Wednesday 22nd July 2020 - Seasonal Blooms, Vegetables and Fruits and A Boom!

In my last blog, I posted some photos of flowers, a seed head and forming autumn fruits, all seen on a walk across the fields. It is not only the plants and hedgerows in the countryside that change with the seasons; the cliffs do too. In early spring, I love to look up and see the splashes of yellow provided by a particular favourite of mine; primroses. Whoever would have thought these delicate little flowers would be salt and wind tolerant. Currently, there are areas where large daisies are flowering. I am not sure if these are ox-eye daisies or garden escapees but they are most certainly flourishing in their coastal location.

I am very much a seasonal person, when it comes to foods. I get annoyed if I see a recipe with ingredients that incorporate two different seasons’ vegetables. Yes, we are lucky to be able to buy tomatoes, strawberries etc. throughout the year but I prefer, wherever possible, to keep with the seasons. Admittedly, come March I am craving for baby carrots, new potatoes, French beans, peaches and the like, but patience has to be the word. With a change in seasonal fruits and vegetables comes a variation in the dishes we eat. One particular dish I enjoy in the summer months is a Rosemary Shrager recipe. This is simply; French beans lightly cooked before tossing them in olive oil and crushed garlic. On the plate, the beans are topped with roughly torn Serrano ham, a sprinkling of pine nuts, shavings of parmesan and a poached free range egg. The only ingredient I omit is rocket – I like its peppery leaves but unfortunately, they don’t like me!

On Monday afternoon we heard a large boom. We sometimes see metal detectors being used on the beach. Had somebody dug up an old mine, or similar? The Coastguard often put out advice on social media about reporting any unusual object which may appear on the beaches. Not on the beach but on the Cromer Golf Club where a mortar bomb had been unearthed during works on the course. The bomb disposal unit were called in and they moved it to the practice ground where it was safely detonated.