Autumn is most definately here, there is a chill in the air and alhough this weekend has been beautiful with bright sunshine, here at The White House we can feel the end of the year fast approaching.

I took a little time out in the garden on Saturday afternoon and I’m almost at the end of the harvest.  But there was still enough to keep me busy over the weekend.

• We ate our first and last meal of sweetcorn: the first I have grown
• We harvested our first crop of artichokes: Rod thought they were a bit of an affectation but although fiddly to cook and eat, they really did taste good with garlic mayo and melted butter
• I picked the last of the beetroot and pickled them: two quite big jars to look forward to with ham and cold turkey at Christmas

We had a quiet ending to our busy weekend on Sunday evening, with a visit to the local cinema to see Inferno and then on for a meal at Subhouse.

I’ve spoken before about both places but they really do deserve to be mentioned again.

Wells Cinema is a very small independent – with their screenings shown in rooms not a lot bigger than my kitchen…..  Staff are fantastic and if you are ever in Wells and at a loss on a wet day then I would definately recommend.  http://www.wellsfilmcentre.co.uk/

And Subhouse, well, what can I say……

I did take a couple of pictures to show the atmosphere but it just didn’t capture it – you have to be there to experience it.  From the waiters juggling with neon internally lit balls, to the fairy lights on the roof, to the ultra cool surroundings (and games room upstairs, its really superb.  And to cap it all they have changed the menu to add Pieminster Pies!!!!!

http://www.thesubhouse.co.uk/

Couldn’t get Eddie and Rod out of the place!

My cousin Anne called earlier this week to let me know she had been watching Gardeners World at the weekend and Bishops Palace gardens were featured on the programme.  We watched a recording of it last night and it showed the gardens to stunning effect.

You can see the recording on iplayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07ykkj2/gardeners-world-2016-episode-28 and I would definitely recommend watching.  It was recorded in August when the gardens were at their very best.  It’s certainly motivated me to go backand I would definitely recommend watching.

The Wells Food Festival which took place on Saturday was an outstanding success made even better by a beautiful warm and sunny day.

Rod and I walked down to Wells and came back laden with wonderful cheeses and salami.

The market square and Bishops Palace areas were packed with so many stalls, and I have never seen Wells so busy.  The choice of produce on offer was amazing, and the stall that took my attention most (obviously a cheese stall) was Godminster Cheese.  Now we are usually making a beeline for the Bath cheeses stall (and we still did……..) but Godminster are advertising Chhese Wedding cakes.  I’d never heard of these before but my first thought was…….  MEL – SHE HAS TO HAVE ONE OF THESE…….

Speaking to her later on that afternoon, she agreed it was a “must have” but take a look at there website at www.godminster.com to see the wedding cake to die for!

There is an Autumnal feel to the air today and while its crisp and sunny, the nights are beginning to draw in.

Gardening advice for this week is to begin to harvest the apples and plant bulbs for the spring.

While we’re on track with the bulbs, (looking forward to spring full of crocus, daffodills, tulips, iris and alliums) we have no more apples to harvest.  Hopefully next year we will have more than 5…………………..

Is coming home again……..

Now that the end of September is with us I’m starting to ratch up my consultancy work again and on Tuesday I had my first London meeting since the beginning of July.

Not one of the best photographs I’ve ever taken but just to see the sunset over the countryside lifted me.  I always love going back into London, whether its for work or to meet old friends, but nothing can ever beat Somerset.

On Monday I mentioned the lovely Plum Chutney recipe I had found in one of my Nigella books: How to be a Domestic Goddess, and I thought you might like a little more detail.  The full recipe can be found on page 363 and Nigella describes it a “very addictive – which I guess has something to do with both the sugar and the chilli – and the fact that it tastes so good”

I have to say we agree with her – and it was so easy to make – just chuck all of the ingredients into a preserving pan and let it bubble at a steady boil for one and a half hours.

I’d definately recommend trying it, even if you don’t class yourself as a cook

No…  That’s a jam jar!

Anyone out there old enough to remember crocodile Dundee??

Another busy weekend whizzed by with spare time between breakfasts and changeovers being taken up harvesting our plums in earnest.

I’ve lost count of how many kilos we picked but I had a 13 hour day in the kitchen on Saturday.  After countless jars of jam, there were still loads left and so I found a recipe in one of my nigella books that sounded good.  More of that in my next blog because I have a slice of buttered toast with jam calling out to me…….