Monday 28 June 2010

Midsummer madness special offer at Exmoor House

Wow - we've been having proper summer weather over the last couple of weeks - no Glastonbury or (so far) Wimbledon monsoon, either. The Exmoor scenery is looking absolutely wonderful.

In our garden, the herbs are soaking up the sun, the rocket's rocketing and the tomatoes are starting to flower. And I've never seen so many fruits on our wild strawberry plants. Normally, there are only enough to use as a garnish, but we've treated ourselves to several bowlsful over the past few days. The flavour is quite delicate, yet somehow more intense than the 'domesticated' strawberries, and creamier as well (in fact you don't really need cream or anything else with them). Because the fruits are often hidden away under the leaves, we can often get to them before the birds, too. A cheeky blackbird did pinch one from right under my nose yesterday though. Does all this fruitfulness bode well for the rest of the summer? Let's hope so!

OK, enough garden ramblings: as you can see from the headline, we've a special offer on. Yer 'tis (as they say in Somerset): weekend stays of 3 (or more) nights in July are the same price as our midweek short breaks... which means you can book 3 nights dinner, bed & breakfast from only £174 per person. So if you feel like consoling yourselves with a getaway short break after England's exit from the World Cup - and of course if you just want to escape for a few days - just give us a call or drop us an email (all contact details are on our website - see link). See you soon?

Monday 21 June 2010

Ironmen and ironwomen on Exmoor

Yesterday was the half Ironman, starting at Wimbleball Lake (about 8 miles from Wheddon Cross). Everybody staying with us over the weekend was either competing in the event, or supporting somebody who was.

So we were up at 3.45am yesterday, feeding carbs to everyone so that they could go and jump in the lake at about 6.30. The water's always pretty cold, but I'm sure they will have warmed up after their run and bike ride! From the reports we've had so far, it all went pretty well.

We're thinking maybe we should start doing breakfast at 4.30am every day - would it catch on, I wonder? It was fantastic seeing the sun come up, but possibly the view wouldn't be so welcoming in midwinter. It would be great if there were always that many hours in the day, though - we'd done a full day's work by 11!

Congratulations to everybody who completed Ironman - we hope to see some of you next year (if not before).

Thursday 10 June 2010

Who ate all the pies?

Er, well, actually... we did! All in the interests of research, you understand.

Frank's been making proper pies, which now feature regularly on the dinner menu at Exmoor House Wheddon Cross. They're going down a storm.

Why proper pies? Well, the ingredients are baked in the crust; they're not that kind of 'pie' that's more like a casserole with a bit of puff pastry plonked on top. And speaking of pastry, Frank makes a great all-butter shortcrust.

As you might expect, in keeping with our 'traditional with a twist' food philosophy, we offer some slightly different fillings in our pies... like duck & apricots; or Somerset cheddar with shallots & herbs.

Like the sound of them? Why not book dinner one night - or better still, book a few nights' stay! Hope to see you soon.