I know a place which you will never forget -trust me -

I know a place which you will never forget -trust me - when I attend marketing meetings, we are told only to tell customers so much. Tempt them to come and then tell them the rest. This is good advice most of the time. On this occasion it would be completely unfair not to tell locals and other people who have never had the experience where it is . Okay you may read this and stay well yes we take Anna's advice and we will stay there too. In normal circunstances I would be a bit miffed, but if you do all I can say is if you do enjoy it . The people who own it and those who work there are so kind to me. If I cant repay the favourite now and again it all gets a bit one sided. I will tell you at the end, if you havent already guessed where it is. I have been going here for over 50 years now and seen landlords come and go. - clue no 1. The present owner has just celebrate 27 years of running this fine place. Fine indeed it holds a Michellin star. Situated just outside Helmsley on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. It is essentially an Inn with Rooms serving ‘modern Yorkshire’ food made primarily from locally-sourced seasonal ingredients, such as local game, North Sea fish and fresh herbs from its own kitchen garden. Wines and beers are carefully selected to compliment the dining menu, whilst service is knowledgeable, but friendly. Add to this the atmosphere of an Inn with hospitality steeped into its very timbers for a proper treat. So then it is to decide what to have. The other lunch time I had the market menu and Jack opted for dishes from the menu. I was in such a laid back mood I didnt want to go through the menu thinking oh yes I would like that, oh no I think this sounds amazing, but oh wow this is just up my street .I left it for the chef to decide the menu of the day for me. Then Jack had forgotten his specs so I had to go and choose for him. He was very pleased with what he ate, so I think I made the right choice. After we ordered it wasnt long before some warm spelt bread came with baked salted breadsticks which must have been 2 foot long. Accompanied with olive oil,balsamic and whipped Triple Cheese with herbs. Give me bread and I am happy. My starter was East Coast Mackeral -that was so fresh it just melted in my mouth .It was served with Elderflower, Pickled Gooseberries and cucumber and pineapple sorbet. Typing this reminds me, I wonder what my gooseberries are doing. I will have to take a look. Gooseberries were once a forerunner of rhubarb They seem to have be lost in the rhubarb fenzey which when I was young it was just boring old rhubarb. As children we used to watch with intent as they rose up through the straw in the old chimney pots my Grandad sat over them to encourage them to grow longer stalks. Then my friend Derrick and I used to have rhubarb fight using them as if they were swords ... weird children that we were back in those days. And sometime I used to walk about with a large rhubarb leaf on my head as if it was a hat fit for Ascot. The drawback was they did wilt pretty quickly. Sorry I have diversed from our food. Jack, I felt would like the Signature Dish established in 1996 of which clue 2 is a book title - "Black Pudding and Foie Gras . I actually am the lucky owner of one of these books as I understand they are now out of print. The Chef wrote another book which you can buy is called Loose Birds and Game. A multi-award-winning Game cookbook which includes stunning flavour combinations and recipes for Poultry, Game and Fish served at the Michelin-starred inn is certainly worth buying. Jacks' starter was Grilled Black Pudding and pan fried Foie Gras with Pickering Watercress ,Apple and Vanilla Chutney and a Scrumpy Reduction. For my main course it was a Yorkshire chicken skewer with a mango ,chilli and coriander salsa I am not really a fan of corinder as I always think it taste a bit like soap but it wasnt "soapy" at all. Who ever had put this together made it look so pretty it was certainly a work of art - food porn .... or did I mean Pern food clue 3 Jacks' main was something very special Skrei Cod ,now this is not any old piece of Cod -this is fished from the deepest waters above Norway. I just had to try it to say I had had Skrei - how glad I did -it was amazing. It was served with Whitby crab ,Earth baked Jersey Royals,White Asparagus,Coastal Herb pickings and a Black Truffle sauce. When I saw the word Whitby I thought back to when I was in my 20s when ..here come clue 4the landlord used to say "Whitby ,My Beloved Whitby" - he was a great friend of ours, who is no longer on this Earth's plain but is remembered with great affection .Dummer {Ian] Otterburn was captain of the local cricket team then and used to wind the poor fellow up by calling him the Red Mullet I will contiue with the rest of our meal another night as I am sure we are all full up now. Or you are so hungry you are going to raid your fridge until you can travel to where we were. And did you guess where we were .... There is only a couple of stars that shine brightly on Earth. This one is in the North Yorkshire countryside and it is The Star at Harome as it is only a 15 minute drive.. For anyone staying with us and wanting to go to dine at the Star, we are happy to drive you there. .

