Anyone would think we were northerners as we seem to head this way whenever we can, although maybe if we were, we wouldn’t spend quite so much time up here? We love this part of the country even though it is a little wet and damp!

This time, as the trip was slightly delayed, we headed straight to a little village called Drighlington, just outside Bradford, where we had booked ourselves in to do a ‘masterclass’ at Prashad – the wonderful vegetarian Indian we found last year. The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team – Minal in the kitchen and Bobby, front of house…. a clean, slick ship with beautiful flavours.

The restaurant is warm and welcoming and we were so impressed by the food last year, we saw this as an opportunity to learn and eat at the same time and we were not disappointed. Bobby and Minal were open and friendly, sharing lots of knowledge, whilst providing a very relaxed and enjoyable day where we were well fed, learnt alot, and we even had doggy boxes to take home with us. Food aside for a minute, it was apparently the best Mango Lassi Keith has had, and the Mango beer was delicious too – I now know what to be hunting down next time I am out for a curry, or maybe we just need to stock up on it for home curry nights…as those are definately more frequent!

We cooked a lovely selection of dishes – all of which should all be reproducable at home – and being keen curry lovers (and cooks) as we are, we have already started to work our way through some of the recipes from the cookbooks we took home!

Leaving Drighlington behind us we headed further North, up into the Lake District to have a few days by Lake Coniston. We haven’t been to the Lakes for a long time, having been put off by the sheer quantity of people, so it was nice to come back again to explore.

The Club Campsite we stayed at was in 62 acres of National Trust forest. Which interprets to being beautiful, but with lots of trees and shade, so even when the sun did come out, it was quite dark. It was however, lovely and tranquil, and despite being a big site, you barely saw anyone as it was seperated out and very leafy. A great place to walk, cycle and explore and Coniston itself was sprinkled with a few lovely little coffee shops too – well it did rain a fair bit!

Until we saw their beautiful faces, I had completely forgotten that Herdwick Sheep come from the Lake District and fell in love again. They are such beautiful animals you can’t help but want to take one home wih you although Keith has been quite strict about not having pets in the motorhome! Apparently they also make a mighty fine roast…just in case you don’t fancy a pet!

A short skip and a jump back down the narrow windy roads again, and we got to our next stop which was Valley End CL, a smaller campsite at the southern end of Lake Windermere and just north of the little village of Cartmel.

We had opted for four nights here, with Rogan & Co booked on the final day. We planned to use the pportunity to take advantage of the area to get some beautiful walks in. I just hadn’t appreaciated at the time how horrendously wet and windy the weather was going to be!!

We managed to get up onto the ridge on Sunday afternoon and take in some of the views, both over the the rolling hills towards Kendal, and in the other direction out to Morecombe Bay, but they soon disappeared as the mist and rain came in. Heading back to the motorhome where we hankered down for the pending storm with Keith cooking up a curry. Although deliciously good, served without Mango Beer and Lassi unfortunately, I may just have to complain to the management, or has been pointed out to me, go and buy some for myself!

We have definetely been getting the best of all four seasons – mostly in about ten minutes at a time. Torrential rain – sometimes hail – accompanied by really strong winds, then five minutes later beautiful sunshine. Unfortunately the unpredictability of it has led to a few drenchings, but mostly we have managed to avoid them when we have ventured out.

Exploring further afield and walking has been slightly more limited than normal due to the weather. Monday was a bit of a right off and ended up being an admin day. We did however, manage to get up onto the hills and walk over into the Fell Foot National Trust area on Tuesday to lookout over the southern end of Lake Windermere which was also beautiful.

Not forgetting the reason we came to this neck of the woods – Rogan and Co. My brother had very kindly bought me a voucher for Simon Rogan for my birthday, and having looked at the different menu options at his three restaurants in the lakes, we opted for Rogan & Co, which is slightly less formal, and were not disappointed.

We had planned to walk into Cartmel on Wednesday morning to help build an appetite, then back again after lunch to walk the food off, but the weather was so bad in the morning, we opted for not turning up like drowned rats and ordered a taxi.

The food and service were excellent – despite me throwing a last minute wheat allergy at them – already being a dairy free, pescatarian, they took it in their stride, and I would say that the food wasn’t in any way compromised. Although I did sit and watch Keith devour that plate of cheese, salavating at every mouthfull, and he did say that it was excellent.

All local produce, cooked and presented to bring out the best of the ingredient. Another reason to come back to the area slightly more quickly than our last visit, and the sun did show an appearance to enable us to enjoy a leisurely walk home after lunch.

