This Friday. my lovely friends Iona and Sarah came to visit for the weekend. I haven't seen them since my wedding back in August so it was lovely to catch up. We had a lovely walk between Topsham, Lympstone and Exmouth with drinks at the Swan and the Bridge Inn (I think the Bridge Inn is going to be a firm favourite for visiting guests). We had the opportunity to sit in the back room of the Bridge Inn, the 'malthouse', which is not often open with its big squishy arm chairs, warm stove and picture of Queen Victoria and have cider from Clyst St George nearby (http://www.greenvalleycyder.co.uk/).
Foraging-wise, I did the same walk a couple of days ago. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Exeter and I thought, 'what the hell am I doing marking inside looking at the sunshine and wishing I was out there?' so I hopped on a train and had a very pleasant couple of hours walking down the country path and on the beach. I managed to collect two types of sea weed (sea lettuce and laver) and had a sea weed afternoon when I got back. With the shiny, slithery sea lettuce I tried to make soup using this recipe - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/studland-beach/eating-and-shopping/article-1355778825535/
It tastes nice, but the sea lettuce gets stuck in the back of your throat and in your teeth (attractive!) so if I were to make it again I think I will invest in a strainer to get rid of this problem.
With the laver I had much more luck - I decided to make these fritters without the sea crab (alas I couldn't find any and probably would prefer not to have little crab deaths on my conscience) http://wildernessguide.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/spider-crab-laver-and-oat-patties/ and Levs and I had them fried up with bacon for tea. This sea weed is known as welsh man's caviar and believe me, it is DELICIOUS! And even hubby was complimentary about his din dins.
Lastly, I found a big patch of wild fennel on the path and took some of the yummy sprigs and with some peppercorns, garlic and lemon have made me some homemade infused olive oil. I used it for my monster cooked breakfast this morning and it was soooo good!
Anyhow, have a busy week this week but hopefully should be able to take another walk soon. Enjoy the photos!
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