The Grande Dame of Dining - The Star at Harome

It is 12 hours since I heard the shocking news that has rocked the area. I have thought about "her" all day and still cant believe it. I woke to news that the Star at Harome was on fire and the devastating damage which had been done to this C13th building. The Star is like an old friend having been welcomed through the doors for over half a century.Yes I have been 14 when I first went in. Into a place like no other. Pimms served in pint pots, huge stiltons filled with port and fox masks hanging from the beams dressed up like people with neck ruffs and horn rimmed spectacles sat on the end of their snouts. In those days it was owned by Dick and Jenny Dresser who won the very first awards for this fine eatery, not much bigger than Guillivers House. A few years later I used to go up the stairs to the flat where the Dressers lived and do Granny D's and Jennys hair and a quick snip round Dick. Another era and it was the wild time,our hosts were Tim Gascoigne Mullet and Tony Bowron who had a beautiful St Bernard dog called Solomon. Drinking Pimms into the early hours made by Ernest "Polly" Pearson. and still the red croquet placemats graced the dining tables. Enter the girlfriend of another, who had been in the advert, the girl floating down the river eating a chocolate Flake.... if only the walls could talk. We have celebrated births and marriages and a few too many wakes here. Christening parties and divorces. Had Christmas parties, 18th,21st 30th and 40th birthday parties and so on - there is nowhere better. When we went on holidays we would always eat at The Star the night before ..to keep us going for the journey ahead on wondering what the food might be like. Memories of long ago Friday nights that were domino nights for Wilson Barker and his cronies who sat on the table near the bar and were served ham sandwiches. The Sinnington Hunt meeting outside, the end of season shooting parties. Whether you were dressed in your finery or in your work clothes, the welcome over the years has always been the same ,the warmth the walls hold, the atmosphere that has been created with love over the centuries. Photos didnt matter like they do today you went out to enjoy yourselves not to show the wide world what you were doing Even on the night of the present owner ,Andrew Pern, turned 40 to enjoy a slice of a chef'hat shaped birthday cake. The time when Jack thought he had found a truffle and it turned out to be a morel. The Star is the heart of the village. And for the villagers and locals around, holds a star in most peoples hearts. A place where the local poacher would rub shoulder with a Lord or Duchess. I talk of the Star in the past tense, but these are memories. I am sure Andrew Pern, his wife Fran, his family,friends and staff will not let The Star slip into the past tense, but will do everything they can to make the Star shine again. She has not held the crown for all this time to fade away now. Time will bring her back to shine again and be the diamond she has always been. And we have a 70th and a 100th birthday birthday for 2022 to celebrate. I have a little piece of the Star that was given to me by Dick and Jenny for my 21st birthday. I dont know what the damage is yet,but when the time comes when the Old Lady open her arms again I will take it along and if it is needed it will stay there. T

