back from our Cornish holiday

Or perhaps should be entitled what I ate on holiday!  But first of all just wanted to put a quick link to my friends' garden which is a few miles along the road from me.  They have started to open under the Gardens Scheme for charity and have transformed this beautiful garden by themselves!  It's well worth a visit if you ever get the chance.

http://www.mansefieldgarden.co.uk/index.php


We have just returned from our family holiday to Cornwall, around 700 miles from home and the first time I have visited.  So we had to make the most of it!

During our first week we had lunch at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant - Padstow, beautiful restaurant and food (I achieved one of my foodie ambitions by eating here) -  Seared Fillet of Seabass with roasted fennel seeds and sauce vierge; Braised Fillet of Hake with Mussels, Spinach, Chervil and a Malt Whisky Sauce and to finish had Strawberry Pavlova with Creme Chantilly and Vincotto. Fantastic.

On the second week we met up with friends (who own the garden above!) at Watergate Bay for lunch at Fifteen Cornwall - absolutely amazing food.  To start I had Grilled Cornish mackeral with herby fregola di sarda and green olive salsa; then Bocaddon Farm Rose veal 'scaloppine alla pizzaiola' with verdura mista of Florence fennel, red onion and zucchini followed by Strawberry and mascarpone mousse cake, Tamar Valley strawberries and almond brittle.  Completely brilliant food, amazing atmosphere and of course surfing at Watergate Bay too.

The rest of our holiday was spent on beaches, and sightseeing with the major highlight being the Paolo Nutini concert at the Eden Project, followed by a visit to Eden the next day.

All in all, had a brilliant time, now back to our own Eden project (polytunnel has gone mad in our absence), a wee injured cat - Spooky had to have surgery for a discolated hip we have no idea how he managed to hurt himself, and with BIG plans for the railway carriage project.  Looks like a busy summer ahead.