I can’t remember the last time I published a post that didn’t include a recipe, but I felt like taking a little coffee break to catch up and share what’s been going on in the Kitchen Sanctuary household — including some news that still has me feeling giddy!
We’re about a week away from the end of the summer holidays, and I think the children are ready to go back to school. I usually imagine the holidays filled with warm, lazy days — a little work for Chris and me, then relaxing in the garden with a cold drink while the kids splash in the paddling pool or race down the street on their bikes.
But honestly, that never really happens. We’ve been so busy that the paddling pool is still in the shed.
On the rare days the whole family has been home, Chris and I have been racing to keep up with work (you may have noticed fewer posts recently), while the kids have been collapsed on the sofa, recovering from the latest trip or event.
This year we chose a staycation, thinking it would be more relaxed and less costly — but it didn’t quite work out that way.
Is it just me, or are staycations much more expensive than you expect?
Some of our August highlights:
Alton Towers – we splurged on front-of-line passes and survived a day of adrenaline. Thirteen was my favourite; Rita had me screaming, and Oblivion turned out to be less terrifying than I imagined. It was a fun but exhausting day.
A few days in York — the ghost walk was a highlight, though the Viking Centre felt a little overpriced for the queues. We loved wandering the city walls:
We also stopped at Billy Bob’s Ice Cream Parlour in Skipton. They do the best birthday-cake-flavour ice cream, and the kids adore the play barn. Yes, I even had a go on the rope swings after a little encouragement!
We visited Ironbridge Gorge for the first time even though it’s only about 90 minutes away, and we absolutely loved the Victorian town at Blists Hill.
The shops and houses were brilliant, with staff in period costume demonstrating candle dipping, brick making and typesetting. The authentic cottages, pubs (we loved the singalong by the piano) and shops made it a lovely day out — you could even exchange modern money for shillings for fun.
Not to mention the chips: fried in beef dripping and possibly the best we’ve ever had. They were so good we drove back a couple of weeks later just to have them again — ever the greedy foodie.
We couldn’t resist dressing up in the Victorian costume area either:
On the way home we visited the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which was fantastic. The enclosures are spacious and the animals looked content and playful. Seeing the rescued lions in their seven-acre home was especially moving. The park has also recently re-homed brown bears rescued from much smaller enclosures abroad.
The day after we returned, the kids headed to Wales with their grandparents and Chris and I set to work redecorating and renovating their bedrooms. Four long days of painting, sanding, plastering, building and carpet-laying — all powered by coffee. The kids returned just minutes after we finally sat down to relax.
A quick peek at Lewis’s room before and after:
Chris turned 36 recently, and one of his favourite gifts was a soda stream I gave him. I expected it to be a nostalgic novelty that would end up in the back of a cupboard, but we’ve actually used it a lot — even to make ginger beer for Dark n’ Stormy cocktails.
Gracey celebrated her birthday with a sleepover for five friends and a hired hot tub. They giggled for hours, mixed mocktails and covered the house in popcorn. We sent everyone home with t-shirts that felt very appropriate for a group of twelve-year-olds after very little sleep.
Unfortunately, Chris injured his Achilles last week and has been struggling to walk. That didn’t stop him coming to The Big Feastival though — he hobbled around on crutches and made the most of the day (I love that man!).
I took part in a cook-off on the main stage as the first Neff Cookaholic winner, facing Jane from The Hedgecombers. We each made a bread pudding — I prepared a spiced apple bread pudding with browned-butter crumble and an easy salted caramel, and Jane made a coconut- and cardamom-based dairy-free version. The audience voted and I won, though Jane’s was very tasty and it felt like a close call.
It was an amazing, energising day — the kids loved sitting in the front row cheering me on, and we even met Gennaro Contaldo.
And finally — the news that has me dancing in supermarket queues — I got a book deal! Page Street Publishing approached me some time ago and we’ve now signed the contract. I’ll be creating many new recipes and doing the photography for the book, which is so exciting. It’s a lot of work, but I’m thrilled to have creative control over the look and feel.
I’ll share more details as the project develops, but in the meantime we’ve squeezed in a bit more fun before the kids head back to school: a picnic at Rudyard Lake and some indoor skydiving are on the agenda.
Who needs sleep? It’s overrated anyway…
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