Harvest and Sunshine in North Yorkshire

It was always a known fact that when I was a child when we went back to school in September that the weather would turn nice again and we enjoyed Indian Summers. Was this summers, like they had in India or something that the Red Indians enjoyed, I might never know .It has been glorious weather here for over 2 weeks now even though we were told heavy rain was on the way. I was out with the hose pipe last night and pots of flowers and herbs were reaching out for a drink. Again this morning bright blue skies, it might well be the middle of Summer as the temperature raises into the low 20s. Jack being the early bird says the dew on the grass is heavier now and there is that feel in the air that autumn is just waiting. Me, being the night owl noticed how much the nights are drawing in as I finished watering the pants the outside lights automatically came on. We have mushrooms and other fungi objects popping up in the woods.Strangely enough there is honeysuckle out and Jack saw some buttercups this morning. The bees are still busy bringing in th elast of the nectar from the Himalayan balsam. I read a post from our friends on the Netherlands they had been on a foraging course over the weekend and the seeds from the balsam are quite okay to eat, so I might give them a try. My onions will soon be ready for pulling up. Don't ask me the name of them but they look like those really strong ones. The red cabbage did not fare very well as they were attacked by the white butterfly and the leaves as pretty as they looked lke lace with lots of holes in them. Also they looked very bitter and old now so I have just been and put those int he wheel barrow. I fill the wheel barrow and Jack carts it away,we make a good team. I have some cyclamen to plant out and hopefully they will last for years . I must have had one for 30 years now and it seem to revive itself with little ado and spreads ever so slowly but it survives and that is the main thing. As we continue to have a full house of guests they report back the heather is finally fading. Turning brown, now leaving behind just memories of carpets of purple.

So tonight I got the tape measure out

As I have mentioned many times before, we have visitors that come most nights, but tonight I was amazing. Not only one but three deer ventured through the back garden gate and ended up only 8 foot from me .It was a shame as I get a clearer photo, when I have the stable door open. It was well after 8pm and as the sun had gone down it was getting quite cool and the dew had fallen. I happned to look out of the window and saw a deer near the gate so I went to the stable door as I thought I would get a btter photo. Low and behold there were 3 of them only 8 foot from me . They are casting their winter coats so they do now look their best. The wire fences are up to stop them coming during the night and getting into the main front garden. They can soon do a lot of damage. One night they cleared the whole 6ft magnolia tree off of its flowers . We turn a blind eye to them nibbling the blossom from the trees. We are hoping to set up a hide so when you come to stay you can see them as near hand as we do

Look who came to see the waterfall ..

This must be our video of the year even though you have to be quick to see it.I was clearing some of the debris away near the waterfall and heard a grunt and then another and it went on for 5 minutes or so .So I climbed up the bank side and [you have to be quick to see it at around 11 seconds in ] a deer had come to inspect what we had been doing . It is just above the waterfall but I am sure if I had been really still it would have come even nearer. This was 2.30 in the afternoon so when we say we have deer in the back garden we really do have. I guess the grunting was the fact I had blocked its path down to the back garden gate. 

Will be interesting to see if arrives later or if I have disturbed it for today

All in Order .

Just to let you know that when we feel the time is right to open our doors to welcome guests through our doors we are already ready .We understand the rules and regulations. We understand the precautions we need to take to make your stay as safe as we possibly can.

We are not opening for the time being as we feel that as lockdown eases that the virus will rear its ugly head again. With my dad been 97 and Jack and I the wrong side of 60  we feel for us it is not the right time. 

We do miss having guests here and I love to cook, so I miss the breakfasts ..the smell of cooking bacon. I miss cracking the eggs with their deep yellow yolks. I miss the smell of toast.  I miss your ohs and ahs when I set your plate down in from of you and I miss your cleared plates when you have finished. I miss the satisfaction I get form giving you pleasure of unexpected treats, of sharing our knowledge of the area. 

