The Whitby Chronicles – Monday

… is the beach!

Cannot believe our luck – Monday dawns and it's another lovely day, blue sky and wispy bits of cloud, very pleasant temperature. Note to selves – this weather won't last forever – check the forecast!

On today's list are :

Sandsend for the beach and sea is our first port of call. It's just north of Whitby, a tiny village - pretty much comprising the beach and sea with a café. Shirl and Rose had both come prepared with their towels – Shirl to paddle and Rose to find out what all the fuss was about. Rose appeared to like what she saw and strained to be let off – here's the result with her best friend :

  

Two very happy girls - I'm not really sure who enjoyed it the most!

Onward, further north to Staithes, Saltburn-by-the-sea. This place has been on my “bucket list” for ages – a famous hidey hole back in the day for the Northern Impressionist painters – right up my alley. A small, unspoilt fishing village – can't wait!

As seems to be the custom in this neck of the woods, parking is at the top of the village and you walk down a very steep hill (and back!). I suppose it was getting on for late morning/early lunchtime when we arrived. There were very few places open, of any description. We found one gallery – which was closed. We did consider trying to get some lunch but gave up in the end. It was a disappointment – a pretty enough place but I can't say that it came anywhere near my expectations – which is entirely my fault, not Staithes' although I would have thought there may have been more than one gallery. Disappointed, temporarily of Whitby – c'est la vie.

Home for lunch since we've booked an early dinner this evening - Sarah's here we come!

The Whitby Chronicles – Sunday

Another lovely day!

A committee meeting over breakfast and the plan for the day is to walk into the old part of the town that we hadn't covered yesterday.

An even shorter walk, past the Ghaut car park – used to be the site of Cockpit Yard past the bridge we crossed yesterday. Mooching along the tiny lanes, full of different shops, museums, cafés – even an impromptu open market – more like a flea market than food.

Coffee time – I can't get used to the fact that dogs are welcome everywhere and we found a café and enjoyed coffee and a slice of cake. Rose enjoyed the attention too.

Today is an easy, relaxing day and the boys want to watch F1 so back home for lunch and then we girls walk back into town armed with a map of local restaurants – “the restaurant recce”. An interesting tour – bearings now well and truly acquired, we cover most of the town, old and new. Believe me when I tell you it's a great workout – there are some very steep gradients. We couldn't locate one of the restaurants on our map and suffice it to say we finished up at the very top of the town – it was worth the climb for the stunning view of the sea, not to mention St. Mary's Church and the Abbey too on top of the hill and finally discovering the whalebone arch.

All was not lost - I mentioned earlier that we had done our research which also applied to restaurants too. Probably the most famous of Whitby's is The Magpie Café, sadly closed at present due to a major fire recently. Coincidentally on The Bernie Keith Show, BBC Radio Northampton there had been much discussion concerning Whitby and fish and chips. A listener called in and mentioned “Sarah's” and how good it was. Consequently “Sarah's” was on our list.

A stroke of luck. We found “Sarah's” - Mister Chips Whitby – on our way home – the name was a smidge confusing but never mind! We booked a table for tomorrow evening. At first glance it looks clean, bright, and modern – food definitely looked inviting.

Right about now is the time we're glad we decided to eat in this evening from our own battleship supplies.

Shirl has a gizmo that counts steps – you may not be surprised to know that we notched up 16,000+ on Sunday – not too shabby.

I don't feel at all guilty about the cake!

The Whitby Chronicles

It was decided with our friends Shirl and John that we'd have a holiday together and of course Rose (our dog) came too. We chose Whitby, North Yorkshire because none of us had been and Shirl found a brilliant house with loads of space.

We did our research and had a list of places we wanted to see. Rose only had one item on her list – she wanted to go to the beach and to discover what all the fuss was about with the sea.

Research also told us that Whitby was “dog friendly” so that was a good start.

There was so much to choose from it was difficult to know where to start. Whatever your interest might be, whether it's history, nautical, mystical or jewellery - there's something for everyone. From a culinary point of view it's most famous for fish and chips.

We took enough food to sink a battleship – we're on holiday and really don't want to spend any more time than is absolutely necessary shopping for food.

The house was in the old part of Whitby – there's a bridge across the River Esk into the main town so about a ten minute walk.

The weather was perfect on the day of our arrival – just right to make a recce and to stretch our legs after a long drive. We also wanted to sample our first fish and chips for supper. It did take about ten minutes - taking in the River and soon the bridge across came into view. We took this route into the town proper. The older part of the town we'd save for the next day.

It was busy and one thing was apparent – it's very popular with dog owners all of whom, the dogs that is, rubbed along nicely.

It was great to get our sea legs and a feel of a new place and we decided to collect a fish supper to eat and then relax at home. The boys and Rose went on ahead whilst we girls stepped into what could have been a scene from Dinner Ladies. I appreciate you had to be there but any person who loved that series and is familiar with the canteen scenario will know what I mean – you would not have argued with the person serving us - who was, shall we say, gruff! Needless to say not the best fish supper ever but you've got to start somewhere.

Tomorrow is another day!

