Summer Madness

It's that crazy time of year again when all the summer sports are competing with each other for our attention - the social calendar is in full swing!  And on top of that we now have World Cup fever in the middle of all of it too.  I'm finding it very difficult to decide what to focus on right now, and work is way down on the list!
But on Friday afternoon there was no question where I wanted to be - Henley Qualifiers.  For the uninitiated these are time trials that are held on the Henley Royal Regatta course, to decide who goes through to race at Henley Royal Regatta the following week.
There is no dress code (having to wear a skirt or dress that covers your knees!), expensive Pimms, or exclusive member's enclosures to worry about, this is purely about rowing and everybody there is either racing, or supporting somebody else that is, and the atmosphere of anticipation is great.

I was supporting a number of girls from my club, Mortlake Anglian and Alpha as well as some great, slightly older, girls I row with who were also attempting to get through!  As the stroke girl  Hilary said "If we get through I will possibly be the oldest, lightest and smallest competitor ever to row at Henley Royal - she is 51!  Unfortunately they were pipped at the post, but did put on a great performance.  Oh well, there's always next year!

Increased need for ice-cream!

So now I've increased my training I obviously need to increase my intake of antioxidants to counteract the damage I am doing to my body.
Antioxidants are alright on their own (berries, peppers etc.), but why not have a treat at the same time?!  It is summer after all!

Cherry Active Ice-Cream


100g Cherry Active dried cherries
50ml Cherry Active Concentrate
300ml double cream
300ml milk
6 egg yolks
175g caster sugar

1.  Leave CA cherries to soak in the concentrate while you make the ice-cream.
2.  Mix together the milk and cream in a pan then bring to the boil.
3.  While they are heating whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until they are pale and light.
4.  Pour in the cream, whisking all the time, then transfer back to the pan and cook for another five minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour into a bowl and leave to cool.
5.  Place in an ice-cream maker and churn until nearly set.  Gently stir in the soaked cherries and concentrate. then freeze.

My New Toy!

Early mornings at this time of the year are just the best - there is nothing to beat being on the river, paddling under all the bridges whist on top of them the traffic is building up and people are getting frustrated at being delayed.  And meanwhile I'm just gently floating on by....
But now another challenge has been set and I've had to treat myself to a new toy to enable me to take part (well, that's my excuse!  On July 24th a crowd of us are taking part in the Dunwich Dynamo!  Described as "A turn-up-and-go, challenging, slightly-scary, free-entry, overnight- on-tarmac, just under 120 mile bicycle ride to the lovely lonely Suffolk sea at Dunwich".  As usual the friends that are not taking part have told us we are crazy......... and they are possibly right (I will confirm this, if and when I ever return)!
But in preparation I realised my trusty, and rusty, old mountain bike was not going to be fit enough for the job and a road bike was what was needed - I had always wanted one, and now here was my perfect excuse.
So, I picked the brains of my mate Charlie who is experienced in these things and he came up with the perfect bike for me, which I duly then ordered from Evans.  On Friday the call came through that the bike had arrived and was awaiting my inspection.  So off I went to try out my new wheels.  Interesting taking a bike for a test ride when you have no idea what it should feel like.  Even more interesting when you get about a mile away from the shop and realise you have no idea how to change gear!  So there I was in Syon Park flagging down any cyclist who I thought looked like he might know a thing to two about bikes (as it turned out I realised this was  pretty good way of pulling a fit bloke - must mention it to Liz!).  So I was off, at speed, and happy with my choice.  Only other decision was whether to have SPDs fitted - they're the clippy things that stop you getting your feet out quickly, just before you fall over.   Thought I should go for it big time and really look the part, so told them to fit those too and I would pick it up on Monday.
Not quite so confident today - called them early this morning to suggest maybe normal peddles whilst I get used to the bike (I shall probably be falling off enough without the clippy things).  While I was waiting for my bike a young guy was being given instructions on his new purchase - a £2500 full suspension mountain bike.  While this was going on a little old man was waiting to be served, watching in bewilderment.  Finally it was his turn to be served and he asked to see their range of bicycle clips for his trousers!  Isn't life so full of extremes.
On leaving the shop I decided I would head straight for Richmond Park (where all the serious cyclists do their time-trials) and have myself some fun.  What I actually did was scare myself quite considerably - hills that seem perfectly fine in a car suddenly seemed like a skiing black run, with no snow-ploughing allowed!  And although I knew how to change gear I didn't really understand when!
So, having scared myself one final time on the last hill going down to the river to head home, I bump into my neighbour Tim, a keen cyclist with Twickenham Cycling Club.  He is so impressed with the new bike he insists we take it around Richmond Park for a spin - telling him I've just done that does not put him off.  So finally I get to ride it with an instructor at my side, and at last I feel like I might be on the way to knowing how to ride a bike!  Which is lucky really, with only about 7 weeks training to go!

