Á votre santé

Life is certainly not normal for any of us just now .... but for me a little bit of my life is 'back'. Over the last few weeks wine bottles have been popped and their contents enjoyed.

It is lovely to be back enjoying wine, beers and spirits; as well as my blog I also host Cuvée Reserve, an online wine forum that is full of great reviews. A sign of recovery is having a wine to post about; it's a great place to share discoveries of, and discover new wine. Pop along and join in our wine discussions at Cuvée Reserve,

So as it's been a while since I posted about wine I thought I'd share a few of my latest openings ...

It seemed only right to start witha bottle of champagne, I have many other champagnes that I love but the history of this wine, the memories Hubby and I have of celebration bubbles and having visited Nicolas Feuillatte in France make this my go to, absolute must bottle!

It was so nice to be able to taste again and enjoy the white fruit, apple and hint of raspberry flavours with the super toasty finish. The bubbles were a delight to watch; tiny, fast flowing in the pale gold liquid ...  a super glass to enjoy on the road to recovery.

My two favourite comfort wines are Cellier des Dauphins and Il Papavero Rosso. Both these wines are super examples of their source regions, good wine, good flavours, reliable quality at a good price. 

Cellier des Dauphins is a Cotes du Rhone wine Hubby and I have enjoyed for many, many years whilst holidaying in France. It's been a delight to find the wine available in the UK, in recent years under the Les Dauphins label but now under the original French labelling of Celliers des Dauphins. 

Il Papavero Rosso from Laithwaites or The Sunday Times Wine Club was my Dad's favourite wine. It's a great Italian blend of Sangiovese, Abruzzi Montepulciano, Negroamaro and Nero d'Avola, which we enjoyed with homemade lasagne.

For me, and I guess for most, my favourite wines are wines I have connections with. These can be memories of the occasion they were opened, where I was when I discovered the wine, a special gift given or because we have visited the vineyard and dicovered the wine first hand. 

There has been a hugely successful campaign on social media during the restrictions of Covid-19 about English wine and on April 10th using #theBIGenglishwinegoodfriday there were many bottles opened and reviews shared across Instagram and Twitter. 

In 2018 Hubby and I, with four friends, visited Oatley Vineyard in Somerset. It was a super day, a little chilly as early in the year but we not only tasted some delicious wines but learnt so much about the different grapes and how the vineyard is managed. I blogged about our visit, you can read it here - Oatley Vineyard 

Our #theBIGenglishwinegoodfriday offering was one of the remaining bottles from our visit, Leonora's 2014. A beautifully clear wine in the glass with a slight darker yellow glistening through. It's nose had floral notes with a hint of sherbet, its flavour was full of lemon with just a little pineapple. We both thoroughly enjoyed our Oatley wine and will one day be calling by again.

During our staycation we have been enjoying video calls with our family and friends. Every Saturday a group of us chat together and the last two weeks have managed to play Tivial Pursuits. I won't lie it took a bit of setting up with camera permissions on the laptop and dialling in on different accounts but it was great fun and I do look forward to our Saturday Nights In.

Last week I opened a favourite from Majestic Wine -   Bienbebido Pulpo Albarino Although I'm not a huge fan of Spanish wine I do enjoy Albarino with it's citrussy flavours along with a good depth of apple, nice dry finish and a long length. I've enjoyed this before with seafood but I quite like it on it's own; served chilled it was perfect on our Games Night.

When we visit our daughter in Cardiff we usually pop by Fine Wines Direct as they have some great wines we don't see in other places. We especially like their Franschhoek Cellar range and one of our recent openings was Old Town Hall Unoaked Chardonnay with its pineapple and tropical flavours. It is an elegant Chardonnay with a lovely finish, we enjoyed this with a chicken roast dinner, perfect!

Three other wines we opened this month were from Australia and were all new to us as they were part of a case of wine I won in a competition. Sadly the first wine we opened, Plane Turning Right, was a disappointment. Although screw cap we would have said it was corked as it had a musty, sour vinegar taste. Being a wine we didn't know we left it a day but it was no better, more sour if anything. A real shame as looking online it isn't a cheap bottle.

