This is indeed one of our favourite pub/restaurants. It’s about a 20 min drive away, but has great food and a very warm and friendly atmosphere. We always take visitors from outside the UK here as it is the epitome of an English pub.
We are great fans of Masterchef and watch every episode. Last night, Marcus Wareing set the contestants a challenge to cook a traditional Croque Monsieur – essentially a cooked ham, cheese and cheese sauce sandwich, so I decided to have a go and try it myself tonight. Remembering the method from last night it didn’t turn out too badly…
The weather hasn’t been good enough today for our planned BBQ, but that didn’t stop us having the food we planned – sausage kebabs with peppers, tomatoes and home-grown courgettes. Whereas most folks would just randomly pile the elements on to the skewers, in our house it’s an exercise in precision assembly – note the symmetry!
One of our favourite places to eat – The Fox at Newport, Shropshire. It’s basically a smart pub, but serves good ‘home-cooked’ food, and has a great atmosphere too. Hard to resist if we are passing by, as we were today! Needless to say it didn’t disappoint…
My favourite lunch – carpaccio of beef. We chill it for a couple of hours in the freezer, cut it thinly and then flatten it between sheets of cling film. Then serve with rocket leaves, parmesan cheese and a home made mustard dressing. Tasty!
Well, vegetables actually… The green runner beans have done reasonably well this year, despite the very mixed weather, but are now coming to an end. I planted yellow courgettes for the first time, and after an uncertain start they are coming thick and fast. And as for the onions – they are huge! Most of them are a good 4-5 ins across, so just need to dry them off for storage. Not shown is the final crop of rhubarb – probably about 4lbs this time. Most will get frozen for use later, but I will definitely use some to make rhubarb vodka for Christmas!
This is the bar of The Mermaid pub, in Wolverhampton. I’ve been visiting this pub for over 50 years now, and met my wife here one fateful evening 46 years ago. She was working behind the bar – we ‘clicked’ and were married in less than a year. Our visit today wasn’t particularly successful – the atmosphere and service was ‘ok’, but the food was truly dreadful. It’ll be a while before we come here again!
Our take on Beer Can Chicken… Chicken was rubbed with Jack Daniels BBQ glaze, and allowed to marinate for a couple of hours before being set up on the BBQ with cola instead of beer inside. With vegetables around the outside and the grill running at around 180°, it took about an hour and a half to cook and was delicious!
We both added a few extra pounds due to excellent food while we were on holiday, so it’s time to start eating healthily again… This tasted better than perhaps it looks in the photo – a halloumi cheese salad with nectarines, pine nuts and a sweet dressing. 
After our great two week holiday in Ireland, it was back to normal today – unpacking the car, putting stuff away, and the inevitable shopping. Not my favourite supermarket, but at least it’s nearby and will do is for a few days…
