petersham with pebbledash

Things haven't been so jolly in the Jolly Hockey Sticks clubhouse lately, and as a result, the blog has fallen a bit behind real life.

So it was a few weeks ago that Diana and I met for the first time at Petersham Nurseries. Even though it was a wet morning, the greenhouses were lovely, with new displays in rich autumnal hues:

A few minutes after arriving, I found Diana trying on my favorite wellies: a very promising start!

Both Diana and her sister are wonderful: amiable, engaging, thoughtful, intelligent, and just plain fun! I'll be meeting up with Diana again this Saturday (this time on her side of the country) for a Fat Hen foraging weekend. Very exciting! Must go pack my wellies...

fruit leather

Rachel and I were quite keen to begin using our new River Cottage handbooks:

So we decided to start with the blackberry and apple leather, as it didn't require sterilizing jars! And after many, many hours in the oven, this is exactly what it looked like:

I adored fruit leather as a child. It's perfect for school lunches and snacks: easy to pack and fun to eat. But while shop-bought fruit leather can contain quite a few things other than fruit, our homemade River Cottage version was all goodness: blackberries, apples, lemons, and honey.

The one thing we learned, though, was that you can't put more than two trays in the oven at a time. We tried four trays--hoping for a double batch--but too much condensation built up, preventing the puree from drying in the set time.

But it all worked out in the end. We'll just have to do fewer sheets next time--difficult when it's so tasty!

all about audley

While I admit I sometimes find English Heritage and National Trust properties a bit disappointing, Audley End, a Jacobean stately home run by English Heritage, is completely amazing.

One of the highlights of our visit was the recently opened Victorian service wing: kitchen, scullery, laundry, dairy, and larder. These areas were just as beautifully restored and just as interesting as the rooms in the main house, if not more so:

I just wish my washing up pile were this lovely (although I'm sure the washing up itself wasn't so lovely for the scullery maids involved):

The walled kitchen garden was another unexpected treat. When Garden Organic, the national charity for organic growing, began restoring the garden in 1999 it was semi-derelict. But you'd never know it today. The garden has been restored to look as it would have done in Victorian times, growing original fruit and vegetable varieties, all carefully labeled in beautiful copperplate script.

The vinehouse is particularly stunning. It was originally constructed around 1804, and is one of the oldest and largest in the country.

Inside the vinehouse we found wonderful citrus, including Meyer lemons and Seville oranges:

Numerous varieties of tomatoes in all shapes, sizes, and colors:

And gorgeous figs:

Out in the garden itself we wandered past row after row of espaliered apples, including quite rare heritage varieties, many of which were on sale in the on-site gift shop:

I only wish we could have returned for Apple Weekend. We've already added it to our to-do list for next year!

scandinavian saturday

The Saturday after we returned from Aldeburgh, we took the train into London for a fabulous cooking demonstration and lunch at Divertimenti. Trina Hahnemann was presenting recipes from her new cookbook:

Now if I were a proper blogger, I would have taken photos of Trina cooking and all the wonderful food. But unfortunately I was far too busy watching Trina and taking notes and tucking in, so I'm hoping Olive magazine won't mind me borrowing a few images from their November issue, which features some of Trina's recipes.

We started with the most amazing marinated salmon with fresh horseradish cream:

Followed by delicious fishcakes and dill potatoes:

Trina also cooked and served reindeer with anise! G was sure I wouldn't try it, but I did, and it was very tasty.

We finished with a fantastic apple trifle, the name of which, when translated literally from Danish, is Veiled Farm Girls. The layer of whipped cream must be the veil, but I'm not sure how the vanilla-infused applesauce and caramelized bread crumbs resemble farm girls! I'd love to know. We've already made it several times at home with great success.

The cookbook is gorgeous, and the recipes are very doable. The recipes are also organized by month, which I really like. And no, I didn't notice the naked man on the back cover until after I'd bought the book!

I'm already looking forward to Trina's Scandinavian baking class at Divertimenti in November, and I promise to take photos!

holiday reading

With such amazing weather, I didn't do quite as much reading in Aldeburgh as I'd expected to.

But I was so glad I'd brought along what is now my favorite book of the year so far: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

If you haven't read it yet, you must go out and buy or borrow a copy straight away! The letter format is reminiscent of 84 Charing Cross Road, but the text is even more engaging with a wonderfully witty narrator and a fabulous cast of characters. At times terribly moving and at others laugh-out-loud funny.

Over the past month or so, I've also made progress on my Virago Modern Classics. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter is incredibly well-written and frightfully compelling, but very disturbing...

And although I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Taylor (the author), I wasn't overly impressed with A Game of Hide and Seek. I found the first part much too slow, and while it did pick up in the second part, I found the Celia Birtwell cover more interesting than the story itself.

Do have a look at the Celia Birtwell website: lovely fabrics, wallpapers, and greeting cards. While I knew her name in conjunction with Ossie Clark and 60s and 70s fashion, I wasn't aware of her wonderful range of furnishings!

sutton hoo

The Anglo-Saxon burial ground Sutton Hoo is just across the river from Woodbridge.

The estate alone is worth a visit: the extensive grounds and views over the river are magnificent. Indeed, one member of our tour group seemed far more interested in the birds and wild mushrooms than in the burial mounds!

Our tour was led by a member of the Sutton Hoo Society, who was terribly knowledgeable and entertaining. He recounted the story of Mrs Edith May Pretty, who was fascinated by the rather unnatural mounds on her estate, and Mr Basil Brown, whom she hired to investigate. Mrs Pretty would sit in her deckchair on the edge of a mound, sipping a drink while watching Mr Brown dig:

On our way home, we discovered that our visit coincided with the Radio 4 Women's Hour dramatization of The Dig by John Preston. Perfect timing!

walking through woodbridge

On an extra sunny day, we drove south to Woodbridge, on the banks of the River Deben. There's a lovely walk along the river:

The town is famous for its restored tide mill, which is one of the oldest in the country. A mill was first recorded on the site in 1170, and the current building dates from 1793:

Moored near the tide mill was this Cath Kidston-style houseboat. How fab to sit on the deck (after taking the laundry in) to watch the sun glinting on the water and the boats sailing by:

We also discovered some wonderful shops. Julie Phipps on Church Street specializes in contemporary crafts and vintage housewares. There are several excellent bookshops on the Thoroughfare, including a children's bookshop, as well as RE + new, a showcase for local artists and handcrafted and midcentury modern furniture.

We fell in love with this bent ash chair by Dan Hussey:

He makes his chairs by steam bending green ash sourced from carefully managed, coppiced Suffolk woodlands. Each chair takes about a month to make, and it shows. Simply beautiful.