She felt something on her shoe. She looked down. It was a long, thin, curly piece of orange peel, stuck to her heel. She stared at him.

“Look at that, a piece of orange peel. I told you not to book this place, the write-ups were awful”.

She placed the orange peel on the table and glared at him as she studied the menu.

“Prawns in Marie Rose sauce – really? That’s prawn cocktail – PRAWN BLOODY COCKTAIL. How old fashioned is that? My father took me to restaurants in the sixties that served prawn cocktail. God, what else is there?”.

She continued glaring at the menu.

“Pâté – hmmm, I bet that’s crap, some factory extruded pink paste. Don’t they have anything fresh? I bet it’s all frozen. There’s no excuse for not having fresh produce in restaurants these days. I mean, if you had picked a decent place, we could have had fresh stuff, not this frozen rubbish. What’s for mains?”.

The waitress arrived to take their order.

“We’re not ready yet. Can you come back, but I’d like a bottle of Prosecco – now. VERY cold. NOT WARM – VERY COLD. Oh and by the way, I found this attached to my heel – can you take it away?”

The waitress picked up a napkin, placed the orange peel carefully in it and walked off.

“Right, let’s see what the main dishes are. Steak. I bet it’s tough as old boots. They never cook it right, it’s always overdone. Home made chips – huh, I can imagine, home made by Aunt Bessie. Lamb? Mutton don’t they mean? It’s the wrong time of year for lamb. Obviously last year’s from the freezer”.

The waitress appeared with the Prosecco.

“Yes it’s cold but can you bring a bucket of ice?”.

The waitress returned with a bucket of ice and took their order.

“I’ll have the mixed salad – at least that will have to be fresh. Then the fillet of pork but NO SAUCE on the pork, just leave it on the side. It’s always too sloppy when it’s poured all over the meat. I’ll have the mousse for pudding”.

She poured herself a glass of fizz and offered him some. He shook his head.

“Why not? Oh, of course, you’ve got to work haven’t you? As usual. It’s the weekend and you’ve got to work. I don’t know why we even bother coming out for a meal if I’m drinking on my own. Mind you – that’s all I do these days – drink alone”.

She gulped down the first glass and poured another one.

“Where’s the bloody food – I’m starving. I hope that salad’s fresh, otherwise it’s going back“.

The starters arrived. They ate in silence and she drank more Prosecco.

“Not bad. Let’s see what the main course is like”.

The waitress cleared their plates and returned with the main dishes.

“I said no sauce on the meat. NO SAUCE ON THE MEAT. Take it away and bring me what I ordered!”.

The waitress removed the plate.

“I should bloody well think so, its not that hard to get right, is it?” She cried in earshot of the waitress.

“Typical, I knew they’d get it wrong. Now it’ll be ages before it comes back. Start, start, don’t sit there staring at it!”. She shouts at him.

The waitress returned shortly with the dish.

“At last”. They ate the meal and she drank two more glasses of fizz.

The waitress cleared the plates and within a few minutes came back with the desserts. She smiled at him when she put the puddings down.

“Hmm, let’s see what this tastes like”.

The mousse was light as a feather, sitting in a wonderful citrus sauce, surrounded by tiny biscuits and on top was a long, thin, curly strip of orange peel. She ate the lot.

He smiled and started to eat.

Maggie Wood

August 2020

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During lockdown, many restaurants have had to close. Fortunately, they are now re-opening, albeit under different rules and regulations. We ran Goldingtons restaurant from our home in the UK many years ago and the idea for this started whilst we were in the Middle East when we would hold dinner parties in our villa for friends. At that time in Jeddah, restaurants were very expensive, and many of them had separate areas for women and men.

We were invited to a party at Dr Ali Mahmoud’s huge villa. He was the CEO of the company that Ed worked for at the time, so it was a big occasion for everyone. I arrived in a sleeveless, slightly transparent dress and was quickly ushered into a private room for women only. As the other ladies arrived they all removed their Abayas (black cloak), to reveal the most exquisite and expensive dresses I have every seen. Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, every designer you can imagine, with each woman trying to outdo each other for style. What an eye opener! As well as these beautiful outfits, each woman was literally laden with gold. Bracelets, necklaces and rings and watches too – Rolex, Cartier and Chopard to name but a few.

We held many dinner parties and attended many more. We made friends with people of all nationalities from all over the world. Some of our best evenings were with Julian and Pam Webber, and Randy and Chico Young. Chico was Japanese and caused uproar in her family by marrying an American just after the war. She was hilarious and used to exercise by running around inside her villa for an hour everyday (outside temperatures in Jeddah could reach 45C!) She specialised in Japanese jewellery and would often arrive in Jeddah with a suitcase full of Mikimoto pearls. We made some special wine for Thanksgiving and they kept the empty bottle as a souvenir from their time in a “dry” state.

