Tag Archives: Bath

by | January 21, 2013

Sweet Chestnut Casserole with Herb Dumplings – Comfort Food for a Snowy Weekend in Bath!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend :)

It’s been snowing here in Bath! Yay!

Snowy Bathampton Meadows 500

Snow is something of a novelty here. Last year it only snowed for one afternoon!

Lil’ L was so excited when he awoke on Friday and saw the snow. Not only did it mean that he got a bonus day off school, but it also meant that he would finally get to use the sledge that his grandparents had bought him two years ago!

He quickly gulped down his breakfast, threw on some warm clothes, and was out the door!

Lil L Snowy Bath January 2013 1

With all this freshly fallen snow, the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful!

Snowy Tree in Snowy Bath January 2013

As lunch time, M came for a spot of sledging. The boys had a huge amount of fun!

Lil L sledging in Snowy Bath January 2013

They were moving so fast that I only just managed to catch a shot of them. Can you spot them? They’re behind the tree!

Lil L sledging in Snowy Bath January 2013 3

I’m a big scaredy cat when it comes to things like this, so I’m very happy to watch from the sidelines.

Lil L Snowy Bath January 2013 2

As well as sledging, we’ve had some beautiful walks this weekend, including one along the Kennet & Avon Canal into Bath City Centre.

Snowy walk along the K&A Canal - January 2013

Upon arrival, Lil’ L suggested we warm up with a veggie pasty from our favourite pasty shop  (Pasty Presto) by Bath Abbey :)

Lil L at Pasty Presto Bath

Back home, we’ve been warming up with lots of hot chocolate. Our current favourite blend is the Elements for Life Raw Hot Chocolate. It’s totally lush! (check out my review here). To make it into a filling, nutritious snack, I’ve been throwing a bunch of ingredients in the blender (1 cup Alpro Almond Milk, 1 tbsp raw hot chocolate powder, 1 tbsp chia seeds & 1 tbsp ground almonds per person) and blending it on high speed before gently heating it through. It’s delicious, thick, creamy and leaves you feeling totally full up :)

Lil L drinking hot choc

I’ve also been making lots of comfort food. For the second Sunday in a row, I’ve made a Sweet Chestnut Casserole with Herb Dumplings.  We absolutely love this dish and it’s perfect for this time of year.

Chestnut Casserole with Herby Dumplings

In my book, this is the ultimate comfort food! Of course I’ve ‘healthified’ the dumplings as much as possible by using wholegrain flour and non dairy margarine instead of suet, but I think they taste as nice, if not nicer, than regular dumplings. You’ll have to try them and let me know what you think!

It’s a very simple one-pot dish. Here’s the recipe:

Sweet Chestnut Casserole with Herb Dumplings

Serves: 4
Hands on time: 15 minutes   Cooking time: 55 minutes    Ready in: 60 minutes

If you wish, you can make the casserole up to 3 days in advance, then simply make the dumplings and heat through when required.

Ingredients

Casserole:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium potatoes, diced (if the skin is thin, leave it on)
1 large carrot, finely chopped (if it’s organic, no need to peel it)
140g / 5 oz / 1½ cups chestnut mushrooms, chopped
500ml / 17 fl oz / 2 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh mixed herbs, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried herbs) (I use sage and rosemary)
1 tsp paprika
100g / 3½ oz frozen spinach
200g / 7oz cooked ready to eat chestnuts, halved (I use 1 packet of Merchant Gourmet Whole Chestnuts)
4 tbsp mixed seeds (I use hemp and sunflower)
1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with a little water to form a paste

Dumplings:
190g / 6¾ oz / 1¼ cups fine wholemeal (wholewheat) flour (I use chapatti flour, which is a very fine wholemeal flour and super cheap too)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary or sage (or 1 tsp of dried herbs)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
1 tsp mustard powder
pinch of salt
60g / 2 oz / ¼ cup non dairy margarine (e.g. Pure)
6 tbsp cold water

