A sign of warmer weather?!

An early breakfast this morning for a guest travelling a very long way away set me forward in the day's activities! Lovely to wake to that beautiful chattering sound above the bedroom window, the swallows I think have hatched since occasionally I see a broken egg shell being pushed out of the nest and landing on our bedroom window sill. Their displays over the farmyard this morning are easily seen as I am sitting at the kitchen table, since the weather is once again so damp they are diving low over the courtyard catching the flies.

However, the welcome is not damp on arriving here, in fact it is quite positively spring like with yesterday's guests seeing Leah's beautiful, now legendary cupcakes with little pink piglets on top! If you haven't been tempted to join her Cupcakes Galore day - take a quick peek at Leah's website - www.leahspantry.co.uk and I think you may be then!

The Bluebells have finally blossomed in the woods, and yesterday our guests walked down to Bollington to explore the Bollington Festival, they arrived back at Harrop Fold so excited to tell us all about the beauty of the woods. Their photographs certainly showed the intensity of the beautiful colours. I love seeing these flowers as they always remind me of when the children were small and we used to sit on the seat by the stream looking for the fairies, the boys could be a little unkind to the girls who always, without fail, saw the fairies dancing through the Bluebells!

Last week Northern Harvest brought us the first Cheshire Asparagus - is that a sign of warmer weather? So delicious it was that we bought two grades, one for soup which was divine and another for steaming. Northern Harvest deliver here on a Thursday and so it was Cheshire Asparagus for supper again last night! Perhaps you might like to try some and cook it just as we love it.

Take a bunch of Cheshire Asparagus, steam until it is to your liking. In the water below, poach an egg and in a frying pan toast some breadcrumbs with fresh chopped herbs from your garden. (Here we have parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme growing in the kitchen garden along with some oregano, we chop whichever we fancy).
When it is cooked lay the asparagus on the plate with the poached egg to the side and sprinkle with herb breadcrumbs...um...yummy! This is surely a different take on the poached egg and soldiers!

Last week saw the launch of Taste Cheshire - the Cheshire Foodtrail - another wonderful idea from Visit Chester and Cheshire. What a great evening everyone enjoyed at Spitting Feathers in Chester - who could fail to enjoy an evening in a brewery?! lovely beers and Cheshire Cider along with delicious titbits of cheese and very tasty canapes. The food trail suggests a trail of delicious places all over Cheshire and yes, Harrop Fold is featured in one of the trails. The gorgeous books are available here at the farm and I know the guests who have been here this week have all taken one and visited more than one of the suggested places.

Looking forward to our next evening out with our lovely, lovely friends from Visit Chester and Cheshire which will be the Annual Cheshire Tourism Awards to be held at Chester Racecourse two weeks tonight. Once again Harrop Fold Farm has been shortlisted in a couple of categories: Bed & Breakfast of the Year (which we won in 2006) and A Taste of Cheshire. Our judging felt as though it went well, the judges were so interesting and they put us at ease, so it is down to their decisions...fingers crossed though! We do try so hard to go the extra mile for our guests, but that is so easy due to the welcome encouragement we receive from them.

Time to put the next lot of breakfasts on...I think this morning I will tempted to join in. Who can resist Harrop Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Cheshire Tomatoes and Mushrooms and some of Jeremy's handmade Blackpudding? Certainly not me this morning! Finished off with some homemade Lemon Curd and Cheshire Rhubarb and Ginger Jam. Yum yum! Oh no! I do have to try to squeeze into my evening dress soon though!

Catch up again shortly,
Love,
Sue xx