Summer getaway: Lake District

 

Now the school term has ended, I'm realising how much more organised I should have been in months prior to book some breaks away in advance. With this being our first Summer holiday from the school term, and therefore having to follow the rules of taking holiday between certain dates, I think I may have been in slight denial of how restricting it might be and how expensive to get away! Of course there are lots of options close to home and I've been on a search recently for Lake District Hotels in particular as I have been meaning to get to the Lakes for a few years having heard lots of people talk about the area and how stunning it is (whatever the weather...obviously a bonus right now). Outside space for the little ones to roam free, picturesque views for us grown ups to take in and actually once I got to looking into the area further there seems to be a lot more to offer too. The watersports for one - I guess I've been thinking how grim the weather has been lately and so didn't think this would be an option but I've noticed these locations cater for all weathers to entertain their guests, hoorah.

The Low Wood Bay Hotel in particular looks really family friendly as it offers a kids club (Sams Club) which offers a trip on the steam railway and a visit to the Tropical Butterfly House. There's also the Low Wood watersports centre which has every watersport you could imagine wanting to try (if you're braver than me). They happily offer kids menus too along with good rates for children when sharing a room which all helps.

  

I've also discovered the area is famous for having a very special person live there, at Hill Top house which was once owned by the author of the famous Peter Rabbit books, Beatrix Potter. My children (aged 5 and 2) are not quite at the age to thoroughly enjoy the books but I used to love them as a youngster and I would be really curious to see where the author lived especially as the pictures I've seen of the house conjure up such a magical and peaceful place. It looks like such a lovely home to sit and come up with well loved fairytales and whimsical characters. 

Beatrix Potter's home

Yes please to all of the above I say. I'd better get a move on with booking up I think. Have you visited a particular location in the English Lakes that you love and would recommend?

Kedgeree

I love this dish, we make it quite often as a quick light dinner. Not many seem to know of it or have tried it when we've cooked it for friends or family and so I thought I would share. It's traditionally a breakfast dish from India although I'm not a fan of fish for breakfast I have to say but for lunch or a light dinner it's ideal. It's a pretty dated but still a very tasty meal and so simple I think everyone should know about it. There's a variation of methods as with all recipes, I've seen one in my Cookery Year book which uses cream but we tend to roughly follow Jamie Oliver's version from his early The Naked Chef book which goes almost like this....
Serves 6
2 eggs
680g undyed smoked haddock fillets (you can't always find undyed at the moment so dyed is fine if not)
2 bay leaves
170g long grain rice (I use brown rice, works well)
salt & pepper
115g butter
1 medium onion or equivalent sprint onions finely chopped
2 heaped teaspoons curry powder
2 lemons
2 good handfuls of chopped fresh coriander
Method:
Put your fish in a pan and just cover with water, add your bay leaves and bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins until fish are cooked. Drain and set aside. 
In the meantime boil your eggs, place in boiling water and bring to the boil, simmer for 8-10 mins. Then once they are on the go cook your rice as per pack instructions (if you use brown rice like me you may want to stick this on before anything else as it takes approx. 30 mins).

Melt the butter in a pan, add the onions and soften slowly, don't colour. Then add your curry powder and juice of one lemon and fry a couple of minutes longer. Then flake your fish and add to the onions along with your cooked and drained rice. At this stage I also added a generous handful of cooked peas, optional, but we think it works well and it always feels better to have some sort of green veg on your plate doesn't it?

Keep it on a low heat to heat through, then quarter your boiled eggs and add along with some chopped coriander and gently mix through. Serve up with a little chopped coriander on top of your dish along with a wedge of lemon the side. 'Tuck in' as Jamie would say.