Method

  1. To prepare the casserole: Heat the oil in a large casserole or saucepan and sauté the onions and celery until they start to soften. Add the garlic, potato, carrot and mushrooms, cover and gently sweat on a low heat for 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, tomato purée, vinegar, herbs and spinach. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and gently simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to break up the spinach. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning, as needed.
  2. To make the dumplings: Place the flour, herbs, mustard powder and pinch of salt in a bowl and mix well. Rub in the margarine. Add enough water to the mixture to form a soft, slightly sticky dough. With floured hands (or wearing kitchen gloves) divide the mixture into 12 pieces and roll into round dumplings.
  3. Add the chestnuts, seeds and cornflour paste to the casserole and stir through. Arrange the dumplings on top, cover with a lid and gently simmer for 15 minutes or so until the dumplings are light and fluffy. Serve immediately in warm bowls.

For a Gluten Free version, you could serve the casserole with a root veg mash or add an oaty crumble topping.

[This recipe has been submitted to Ricki Heller's #Wellness Weekend & Healthy Vegan Friday]

Have a great week everyone! Stay warm xx

Is it snowing where you are?
What are your favourite Winter warming comfort foods?

11 Comments

Filed under Dinners, Out & About in Bath

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | November 23, 2012

Bath Lantern Parade & Christmas Market 2012

This week we’ve had heavy rainfall and high winds, and many areas within Bath are now flooded. Bathampton Meadows (pictured in my top banner) has turned into a lake and our garden is completely submerged under water. It’s an amazing spectacle! I’ve posted some pics on my FB page if you want to see for yourself.

However, these adverse weather conditions weren’t going to put us off attending the Lantern Parade and opening of Bath Christmas Market last night. It was raining and blowing a gale when we first ventured out. Fortunately, by the time the Parade kicked off, the rain had reduced to a fine drizzle. Good thing too as I don’t think the paper lanterns would have lasted very long in a deluge ;)

The Lantern Parade started at the Holburne Museum and made its way down Pulteney Street to the sound of Bath Samba Band. Everyone was in high spirits despite the weather.  I noticed that lots of people (me included) couldn’t help but add a little samba strut to our step as we made our way into the city centre ;)

The Parade ended at the Abbey, the site of the Christmas Market.

I just love visiting the Market at night. The sight of all those little wooden sheds lit up is so inviting :)

And who are these two characters? I’m not exactly sure but they were very entertaining. Lil’ L ‘high fived’ the … Snow Queen?

In addition to the parade, there were some awesome animated light projections on the Holburne Museum and Bath Abbey. These were the work of Transient Graffiti, a local community development project.  We enjoyed the animation whilst warming ourselves with veggie pasties from Pasty Presto (by far the best pasty shop in Bath in our opinion!)

It was a great night out and I’m so glad the rain died down so we could all enjoy it. About an hour later the torrential rain started again so we were very lucky indeed!

Just before I sign off for the weekend, I must announce the winners of the Raw Hot Chocolate Giveaway.

The 3 lucky winners are…

Julia
Denise Williams
Kathleen Hooper

Congratulations guys! Please email me your postal addresses (Sharon at BitoftheGoodStuff dot com) and I’ll post the prizes to you next week.

If anyone of my other readers would like to try some of the Elements for Life Raw Hot Chocolate, Dan & Paula have given me a discount code that entitles you to 10% off any of the individual hot chocolates, mugs and hot chocolate gift sets.  Simply order before 1st December 2012 and enter the code BOTGS1112 at the checkout.

If you live in the South West of the UK, you’ll be able to find Elements of Life raw chocolate goodies in a number of retail outlets. The full list can be found here.

