As my brother and I are born 10 days – and almost three years – apart, we normally have a joint meal somewhere to celebrate. This year however, we decided to do something a little different in the form of a personal chef. Not just any chef, but Matt, who – or possibly better said, whose cooking, has featured in the Exmouth posts – happens to be a good friend and, who very kindly accepted the challenge, travelling up from Exmouth in their motorhome just before they headed away on a trip… not the easiest way to prep, but it worked.

We hosted the evening at my brothers, and it worked like clockwork. We chose the menu with Matt… Deep Fried Korean Chicken – which I am told was exceptional – and Tempura Salmon and Cod to start, Fillet steak for the carnivores and Sea Bass for those who preferred fish for the main, and a Dark Chocolate Terrine to finish. Delicious food, and so relaxed, such a lovely way of doing it. No background noise – yes, we are getting old – and with the ability to move around and speak to everyone, rather than being stuck in a corner, unable to hear the conversation….we will definately be doing it again.

Matt and Jon set off to find their ferry in Harwich, and we also hit the road the following morning to a little village called Fenwick, just north of Doncaster, Yorkshire.

We had booked FAWKS into SAP for them to have a look at the emergency back up on the jacks as it wasn’t working. It was only a one night stay at a little CL where the husband and wife team – both well into their 90’s – were keeping active by growing tomatoes, welcoming motorhomes and caravans and herding unruly cats… there were quite a few. Lovely couple though, and Keith gave the trees a bit of a pruning for him too as they were a little overgrown and restricting the entrance!!

SAP found that the wiring had disconnected at the back of the ‘brain’, so by late afternoon we were on the road again and decided to pay a visit to Selby as it was just a short hop, skip and a jump away and there seemed to be a nice CL that had one pitch left.

Stockin Green Farm is family run Cattle farm (as well as a CL) – both dairy and beef – currently right in the middle of calving… they were expecting 50. The location was tranquil and very close to the Trans Pennine Way if you are into cycling.

The walks were lovely and had a calming feel about them albeit a little ‘Lincolnshire – like’… i.e. could have done with a bit more roll in their hills. Selby however, isn’t much to write home about but the walk across the airfield and along the canal was pleasant enough…. I even got a swim in at the local pool, which was a bonus.

Thinking of our stomachs, as always… we moved on to The Crooked Billet just outside Tadcaster, a pub that allows motorhomes to park over night, that Keith had found. They are known for their Giant Yorkshire Puddings… and when in Yorkshire …. it would have been rude not to!

I unfortunately have been suffering recently a little as mentioned in my last blog, and have still been trying to work through food intolerences, but we have now pretty much narrowed it down to dairy…. so Yorkshire puddings are currently off the list for me. I did however have the most incredible Salt and Pepper king prawns and calamari to start which helped compensate a little… Keith, however went for the Steak and Kidney stew in the Giant Yorkshire pudding… and it was definately ‘large’. Needless to say, he didn’t have the Yorkshire pudding with gravy and extra yorkshire pudding on the side to start, nor did he have the Yorkshire pudding stack for desert… apparently, despite it being pretty good, there is only so much Yorkshire pudding a man can eat!!

The pub is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it was busy.. unsurprisingly. The area is very picturesque, and the weather obviously helped, enabling us to get out and enjoy some of the beautiful rolling hills and whilst out, we even found a small honesty box farm shop to get some bits from…always a bonus!

After a peaceful night and lovely little morning walk accross the fields – although my hay fever says otherwise – we moved on again to Gateway to the Moors Campsite which is just outside a small town called Kirkbymoorside.

We were getting good use out of the BBQ as the weather has been so warm and dry, a bonus for us but I am not sure the farmers have harvested their crop this early for a while. We knew the rain wasn’t too far off though… we are in Yorkshire, so rain was to be expected at some point, but happy to take advantage of it while it lasted!

There appeared to be an abundance of local produce available so, just after lunch we cycled up to an organic honesty farm shop where we bought lots of greens, then round the corner to an organic dairy shed where we filled up our bottles with milk….unfortunately we had already picked up eggs from someones farm as they too, were also plentiful!

The fields were golden and beautiful and despite having multiple photos of hay bails, I couldn’t help myself but stop and take another….we have obviously been staying on the farm way too long now, and it is becoming part of us!!

