Sussex Stewed Steak on a wet winters day

Eight in the morning, a wet winters day in the Sussex countryside. The sun is rising over the marshes and fields but the pink glow is quickly washed away by grey clouds of rain ...
I walk trough a typical crooked path where the tops of the ancient trees lean towards each other creating an archway over the road, nature's chapel.
Blissfully relaxed I listen to the bustling sound of busy birds in the hedges. Holding my breath, counting robins, coal tits and wrens. They don't even seem to notice or care that I'm standing there. 
Then it quiets down, the moment has passed and I walk on. 

When I am at home but I have lots and lots to do during the day and not enough time to prepare a lovely meal, a Sussex Stewed steak is my dish of choice.
It really is the easiest dish you can imagine and it comes out of the oven as a warming meal with elegant flavors to enjoy with guests or just for your own family with plenty of leftovers for the next day. The Stout, port and mushroom sauce used, create a mahogany sauce with a deep  flavour sometimes - depending on which Stout you use- you find some chocolate notes, and however a humble dish it turns out to be a feast for the palate every time. 

Brilliantly British - Farmhouse kitchen Jams

I discovered Farmhouse Kitchen jams at the Goods Shed in Canterbury. I had a hard time finding wild damsons for jam this year and I stumbled upon this Damson jam. Eager to have Damson jam for my cheese board I bought a jar. And I'm glad I did because this jam is simply delicious. Packed with little wild damsons and not overly sweet this jam is perfect on your morning toast as well as a compliment to cheese, or cheesy scones.

Cranberry and Apple Spelt Crumble - a review of the new Falcon enamelware

Those blue rimmed pie dishes, plates and mugs are something I've always associated with Britain ...
Imagine a rustic wooden table in a 'chocolate box cottage' kitchen, I'm sure you can see the white enamelware stacked somewhere in easy reach. Because these are practical utensils, durable and -yes in my opinion- pretty to look at. They are the essential oven to table ware, the perfect picnic crockery and the last thing we like to see when finishing a delicious blueberry pie.