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When we returned to the UK, we decided to open our own restaurant as we loved cooking and entertaining. We had some very funny experiences and a few difficult customers, (none as bad as the lady in Dinner for One!) but on the whole we met interesting people and had a great time. Dinner for One follows in the next blog and is loosely based on someone I knew years ago.

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When Ed bought me this little beauty for Christmas, I never imagined in a million years that I would be typing in early spring, about the world pandemic that we are all now going through. Like the majority of people, when Boris announced lockdown, we thought this would be over in a matter of a few months and it would either fade out or we’d soon find a vaccine. Little did we know the enormous changes that would come and how it is affecting our everyday lives.

Here are a few extracts from the beginning

11th March we visited our accountant Joff before he shut down and worked from home. We were going to my brother’s birthday party in York – something that he’d been organising for months. Sadly we had to cancel the accommodation and all the celebrations we had been planning for him. Never mind, we said, we’ll re-book in a couple of months – still waiting on that.

The chicken pie was lovely though! See the recipe at end of this blog.

On the next day, America closed its doors to Europe. Just as well considering the present state of that country under “The Donald”.

Our friends in Denmark said the schools had closed down. Denmark acted very quickly and has had much less cases than the rest of Europe.

Abi’s company in London closed their offices and she packed up her house and headed home to Suffolk where there are a lot less cases than in London.

We were heading to the English coast to spend a few days with Rosie our friend. Rosie is a nurse who had just started working in a care home so that trip was cancelled. As yet, she is still working and has fortunately not had any cases of Covid at the home. We still haven’t seen each other since November – apart from Zoom calls.

Saturday 14th March Spain closes and our friend Grainne said Empuriabrava was very quiet – no market and most restaurants closed. We were due to leave UK for France and Spain in April but will have to wait and see like the rest of the world.

Sunday 15th March Gerry, our Irish friend was in isolation in Southern Ireland – her brother Brian who lives in Spain was in lockdown and couldn’t leave his apartment to travel up to Chalabre, France where he normally spends most of the spring and summer.

Monday 16th March One of our favourite hotels, the Spielman in Ehrwald closed, along with the rest of Austria.

Tuesday 17th March – usually one of the best days for us Irish with lots of celebrations and parties. Not this year. Dublin closed.

CHICKEN PIE RECIPE

500gm of cooked, shredded chicken (use meat from a roast)

30gm butter

30gm plain flour

300ml chicken stock

2 Leeks finely chopped

3 rashers bacon chopped or two tbs of lardons

small tin of sweetcorn

Shortcrust pastry – ready made

Make the roux by melting the butter and adding the flour, cook for 2 minutes. Gradually add the chicken stock and stir with a whisk until it boils then keep stirring until it thickens. Leave to one side.

Cook the leeks in butter until softened, then add the bacon and cook through

Stir in cooked chicken, then add all the ingredients to the roux.

Season with salt and pepper (I add a pinch of nutmeg)

Put mixture into pie dish (enamel plates are better)

Top with shortcrust pastry, brush with beaten egg and bake for 50 minutes at 180ºC Fan until golden and crispy. Eat with fresh greens.

Since typing in the first week of lockdown, so much has changed. Follow my blog for the updates on friends, family and events and read my stories old and new. Enjoy!

We love this city and have visited it many times. It is known as the Venice of the north and the history of Bruges dates back as far as the 9th century when it was founded by the Vikings. The name Brugge is thought to have come from the Scandinavian word brygga meaning harbour. Zeebrugge (translated as Bruges at Sea) is only ten miles away. When we first travelled to Bruges, we would take the ferry from Felixstowe to Zeebrugge, unfortunately that service no longer exists as Felixstowe has become one of the biggest freight ports in the UK, with ships the size of cities arriving daily from China. The only other alternative is a ferry to the Hook of Holland from Harwich where you can drive down the coast to Belgium, or the Eurotunnel to France. We stay at the Bolterhuis hotel which is a typical narrow house with steep staircases. We book in to the hotel and park the car several streets away. Parking space is difficult to find in Bruges as the streets are very narrow. Many of the hotels have car parks underground and by utilizing this space, the streets are less crowded and the cars are protected from the heat in summer and from frost in the winter.

