on the hob on a medium heat. Wrap the trout in the Parma ham and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Grill for 10 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.

2. Meanwhile melt the knob of butter in the frying pan and add the asparagus. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then add the spring onions, peas and broad beans. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

3. Scatter the plate with the pea shoots, top with the vegetables and the trout.

TIPS AND TWEAKS

The first time I encountered broad beans I double podded them without blanching them first. It took ages and I was almost crying with frustration by the end. Then I tried eating them with the skins on. Bleurgh! No need! First, pod them and then add the beans to a pan of boiling water for 1 minute. Plunge into a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking further. Take one and make a tiny incision with your finger nail through the outer skin, squeeze and the bright green bean will pop out. Watch out, they do sometimes fly out quite quickly!

Happy Experimenting!

ALL SAINTS CHURCH YORK

A few months ago I travelled up to York for my brother's wedding and whilst there he gave me a tour of his latest archaeological training dig location. If, like me, you can't quite bring yourself to pay £10-15 to see York Minster perhaps All Saints Church is for you! Although small it has a lovely tiled floor that has been painstakingly reconstructed and some stunning medieval stained glass. A bonus is that the dig is sometimes open to the public and the best finds are on display in the church!

The tiles were copied from ones found on site and were made in Bulgaria, the only place they could find the techniques involved still being used. The result is beautiful. Here you can see an original tile that was recently found on the archaeological dig at the church.

The colours in the stained glass are wonderful and I'm tempted to start redecorating my house (despite only just finishing) in rich blood red, royal blue and golden yellow!

The window above depicts the apocalypse including stars falling, everybody dead and the world on fire. Charming!

For more history see their website (All Saints Church North Street) and for all you time team geeks check out the archaeological dig twitter feed (Archaeology Live Twitter). Some of their most exciting finds are on view at the moment.

VINTAGE LACE AND EMBROIDERY COLLECTION

I should probably start trying harder with my titles! They are rather matter of fact. I should try being whimsical or witty but I'm not sure I'm either of those things. I only come up with naff ones like 'Racy Lace' (which would attract people interested in VERY different things) or 'Embrace Embroidery'. Ugh. If you have a better title for this post please comment and I'll change it to the best suggestion!

I thought I would share some of my growing lace and embroidery (and crochet and linen etc.) collection. The majority was bought when I was 15 at auction. It has since been stuck in a box at the bottom of the wardrobe. I can't bear having it hidden away any more so have chosen a few to put around the house. My house is starting to look more and more like my great grandmother's but hey, she probably had great taste.

A little crumpled and delicate but my sister says if a pin the doilies out on a board (like they do when making them?) it'll straighten it out.  

My FAVOURITE is the pansies :)

LONG LIVE THE DOILY