Anniversary

I can't believe its been 33 years since I married Yvonne,

so we went out for a meal to celebrate.

Here's a more up to date picture,

and of me,

 and more importantly,

We had a very good meal, Yvonne had Fish Pie,

whilst I had Chicken with Bacon and Cheese and of course Onion Rings,

They were nice but I prefer mine, (I think it's the Sourdough Batter)

All in the beautiful location of the Breakwater Bistro in Brixham with its stunning views of Torbay and beyond.

Roll on the next 33!

There's a reason.

I have been racing around for a while now, as befits a pensioner and this blog has suffered as a result. The posts have been shorter and less wordage has been produced.

There were several reasons for that, first I've been trying to set Well Bread! up as more of a going concern, moving it to another level, from a hobby to a source of income. I'm nearly there now, with a regular set of orders and days set aside to complete them.

Today for instance I baked 20 Choc'n'Orange Cookies and 20 Panini for Millie and Me,

and after delivering them, I start on tomorrow's Sourdoughs, White, Spelt and Wholemeal.

So that's the first excuse out of the way, secondly We've been up to Nottingham to see Amy, Harry and Elsa, as a bonus Naomi (daughter 2) and her husband Eamon were there as well and we had a good weekend celebrating my birthday and retirement from Pilotage.

Thirdly, I've been sorting out and tidying up my Novel, the good news is that I have now signed a publishing contract! and hopefully the book will be out before Christmas. This of course opens up a whole new field of things to keep me busy, promotion and advertising etc, I need to get a professional photo for publicity purposes, one that makes me look vaguely human and not like some grinning maniac, that may take a little effort.

We've also been neglecting the garden, Yvonne hasn't been well recently and although she put in a sterling effort last week, it's getting away from us in places. My so called "Dwarf" Pear tree is now about 3 metres high, but has a lot of fruit on it so that's something.

and the Black Tomatoes are nearly ready.

I also found a good picture of Georgina's home in Australia, check it out at 

www.barklyhomestead.com.au/

She loves it there. I quite like the look of it myself.

I'm becoming a big fan of Sweet Potato after a lifetime of lukewarm indifference. For tonight, I've cut them into wedges, and boiled them for 2 minutes.

Then I splashed with Balsamic and oil, I'll bake them later.

'Ribbonworld' is coming..... Soon!

I had an email from my publisher on Saturday, I'm so excited that I wanted to share it with you all. I had sent the manuscript of my third novel for a copy edit about a month ago, just to make sure there were no obvious issues before going ahead. And this is what I got back.


Dear Richard,

I'm pleased to return your copy-edited manuscript. Our editor was very complimentary about the novel and I think you'll be pleased to know what she said:

"It needed a lot of attention, but in terms of the story and writing, I was blown away by the quality of it. Seriously impressed. I've flagged quite a lot of minor plot inconsistencies but please reassure the author this is because I really believe in his book and tidying up these little things will make it perfect. He deserves to have great success with this!"

Sounds like you've got a fan!

To say I'm pleased with her assessment is probably an understatement. I have a few amendments to make but nothing too major. Certainly no 10,000 word rewrites like I was dreading. Maybe I will see it in the shops before Christmas. I'll keep you posted.

My new Toy and a result!

For my birthday this year, Yvonne brought me a dehydrator. (Thanks ever so much) 
I planned to use it on tomatoes and beetroot and maybe make some corn chips, that sort of thing.

For a first attempt, I decided to make some potato chips, following a recipe I found online.

I sliced the potato thinly, using an electric mandolin I brought years ago (I confess; I'm a sucker for a gadget) which has the advantage of never cutting your fingers.

I then blanched the slices in boiling water for 5 minutes and let them air dry.

Then I arranged them on the trays and turned it on for 8 hours.

After a couple of hours, I rotated the trays, the slices were starting to curl up a bit so I guess that means that it's working.

And here they are, pretty good and no oil.

I just need to work out flavouring and I'm in business.


In other news, I had an email from my energy supplier today, they wanted to increase my monthly payment by £ 48!!!!!! I was straight onto U-Switch.