 

 

Team building, Summer and Family

Talk about the Adventures of the Enid Blyton 5 .. We have our very own 5 ,when the children come . We are lucky to have the beck that runs down through our woods near the house and water has always been a fascination to children over the years . They don't seem to feel the cold , icy cold water. So today as the temperature peaked into the 30s there was no better place to be. We have waterfalls and they jump down into them fearless, but they want the water deeper .Only one way then is to dam the water up. They worked like little beavers as I sat on a moss covered stone watching them all do their bit . At one stage they started to make a mudslide but I could see accidents about to happen so the idea of that had to be aborted as they had took off their wellingtons and filled them up and pass them along for one to the other to make it quicker and easier for them.
They ended up taking their dirty clothes and washing them in the water like the people do at the side of the River Nile. Then putting them back on again. Emmy had just got some new Joules wellies which had a ruler marking on the back of them  which can in very useful. So off the wellies used to come off to see how deep the water was.
I said they were like water nymphs. But then maybe they were just wood fairies. So after happily playing for over 2 hours  with no fall outs ,they had fairy buns  and a change of clothes and went home smiling .
Mission accomplished.

Easter Wishes

No Easter eggs this year I wasn't organised enough .Apart from milk and a quick trip to Mr Waind the butcher in Kirkbymoorside when I went to the vets the other week. `We have managed with one delivery from Hebdon

the green grocer  in Easingwold.

  For lunch today had some very nice lamb from our farm . Thanks to Nicholas. They sell it in the Wass Farm Shop and would thoroughly recommend you get some . They do local deliveries too with meat boxes being very popular .There is a website and also a Facebook page you can contact Annabelle to place your orders.

The cookery books keep coming out and talk about inventiveness. Jack has never had so many different meals although some have been good some I wont be making any more. As those of you who know Jack , he is fussy and every meal has to be a feast less he thinks he has been put on a diet. His cooking skills are more or less zilch and he doesn't like baked beans,  so baked beans on toast would be a proper no no . For me when I was in my 30s I survived on bacon sandwiches, pork pies and chocolate. Other than having vegetables on a Sunday at my mothers I think I racked up 3 jacket potatoes which was the whole of my vegetables intake in 10 years. And I weighed 3 stone less than I weigh now. I still find that habit hard to break.
Sometimes Jack enjoys a steak pie from Auntie Anne's Bakery in Helmsley which gets me out of cooking . We dont really have chips at home either as our Aga never seems to hold the heat long enough to cook them properly. So with this beautiful weather we are having, I sit in the garden and ponder through my cook books to see what we can have next .

I used this spelt flour the other day which was kindly given to me to try by the producers, Craggs and Co. where they say it is lovingly grown, harvested and milled in the beautiful North East of England . It is based at East Close Farm ,Sedgefield if you would like to try it ..  . Maybe it isn't really for making pizzas but I thought I would have a go -Jack doesn't really do pizzas either only the ones from the Grapes in Slingsby. We dont like to do the mileage to pick one up at the moment so he had to make do with a Carr House special instead.  The weather was so nice it even raised in the sunshine .We are very sheltered  and it quite a little sun trap here. It is nice just to sit in the garden and view the world from your garden seat .I dont expect you to have to knead the bread when you come to stay.

Nicholas working on the farm ...Easter lambs

 The land is drying up and the sheep and the lambs are filling the fields. Nicholas ,my son, is working 14- 16 hours, a day, every day whether it is on the land or with the animals. 
Please will you give a thought if you go for a walk in the countryside that you adhere to the country code. Life has been a lot harder for Nicholas as walkers are leaving gates open .Animals are getting in wrong fields. And it isn't we have 60 in one field and 40 in the next when  some one leaves the gate open we have 100 all together. Then the problem is another field may not be big enough to take 100 when they have to be moved to fresh pastures. .You try and sort out which lambs go with which mothers. And it takes so much time trying  and even if you tried all day you would get it wrong and sheep only feed their own lambs so please take a minute to think  and who doesn't like to see happy lambs gambolling about in the fields .A young lamb away from its mother will die. We understand people want to take their dogs on a walk but please take them on a lead and if possible find a quiet land or road to go down instead of our fields

We love that you take a walk, but not at the moment. Think you could easily be spreading Coronavirus when you go through a gate . You see you are not the only one who is going through that gate, there may be 50 plus people who have the same idea as you.  And as we have learnt not everyone takes the care to sanitise as you.may be doing. You are at risk too.