Walking The Ridgeway

It is a while since I've done a long walk, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy exploring England by foot. It is the only way to really get to see all the hidden away special places that are so easily missed.

A few years ago I was invited on a walk by a friend who was meeting up with her old university friends. We were to walk the Coleridge way in the Quantock Hills and the walk was partly a reunion, so turned out to be a bit of a party. I assumed this was a one-off, but the following year when the walk moved to

North Devon, the partying continued. So now I try to join them every year - it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'a walking party'!

This year we walked the northern end of The Ridgeway, about the last 25 miles of it, starting just outside of West Wickham and joining the path by Princes Risborough. The only unfortunate side to this day was the constant rain, but luckily most of the walk is wooded so prevented us from getting totally soaked through. It also gave a good excuse for the 'party' of walkers to stop and take regular breaks, with quick nips of tequila to keep their spirits up!

Navigation also became a bit of a game, with Simone, one of the walkers, trying out her new toy - a GPS, against Tim, our organiser, with map. I was totally against the whole idea of the GPS, being a lover of maps, but when at one point we appeared to be lost in a very large wood, the GPS saved the day, and possibly a few miles walked in the wrong direction, by pointing us in the correct direction.

The other important part of great walks is of course great food along the way. Lunch on the first day was at the Red Lion in Great Hampden, a cosy traditional little pub, with very friendly owners who even took pity on the soggy looking dogs and let them sneak inside to dry out for a

while. Great sandwiches were served, with rare roast beef or tasty Cheddar and pickle. But it has to be said that the bread and butter pudding was possibly the worst I have ever tasted - layers of 'pappy' white bread with either lard or margarine used to glue it together, with the odd sultana showing it's face. This was served with a jug of custard to pour over the top. This was not bread and butter pudding - what a disappointment.

Saturday night in Wendover was also interesting - another Red Lion, but this one is an old coaching Inn in the centre of town, and buzzing on a Saturday night (there is possibly nowhere else to go?). Food as you would expect - disappointing.

Sunday turned out to be sunny which was a great relief to all - the thought of being damp for another eight hours of walking was not a good prospect.

The Ridgeway lived up to be everything I had hope for, with changing scenery, quaint churches, stunning country houses (including a view of Chequers), and the perfect amount of small hills to climb.

Our final lunch at The Greyhound in Wiggington was also pretty good, and gave us energy for the final push to Ivinghoe Beacon, with the most amazing views for miles.

Best Rowing Coach on the Thames?

Getting back to training after a weekend end away certainly feels better when the sun is shining, the water is beautifully flat, the first baby goslings are bobbing around and.................our coach cooked us all breakfast!

And not just any old breakfast either - sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, black pudding, grilled tomatoes and, after a special request from me - smoked salmon!!! How amazing is he?! No wonder our membership is growing (just a shame most of the girls are training to race as lightweights!).

Interesting too so see what others brought to the table - home-made rye bread from one, Nutella from another (has she not been listening to a word I say??!!) and obviously from me it had to be something to add a touch of health to the proceedings - a shot of Cherry Active drink to top

up their antioxidant levels after a hard workout!

Cheers George, you're a star!

When in Rome.......

Another trip to the beautiful city, but this time it was slightly different and much more like home - it rained constantly for four days - thunder, lightening and the most water I have seen running down cobbled streets in a long time!