I’ll be running another chocolatey giveaway in December and this time it will be international.  I’m excited already. I love giveaways :)

Have a great weekend everyone! Stay safe & stay dry xx

 

9 Comments

Filed under Out & About in Bath

Tagged as , ,

by | October 5, 2012

A Special Birthday Treat: Afternoon Tea at Bea’s Vintage Tea Rooms, Bath

For my Mum’s birthday this year (which was back in May), I wanted to treat her to afternoon tea in Bath. Incredibly, my mum has never had a traditional English afternoon tea before!

After waiting four months for her birthday treat, she finally made it to Bath this week. It was so lovely to spend some quality one-to-one time with her (something we rarely get these days). I wanted to treat her to a whole day of pampering, so we started the day with coffees, followed by a 2-hour session at the Thermae Bath Spa. By far the best part of the Spa is the rooftop pool, with its stunning views across Bath.

[Source]

Before my Mum arrived, I’d scoured the Internet looking for the best place to have afternoon tea. Many places only offered the tea between 3-5pm which, of course, makes sense as it’s afternoon tea. However, this limited time window isn’t so great if you’ve got to pick the kids up from school!

Fortunately, through the Visit Bath website, I came across Bea’s Vintage Tea Rooms, which offers teas throughout the day. From its description, the tea room sounded very appealing…

“Step back in time when you enter Bea’s charming Vintage Tea Rooms next to the Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum on Saville Row in Bath.
Decorated in authentic 1930′s/1940′s style from the dainty china tea sets and embroidered tablecloths to the ceiling lampshades, bevelled mirrors and wartime posters. It offers a blissful retreat from the hustle and bustle of this popular historic city.
Retire to the comfortable sofa reminiscent of Gran while you browse wartime recipe leaflets and admire patriotic posters. Or sit at a table, to be served by smiling staff in period pinnies, bright red lipstick and landgirl bandanas, serenaded by the music of those momentous moments”.

After reading this, I couldn’t wait to check it out!

The tea room is only about a 5-10 minute walk from the city centre, but far enough out to feel that you are truly away from the ‘hustle and bustle’.  We walked from the Circus to Saville Row, but probably the quickest way to reach it from the city centre is to walk up Bartlett St, off George St (that’s the way we returned to the centre and it’s very direct).

The establishment did indeed live up to its description. It was a feast for all the senses. Before I’d even entered the tea room I was drawn to the staircase with its eye catching wall coverings.

The interior of the tea room is beautifully decorated with vintage mirrors, lights, ornaments and crockery.

Check out the beautiful 1940s tea dress in the display cabinet!

I loved the cute menus and hand-embroidered tea cloths. I remember my Nan having a cloth like this!

And check out the cake cabinet. Everything looks so scrumptious!

Shortly after we arrived, we were warmly greeted by one of the waitresses, followed by Bea herself.  My mum ordered her afternoon tea for 1, and I chose to have a goats cheese, rocket and roasted pepper toasted sandwich and a pot of tea.

The teas arrived in vintage pots with a little egg timer to indicate when the tea was fully brewed (I loved all these little details!)  My sandwich was beautifully presented and totally delish!

And check out my mum’s afternoon tea! There were finger sandwiches, a scone with clotted cream and jam, and 2 slices of cake!

The cake on the left was filled with lemon curd, with a meringue topping. Absolutely delicious, according to my mum! After eating the sandwiches, scone and a piece of cake, she didn’t have room for the other piece, so Bea gave her a little box to take it home in.

My mum’s afternoon tea cost £10 and, in my opinion, this was the best value afternoon tea I’ve experienced in Bath. Others I’ve seen (I’m not going to name & shame) have been similarly priced or more expensive, and totally underwhelming.

I’d like to say a big “thank you” to Bea for making my mum’s birthday treat so special.

It was a truly wonderful experience. One that I’ll never forget… and one that I hope to repeat very soon :)

Eek! Check out my swimming pool hair and no make up look. My mum carries it off so well… unlike me!

 

Chocolate Giveaway Results!

