Making magic for your one special day!

It makes all the hard work worth it when everyone enjoys the wedding! This was one near Tewkesbury where we made the Dairy free Eton Mess for the first time.

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Afternoon tea wedding in Stanton near Broadway

Four o'clock on the dot was tea time in my great grandmother's house. If you were late woe betide you. The same tradition passed down to the next generation too so there was always tea and cake at four. It was the same at my paternal grandparent's too - work stopped in the garden and workshop for afternoon tea, and if guests happened to be around or it was a larger family gathering savoury things also made an appearance - you can't beat sardines on toast!

Is it that sense of nostalgia for olde england that makes us love afternoon tea so much? Or it could be that it all just tastes so good. It certainly makes for a great wedding breakfast like this one we served last Saturday in Stanton near Broadway. 

Buck's fizz to start anyone?

Afternoon tea sandwiches:
Smoked salmon and watercress
Chicken and apple
Ham with apricot chutney
Cucumber, cream cheese and rocket
Egg and cress - can't beat the classics!

On the savoury side were mini quiche lorraine, butternut squash filo tarts and sausage and sun dried tomato lattice ("Better than Ginsters!" said the waiting staff. Apparently that's good)

Baking coconut macaroons at 11pm

I was addicted to making these as a tween - then shredded coconut was easy to find. Not so easy now - nowhere sells it. Much more succulent that dessicated coconut (dessicated makes them dry). Finally after a hour's trawling I found it at The USA Foodstore - great fast shipping btw thanks.  

Homemade plain & apple and sultana scones with clotted cream and Dove Cottage Hedgerow preserve
White chocolate and blueberry torte
Fruit crème pâtissière tarts
Rose & vanilla cupcakes
Coconut macaroons

White chocolate and blueberry torte - using the dark choc recipe but exchanging dark choc for white

Added to my collection of cake stands a couple of days before from Forgotten Treasures - based in the same village as the wedding was. I love these - rather than the cake stand handles that everyone else uses they have vintage glasses between the layers - much more individual. Each plate has a story behind it. 

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Italian themed wedding buffet delivery in Blockley, Gloucestershire

With half of the guests being Italian there was an Italian theme going on with this wedding buffet we delivered  to Blockley yesterday.

Pesto pinwheel bread - with 2 weddings and 4 dinner parties every  baking tray I own was being used by the time I was making this on Saturday morning so some of them went in yorkshire pudding tins - works just as well - they came out looking like pesto pinwheel yorkshires. 

Rosemary flatbread with blue cheese, grapes and honey

Roast Home Farm silverside of beef with parmesan, figs and toasted almonds

Herb roast salmon - raw ready to go in the oven. Nice and colourful no?

Herb roasted salmon with beluga lentil, orange and feta salad 

Saffron poached chicken with French bean, artichoke and red onion salad

Artichoke and pinenut filo tart (not shown)

Aubergine caponata (not shown)

Ensalata

Grilled butternut squash, spinach, beetroot and toasted seed salad - like this one

New potato, roast pepper and sweetcorn salad

After the above wedding it was on this one at Overbury Village Hall - and yes that is sunshine!

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Grilled scallops with nettle and chorizo risotto and nettle pesto

So in after a couple of days cooking at Camp Bestival with Ms Marmitelover it was back up the M5 from Dorset to cook for this wedding and set up 4 other events, before heading back down to Dorset at 5am on Sunday morning - busy.

The risotto is made with pearl barley rather than rice - adapted a recipe from here.

There's lots more photos from this event on the facebook album here: Wedding 30 July 2011. Forgot to take pics of the canapes though - so much going on.

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Lemon and lavender chutney

A couple of months ago I found my dream kitchen. The best thing is I get to cook in it too. Meadowbank is the lastest of the Big Cottage properties, and sits on the edge of Chipping Campden, overlooking the church in the background that is probably one of the most sought after churches for a Cotswold wedding.


Outside the kitchen window are lots of lavender bushes, which lent a very few of their flowers to make this chutney which I then took back to Meadowbank a couple of weeks later for another party who were staying there. Lavender is so strong you don't need much at all - just 20 flowers for this. This is in fact supposed to be a secret recipe, but I suddenly needed the chutney for the next day, and Delia at Dove Cottage (who normally makes it) was busy, so I somehow managed to get the recipe instead, and you know I can't keep recipes all to myself......

20 lavender flowers
2 lemons
2 tsp mustard seeds
3 onions finely chopped
50g sultanas (I only had raisins so used those)
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp allspice
500g (caster) sugar
White wine vinegar to taste



Cut the lemons into small shreds (rind and everything). Soak in vinegar overnight in the fridge. Next day boil all those ingredients up and let it simmer till the liquid has reduced to, and the chutney resembles a jam consistency.

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I love chutneys - they're so easy to make, but so delicious. I actually left it to recuce for too long and it set like toffee, so I just added a little hot water and let it down to the right consistency.

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