Joanna Saville joined us
for a week of cooking,
swimming walking,
sightseeing....and eating.
Kirsty Pilcher came with Jean Arnot and Janie to join the first day's hands-on session.
Autumn has been extraordinary this year. After a long blazing summer we have started to benefit from the soft warm golden days which come after the first rainfall. It's just heaven for walking now, with the leaves changing colour, chestnuts falling to the ground, and the smell of quinces ripening in the orchards.
There have been fewer mushrooms than usual, since it has not rained much, but we have found Caesar's mushrooms (Oronge fr. Ovoli it. Kaiserpilz ger.) and Penny Buns (Ceps fr. Porcini it. Tentullo local.) and some delicious shaggy ink-caps/lawer's wigs which went into a risotto.
We escaped for a couple of nights to Ronda, then back for a cookery week with Jo Brown in which Jeannie taught breadmaking, salmorejo, romesco, rabbit with cream and mustard, mussels in saffron cream with spinach, zarzuela de pescado, solomillo of Iberian pork with peppers, and of course rosemary and chocolate cream with fino sherry, and lavender panna cotta.