August round-up with Eat with Ellen
September 1, 2016

August – the month of school holidays, sunshine (some of the time), and more food adventures than you can shake a tail at. I still have a massive backlog to work through of fun stuff to tell you about, but I did so much more in August that I probably made it bigger rather than smaller!

I did so much fun stuff in August from learning to make bread with Paul, trying out the cookery school at Mousley House Farm, and experiencing my first Yumzee meal, as well as a few other new restaurants and eateries – but you’ll have to wait for all that and settle for a bit of a catch-up on some other tasty treats.

Eating Out In August

A long overdue one was breakfast at Saint Kitchen in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. We went here after our night at Lasan as a spur-of-the-moment thing and were more than pleasantly surprised. Not just great coffee but a lovely array of breakfast treats, from pancakes and eggs benedict to this healthy avocado smash.

Avocado smash at Saint Kitchen, Birmingham

We also took ourselves over to Met Bar & Kitchen in Solihull – one from the same guys who run the White Horse in Balsall Common – thought weren’t quite as impressed as we had been by the White Horse.

Seafood platter at Met Bar & Kitchen, Solihull

Back in July we headed down south for the Grillstock Festival in Bristol. But before we hit the meat, we took Jamie’s sister for her birthday dinner at The Glassboat in Bristol. It was a splendid night of oysters and other seafood, plus two awesome platters of meat including this cote de boeuf.

Cote de boeuf at the Glassboat, Bristol

After Bristol, which seems so very long ago now, we headed on south to Cornwall for a few days in the Roseland Peninsula. I still have so much to tell you about this, including possibly the best meal of our life, which I promise is coming up soon.

But first, another meal from that little jaunt – lunch at The Quarterdeck at The Nare Hotel. This was a bit of a chance find and we had no idea how good it would be. Seriously, if you’re in the area, go. It’s not cheap, but it’s rather lovely.

Lunch at the Nare Hotel, Roseland, Cornwall

Back in the Midlands, at the very start of August I went to possibly the biggest bloggers’ event I’ve been to at Itihaas, one of Brum’s fine dining Indian establishments. I thought it was rather fab and a great way of trying everything, especially this rather yummy butter chicken. I’m definitely going to have to go back for a ‘proper’ meal with Mr M.

Butter chicken at Itihaas, Birmingham

This isn’t the only round-up you’ve had in August. August threw up ‘Afternoon Tea Week’, so I took the opportunity to give you a little look back at some of the afternoon teas I’ve scoffed and either posted on my blog or documented elsewhere, whether it be on guest blogs or my social media.

This picture is from the sadly-now-closed Nook on the Square in Dunchurch now Rugby, but there are plenty of other places on the post itself that are still going strong and happy to feed you cake any time.

Afternoon tea, Nook on the Square

Another little gallery of fun was a combination of our trip to the aforementioned Grillstock Festival in Bristol, followed by the Great British Food Festival at Kelmarsh Hall. I’d gone all out for a piece on Grillstock last year and since this year was full of a similar celebration of meat and music, I just treated you to some saliva-inducing pictures.

Great British Food Festival was a bit of an impromptu afternoon out with my mum and oh-so-worth-it. Obviously it was a beautiful setting, but the range of local producers showcasing their wares was great, and we spent a lovely few hours wandering round in the sun checking it out.

Great British Food Festival

Out and About in August

One of the highlights of August was a little night away we had at the High Field Town House in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Earlier this year I started reviewing destinations in the travel section of this blog, and Mr M and I are lucky enough that we occasionally get to review accommodation as well as eateries. Good really, since the two usually go hand in hand for us.

You might remember we tried the Ragged Cot at Minchinhampton earlier this year in a little escape to the country. The High Field Town House was the opposite end of the scale, a stone’s throw from Birmingham City Centre, but was no less lovely. I was blown away by the attention to detail and general beauty of the place. This is just one of many, many pictures I took of it, so take a look at the post for more.

Inside the High Field Town House, Birmingham

From luxury accommodation to a bit of canvas, our final jaunt of the month was a camping trip down to Cornwall with our pals. I haven’t actually even reviewed the last camping trip to the Roseland yet but hey, I just can’t keep up with all this wanderlust!

The latest trip was to Tintagel, King Arthur’s country, where we brought a bit of Spanish to the south of England with an evening of sangria courtesy of Monarch Airlines and Talented Talkers. I’d missed a Spanish Fiesta night at Amantia in Birmingham earlier in the month so they kindly sent me a hamper of everything I’d need to create my own. And other than mixing it up in a saucepan, if you sat back and closed your eyes you could easily imagine you were in the Costa del Cornwall, promise!

Spanish sangria with Monarch airlines

Other food fun in August

As I mentioned, there’s so much more to tell you about in some rather juicy blog posts. Of course, not everything makes it to the blog, like my first trip to Gourmet Burger Kitchen, where I had no idea you could choose how you have your burger cooked.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen buger

I managed a bit of cooking at home too. Some of it was fairly healthy, which you guys definitely won’t be interested in. But Mr M and I whipped up a rather lovely butterflied leg of lamb that I bought last month from the fabulous Aubrey Allen. They’ve got another deal coming up so I’m definitely going to be having a repeat run. We also had a little scone-baking session the other night. Don’t ask me why!

Butterflied leg of lamb

Homemade scones

Away from the blog, I made a few ‘appearances’ on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, doing the paper review and also as part of the ‘Brody Bunch’ in the afternoon. I also produced my first monthly foodie round-up for the wonderful Belle About Town site, and have just published the one for September too.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve also been writing some food stuff for Mode.com – all sorts really, from serious subjects like food banks to some more fun pieces about why Birmingham is so great and where to eat in Cornwall’s Roseland peninsula.

Coming up in September for Eat with Ellen

Well, as you know, there are bucketloads of blogs to come, and a few more plans for more. I’ve got a few meals organised, and another special treat in the form of an overnight stay at the White Horse in Duns Tew, another picturesque country escape.

I’m also going to be knee-deep in food festivals, as I’m hosting a live Q&A at the Leamington Spa Food Festival’s Fringe Festival in Regent Court on Saturday, September 10th. I’ll also be at the Stratford Town Centre Food Festival later this month, which I’m involved with as part of my day job, but I’ll be hoping to catch a glimpse of some great demos and meet Mr Jean-Christophe Novelli himself.

In between all that, I’m off to Malta with my pal for a little break, so make sure you keep an eye on my social media for some foodie adventures from holiday. Oh, and it’s my birthday so there will undoubtedly be some kind of edible celebration!

Too. Much. Fun.

Stay tuned folks, have a fab month xxx

 

Pinterest
LinkedIn
Share
Instagram