We explored the area a little more – cycling out to another farm shop for a coffee and cake the following day, then did a lovely walk through the fields and over the hills into Hutton the Hole, where we sat out on the green eating our picnic lunch and ice-cream…. my first Vegan Vanilla ice-cream as I am avoiding dairy, it was ok. But I wouldn’t have that one again. The Vegan Mango Ice Cream was however better… although why you would go for the Mango Vegan Ice-cream instead of a Mango Sorbet, (we make our own which is delicious ) I don’t know…. It was however a lovely walk and good to try something different!

Monday came and we moved all of 10 miles down the road to Pickering, where we had found a Camping and Caravan Club small site to stay a mile outside town. After lunch we headed out to explore and find the local farm shop, which happened to grow their own strawberries too.

Being a little lazy – and it was late in the day – we opted to buy the strawberries, along with redcurrants and some other farm grown produce and eat Scones, home made jam and clotted cream in the cafe rather than heading out to pick our own…. but those strawberries were amazing!

The rain had arrived but it wasn’t going to stop us heading into town for a little reckie. It is just one main street, but has lots off interesting coffee shops and eateries, a decent Co-op and Lidl. Pickering has also got a castle and is apparently known for its steam train that goes to Whitby.

We happily explored the area for three days, and we both even tried out the pool for a swim….a bonus!

We set off on Thursday morning, stopping briefly en route at the farm shop again. We couldn’t pass the opportunity to re-stock on Strawberries and redcurrents – the strawberries being some of the best we have ever tasted, so sweet and full of flavour.

Our next stop was another Pub Stopover, another good find by Keith, this one specialised in Pie….The Piebold Inn and had 52 different pies on offer. Some may have thought it was a gimmick and would be a case of quantity, not quality… but oh no, they would be so very, very wrong…. what a find!

The pub is set up for motorhomes, with an allocated area in the carpark for those who wish to have electric hook up, and another area for those who don’t. And having had people abuse the set up, they charged £15 without electric to park up, but you receive a £10 voucher to use in the pub for food or drinks.

We booked ourselves in and paid our fees, setting off on a beautiful circular walk to Filey to help build up a bit of an appetite for dinner… a good choice!

Thankfully we had looked at the menu before we arrived as otherwise it could have been a bit overwhelming. All of the pastry is Vegan, so a huge bonus for me as the butter could have been an issue. The pastry was delicious – and that is coming from me, who makes a pretty good vegan pastry! A good bite and full of flavour. I opted for the Tokara Pony, which was ‘Thai Red Curry with diced cod loin, onion, garlic, fresh root ginger and chillies with coconut milk. Keith had the Cleveland Bay, 3 cuts of beef, Beef Skirt, Brisket and Oxtail slowly cooked with black treacle, bacon, shallots, and chestnut mushrooms. Both were delicious, packed full of flavour and filling, even the potatoes, gravy and mushy peas were good. Possibly some of the best pies we have had outside home…. So, good in fact that we have changed our plans to come back again on Monday!

Before we left we headed into Hunmanby as we had spotted a lovely family run deli with amazing cakes…. the triple chocolate brownie was crying out for a home, so Keith couldn’t deny it a place!

We set off to Blue Rose Campsite and Countrypark, a campsite we had been told about last week, about 10 miles outside Beverley on a canal and lakes. We knew the next few days were going to be wet, but we managed to dodge most of the worst of it.

We headed out for a little circular walk, taking in Brandesburton in the afternoon before taking delivery of some locally smoked fish that I had ordered from Staals Smokehouse, a local producer that I found. Then on Saturday, as there was a bus stop outside, we caught a bus into Beverley for the day for a mooch. They had their weekly market on so we bought a few bits, including one of the nicest beetroot date and walnut cakes we have ever had (based on a carrot cake recipe), had coffee and came home to settle into a home made (by Keith) curry night.. what more can you ask for!

The weather managed to hold off until mid afternoon today, so we got out for another lovely circular walk, coming back along the canal and through Leven.

We have been cooking, but not so many new dishes over these past few weeks. The only recipes we have to share this time are
– Meditarranean Rice with Feta, Pesto and Tapanade
– Milaanj Coriander Chutney

Both of which are delicious… albeit, next time I will be switching out the Feta for something else for my part unfortunately.

And finally, the map…. a nice little tour of Yorkshire, we do love this area!