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We start off with a cold drink in the main square. The place is packed with tourists and the cafe is very busy and crowded so we move off to another little bar right beside the river, where the temperature is a lot cooler and it is much less crowded. After cooling down we find a restaurant nearby and manage to grab a seat by the water. Ed chooses moule frites and I have a delicious mixed salad. We will be heading back to the UK tomorrow after an incredible journey across Europe.

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We end the evening in our usual bar – Bar’N which has a wonderful interior and is decorated like a Barn with a huge Longhorn Steer jutting out from the wall. We discuss our plans for the next trip, before heading back to the hotel to pack.

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In the morning, after a delicious breakfast we drive towards Calais. We stop at Eurocity and head to Carrefour. This time we fill the car to the brim with loads of wine and other goodies. We are so glad that we did, as we would never in our wildest imaginations have imagined what was heading to Europe and the rest of the world from Wuhan. We wouldn’t be visiting Europe for the foreseeable future.

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Beaune is a beautiful walled city with some stunning buildings and quaint cobbled streets. It is at the heart of the Burgundy wine making region and is well known for its annual wine auction which is held in the beautiful Hotel-Dieu (Hospices de Beaune)

These are the five main wine producing regions in the area. Red burgundy is made from the Pinot Noir grapes and White burgundy is made from Chardonnay grapes. Why Burgundy wine is so special is the quality of the terroir (land) on which the grapes are grown. Depending upon which terroir the grapes come from, the wines are classified into four different categories :-

Grand Cru – the best vineyards, producing wine at the highest prices and bought by wine collectors. Grand Cru will list the name of the vineyard on the bottle.

Premier Cru – slightly less expensive that Grand Cru, but still wonderful tasting wines at high prices.

Village wines – produced from several villages in the Burgundy region with the name of the village where the grapes come from, written on the label. Prices vary from each village.

Regional wines – produced from a mixture of vineyards within several villages in the region. Still very good wines from the region but with a more affordable price range.

This practice of classifying vineyards by their terroirs goes back to medieval times, when the monasteries played a major part in developing the wine industry in Burgundy.

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We visit several vineyards and try some excellent wines but Ed’s favourite reds would have to be Grand cru Gevrey Chambertin from the village of the same name, Côté de Beaune-Villages and Nuit St Georges. For white our favourites are Mersault, Pouilly-Fuissé and Bourgogne Aligoté. Wonderful wines from a wonderful region of France 🇫🇷

Tonight we dine at a restaurant near to the beautiful Hotel-Dieu and there is only one thing to eat here – Beef Bourgignon! (See recipe)

RECIPE FOR BOEUF BOURGIGNON

Start with good beef from a reliable butcher

1kg beef for braising, cut into cubes

2 shallots chopped fairly small

1 tablespoon olive oil

25gm butter

Half bottle of red burgundy

300ml beef stock

1 onion cut into quarters

2 bay leaves

2 springs of thyme

1 teaspoon brown sugar

100gm chestnut mushrooms

100g smoked lardons (or smoked streaky bacon)

1 tbs cornflour

Water

Heat the oil and butter in a pan and add the beef and shallots. Sauté the meat for 5 minutes. Gradually add the wine and the stock. Then add the thyme, chopped onion and bay leaves and stir in the sugar. Keep stirring and add some salt and pepper. Cover and simmer this dish for an hour and a half on a low heat. Whilst the meat is cooking, add the lardons to a frying pan and sauté until the juices start to run. Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley, fry for five minutes and then tip the mixture into the bourguignon. Put the lid back on and bring back to the boil.

Add 2 tbs water to the cornflour and stir the paste into the bourguignon Cook for another 20 minutes and serve.

This dish is best eaten with plain potatoes and red wine (burgundy obviously!)

Bon Appetit

Today we leave Allos and head to Mâcon – one of our favourite wine tasting cities in the Burgundy region of France. The journey back down the mountain is not quite as daunting as on the way up! We stop at a small cafe en route and enjoy a great coffee with stunning views.

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Soon we arrive in Charnay Les Mâcon at La Maison de Marie (booking.com). This is a wonderful apartment in the village and is pure luxury compared to our hostel in Allos. The weather has also vastly improved and we take a tour of the pretty village before heading off to Mâcon for dinner.

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We park by the Saône river in the town and take a tour of this fascinating city. The church of St Pierre is beautiful and Mâcon town hall is stunning (as are most of the town halls in France).

The St. Laurent Bridge started out as a small ford and was turned into a wooden bridge by the Romans. In the 11th century it was rebuilt as a stone bridge with 6 arches. During the religious wars, the governor of Macon threw the Hugenots from the bridge. St Laurent is one of the few bridges that survived the Second World War and since then, has been extended to 12 arches. Truly stunning.