A very short hop down the road again, and a quick stop off at the organic farm, and we arrived at the Kendal Club Campsite, a lovely site just outside Kendal. The site itself is just off the main road but hidden away by the river, and the only noise was the sound of the rushing water as it was very fast flowing…. possibly due to the huge amount of rain we were having!

As we were on its doorstep, we ventured up into the National Trust grounds of Sizergh Castle a couple of times, and although it was wet and very low cloud, it was still very beautiful…. you just needed to wear wellies!

Then on Saturday, despite the rain we walked up and over the hills and along the old canal into Kendal and found an amazing vegetarian coffee shop that needs to be revisited… the cake was excellent, we just want to try more!

It is a beautiful area to explore, just unfortunate that we happened to be here when the storm hit so it was a little wetter than we would have liked. We did however still manage to get out and enjoy the area to remind us what it has to offer, getting a good taster to come back to…. and I am not just talking about the Babaganoush vegetarian coffee shop!

Last stop on this trip was Melbourne, Derbyshire where we have stayed several times as we love the area so much for both walking and eating. We had wanted to try out the Indian Street food restaurant for a while, but just hadn’t had he opportunity as there is so much choice. Last time ended up walking out to a local village pub for a Sunday lunch to meet friends – which was excellent so I am not complaining – this time however, we made it and despite my new found food restrictions, had and fantastic meal.

The food was excellent – both flavour and presentation, and the athmosphere in the restaurant was relaxed and enjoyable. Keith opted to try the Thali and is was full of flavour, although as always – the dhal a little too liquidy for our liking as we like it a little thicker! I had the Goan fish curry and we shared an aubergine side – both equally delicious and loads of fish, and despite being a Sunday night it was reasonably busy. We will be back to try more and Keith did say that the Mango Lassi was almost on par with Prashads, which is a definitely a compliment!

With a trip to the farm shop, a walk around the reservoir which is a National Trust area too, and a cycle ride into Derby, our three days soon flew by and it was time to move on and back to the farm. Such a beautiful area and you can’t not keep coming back for more!

Obviously, apart from eating at Prashad and Rogan & Co, we have been trying out a few new recipes over the last few weeks. Keith especially has been slowly working his way through the Prashad cookbooks – there are lots of recipes on our ‘to do’ list as they all look and sound delicious, so watch this space!

The following are some of the tried and tested ones which we think are delicious… not just from Prashads cookery book, but a few from other sources too.

– Aubergine and Potato Curry – A recipe from one of the Prashad cookbooks, we didn’t have aubergine so replaced it with courgette and it was delicious
– Baked Mushroom and Lentil Koftas – Originally Dr Rupy recipe, can be made as a nut roast or just patties. Simple to make and full of flavour.
– Red pepper and carrot relish – another recipe from the Prashad cookbook, lovely and fresh
– Filled Spinach Leaf Parcels – a recipe we cooked at Prashad and then recreated at home using Chard leaves.
– Bengal Coconut Dahl – we saw this on a TV programme and it looked great, so had to try it… it was delicious
– Piri Piri Tempeh Traybake – Originally a Riverford recipe with Halloumi, but works well with Tempeh. Really simple and full of flavour
– Coriander, Chilli and Garlic relish – another relish from Prashad
– Fenugreek, Chilli and Apple relish – another relish from Prashad, lovely crunch with the chunky apple
– Cool cucumber and yoghurt dip – tangy and fresh, a real winner and could be bulked out into a slaw
– Mixed lentil dhal – a very simple dhal that can bee cooked up to accomany any dish, or eaten for breakfast… very nice with the cucumber dip
– Vegan cottage pie with squash and mushrooms – a really simple and delicious one pot dish with a twist… definitely one if you like the moraccan vibe
– Sesame, peanut and coriander dip – smooth and delicately flavoured and sits well with any dish from simple fish to more complex flavoured curries

Unfortunately the glories of eating out and exotic foods – ok, I am exaggerating, anything more than basics – have once again been put on hold as I still haven’t quite worked out what is triggering the inflammation and pain. So, I have opted to go back on an ‘elimination diet’ to reset and see if I can do the reintroduction more slowly to get on top of it.

In the meantime however, Keith has become a dab hand at trying out gluten free tortilla wrap and flatbread recipes, and I’ve sucessfully made some gluten free pastry – albeit a little crumbly. Most of which are surprisingly ok, I’m not going to say as nice as our previous recipes, but we are in the early days and there is still time to evolve. I am not going to sacrifice flavour and enjoyment of food for some intolerence, I am sure that I can find good alternatives as and where required… going to be an interesting journey.

And naturally, the map of where we have been …..