And just before I go, I must announce the winner of my chocolate giveaway. The entries were placed in chronological order and the winner chosen at random using random.org.

I’m pleased to announce that the winner is…

Joni!!

Congratulations Joni! The chocs will be on their way to you shortly :)

Have a great weekend everyone xx

 

9 Comments

Filed under Out & About in Bath

Tagged as , ,

by | July 18, 2012

School’s Out! Planning Summer Activities on a Shoe-String Budget

The school summer holidays officially start for us today. I can’t believe that another school year has finished already. These years are flying by!

I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time with Lil’ L over the next six weeks. However, as I’m not working at the moment, I need to make sure that we keep spending to a minimum. 

We did lots of great free/ low cost activities last summer that we’re hoping to repeat or improve on this year. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far…

- Bike Rides
Inspired by the Tour de France, we’re going to devise our own ‘Tour de Bath’ where we explore different areas of the city by bike and record our ‘stages’ on a map, noting the distance and time.

- Hiking
There’s so much local countryside that we’ve yet to explore.  We’re going to pack some sandwiches, binoculars, a map, and waterproofs, and hike along footpaths and bridleways in the hills around Bath. Luckily my ‘smartphone’ has got GPS, just in case we get lost ;)

- Photography
Lil’ L loved the challenge I set him over the Jubilee weekend of photographing red, white and blue images. This summer I’m going to set him some more photographic challenges and show him how to edit photos and make online albums.

- Creating in the kitchen
Lil’ L has already devised a list of 15 new smoothies and milkshakes that he’d like to try making. During the holidays, we’ll work our way through his list, photograph the successes and blog about them.
I’m also really looking forward to teaching him how to make other treats, such as granola bars, chocolates, ice cream sundaes and so forth.

 

- Summer Reading Challenge
Last weekend, the children’s summer reading challenge was launched in Bath by Olympic Gold Medallist Amy Williams. It was such a pleasure to meet her! I didn’t get to hold the Olympic torch (like my mum did!) but I have now held an Olympic Gold Medal. It was beautiful… and way bigger and heavier than I imagined it would be!

The library reading challenge has really fired up Lil’ L. The first thing he wanted to do when he broke up from school today was to go to the library and borrow some more books!

- Maths Challenge
To keep our ’maths brains’ ticking over, we’re going to take part in Carol Vorderman’s Online Maths Factor Summer School (I need this as much as Lil’ L ;) ). The school costs £15 but is so worth it. Carol Vorderman has got to be the ultimate Maths teacher. Not only is she fantastic at explaining maths, but she actually makes maths fun. Her online schools are perfect for kids like Lil’ L who are yet to develop a passion for numbers.

- Summer Diary Writing
Lil’ L has recently started to get interested in writing and his stories are way more creative than anything I’ve ever written! I’d love to encourage him to keep writing over the holidays, maybe in the form of a summer diary or scrap book. As well as writing, he could add photos, ticket stubs, drawings and so forth.

- Family Activities at Local Museums and Galleries
There are lots of drop-in activities on offer at the museums and galleries in Bath which are free for residents, and I’m planning to make the most of them!  Does anyone fancy investigating Roman gods and goddesses and making Minerva’s wise owl? Or how about learning some Roman language and make a Roman book mark? I know I do! :)  
If you’re planning to be in the Bath area over the school holidays, you must check out the family activity programme. Here’s the link.     

[Source]

- Play Dates
It’s really important that I arrange some play dates for Lil’ L so he gets to spend time with his friends during the summer. I need to do this ASAP as I know diaries get filled really quick.

- Quality time with grandparents
Lil’ L rarely gets to have one-to-one time with his grandparents and this is something that he mentioned he would really like this summer. Next week, he’s going to spend a couple of nights with his nan and her two dogs in Dorset and he’s really excited about it! Hopefully, at some point during the summer, he’ll be able to have some one-to-one time with his other grandparents too.