Another important landmark in Mâcon, is the statue of Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat Lamartine. Lamartine was born in Mâcon in 1790 and was a poet, writer and a politician. He was involved in the founding of the Second Republic and for continuing the use of the Tricolor as the flag of France.

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RECIPE FOR LAMB WITH GOATS CHEESE (from our last night in Allos)

This recipe is best made with left over lamb.

500gm cooked lamb from shoulder or leg, shredded

1 large garlic clove crushed

I shallot, finely chopped

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp coriander

2 tbsp red pesto sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

FOR THE SALAD

Half a cucumber, sliced lengthways and chopped into 1cm pieces

90gm pea shoots (they really compliment this dish)

100gm mixed leaf lettuce (red and green)

80gm rocket

80gm asparagus, cooked for a few minutes and drained

200gm Goats cheese or feta, crumbled

3 small sweet beetroots (not in vinegar as this will spoil the flavour) cut into quarters.

Heat the the olive oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic, cook for 5 minutes. Add the cumin, paprika, coriander and pesto and cook for a another few minutes. Then add the shredded lamb and heat through until the dish is piping hot. Season with salt and pepper and leave to one side.

In the meantime, put the salad together. Start with the mixed leaf lettuce, followed by the rocket, cucumber and pea shoots. Put the asparagus and beetroot on top. Spoon the lamb mixture onto the salad and crumble the goats cheese or feta on top to finish.

Bon Appetit

We start the day with bacon sandwiches cooked in the apartment and sit on the balcony looking out towards the Refuge du Col d’Allos where we will be spending the day with the car.

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During the 1949 Rally, some of the Alpine rally drivers stayed at this Hotel and today we drive up with the little blue car to see the view and recreate Betty Haig’s stopping point.

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We take a video of the car and plenty of photos with everyone having a turn at the wheel. It is very cold up here so we retreat to the restaurant to warm up. Hot chocolate and drinks appear and we watch as the owner prepares the lunchtime menu. The smell of soup makes us hungry (see recipe), so we order several bowls and feel thoroughly warmed up enough to venture back outside. After more photos, we drive back down to our hotel, ready for another evening at the little restaurant in the village. This will be our last night together for a while, as the boys are heading off to Cortina and the Stelvio pass to carry out some time trials with the little car.

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We choose a lamb dish tonight, with beetroot, rocket and goats cheese – delicious (see recipe on next blog). We have some lovely wine and fresh crusty home made bread, followed by creme brûlée’s and chocolate mousse. We will miss this little place. Tonight the weather is kinder and we walk back up the mountain and finish with a nightcap in the apartment.

We will head off to Macon and Beaune tomorrow and carry out our own tests on local red wine and food.

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We leave the Alpes and take the long winding road down towards Macon. We have booked an apartment near to the town so that we can try out the restaurants and wonderful wines from this region.

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This is my version of the delicious and warming soup we ate up in the mountains.

MAGGIE’S MOUNTAIN SOUP

200gm ham hock meat – shredded

420gm tin of white beans (cannelloni or haricot)

1 Litre of chicken stock

Half small green pointed spring cabbage sliced finely

300gm new potatoes

2 thick slices of bread, toasted and cut into cubes

50gm cheese grated (we had comté but cheddar is also good)

Salt and pepper

Cook the potatoes for 20 mins and drain. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the potatoes, meat and the beans and simmer for 10 minutes. Finally, add the cabbage and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat, serve in large bowls and add cubes of toasted bread with the cheese sprinkled on top.

Bon Appetit

We had a good night last night at the tiny restaurant in Allos. Today we drive to Colmars les Alpes, about 20 minutes drive. It it a medieval walled village with a pretty centre and we find a place to have lunch. We are having no luck with the bolts but Doug has managed to make some repairs that will probably suffice until we can find somewhere to replace them.

The lunch is excellent – we have steak frites (see recipe) and a couple of bottles of wine. We then explore the place, which is full of interesting buildings and architecture. As we search for a shop (none open!), Dot and Ed find a stray dog to look after. Doug wants to adopt it but the boys refuse to let it into their motorhome to take it back to the apartment. Eventually the owner turns up and takes it back home.

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We arrive back in Allos and the boys work on the car. Dot and I spend a relaxing afternoon reading and sitting on the balcony looking over the empty ski runs and get ready to venture out to the little restaurant again. On the way down and after a couple of glasses of wine, Dot and I decide to do some traffic control on the roundabout. Not sure if the biker understood our directions.

