nonnaB 4,913 Posted May 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2023 Our Wine festival has just finished tonight. Food and wine , what more do you want. There were 22 wine producers from around this area and 22 groups offering different types of food from Tagliatelle to sandwiches. My daughter made Gnocchi with Castelmagno and cream sauce. She went through 14 forms of cheese each weighing about 8 kg . My son didn’t participate and decided just to keep his restaurant open and serve drinks and cocktails. He said he’d gone through almost 11 liters of Gin. There were street musicians playing all 3 days each one different from the others. To start we bought our wine glass which was in a sling bag to hold round our necks then we bought our Barberini ( basically tokens . Barbera wine is the cause of this festival) so each time we bought food or wine we paid in Barberini. So the wine glass was in constant use while walking from one place to another to see what they had on offer and sampling all the different wines. It’s a very interesting festival and brings in a lot of different nationalities. I know it’s a long post and nothing to do with Nottingham but I think it’s interesting to know how and what other ex Brit’s do and see in their adopted country. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nonnaB 4,913 Posted May 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2023 3 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,273 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 It makes our village’s ‘Open Gardens’ look a bit tame! Many years ago an old lady, a keen homemade winemaker, organised a ‘tasting’ in her garden. There were no grapes involved in the ‘wines’. I’ve never seen so many people totally legless. Sadly the occasion wasn’t repeated. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nonnaB 4,913 Posted May 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 My dads wine had that effect too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,273 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 I made wine once from a vine we had in a greenhouse. It was not good. It was christened ‘Shateau Mayfield’! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,398 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 I have a grapevine but the fruit is neither edible nor drinkable. Just for decoration, really. I suppose the leaves are edible but I've never tried them. When I was a child, my father made some marrow wine under instructions from Emily Ward who lived in Garden Street and could make wine out of most things. I recall it involved a lot of demerara sugar. The wine looked perfectly alright but it made dad ill , along with everyone else who tried it. I wasn't invited. Perhaps it was just as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,273 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 I was going to try cider making again after a break of some years. I’ve got the kit, a scratter and a fruit press but looking round, after a bumper crop last year, there won’t be many apples. However the medlar tree is loaded. What are my options? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,398 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 It's going to be a good year for medlars. My tree is covered in blossom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,273 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 A lady down the lane made gin from our last crop but our daughter bore our bottle away so I never tasted it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 Phil, if you Google medlar jelly you will see a recipe from David Lebovitz for it. You have to “blet” them (leave them to soften) and they look absolutely disgusting when this has been completed. However it makes a beautiful clear jelly almost like the colour of rose hips. v good recipe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,273 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 Yes, but one jar of jelly will last forever. What do you do with the rest? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nonnaB 4,913 Posted May 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 Although we live in a wine growing province I know little about wine apart from drinking it of which is Barbera.We have at least 6-7 wine producers near us.All are available for tours and tasting. Foreigners come from everywhere for their wine even USA when they visit their summer home in the village. Apparently on Saturday alone 30.000 people were in the top part of the village and as we were voted one of the most beautiful villages in Italy we had a bumper festival. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted May 29, 2023 Report Share Posted May 29, 2023 Phil re medlars. Once you’ve done the juice extraction the volume is reduced as you’re only straining the clear juice really. Don’t be tempted to get any more liquid by pressing more through the sieve as it makes the finished product cloudy. We mackled up a suspended sieve over a big mixing bowl overnight which although looked a bit “Heath Robinson” worked. Just compost the left overs in the sieve. If you have any spare jars made it is always good to give to friends and family as it’s a bit unusual. Great with a ploughmans. On another note, I see that the Tap and Run at Upper Broughton is re opening at the end of June after the awful fire last year. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,273 Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 I think I’ll buy a jar from the farm shop to see if I like it before I go into mass production! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Look what we’ve got back, it’s nest building in my border. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,398 Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 I'm so glad your prickly friend is back. They know which side their bread is buttered, so to speak. Jemima turns up in my garden for her food every night around dusk and sometimes has company as it's the mating season. Lately, she's been leaving a sizeable tip for me. Lovely! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Jill, I’ve stoked it up with Gourmet catfood. All gone quiet now after a couple of hours of frenzied activity while it was collecting bedding 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,398 Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 You may have a pregnant female. Lucky you. Gourmet cat food, eh? If they were sociable creatures, she'd be inviting all her friends round. Fortunately for your pocket, they're even more antisocial than me! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Jill, the Goumet stems from when my little cat had to have her pelvis pinned together a couple of years ago and when she came home she wouldn’t eat dry food. Now her and her mum have a tin between them in the morning and dry for the rest of the day. The hog likes the chicken one too. Will keep an eye out for baby hogs. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,398 Posted May 30, 2023 Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Same here. Gourmet for breakfast. I make do with a boiled egg but then I'm a lesser being! Do keep us informed about any babies. Hedgehog population desperately needs to increase. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,678 Posted June 3, 2023 Report Share Posted June 3, 2023 Well I received a reply from my email to Warburtons about the smaller size of their teacakes, they say they can assure me that the recipe and size of the teacakes has not changed at all, however they will be sending me some vouchers as a gesture of good will, a nice letter and four one pound vouchers have arrived, I am sending the vouchers back to them as I didn't complain about the teacake size just to receive vouchers from them, I sent them the email to point out that I had noticed the smaller size and didn't think it was right that these thing should be changed without informing the customer, is this another case of the customer being bought off? Rog 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 572 Posted June 3, 2023 Report Share Posted June 3, 2023 I complained to PG Tips about the amount of teabags that were split when they changed how they were sealed and they credited me with the price of a 240 pack once I’d given them the serial number on the pack so they could trace the problem. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oztalgian 3,392 Posted June 4, 2023 Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 6 hours ago, plantfit said: Well I received a reply from my email to Warburtons about the smaller size of their teacakes, they say they can assure me that the recipe and size of the teacakes has not changed at all, however they will be sending me some vouchers as a gesture of good will, a nice letter and four one pound vouchers have arrived, I am sending the vouchers back to them as I didn't complain about the teacake size just to receive vouchers from them, I sent them the email to point out that I had noticed the smaller size and didn't think it was right that these thing should be changed without informing the customer, is this another case of the customer being bought off? Rog Had a similar experience with a well known cereal manufacturer. Their large box of Corn Flakes, when opened looked like the brown chaff I would give to the horses, very brown and obviously over cooked. I sent them an email with all the product details, bar codes, use by dates etc and got a response that they were investigating the issue and assured me that the product had not been changed and were sending me a $10 voucher and thanked me for the information. We used the voucher the other day to purchase more of the product and it was thankfully back to normal. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,678 Posted August 2, 2023 Report Share Posted August 2, 2023 Chicken and chips, what's not to like? unless you're vegetarian then it's just a plate of chips Rog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,273 Posted August 2, 2023 Report Share Posted August 2, 2023 Lucky you. We’ve got curry tonight. I think it’s our moral duty, just once a week, to appreciate how those poor people in foreign countries have to suffer with their disgusting food. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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