 This is a big risk to Nicholas who is  key worker and are other people who work on the land. Do you want  to have the chance to catch or spread Coronavirus . Please just for now try not to choose to walk through farmland. Please, please dont.

Here are a few photos to keep you going
. 
And just another thought , Nicholas is a daddy. His little girls aren't able to be on the farm at the moment as they are self isolating with their mummy . I want my grandchildren to have a Daddy at the end of all this . Farmers are strong in mind IT is what makes a farmer a farmer less they wouldn't survive. Battling with weather condition,  and long hours and that fact when you have livestock you can also have dead stock and a host of other knock-backs  . Coronavirus can take anyone. Farmers will want to continue to work even if they get symptoms, it is their nature to try to carry on and look on the bright side.Look what happened to Boris our Prime Minister, he tried to carry on and nearly lost his life in the proceeds and he was brought up  and worked on a farm and the ethos of such people are engrained in the farming community  . Hopefully we hear today with the excellent NHS he is on this way to recovery . But think if Nicholas get ill who is going to tend his flock .

Something new every day .... my Coronavirus daily report.

We they say you learn some thing new every day..Oh my goodness dare I admit it I always thought it was The North Star .When I was very young I thought it was the star my granny lived on and polished every night . So as I started to write my blog tonight as we live in a "dark skies are" I thought the North Star might have a posh name and then I thought well it was more in the west so I had better check and this is what I came up with .... 

Sirius A

Sirius, also known as the Dog Star or Sirius A, is the brightest star in Earth's night sky. The name means "glowing" in Greek — a fitting description, as only a few planets, the full moon and the International Space Station outshine this star.

Quite appropriate really as we have ,as some of you might know Cuckavalda Gundogs  so Dog star it is and the new moon too bringing us hope and light .

So this was at dusk tonight here at home in North Yorkshire ... the final calls of the

birds and they where making there way to bed. I am sure the wrens had already gone as they live in the porch  and fly out as soon as I open the door.Poor little mites I bet they get so cross with my having been bobbing about all day and then me disturbing them.

We have been blessed again with a sunny day, The land is drying up well and the tractors are able to get into the fields without making too many ruts and wheelings. 

So it is good night for me and good night from the birds .

Countryfile Live at Castle Howard

Countryfile Live was held at Castle Howard last week for 4 days. With Thursday looking like the best day I made an early start and as Castle Howard is only 15 minutes from us I was parked up by 6.30am and on to the show field. With wellingtons and my jacket on I was prepared if the weather worsened but it turned out to be a really nice day. There was lots of news about people having to queue up for 3 hours to get in off the A64 but as we dont live in that direction and really if the people had made an early start I am sure there would have been no problem. Our guests went the next 2 days and had no problems at all and thoroughly enjoyed their day out.  I took Jacks 4 x 4 just incase I got stuck but it was effortless and when I did come out about 1.45pm again I had had enough by then and to beat the queues I was straight out.

There was lots of delighted people as the presenters of the show were about all day and having their photos taken with the crowd. I had a quick word with Matt Baker as he had stayed  and Ellie was filmed with us a few years ago when making a programme about sheep and dyeing the yarns.

With getting there early, there was free bacon sandwiches for the first 500 people and shared mine with the girls on the Welcome to Yorkshire stand as they were in for a long day. Thanks to Brian Turner the chef in charge .
 There was so much tastes of gin on offer I could have done with a chauffeur but was only tempt with some marsh mallow Moonshine . The cake from the Wold Cookery School was amazing and you can see it on my Instagram page as I did a little video of it. And I tried every lemon curd going.

My grandchildren went on Sunday  and had a whale of a time been "weather girls" and goodness knows what else . There was plenty of things for them to interact on. Knowing what they are like I imagine they entered it with gusto as they have been on the radio and on film before so are not shy and especially Martha would be asking the presenter all sorts of questions - she is the middle one . She had her birthday 2 weeks ago she was 8 and Emmy was 6 last week .Rubi is 10 in September so they are good company now and time flies how they are getting so grown up. They were pleased to hear that Countryfile Live  is coming back in 2020 .

