Sharrow Vale Farmers Market

Today the residents of hunters bar plus visitors, came together to celebrate and enjoy food!
Sharrow vale road is already full of treasures for the adventurous foodie to discover and so it comes as no surprise that the local businesses clearly benefited from this quarterly event.
People were sat outside the greedy Greek, enjoying slovakis and falafel and cafe Ceres's and Fancie were rammed to the rafters with happy faces spectating the hustle and bustle, whilst simultaneously being stuffed with delicious goodies.

Most of the traders will be very familiar to those who frequent these kind of events, much like myself and others keen on the local Sheffield food scene. I've visited before and photographed those people so this time I did my best to take some snaps of a few new folk...

The rather suave Italian foccacia guy.

This lady is super friendly, has refreshing drinks and advised me where to visit in Mexico! Oaxaca apparently!

These fooled me for a second...they are bath products!

This is gorgeous pumpkin oil. I'd love to experiment with it in a cake...

Friendly and familiar mushroom stall.

Newcomers on the scene. A German bratwurst van.

Lastly, the famous cat that sleeps in the window of that shop..I always forget its name but this soporific feline always makes me smile.

I'm throwing a cake party for charity!

And you're all invited!
.....Although there are limited spaces available so maybe not all of you..my advice is to let me know if you want to come sooner, rather than later!

This will be a great opportunity for people to get together, show off their cake making skills, enjoy other peoples delicious cakes, share recipes, drink tea AND raise money for breast cancer

Click here for the event details on facebook or leave a comment if you don't have facebook, but want to come along.

Dartmouth Food Festival

Last weekend was the Dartmouth food festival!
I was lucky enough to visit the picturesque town thanks to my good friend Jonathan whose cousin and her husband own a b&b there and were lovely enough to let me stay!

I had a great time and ate many delicious things including the best brownies I've ever had which were lovely and gooey with cranberries and pecans...yum!
I also had my first oyster which was wonderful and saw some great chefs doing live demonstrations and got lots of free tasters.

The food markets were fun to walk around and south Devon chilli farm had a stall and being a fan of theirs already, I bought some spiced chocolate and a bottle of sweet chilli sauce.
I also tried raclette for the first time and it was cheese heaven, seriously incredible! Even the preparation was an experience to watch as the chef grilled the top of the cheese til golden and bubbling then scraped off a load onto some new potatoes and garnished with baby gherkins and pickled onions...delish.

On the Sunday we went crabbing! That was a whole new experience for me, basically you get a tiny string bag which you place bacon in then that's attached to a line which you throw over the side of the bank into the river below and wait for a bit before pulling up your line and see if any crabs are attached. It was so much fun! You count up your crabs at the end and then put them back in the sea. We caught 19 in total!

Dartmouth is a beautiful place. Everyone knows everyone and you can't stand outside a pub without seeing another one. There is lovely little shops and galleries, great live music and even a castle! Amazing!

Sharrow Chef Of The Year

Today was the Sharrow chef of the year competition!
I've been looking forward to this as I asked to be on the judging panel (not cheffing as I'm not in sharrow) and they said they'd love to have me.
I arrived and found the organiser who introduced me to the other judge, the third judged hadn't shown up but we found a guy who would be able to help judge part of it before he had to leave to go somewhere.

The first restaurant was East & West who are my favourite Indian restaurant in Sheffield so I was looking forward to watching them cook and tasting the delicious food. The second restaurant was La Terrazza, an Italian restaurant. The other two restaurants All Siam and Cool Runnings didn't turn up unfortunately.

East and West started and it was really entertaining to watch and the guy shared many tips as he was cooking some of which I'd never heard of including rubbing an onion (cut side) against a hot pan as it will stop whatever you are cooking which was in his case a pancake from sticking.

We had a sweet minty coconut drink to start which really helped to whet my appetite and was very refreshing.
Next was the pancake (dosa ) it was not as good as I've had in the restaurant but then they are having to make do with different equipment here so that could have been why. The filling was delicious though as was the next course - Kerala king fish curry, very nicely spiced with the meaty fish's own flavours still managing to shine through.

Me and the guy who couldn't stay long both agreed the flavours were superb, very fresh and aromatic. The third judge didn't rate the food as much though so while we gave him a 9 each, the third guy gave him 8. I managed to get a copy of the tasty recipes to try at home too.

The next chefs came on and they were pretty young, my age but the head chef had been cooking for 10 years because it was his dads place and he used to help out a lot. They brought out a cake they made with ricotta and decorated with physalis which was delicious and everyone loved it.

Polenta with salmon was their main course and it looked stunning on the plate, the chef brought out a bottle of wine for the judges to wash down the meal with which I could only have a sip of as I am on antibiotics but it did taste nice and complimented the meal well.

I gave another 9, it would have been a 10 but the polenta I felt was undercooked.
The other judges loved them and gave them 10 each which made la terrazza the winners of the huge Sharrow chef of the year trophey!

I had a great time, its a shame more people didn't turn up but I'll be going again next year definitely.

Sharrow Festival

Saturday was the wonderful Sharrow festival!

I have many memories of this festival which I've been to, I think every year since it started many years ago and the weather was just beautiful.
I got there a little too early I think as there wasn't as many people as I usually remember but the atmosphere was still there and there was loads of stalls selling books, food, tombolas, jewellery etc.

I was tempted by the fresh scones with cream and fresh strawberries but after noticing the Mexican stand and being a huge lover of Mexican food I got my food from there and it didn't disappoint.