But less like home was the great food available, as always in Italy. I arrived on Friday and was told that we would be having dinner that night with friends at around 10pm, with 'Happy Hour' aperitifs starting at around 9pm - a little later than we would normally start at home, but when in Rome...

After a large dinner another surprise - would I like to go for cornetti? Having just learnt in my Italian class that cornetti was croissant I was a little confused but agreed anyway as it seemed the thing to do. So, at around 12.30am we drive for around twenty minutes to the Africa District to a little cafe that is positively bulging with people eating croissants!! They are coming straight out of the oven and served hot, filled with custard or topped with icing sugar, some with chocolate and others filled with cheese. Even though my stomach was fighting against the idea, I could not resist - they were divine. And obviously the whole point is that you buy some for breakfast so the next morning began with a treat too!

After that the weekend was a whirl of driving to different areas outside of Rome, starting with attending Mama's birthday party in Bracciano where more great food was served, including panzanella, a wonderful country summer bread and tomato salad which includes the simplest of ingredients but as is typically Italian, those ingredients are the best that can be found; country style bread with a great crust, fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil leaves, virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and olives.

The recipe is simple - just soak the bread in a little cold water then mix with all the remaining ingredients, season and mix well. Do not attempt this with pappy supermarket bread and unripe tomatoes - you will be missing the point!

Driving around Italy is amazing - not more than forty-five minutes out of Rome are some of the most beautiful villages, some built on cliff-tops, others surrounded by olive groves, or the another alternative is to head for the beach. Either way wherever you stop you are likely to find great food, even in the smallest towns and villages where there is one lonesome cafe - a plate of pasta with a rocket and Parmesan salad, or a beautifully thin pizza topped with tomato sauce and artichokes - I found it impossible to have a bad meal!

A Taste of Honey

I wouldn't normally attend work related things at the weekend, but the chance to learn about and taste gorgeous honey was too tempting to resist! So after a quick training session on the river, I scurried down along the Thames in the pouring rain, to Petersham Nurseries.

Now this is a place I would not normally rush too either, despite it being a beautiful location and despite the fact that the food is pretty good. My main problem with it is the outrageous prices, mainly I assume because it is the wonderful

borough of Richmond (who now have a millionaire MP which just says it all!), so they feel justified in charging rather over-flated prices to sit and have lunch in a greenhouse!

Anyway, back to the purpose of my visit, which was to attend a Guild of Food Writers talk, which are always very informative, and this one was certainly no exception.

We started with a brief talk by Skye Gyngell, who is the chef at Petersham, and who is very passionate about combining natural flavours of foods together, which she did brilliantly in serving a plate of cheeses matched with subtle cheeses - Creamy St Tola goats cheese with rhodedendron honey, and toma (Piedmont) cheese with herb honey - the combinations were divine. To finish we were served vanilla ice cream with chestnut honey and turron....despite it being a cold and rainy day I couldn't resist eating the bowl clean!

After that we were given a great talk by Hattie Ellis, who appears to have spend a large amount of her life travelling the world to learn about honey and bees. It certainly was not time wasted as she made everything sound such fun and so interesting. I have always wanted to keep bees and she made it seem such an easy thing to do, especially as she mentioned that local bee keepers may even be happy to 'borrow' your garden for one of their hives - thus giving you the pleasure of sharing them and sampling their honey, but none of the work!! And a great chance to learn more about it before you take the plunge and get your own colony. One great thing I did learn was that bees are banned in New York, in that you are not allowed to keep them there. But....there is an overground underground of bee keepers who keep them on their roof! Only in America!

My stroll back home after all that sweetness was made even sweeter by the discovery of Greedies on the river. Greedies is a cafe in Isleworth that is frequented by myself and a large number of rowers who need a good breakfast or brunch after a heavy morning's training. Over the years we had explored a number of local workman's caffs, where you can get a good fry-up and sit and recover from the mornings exercise in a nice surrounding. We were never quite satisfied until I came upon Greedies. They do one of the best breakfasts in West London - and not only a World Cup fry-up either. If you want something a little more up-market there is eggs benedict or smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, along with lots of other goodies. For a Sunday brunch with the morning papers it takes a lot of beating.