bank holiday chilli festival

Yesterday Herb and I went to the Benington Lordship chilli festival in a small village about half an hour away. Neither of us knew what to expect, but we certainly hadn't anticipated the level of interest in chilli's! It was a fantastic event.

You could smell the food as we parked the car and even though it was before noon we started planning what we'd have. Of course the food stalls were a big draw but those packed with all things chilli were amazing, plants, sauces, chutneys, aprons, shirts and more. Lots of tasting to be done and some purchases to make. We laughed so much at all the blokes egging each other on to taste the deadliest of sauces. one chap was clearly in some distress after tasting something called Satans S@@t.

I waited for ages for the paella to be done, long after Herb had eaten his harissa chicken with yogurt and flatbread (yum he said). But it refused to cook, poor chap, I gave up in the end.

I finally decided on the goat curry and I'm so pleased I did. It was really wonderful and I'm going to try and recreate it............when I can source the goat meat!

The house and gardens are wonderful and it was the perfect venue........try and go next year if you re in the Stevenage area.

The music was perfect and very mexican..............

....and we finally chose a medium hot chilli plant, some chutney, chilli of course and a southern indian garlic and tomato sauce to take home.

We loved this little chap in the vegetable patch.......he's not real of course...we want one.



On the craft front I am beavering away at the 'university blanket', its not going to be huge, just enough to wrap round her shoulders, when home seems a long way away..........


I bought this beautiful thread from rowan, cotton glace in blue and burnt orange colours and thought I would do some motifs to put on a white pillowcase. Will show you if it works out.
Finally youngest child returned from Greece, looking beautifully tanned and happy. Boy was I relieved to see her back in one piece.....you see a week before she left, a fine young man, a good friend of hers, died tragically on holiday. A terrible accident that makes you want to hold on to them even more tightly, even though at 17 they don't want to be held so so tight.