Hobby Horse Picture Minehead

A picture of  the Sailor's Hobby Horse and followers doing their thing along the seafront in Minehead over the recent May Day Bank Holiday.

Brompton Regis May Fayre

Drove across to Brompton Regis May Fayre yesterday. Wasn't that impressed. Few people. Even fewer things to see and do. Still, never mind, it was a nice drive and since there wasn't much to see in Brompton, had the time to drive on to Minehead where we saw the Hobby Horse doing his thing.

Update on Car Breakdown

Turns out that it wasn't the water pump at all. Just a leak from the radiator, which probably should or could have been fixed at the roadside by the AA chap. This, of course, would have meant that I had no need to upgrade my AA membership level from the basic 'roadside assistance' to 'relay'.

AA Breakdown Service Somerset

On a drive today the temperature gauge on my car suddenly shot up into the red. Stopped and found that I'd lost all the water from the radiator. Bugger: a burst hose, I thought. Called the AA breakdown service. Waited patiently in my car for almost an hour and a half for them to arrive, only for the mechanic in AA transit van to say "sorry can't do anything. It looks like your water pump has gone. If you upgrade your membership, I'll call a truck to take you and the car home". Paid £100 for the upgrade to relay. Waited another hour and a half for that to arrive. Still, at least the car and I are now home. Tomorrow I'll take the car along to my local garage and try and get the car fixed. Did choose a scenic spot to break down though. Click the picture to see what I mean!

Exmoor Carrot Jam

This recipe is supposed to imitate apricot jam, but, uses carrots instead of apricots. This recipe is again at least one hundred years old.

Ingredients: for every pound of carrot pulp allow 1 lb of pounded sugar, the grated rind of 1 lemon, the strained juice of 2, 6 chopped bitter almonds, 2 tablespoonfuls of cider brandy.

select young carrots; wash and scrape them clean; cut them into round pieces, put them into a saucepan with sufficient water to cover them, and let them simmer until perfectly soft; then beat them through a sieve. weigh the pulp, and to every pound allow the above ingredients. Put the pulp into a preserving pan with the sugar, and let this boil for five minutes, stirring and skimming all the time. when cold, add the lemon rind and juice, almonds and brandy; mix these well with the jam; then put into pots, which must be well covered and kept in a dry place.

West Somerset Devil

Here's a snap I took last week of a West Somerset devil! It's on a very old cottage, but, where? A packet of the splendid Co-operative Indian Prince tea for the first person able to correctly identify the location :-)

Fried Vegetable Marrow

This recipe for fried vegetable marrow has been tried and tasted and can be recommended.

3 medium sized Marrows
Two Eggs
Breadcrumbs
Hot Lard

Peel and boil the marrows until tender in salt and water; then drain them and cut them in quarters, and take out the seeds. When thoroughly drained, brush the marrows over with the eggs, and sprinkle with bread crumbs. have ready some hot lard, fry the marrow in this, and when of a nice brown, dish up. Sprinkle over a little salt and pepper, and serve.