I found a new deal that left me £ 8 a month better off than before the proposed increase, so effectively £ 56 a month better off than I would have been by not switching.

I rang my supplier to tell them I was switching and they tried desperately to keep me; they "re-calculated" my rates but could get nowhere near the new offer. In desperation, they warned me that the figures I had been quoted were probably false and I would get a nasty surprise when I found out the true costs. Hmm!!! 

I quite reasonably said that if that were the case it would be a breach of contract and there would be trouble. The response was that it happens to everyone, but nobody ever complains because it's too much hassle. I think desperation was setting in at this point.

Now what can I do with £ 672 next year?

Out for a meal.

We went to Rockfish in Brixham for a meal last night, and once again it was superb. They have only recently opened the Brixham location but we had previously been regulars in Dartmouth, where the quality of the seafood was amazing.

And once again we were not disappointed, the restaurant sits over the fish market and you take pot luck with the selection on offer, based on what's been caught. So last night there was no Plaice for Yvonne, sad but better than a frozen fish of indeterminate origin and age.
Instead she had the ever so slightly out of focus Scampi with a salad,

whilst I had the mixed plate, Red Gurnard, Monkfish, Prawns and Calamari,

I had this with Mushy Peas, which I cannot resist! and unlimited chips, that's right if you want more just ask, they just keep coming. 

The Calamari is cooked to perfection (as is everything else) unlike some you get that can be a bit rubbery this is melting and delicious. The only one I've had better was in a tiny Tapas bar in Tarragona, full of locals and woodsmoke.

And to wash it down, in celebration of the weekends coming Blue Moon,

Desert just had to be a banana split,

We heard a lady? at another table loudly announce, "Of course; it's NOT a Gourmet experience. But it's alright." Maybe she would prefer the aforementioned defrosted Plaice, in some dimly lit pretentious establishment at double the price, surrounded by fawning staff. Accompanied by 'Artisan cut Gourmet potato pieces, lightly fried in virgin oil from somewhere exotic.'

As for us? I think it's safe to say, We'll be back!

A week like any other.

I don't really know where this week has gone, and yet it hardly seems like much has happened. Well nothing out of the ordinary anyway, and I won't repeat all the usual things that I do that you know about. Sunday (19th) I visited Totnes Good Food Market, alone unfortunately as Yvonne was still not right. I went down to the Leechwell and said one for her, in fact I did all the things we normally do, just on my own.

I brought Steak for Sunday and made some potato and Sweet Potato wedges,

dusted with mixed herbs and Salt.

As an experiment I made a grated Beetroot and Cheese loaf,

which I took to Millie and Me on Monday, to see if they were interested in it for lunches.

As you can see, she made it look great,

Millie and Me

20 July · 

Today's Special inspired by An amazing new bread from Richard at Well Bread Beetroot & Cheese filled with Goats Cheese and Roasted Red Peppers!

In the course of the week, I made another 30 loaves, 44 Rolls and Scones and 20 Biscuits, a fairly normal week,

Sourdough Scones

Sourdough Rolls, Beetroot and Pine Nut

Sourdough Spelt and Oatmeal

 the biscuits were Chocolate and Orange Cookies for Millie and Me and contained 200g Chocolate as well as all the usual suspects. But they were nice!

We had our fair share of medical fun as well, I appear to have trapped a nerve in my arm, it got me worried because I thought that my bone spur had returned. I have full movement however and a hot shower relieves the pain so I know its not that. 

I had the same thing years ago and I'm desperately trying to remember the stretch that the physio showed me which provided almost instant relief. Yvonne meanwhile had to go to the Dr in the midst of Fridays downpours to be shown how to use her new inhaler.

On Saturday we took advantage of a decent day to go out for a random tour locally. We had coffee in the Riverford Farm shop and brought a few cherries to go with the picnic we planned to have. We had a stroll around the gardens at Buckfast Abbey, looking really good at the moment and I spotted a young bird in one of the ponds, catching insects.

We picnicked by the river Dart, under the shade of trees,

and then visited a local garden at Hill House.

Sunday started with rain, back to normal. Maybe this week will be a bit more exciting (but not too much!)