And lastly thanks to the Daily Mail who had a code in the paper which enabled ourselves and many others to get in for free.

The Ripon Hornblower Legend. George Pickles is the legend 3 cheers for George

Anna Lupton winning the Make A Community Difference Award 2019 in the Mi...

Nunnington Hall... what a gem

So when it is half term and a sunny cold frosty day what do you do with the children.

We all had the most amazing time at Nunnington Hall which is only 6 miles from us. The River Rye runs through the grounds and the gardens are a great

place for children to run off all that extra energy.
The house was decked for Halloween .Nunnington Hall was a lived in home that I passed every day when I went to Malton Grammar School. I remember the Clives living here with their St Bernard when I went to school. Today there seemed to be far more rooms and passageways that what there was back then . It still has very much of a homely feel and I could quite happily pack my bags and move in . A rod in hand sitting on the banks of the Rye fishing for my supper. I remember been told of a ghost -a  lady who walked in the garden. Maybe it is just too beautiful to leave. The children had a great time tying their ribbons to the tree...making memories ,making wishes then running around the garden, lost in a world of make believe and fantasies that are so often missed in the fast world we live in now. This is more how our childhoods were spent. We adults enjoyed a walk around the garden in the sunshine,the serenity and the peacock elegant even though he was missing his tail feathers joined us silently in conversation ...... a marvellous afternoon.

Gilling East Miniature Railway just down the road from us

The Fairfax Arms in Gilling East a nice place to spend an hour or 3

Pizzas at the Grapes Slingsby first stage Come and stay and pop down on Sunday evening for a pizza

Adam Jackson - what can I say ...

I have always been a fan of Adam Jackson since he first won a Michelin Star ,when he worked at the Black Swan in Oldstead .

There are not many chefs around who are as friendly and approachable as Adam. He is one of the 'Good Guys'. He works 6 days a week ,is totally in love with the world and despite the knock backs he has faced along the way, is still creating plates of moreish-ness that would send the most critical of critics drooling into their food.

This was the ideal place to take a wine connoisseur, who had just returned from France and rubs shoulders with the likes of Heston Blumenthal. I want a place to impress and I know I made the right choice.

The Park Restaurant is tucked away down a leafy street near St Peter's School in York. Just off Bootham, but within a stones throw of the hub of the City. Add the beauty of free and safe parking .
We were looked after by the lovely Mary -who was so proud of her job and took great pride in explaining not only 8 courses of delicious eye catching, mouth watering ---drool even more, food but of the wine flight too. A grand Yorkshire lass who is a credit to her boss, Adam Jackson. I have a feeling they work together which is are these days as chefs who hold the golden ladle often get above their station.

I can only show you the menu ,take photographs of the food ,rave about the flavours the little hidden hits of wagyu beef fat , the perfectly paired Jerusalem Artichoke with the Chardonnay - Adam and Mary had got this all so right. The intensity of the blackberries ...it was truly scrumptious. ...
And how I love bread, you all know how much I love bread -give me my Daily bread and butter and I am happy .This bread was not just for mere mortals it was fit for a King - and the 14 ingredient butter it just an explosion that you could just class as an early Christmas present to your taste buds. Tonka bean dessert... - I must go back to telling you about the Bass - perfectly cooked, perfectly dressed, a sauce I could swim in.  Sorry no photo of the fish I had nearly demolished before I thought to take a photo -that is how good it was.Carried away by the whole excitement of perfectly cooked ,enhanced with the accomplishments to bring it all alive.
The hours and hours Adam must spend prepping the food, making the sauce, the veloutes ,the eye catching bits and bobs. You can only thank the Heavens for stars - Adam , Little Mary and the beautiful experience they create.

Why tell me why, Mr Michelin Star, have you not found Adam Jackson and his Park Restaurant and blesses him with the stars he deserved.