- Family quality time
The three of us (me, M and Lil’ L) are really looking forward to spending a couple of weeks’ of quality time together during the school hols, which means switching all the gadgets off (phones, computers, etc) and giving each other our full attention. We really value our quality family time. For me, it’s priceless :)

- Buddhist Festivals and Daily Meditation
There’s lots of Buddhist festivals in the UK this summer, and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to attend at least a couple. As well as inspiring teachings and meditation sessions, there’s always lots of fun activities arranged for the kids. Lil’ L made some great friends at the festivals last year and hopefully they’ll meet up again this summer.


I’m also hoping that we’ll get into the habit of daily meditation, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. With Lil’ L’s help, I’ll set up a dedicated ‘meditation space’ upstairs. We’ll make it cosy with cushions and blankets, and light incense and candles. It’ll be great :)

 So that’s just a few ideas of what we’ll be able to do this summer on my shoe-string budget.  I can’t wait to get started!

I wish you all a wonderful summer. :) xx

p.s. If anyone’s got a bit of sunshine to spare, we would really appreciate it if you could send it over here. Thank you :)

5 Comments

Filed under Biking, Buddhism & Meditation, General wittering, Living Rich on Less, Vacations, Walking & Hiking

Tagged as , , ,

by | June 6, 2012

Jubilee Weekend Highlights

Hi everyone! 

Wow, that has got to be the longest weekend I’ve ever had… it lasted from Friday (when Lil’ L had a TD/INSET day off school) through to Tuesday (our bonus Bank Holiday for the Jubilee).  We had such a good time, and managed to fit in lots of fun activitites.  Here are some of the highlights…

On Friday, we planned a surprise trip to Legoland.  It was only when we turned up at the car park that Lil’ L realised where he was going.  He was overwhelmed by the whole experience and it was a joy to see him getting so much pleasure from it :)  

Fortunately, I’d managed to use Tesco vouchers to pay for the entry, so it only cost us £23 in tokens rather than £120 in real money!

After Legoland, we popped to Surrey to visit Nicky, Sophie and Amelie.  It was so good to see them!

Unfortunately, Jubilee Sunday was a very rainy day for our local street party.  Nevertheless, we joined in the celebrations, before heading to the Bathampton Mill.  Here we took up residence on a comfy sofa and watched the Jubilee River Pageant streaming live on their TV, whilst drinking coffee and eating chilli nuts :)  

[Source]

On Monday, we visited Southmoor, near Oxford, where Lil’ L took part in a Falconry Experience (a Christmas present from his aunt & uncle).  He’s really interested in birds of prey at the moment, so this was a great present for him.  He really enjoyed the day!

In the afternoon, we visited Oxford city. I loved walking round the old university buildings.  M & I could actually smell old books as we walked past one of the libraries!

I wish I had a lawn like that! ;)  

On Monday night, we watched the Solsbury Hill Jubilee Balloon Glow.  We had the perfect viewpoint from The George car park in Bathampton.  It was a truly magical experience!

[Source]

On Monday night and Tuesday morning, from the comfort of our sofa, we watched the Diamond Jubilee Concert, which took place just outside Buckingham Palace.  Gary Barlow & team sure did an amazing job at putting this spectacle together.  

I asked Lil’ L to name his top three favourite performances and he picked a great selection..

- Tom Jones singing Delilah (that guy just seems to get better with age!)

 

 - The Commonwealth Band, brought together by Gary Barlow.

 

- and Madness… performing ‘Our House’ on the roof of Buckingham Palace.  Amazing!

 

 And finally, on Tuesday, we went to see the Jubilee Bath Illuminations. 

They should illuminate the Weir all year round.  It’s looks magical!

It was a fantastic weekend.  One we’ll remember for a very long time to come!

Lil’ L has got the rest of the week off, so the fun will continue for us :)   I hope you all have a great week too xx

 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

3 Comments

Filed under General wittering

Tagged as ,