April 10th - Tewkesbury - Self Catering

Landmark trust properties are pricier than your "Happy Holiday Cottages" - but you get what you pay for in terms of interest, quirkiness, difference.

We've squared the circle by self-catering rather than eating out. By using Waitrose cheats it has been a non-sacrificial saving.

Monday:
Lunch at the National Trust café at Avebury - I strongly recommend the sausage sandwiches. He would say the same about the bacon sandwich. We both rated the coffee and walnut cake as a good'un.
Supper was some Waitrose pork ribs that we had intended to eat over the weekend. They briefly joined us for a little holiday with carrots and baked potatoes.

Tuesday:
Breakfast was croissants and marmalade.
Lunch was home-made soup. I'd brought a bag of potatoes, and various bits of veg from the bottom of the fridge. Take half a large leek, soften in butter, add a large potatoes cut into cubes and some stock and dried herbs. Leave to cook. Stir in more liquid if needed, and also some leftover diced roast pork that had travelled up from home. Bring to the boil and serve with bread and butter.
Supper was a pizza from the Waitrose in Malborough (my word, that shop is HUGE, you wouldn't think so from the outside!) with some salad, followed by fruit.

Wednesday:
Breakfast as before.
Lunch; home-made soup again. As well as the leek and potato I added some peeled and chopped cherry tomatoes and a diced carrot. For meatiness I crumbled in some corned beef that we had brought. Bread and butter and fruit - perfect.
Supper was a Waitrose slow-cooked leg of lamb, that just needed another 35 minutes in the oven, with baked potatoes and braised leeks and cabbage, followed by some incredibly sticky coffee eclairs.

Thursday:
Breakfast was toast and marmalade, as the croissants were now a part of history.
Lunch - I'll let you guess - yup - souper soup. This time the meatiness came from leftover lamb from last night. While the leeks and potatoes were getting going, I boiled up the lamb bone and bits and pieces with the green part of a leek to make a little stock, added that to the veg with the leftover lamb cut into chunks.
Supper - ah to be confirmed. This is where the system will self destruct, as we are meeting up with some of the family and going out for a meal. You can go with the fixed price menu - two courses for £20 - which looks good and reasonable. However, he has already spotted the fillet of beef with mushrooms and a red wine sauce. I've got my eye on scallops with chorizo and rocket and capers. yum yum yum.

I'll tell you what though, home-made soup is so easy, and takes some beating. It doesn't need much in the way of preparation, ingredients or cooking, or even time. I reckon half an hour from the thought, through the deed, to the proof of the pudding souping. One chopping board, one knife, one saucepan. Not much washing up neither.