Russell's Fish and Chips

Well, well, well! Who would have thought Fish and Chips could match, if not better our favourite chip shop in The Cotswolds, Simpsons. But here lies Russell's Fish and Chip Restaurant and Take Away attached to the outstanding and award winning Russell's Restaurant in Broadway.

This little gem is tucked away down a little side street and really feels like a genius find when you're walking down the topiary pathway lit up by fairy light parasols, right up to the front door.

It was only a 5 min waiting time and the restaurant was packed! Obviously a popular abode. Despite being super busy the staff were friendly and helpful and obviously love work together creating a fun atmosphere.

The decor is spot on with a pirate ship and seaside theme and this continues through to their brilliant website which is well worth a look for the background stories of the staff, (sorry, crew!) and news of up and coming events. Great news Mums', you can even book a kids pirate themed Birthday Party! Or alternatively they cater for events for 10-100 people of any age.

I was impressed with the prices, thinking it would be much more, being a sister to such a prestigious restaurant and we were slap bang in the centre of Broadway. For £14 exactly I ordered 2 large portions of Cod and Chips which came in a lovely little brown box sealed with a Russell's logo sticker and came accompanied with homemade tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon. 

The verdict... Delicious!

Love the décor, love the packaging, love the food!

Millie and Meg x

Off to the Circus...

This should be an easy blog post to write. But we are finding it hard. Which is why a week after our visit we still haven't put pen to paper...or finger to keypad.

We just don't know where to start! We had heard it was good, but we didn't realise just how good! Don't get us wrong...it was not some sky high tent with acrobats throwing themselves from tightropes, caged lions and a beauty on an elephant type of a circus but that's not what we expected and that's not what we wanted! This was different, this was a little slice of magic. 

Chocolate Indulgence Courtesy of Crumbs

Well, I'm in France, if you hadn't heard me mention it before, and I'm getting fat. But that's ok because I am on my summer holidays and I'm sorry, but with the greatest wine makers; patisserie creators and cheese choices on my door step, I am not saying no!

So whilst I am feeling indulgent and in the spirit of the Great British Bake Off, I thought I'd make something myself. What better than rising chef and foody entrepreneur Luke Thomas' Chocolate Soufflé and Orange and Ginger Confit?  I found the recipe in this months issue of Crumbs Magazine along with another of his recipes and a feature on the man himself.

If you haven't got your hands on a Crumbs Magazine, you love the Cotswolds (or Bristol and Bath) and you love food... then where have you been for the last 2 years?! It is as easy as pie, no foody pun intended, as you can even flick through it on their website! FYI, Luke's recipe for the Soufflé in on page 54 of Augusts' issue.

I'm not going to take you through step by step, you can do it yourself. but here are some images to get you inspired!

First the recipe takes you through how to make an orange and ginger confit to go with your soufflé. YUM! However I had a "lost in translation issue"... well, I would like to blame that, but as you know orange in French is...orange. So more of I had a "should have gone to Specsavers" issue.

I had purchased Grapefruit. #oops and it was only when slicing open for the segments that I realised!

So after a little bit of Google research I found out that Grapefruit does in-fact go nicely with ginger, BONUS I thought! So I decided to plough through. But disaster struck around 10 minutes later. The grapefruit just fell to pieces in the sugar and water mixture ( I used the same quantities as recommended for the orange segments) and I ended up with a bitter slop. Luke, maybe you could help me out here...something to do with acidity of orange versus grapefruit and sugar to water ratios perhaps?

Onwards and upwards...to the Soufflé! Which, I will spoilt the ending for you, was a success!

The making part was made easy by Luke's simple instructions but I bet he could rustle one of these up with his eyes closed. I had to pay close attention to the quantities and the order to do things in as I know a soufflé can go easily wrong! I had never made a soufflé in this way before so it was a new method for me. The chocolate smelt amazing! After a whisk of the cocoa powder and flour and a melting of the beautiful Lindt 70% cocoa dark chocolate that I used, I was ready to put it to one side until the egg whites were whisked! A whisk and a fold later and...voila...ready to rock and roll!

One thing I will suggest is changing the timing depending on your ramekins. The size of my ramekins took longer than 8-10 mins. I risked them flopping when I decided to pop theme back into the oven. In addition to that I could have made more than 4 with the amount of mixture I had...So if you are using small ramekins you may find it makes around 6!

Hey presto. Another successful Crumbs recipe recommendation followed and succeeded. Give it a go.

Pub Gardens in The Cotswolds

We count ourselves very lucky living in a beautiful part of the world. An area  with its very own smorgasbord of successful pubs to pick from. In fact, sometimes we find it hard to choose!

Summer may feel like it has come to an end now but we've had a good run this year and there is nothing we've enjoyed more than soaking up the sun in a beautiful beer garden. 

Here, are just a few of our favourite pubs we've visited this summer because of their outside areas... weather it's a lush garden, a pretty courtyard or a decked out drinking area, we love these Cotswold pubs for many reasons. 

Our Holiday Reads

The best part of holidays, for us, is having time to sit, switch off, relax and read an actual book. Now we are both back from sunning ourselves in France and Portugal we wanted to share our favourite holiday reads. 

Meg's Holiday reads:

#GIRLBOSS is a life documentary about the rise in success of Sophia Amoruso. Sophia started her empire Nasty Gal, a vintage fashion retailer from nothing. In fact, the first item she ever sold on her Ebay store was something she stole. Now she is the CEO of a million dollar company with a team of #GIRLBOSSes & #DUDEBOSSes who have amazing creativity and work ethic. #GIRLBOSS is full of inspiration, wise words and funny stories of how Sophia, a girl with ADD worked her way up the ladder from hitchhiking, shoplifting, feminist to become her very own #GIRLBOSS. It's genius and admirable! 

