A truly wild time at BeWILDerwood!! Lunch at the Munch Bar!

We have had one of the best days ever…. I have been waiting to go to Bewilderwood since before Abbie was born and we have held off until this year (which I am glad about as I now think Abbie is the perfect age) but today…. WE WENT! I don’t know who was more excited!! In case you are unaware of this place….

Anyway, the focus of my post is about our lunch, but I have to also mention some of the awesome things we have done today…. more of this later! We decided that as we would be clambering up ladders, across scramble nets and hurtling down slides, that we wouldn’t take a picnic to this particular adventure park until we had more experience…. and I am always curious about food at theme parks; remembering the 6 euro disgusting pannini at Disneyland and crazy queues that we had to endure to get anything! Most attractions around here sell primarily fast food at rip-off prices and so it was with some trepidation that we made this choice today.

However I was very pleasantly surprised; decent food, some organic! and at reasonable prices. I meant to take a picture of the menu, but forgot due to hunger! So I will recount the options and hope I don’t miss anything vital – Jon and I both went for the jacket potato option – 3.25 with a choice of 1 pound toppings like cheese, coleslaw, beans or the more expensive chilli/veg chilli (2.50) – portions were very generous; I didn’t finish. We also had really nice drinks; Jon an organic coca cola and me an Elderflower drink. Abbie chose a Swampy lunchbox; cheese sandwich (could have had ham), oj or apple juice, organic yoghurt tube, apple, colouring page and pencils – all this for 3.25. Abbie was totally happy with her choice. Also available were jumbo sausage in a roll (next time!), various sandwiches, savoury pastries, muffins, cakes and fruit. Drink selection was varied and we also sampled some of their ice creams later (raspberry ripple, honeycomb and toffe fudge) all which got two thumbs up!!

A quick apple break between climbing, swinging and sliding

There were 2 other food places… the Snack Shack and the Cosy Cabin which served only the cold options, but all eateries were spaced well around the park.

We had the most incredible day at this park, it is so brilliant not to queue for more than 5 minutes for anything (on a hot half-term day!) and all the time you are queuing, you are moving along walkways or up staircases so there is always something to see. I have put a sample of the best bits in these thumbnails!

The wobbly wires

Swinging...

Digging...

Balancing...

Decorating a boot for the Thorneyclod

.... and hanging it in his Far tree!

Starring as 'Leaflette' in the interactive storytelling... she did really well!

About to do a climb in a tight squeeze at the Tricky tunnels!

walking through the treetops

Catching the boat back... through the swamp

An absolutely exhausted Abbie (she fell asleep on the 15min journey home!)

Lasagne to die for and a tarted up dessert!

My mother-in-law came for lunch on Sunday – all the way from Bucks so I had to make a meal worth driving for! This lasagne (from Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie’s Dinners’) is the best that we have ever had and we make it over and over again. It is brilliant when you are entertaining because you can get all the bits ready individually and then layer and bake at the last moment – straight to table when you’re done, no messing!

The addition of the butternut squash (I always want to say squatternut bosh after Ross in ‘Friends’!) makes it really moreish and works incredibly well to lighten it up for a summer lunch. The other great feature is the ‘no cook’ white sauce – less work, more yum!

Find the recipe @: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/simple-baked-lasagne

First make your components... roast butternut squash and slow cooked meat ragu

.. the start layering; pasta, squash, meat, cheese sauce... etc.

 

and... voila! ready to go into the oven

and then to table for the hungry Kemptons!

I had some margarita ice cream leftover from when the girls came over on Wednesday and I knew that my mother-in-law is always on the lookout for easy desserts (they are her nemesis!) so I thought I would show her this one! I tarted it up with a quick rhubarb granita, made with a few weedy thin sticks of rhubarb I pulled from the garden this week – a little wine and vanilla sugar and cook for 8 mins to make a syrupy mush, the cool and freeze – stir with a fork and freeze again. It only made a tsp each, but that was all we needed!  See an earlier post for the ice cream recipe!

How to tart up already delicious margarita ice cream - rhubard (from the garden) granita and fresh raspberries!

A spring fritatta for the first day of the holidays….

Today is the first official day of our holiday and as the sun was shining in the garden, we made full use of the great weather.  Abbie and I planted garlic, shallots, peas and nasturtiums….. jumped on the trampoline, fixed up Abbie’s bike and ran around on the grass.  I then went to cook frittata and ‘horror’ no eggs in the fridge – it is times like this that you are grateful for the number of chicken owners within 1km of us! 

It is odd that Abbie is a bit funny about asparagus at the moment – she loved it last year, but obviously has forgotten this fact in just under a year – now it looks like a ‘new’ vegetable.  I will persevere; she ate more today than Saturday… I have another bundle in the fridge! Hope we get there before the ‘pop-up’ asparagus stalls start appearing at the end of our road!

Spring Fritatta – Feeds 2 adults, 2 children

Bundle of asparagus

4-6 large, cooked and cold new potatoes (could be leftover from previous day’s dinner), sliced

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 log soft goat’s cheese

• Preheat your grill
• Cut asparagus spears into 4 cm sections (approx) and cook over a medium heat in a frying pan for about 5 mins – I put a little water in the bottom with a bit of oil and then the water evaporates as the asparagus cooks
• When all water has evaporated and the asparagus starts to sizzle, add in the sliced potatoes and spread everything around so that you have an even coverage of both vegetables
• Add in beaten egg and swirl around so that again you have even coverage and then crumble the goat’s cheese over the whole lot – cook for 3-4 minutes on the hob, finishing it off under the grill until bubbling and golden on the top

Serve with salad leaves and cherry tomatoes, all dressed with a little rapeseed oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

cook until bubbling and golden..

Tucking in!

An easy and quick playdate lunch…

Abbie had a friend to play today and they were both famished after swimming…. so ‘Flash in the Pan Bangers’ it was – always a favourite – an alternative to sausages and baked beans – the unprocessed version! I also made homemade oven chips and served some really fresh sprouting brocolli on the side – not surprisingly the whole lot was wolfed down!

Flash in the Pan Bangers – from BBC Good Food ‘101 Recipes for Kids’

1 tblspn vegetable oil

8 pork sausages – I used 12 chipolatas

1 small onion – peeled and chopped

400g cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

400g chopped tomatoes

1 tblspn maple or golden syrup

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce or dash of Tabasco, to taste

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot and fry the sausages, over a medium heat for 20 mins, turning them now and then, until golden and sticky. Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside.
• Add the onion and cook for 3-4 mins until softened. Tip in the beans and tomatoes, stir thoroughly and cook for 2-3 mins, then stir in the syrup and the Worcestershire sauce or Tabasco and 150ml/ 1/4 pt hot water. Cook for a further 2 mins or until slightly thickened.
• Return the sausages to the pan and cook for a further minute or until bubbling.

Serves 4 (plentifully)

Homemade oven chips/wedges

Preheat oven to 200C.

Cut potaoes into thin wedges and toss in rapeseed oil (and garlic puree – optional).  Spread over a baking sheet and cook in the hot oven for 30-35 mins, turning half-way through cooking.  They should be crispy when cooked – cook for extra 5 minutes if not. Sprinkle over Maldon salt to taste.

Flash in the Pan Bangers, homemade chips and sprouting broc

Two happy customers!