Two tabs down …

...the photos.

First up Peanut Chocolate Brittle

  

 

You can see the caramel forming – the golden brown colour beginning to appear and the sugar still melting.

Act fast – the caramel sets quickly.

The brittle in the bowl on the left has been bashed to sprinkle over ice-cream or to fold into home-made. The bowl on the right contains bite size pieces.

Second up Chocolate Fudge

I knew these tongs were going to be useful.

The tongs were perfect for holding the fudge and coating as much of it as you want in the cocoa powder. You can grip the fudge without squashing it and able to swirl the fudge around with control.

How much fun was that?!

Two down, seven to go …

… here comes the chocolate – in the form of fudge from The Little Book of Chocolat :

Chocolate Fudge

400g dark or milk chocolate, broken into small

even sized pieces

25g butter

397 can condensed milk

100 icing sugar

30g cocoa powder, sifted

Line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. In a non-stick saucepan, melt the butter and gently warm the condensed milk. Add the melted chocolate and mix well until smooth. Beat in the icing sugar until blended and smooth.

Put the mixture into the prepared tin, spread evenly into the corners, smooth over the top and place in the fridge to set for at least an hour. Remove and cut into small squares and dust with cocoa.

The recipe also mentions serving the fudge warm with ice cream.

Here are a few hints and tips I hope you'll find useful :

Use chocolate drops if you can get hold of them – they are all the same size and your chocolate will melt evenly.

Your squares should be approximately 2cm – don't panic – it's a guide. You can use a ruler if you want. There's always an edge when you remove from a tin. I trim the edges – don't throw them away – we'll come back to these later.

Use unsalted butter.

Sift the icing sugar – you'll be glad you did since it almost always has lumps in it. The most effective way of sifting icing sugar is to both sift and measure at the same time. Place a mixing bowl on your scales and set to zero. Spoon a quantity of icing sugar into your sieve, holding it over the bowl. Using a dessert spoon, bowl side down in the sugar, move in a circle forcing the sugar through until you've got the required amount. Keeps the washing up to a minimum!

As is usual I've popped a box in the freezer and will retrieve in a week to see how it has fared.

Remember the recipe in the book mentions serving the fudge warm with ice cream – use the trimmed edges set aside earlier - cut into cubes and melt in the microwave for 20 seconds on a medium heat. If you want the fudge to be a smoother consistency then add another 10 seconds.

Sorry if you'd given up chocolate this month!

P.s. Freezer report – I boxed the fudge and froze for a week – it was as good as it was when made so ideal if you want to make ahead or stash it so it doesn't disappear when you're not looking. Fridge it straight from the freezer – it's really good cold.

One down, eight to go ...

… of the tabs that is! Here's the first recipe from The Little Book of Chocolat :

Peanut Chocolate Brittle

200g peanuts, unsalted*

200g granulated sugar

100g chocolate, in small even pieces

Heat your oven to 130fan/150c/Gas 2.

Place the peanuts on a baking tray and cook for 10 minutes until a light golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.

Put the sugar in a heavy-based non-stick saucepan over a medium heat and shake** until all the sugar has melted evenly into a golden coloured caramel. Do not leave it as it burns very quickly. Add the peanuts and stir quickly with a wooden spoon. Pour on to a sheet of baking parchment, flatten and leave to cool.

When the brittle is completely cool, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and spread over the top of the brittle. Leave to set. Or, if you prefer, melt a small amount of contrasting chocolate as well and then quickly drizzle both of them “Jackson Pollock-style” over the top and leave to set. Cut into small chunks using a sharp knife. This works well on its own or with ice cream.***

Hints, tips and notes

*I used salted peanuts. It's personal choice – the book mentions that you could try either.

**I used a non-stick frying pan. The sugar has a larger area in which to melt evenly – resist the urge to mess with it and do not prod! The process takes 10/15 minutes.

***I blitzed some of the brittle for a few seconds to give a large “crumb-like” consistency – you don't want dust – to sprinkle over your ice cream.

Fold the crumb-like brittle into home-made vanilla ice cream.

With apologies to our dentists!

A new book …

… and how to get the best out of it.

Is there anyone out there who remembers the book by Joanne Harris called Chocolat, followed of course by the film of the same name. There's another book “Joanne Harris The Little Book of Chocolat and Fran Warde – Fifty recipes celebrating the bestselling novel ...”. (The Little Book of Chocolat).

I've mentioned before that I aim to get the most from a new book. The process should never be rushed – you should take time out for yourself and savour the experience. I'm very careful how I spend my dosh – I want to be inspired - not decorate my coffee table if you know what I mean.

I reckon that if I get six ideas from a new book then it has been well worth the outlay. I should point out that this is not a massive tome 18x18 cms and 127 pages. To give you an idea, an average A4 size book has 300 + pages.

Armed with my tabs and a glass – water, tea or wine – I settle down and take my time page by page, tabbing as I go. It matters not if I don't try them all, very often I remove a tab or two after the initial browse. Better to do that than have to trawl through for a recipe that caught your eye but has now vanished into thin air!

This is a result – 9 tabs on my first page turn!