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green is a book I have been saving for my holiday but wanted to read for a while. I've also been tempted to watch the film a few times now but knew I would regret not reading the book first. I thought I would find it all too emotional, after all it is about teenage cancer. However, its not just heart wrenching but also heart warming, lovely, and funny. Once I started The Fault In Our Stars I couldn't put it down and for what I was expecting to be a 'chick lit' book it wasn't predictable or too gooey. The chapters set in Amsterdam were really well written and made the whole book a lot more romantic. It is a tear jerker but it will also make you smile and any book which achieves that, is a goody!

Emily's Holiday reads:

 

Not sure about this one, I am just over half way through and yes, I know, it an international Bestselling sensation, but I don't think it's for me. I think some of the humour is lost on me and I like a twist and turn in events but it's too repetitive. Don't forget this is JUST my opinion and it wouldn't be a best seller for nothing! My mum loves it! 

 

Ahh, my old faithful. Doesn't matter how many times I read this book I get lost in it every time. I don't like re-reading books often but this is different. I decided to read it again as we are going to Gifford Circus in 2 weeks and I remember when I first read it I craved going to the Circus for weeks. It is one of those books that you want to be real life, so that you can go and experience the words yourself. You can smell the toffee popcorn and feel the magic as you are reading. Gifford Circus, we are coming for you!

I've just finished The Book Thief and it hasn't let me down. A really gripping story set in Nazi Germany narrated by death. An unusual concept but it works. Death tells the story of the girl titled as the book thief as he visits her many times during her life. Expect an accordion playing Papa, a hidden Jew, A teenage love story, books, stealing and the beautiful story of a fostered girl learning to get on with life in the 2nd world war. It will have you crying though so be prepared! I always think I need an uplifting story on holiday but there is something about a drama that has you hooked. The film is coming out soon too so I feel well prepared.

What have you been reading and loving this summer? 

Millie and Meg x

Mary Arden's Farm

Meet Lydia, Emily's 4 year old niece.

Liddy is from Ashbourne but loves visiting her Aunty Em, Uncle James, Nannie and Grandad in the Cotswolds. She has been to Evesham Country Park and Steam Train, Hatton Country Park, Adam Hensons' Farm Park among others. She loves to sample the local playgrounds and go for picnics with her dollies in the park.

Liddy's most recent visit was Mary Arden's Farm in Stratford Upon Avon:

#theguestlist


First a rainy bus ride with Stratford Upon Avon's bus tour company, which we caught outside the Stratford Tourist Information Centre. Nannie says the bus ticket was £25 but it is valid for 24 hours which lets you have 3 visits to Shakespeare houses. The bus might be valid for 24 hours BUT the houses are valid for up to a year! Even better I went for free because I am under 5.

It rained so badly on the bus that we kept on wiping the windows to see outside. But when we got to Mary Arden's Farm the sun came out and we could enjoy all the activities. First stop was a good photo opportunity with Nannie!

 

Daily activities around the farm:

10.00 Geese led out and horse led in

10.30-12.30 Tudor Games (summer holidays only)

11.00 Working animal display

11.30 Falconry display

12.00 Horse work

1.00 Tudor dinner

1.30 Falconry display

1.30-3.30 Tudor games (summer holidays only)

2.00 Join in with Tudor activities

3.00 Tudor housewives (demonstrating traditional skills)

3.30 Falconry display

4.00 Milking the goat  

(Source: www.shakespeare.org)

 

We arrived at 1:15pm just in time for the 1:30pm Falconry display! We met The Golden Eagle and Milly the Owl.

Then Nannie treated me to a drink and a bowl of chips in the café, I couldn't resist! It was naughty though as we were having dinner in Stratford later that day. After my chips I wanted to sit down for a bit so it was perfect timing when we came across Story Time. A Lady in costume read us A Midsummers Nights Dream. It was brilliant.

After watching the archery in The Tudor Games, the people in costumes showed us what Tudor people ate and that they didn't throw anything away! We arrived a little to late to watch them cooking it though.

We had a brilliant afternoon seeing some of Stratford-Upon-Avon. I would recommend Mary Arden's Farm House to any kiddies on their summer holidays! Don't forget Kids under 5 go free.

See you again soon.

Liddy x


#theguestlist

Finally... Love Hair

The 3 years I have lived in lovely Cheltenham I have really struggled to find my hairdressers. I've yearned for a regular hairdresser who I trust, who knows what I like but helps push me out of my comfort zone sometimes to try something new. I just haven't found him or her or a salon which I have really loved. That's not to say it doesn't exist. Emily goes to a salon in Cheltenham, Anon Hair and Beauty and LOVES it, all my other friends go to hairdressers they would highly recommend and it would be impossible to try every salon on every corner of Cheltenham so its unfair to suggest my hairdresser isn't out there. Maybe, I'm a fussy customer or just been very unlucky. I won't name the salons I haven't liked because that' not what Millie and Meg is about but it has left me feeling a little nervous about the whole experience... an experience, let me remind you, which is still a luxury!

So, when Millie and Meg was lucky enough to win a prize via a Twitter competition with Love Hair, I thought it the best excuse to try this new salon in a beautiful Cotswold town of Broadway, the town I used to get my hair cut as a child in fact. My horrible hair experiences have brought me back full circle. See our very first blog post about Broadway here. 

Brunch in Montpellier

Now, when I mention Gusto the lovely chain Italian restaurant found all over the country springs to mind. But this is different, this is Gusto Deli an independent café and deli found on Montpellier in Cheltenham, and in our opinion the BEST place for brunch.