We are greeted like long lost friends at the restaurant and the owner’s son joins us to scribble on the wall. Food is good and the wine excellent. More singing and dancing and then time to leave – just as the heavens open. Obviously no taxis so we try to find somewhere to shelter. Although the hotels are all closed, their receptions remain open and we enter a hotel with a huge reception area with not a soul in site. We shelter from the downpour but Dot and Kevin speed on ahead.

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As we wait for the downpour to end, we see a couple of lights in the distance which get nearer and nearer. Suddenly we realise it’s Kevin who has come back in the motor home to pick us up. We clamber in and are so pleased to get back into the dry. We change into dry clothes and make hot chocolate with rum to warm us up. Another eventful night!

RECIPE FOR STEAK FRITES – Courtesy of Carl

This is Carl’s recipe and he uses Tomahawk steak, but you can use any steak, as long as its from a good butcher.

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1 tomahawk steak (serves 2 or 3 people or just Carl!)

100gm butter

3 cloves of garlic crushed

Bunch of thyme

Salt and pepper

Sear each side for 2 minutes, then again for another 2 minutes

Put the butter, garlic and thyme into an aluminium tray and melt on the BBQ

Put the steak on the upper rack and place the aluminium tray underneath to catch the juices from the meat.

Close the lid and allow to cook, basting from time to time with the melted butter

Use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature

Ready at 125º degrees

Slice and serve with french fries, fat chips or just salad

Bon Appetit

We leave the lovely Cote D’Azur and head to Col d’Allos, taking the road past Grasse and up into the mountains. The boys are having some problems today with the transporter, so we arrive several hours before them. The last hour is particularly scary, with very narrow mountain roads, looking down to valleys deep below.

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As we ascend the mountain road, the temperature drops drastically and we get out our sweaters and socks for the first time in weeks. We arrive in the village and there are dozens of ski lodges and hotels, all empty. Not a soul in sight – anywhere.

We drive to the end of the village and our hotel is the last one before the road leading up to the top of Col d’Allos. The place is deserted. We phone the number on our booking details and eventually someone answers. Within ten minutes, the doors are opened and we check in. We are amused when the receptionist asks us if we would like sheets! Dot and I are amazed and can’t stop laughing. Yes please, we replied. Turns out the place is more of a hostel than a hotel and we have arrived very much out of season.

We take sheets for Doug and the boys as they will be exhausted by the time they arrive and in no mood to make up beds. We open up the apartments and get them ready. Fortunately, we always have enough provisions with us to produce a meal, so we were able to conjure up some hot food and drinks. Just as well, because in this village there wasn’t ONE store open – not even a bakery! We are just a little deflated after such a great time on the coast with warm weather and lots of restaurants.

The boys finally arrive and come to our apartment where we have prepared a supper with hot drinks. They relate the tale of their journey which had been very difficult as some of the bolts on the transporter had snapped. They will need to find replacements in the morning. After supper and a few drinks, they head off to their apartment for a good sleep before tomorrow’s adventures.

In the morning, the weather hasn’t improved and we are still freezing with many layers of clothes on to try and keep warm. We have breakfast and meet up with everyone in the car park. As I am the only person that can speak French, I head off with Ed and Richard to find a supplier of bolts. We arrive in the next village looking for a garage – no luck as it’s a Monday and guess what? – everywhere is closed on a Monday. We will have to try somewhere else tomorrow to find the parts for the transporter. We drive back to Col d’Allos and take the MGTC up to the top of the mountain for another photo op. We meet two nice French gentlemen who offer to take us for a spin in their lovely car. Sadly we decline and stick with the 70 year old little blue car instead.

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Later in the day, things liven up as we find a tiny restaurant open. It’s a great little place with good food. We start with a selection of appetisers (see recipe) and some excellent wine. After the meal we finally warm up and spend an enjoyable evening, drinking, dancing and writing messages on the wall. Things are looking up!

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RECIPE FOR OEUFS A LA ANCHOIS

Allow one egg per person – this recipe serves two as a starter

2 hard boiled eggs, cut in half lengthways

8 anchovy fillets

Sun dried tomatoes in oil (about 2 tbs), chopped

Selection of fresh tomatoes (green, yellow, purple and red or whatever is available)

Fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Slice the mixed tomatoes horizontally and place them in a circle on a small plate

Place a tablespoon of sun dried tomatoes on top, flattening them slightly.

Scatter some basil leaves over the tomatoes and add the egg, flat side down

Arrange the anchovies in a cross over each half egg. Grind black pepper over the dish and serve with crusty French bread