I had a chicken burrito, the chicken marinated in mole sauce and served inside a tortilla with cheese added then warmed til the cheese melted.
This was served with sour cream, fresh salsa and guacamole.
My taste buds were in heaven! this was truly the best festival food I'd ever had, perfection and all for £3.50.

My one and only photo from the whole day was of course of the food.

I took a walk back to the stall and was overjoyed to find that they have opened a new restaurant on London road with more delicious Mexican food!!
I can assure you that you will soon be reading a review from the restaurant.

Back to the rest of the festival though, there was a little stall selling bits and bobs where I spotted a lovely green skirt which I snapped up which will be great for summer.
I have a browse through a vintage stall and find a stunning dress which fits like a dream so I also buy that.
Theres lots of delicious new food stalls that I've not seen before including a lemongrass and thyme one and a tasty vegan stall with the vibrant healthy looking dishes.

I rested my tired legs in the tea tent with a cup of tea and then noticed there was a dance group starting so had a wander over and they were actually really really good, can't remember the name unfortunately but there were 6 teenagers, street dance style with one being an amazing break dancer, it was very entertaining to watch.

I get pretty tired soon because I only arrived back home from my two week holiday in china on Friday so I'm feeling a bit jet lagged so I stroll home passing some of my favourite Sharrow shops on the way including the rude shipyard with its wonderful books which I had to take a look at and bragazzis which of course I had to go in and sit down with a tasty hot chocolate.

I also stopped by my old school Meersbrook bank which was having a fair and being with my two little sisters who also went there, I stopped to have a quick look inside but it was very quick as I was very tired and didn't see much except for a woman singing a Nina Simone song which sounded great and splat the rat and other similar stalls before I was on my way home.

Sheffield Food Festival

Cheesecake stall - I bought a grapefruit cheesecake which was lovely and not as sour as I'd expected

I bought a few pork scratchings from here which seemed like a good idea whilst I was sipping moonshine but after putting a piece in my mouth with stubble on I quickly changed my mind.

Posing with the bakery boys.

The students from my college

Amazing watermelon art by aagrah.

The fountains.

When I first heard about the Sheffield food festival I begged my boss to let me have time off so I could go and check it out but since three other staff were having time off I was needed in the cafe. But! Luckily for me, the boys who were doing our bakery stall were going down to the peace gardens with some bread and flyer's and my boss said I could go along as well! I was happy and went down handed out some flyer's and then bought a lovely pint of moonshine and relaxed in the wonderful sunshine. I had a wander around and saw a student who was in my class at college and a tutor doing a demo in the chefs demonstration area and watched for a few minutes. I also got lots of yummy tasters and saw my auntie and niece who i spent some time with, my niece was enjoying cooling herself off by running through the fountains along with the 50 or so other children who were doing the same. I took a few photos, bought some delicious squid from the wagamama stall where the guy was admiring my totoro purse and had another moonshine and a piece of cheesecake before heading to the playground with my niece and playing on the swings etc before heading home.

Nether Edge Farmers Market

Hooray!
Today the day finally arrived for the farmers market in nether edge!
I had been looking forward to it all week and it was fantastic!
The sun was out from 11 o clock and stayed around til 4 it was probably the nicest day we've had all year, very lucky indeed.

There was lots of entertainment including morris dancers, a brass band and bowling as well as all the wonderful stalls that ranged from cakes, cheese, meat, some vintage clothing, books etc it was all great and there was also a bar on the bowling green so I had a couple of pints of moonshine in the warm sun with friends which was very pleasant.

Here are a few photos from the event.

Carrot cake bun - tasted of onion seed...

Morris dancers

Lovely cakes

A brass band


More cake


Various mushrooms


Yabba


Coconut chicken with rice and peas and my moonshine - they were both delicious

So as you can see it was a truly wonderful day, beautiful weather and a chance to catch up with old friends and relax and just enjoy yourself.
I can't think of any other way I'd rather spend my day.

Manchester Christmas Markets

So today I got up bright and early and headed to the train station to get on the 10:10am train to manchester. There's awesome christmas markets happening and I just had to go check it out due to the total dissapointment of the one we currently have in sheffield, I mean theres like 6 stalls and they're all german so not much vartiation going on there either.
So yeah I get into manchester and luckily I already know my way around having practically lived there a few years back, I find the markets and they are amazing!
Well worth the £15.70 train fare.

Theres jewellery stalls, hats, pickles, candy, cheese, meat, mulled wine, spanish, french, german and british cuisine and the smells are just wonderful. I take a look around first, taking a few photos here and there and eventually the aromas are too tempting and I decide on paella for lunch. Theres chicken, squid, mussels and prawn and its delicious and very filling, I leave half and head to another stall and buy a slice of french flan, its sweet and custardy and hits the spot.

This stall also has loads of tasty and smelly cheese, I buy 5 different varieties including blue, goat and vacherin aswell which I have been meaning to try for a while. I look around the others and buy some salami (7 pieces) some jewellery and some very moreish sugared cashew nuts.

Theres beautiful christmas decorations, carol singers, free tasters and merry people sipping at their hot mulled wine. Anyone who complains about hating christmas would change their mind in an instant after visiting this place and its got
me feeling very jolly and festive indeed.

After looking around all the stalls I go to h&m, primark, topshop and buy various clothes including 3 pairs of thick wooly tights (black, grey and cream) 2 jerseys, some jeggings and a beautiful floral scarf, oh and I also went to the amazing hotel chocolat, they have the best chocolate I have ever tasted, very very good.

When my massive bagpack got too full I decide its time to head home.