May moments 1

I have returned from such a long break from blogging! Can’t believe, it’s been one and a half years ago since my last post! Anyways, it’s now the start of June 2018 and I thought I would start with a review of May 2018. This was a month of memories that I wanted to share on the blog.

This blog is all about sharing what I eat and what I make to eat. May was no exception and eating featured heavily. We’ve had some great weather in May, after what seemed like a never-ending Winter. This hailed the start of BBQ season, where we had two in the same weekend. I went to three food festivals, where I ate good food, got inspired and learnt about cooking, and made some artisan foodie purchases.

Food Festivals

Over two consecutive weekends, I went to three food festivals. I had planned to go to to only one of them and the other two I happened upon by chance. I went to the Proper Food & Drink Festival in North Shields one weekend, then Living North LIVE and Tynemouth Food Festival the following weekend.

1. Proper Food & Drink Festival

We were in North Shields to see some furniture we are getting made on the Saturday morning. The Proper Food & Drink Festival was on, so we popped over for a drink and to buy some artisan foodie goods. I’ve been a couple of times before to this yearly event. It’s not massive but is a free event and decent to visit if I’m nearby. There were street food vendors there but we weren’t hungry at the time.

Northumberland Square, North Shields

Northumberland Square, North Shields

Tynemouth Coffee Co.

Sweethart Bakery

It’s good to stock up from our fave suppliers, like The Cherry Tree and to discover new producers like The Sweet Beet. We got some bits and bobs for a cheeseboard/picky tea.

• Cheeses from Weardale Cheese
• Garlic and herb focaccia from Sweethart Bakery
• Condiments (Maple bacon jam, Strawberry chipotle BBQ, Habanero lime jelly) from The Sweet Beet
• Caramelised onion chutney, Pina Colada and Lemon curds from The Cherry Tree

Foodie haul from Proper Food & Drink Festival

2. Living North LIVE

My friend had spare tickets for Living North LIVE, which she kindly gave to me. So, I went along with hubby on the following Saturday. This was held at Newcastle Racecourse, Gosforth Park. Living North LIVE is a huge event and involved more than just food. There was homeware, beauty and gifts. I was interested in the chef demos, as well as browsing the foodie stalls. There wasn’t any street food vendors here (which we thought there would be) but you could eat at the cafe there.

The first chef demo we saw was Martin Charlton from The Old Boathouse. He showed us how to cook fish and seafood really well. We got to sample ceviche, lobster and halibut. All cooked beautifully. If we are ever in Amble, I’d like to visit his restaurant.

Chef demo by The Old Boathouse

We watched Anthony O'Shaughnessy from Master Chef 2018 demonstrate a roasted red pepper dip. This was interesting and the dip was really tasty. We actually tried to recreate the dip for our barbecue later in the month (further down in blog post).

Anthony O'Shaughnessy chef demo

Ridiculously Rich by Alana

Pastree

Geordie Bakers

We came away from the event with some foodie goods. Again, buying from firm favourites like Geordie Bangers. And trying new producers, such as Geordie Bakers. I was especially exited to see Ridiculously Rich by Alana, as I’d never seen her at any foodie events before and have always wanted to try her baked goods.

• Sausages from Geordie Bangers
• Selection box from Ridiculously Rich by Alana
• White sourdough from Geordie Bakers
• Pies from Pastree
• Sauces from SA Sauces

The Living North LIVE event is decent and worth a visit. We wish we had more money, as there were some nice household items and beautiful handmade gifts we would have liked to buy. Thanks to my friend for the free tickets.

Foodie haul from Living North LIVE

St. George’s Church Fete

We were really hungry by the time we were done and decided to head to Jesmond to try a Turkish place recommended to me. We didn’t actually make it there, as we passed a Church Fete on the way, where there were food vendors. We recognised one of our fave street food vendors Papa Ganoush, so stopped and parked up to see what was going on.

It was the St. George’s Fete at St. George’s Church, Jesmond. Unfortunately Papa Ganoush had run out of wraps by the time we got there. Leigh went with a chicken gyros from Acropolis, which we have had before and enjoyed. I went for something new. Harissa Kitchen’s slow cooked lamb and houmous sandwich with cauliflower salad. Something a bit different, which satisfied my hunger. It makes me happy when these unexpected things happen.

St. George's Church, Jesmond

Acropolis

Harissa Kitchen

3. Tynemouth Food Festival

Straight back onto the foodie train, the day after Living North LIVE, we went to Tynemouth Food Festival with my cousin and friend on Sunday.

We try and get along to Tynemouth Food Festival at Tynemouth Priory each year. We have been to most of them since it’s been running. I remember the first one, which was held at Kings School. Tynemouth Food Festival was one of the first foodie events I had been too and definitely helped inspire and educate me about food. We’re pleased to have made it this year and were sad to hear that it will not be continuing after this year.

Tynemouth Priory, Tynemouth

Tynemouth Priory, Tynemouth

One of the best things about Tynemouth Food Festival is the chef demos. I’ve also taken part in two sausage making workshops by Northumberland Sausage Company, which was awesome. This year, Geordie Bangers ran the sausage making workshop, but it was on too late for us to attend.
I’ve watched Bev Stephenson from North Chocolates do a demo before. last year, she made strange sounding but good tasting parmesan and walnut chocolate bark. The combo actually works. This year, Bev showed us how to make dairy-free vegan truffles. I never knew you could substitute cream/butter (traditionally used in making truffles) with water. I thought the water would cause the chocolate to seize but when done properly, it doesn’t. I don’t usually write notes during chef demos but I typed up this one on my phone. Bev demonstrated how to make dairy-free vegan hibiscus truffles and even made a beer truffle.

Bev Stephenson from North Chocolates

River Cafe by the Tyne chef demo was a roast cannon of lamb, lamb crumble, fondant potato, asparagus, baby turnips and samphire. The dish was really tasty. Love getting to try the food, as well as watch it being cooked.

River Cafe by the Tyne chef demo

My cousin got the duck fries from The Hatch, which were good. I wouldn’t have thought of putting the two together. I’m intrigued by Poutine and got to try it for the first time. The brisket poutine from PouTyne was tasty. Hubby got an Anduja pizza from Scream for Pizza.

Duck fries from The Hatch

PouTyne

Poutine from PouTyne

Scream for Pizza

Tynemouth Priory, Tynemouth

Tynemouth Priory, Tynemouth

King Edwards Bay, Tynemouth

At the last ever Tynemouth Food Festival, we got a few foodie things.

• Almasty ale from Yard House
• Pease pudding and stotties from Pete’s Pudding
• Olives from Olive Tree

Foodie haul from Tynemouth Food Frestival

BBQs

We have finally gotten some decent weather in May. Just in time for May Bank Holiday weekend, where we went to a friend’s barbecue on the Saturday then held our annual barbecue the day after on Sunday.

We had a go at making Anthony O'Shaughnessy roasted red pepper dip and it turned out decent, with a bit of a kick. It was easy to make and really good with homemade beef burgers and in chicken wraps. We had some leftover after the barbecue and stirred it into a homemade bean chilli, which added good flavour.

My mother-in-law made us a pavlova for the barbecue. You can find her recipe here.

Our annual barbecue

Anthony O'Shaughnessy roasted red pepper dip

Homemade barbecued burger

Pavlova

There was a lot of baking, including a two birthday cakes in May. I will continue with this in the next blog post. There was too much to fit in one post, so May Moments is split over two posts.

Thanks for reading!