We did however enjoy the Ocean Eight Pinot Noir 2015. This Mornington Peninsula wine had great colour and great flavour. Plenty of dark fruits and cherries with an earthiness giving it great depth, lovely soft tannins lead to a good length on its finish. I very much enjoyed this wine, one to look out for.

The third in this trio was Oliver's Taranga Tempranillo, unusual to have a Tempranillo from Australia. It isn't my favourite grape and I just cannot take to Spanish Rioja so I was keen to try this ... great fruit with a touch of herb and mocha, some vanilla hinting at being in oak barrels, but not really for me although Hubby enjoyed it.

April has been a sunny bright month weather wise, we've been enjoying the outdoors as I recover from my operation. We received some fantastic news last Friday; although I still need more chemotherapy and radiotherapy (bye bye taste buds) the results from my operation show all the cancer was removed.

To celebrate we had a video call with our daughter who lives in Wales with her partner. They opened a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Rosé champagne and we opened a very special bottle from Andrieux-Lefort a small champagne house we discovered in Challons. If you are ever near Epernay it really is worth visiting, their champagne is superb.

It's been great enjoying wine again, it's been lovely to taste my gin and tonics too. Over the next few months my wine drinking may again be on hold but I have a couple of bottles if Sancerre in the cellar, bottles we brought back from our super holiday last September.

I'm hoping by the time my treatments are done the sun will be shining, we'll be allowed to be with family and friends and we can have a real celebration ...... stay safe everyone 🥂

Battenburg.... with a difference

Aimetu's is all about wine, food and travel, the foodie bits are often my themed dinner parties which also focus on wine. This post is about just one thing..... CAKE! 

During our staycation Hubby and I have been enjoying afternoon coffee and homemade cake whilst watching the latest No. 10 update. A treat (not the update) to look forward to and I get to bake. So far we have had a Victoria Sponge, Coffee & Walnut and Chocolate Coconut. 

I have never made a Battenburg, mainly because it looks tricky but reading the recipe I wasn't as daunted. So, with great excitement and apron on (I can be a bit messy) I started getting the required ingredients together ....

... oops I knew it would be tricky ... no food colouring, the important part of a beautiful pink and yellow Battenburg. 

Not one to be daunted by a problem I spied a tin of cocoa and hey presto a chocolate and vanilla Battenburg was the result. I have to say it is delicious (we have two slices left) and will be baked again - here's the recipe

175g softened margarine or butter

175g caster sugar 

3 eggs

175g self raising flour 

Few drops of vanilla extract

30g cocoa powder

Chocolate spread

Milk

Packet of marzipan (I used white)

Line a baking tin, mine was about 8" square. I  folded the baking paper to divide the tin in half. Set the oven to 160 degree C.

Mix together the margarine, sugar, eggs and flour beating really well until it's light and fluffy. Divide the mixture into two bowls, add the vanilla to one and the cocoa to the other. Fill the baking tray with the mixtures, one each side of the dividing paper.

I'm such an 'as is' cook so cake is done when I can smell it ... I think it was around 20 minutes. The big danger with sponge is if you open the door too soon it may sink so I keep looking until I feel it's save to venture in with the testing skewer. 

Straight from the oven,  my skewer came out clean

Turned out nicely, time to cool

Cut into four equal pieces

Baking successfully done it was time to think about alternative filling. The jam in an original Battenburg did not seem right with chocolate and vanilla so I used chocolate spread. Straight from the jar it was a little thick so I 'let it down' with some milk. Another make it up as I go along idea but it worked !

Smooth chocolate spread 

Now the exciting, and nerve wracking part, would it fit together, would the chocolate spread work ... only one way to find out.

Chocolate piece and vanilla piece joined together with
chocolate spread, more spread on top

Vanilla on top of the first chocolate piece

Chocolate on top of the first vanilla piece

Now the four pieces are together it was time to wrap it up in marzipan. I had some in the cupboard as I usually make a Simnel Cake for my Mum and Keith at Easter but this year I couldn't make them one due to our restrictions.

I rolled it out to a long oblong (ish), I don't know how thin it was, I just rolled until it looked a big enough oblong and spread a layer of chocolate spread in the middle about the size of my cake.

Marzipan rolled out with Dad's old rolling pin
chocolate spread in the middle

Phew, it was the right size!

I now covered the cake in chocolate spread and wrapped it up in the marzipan. It just about met, I squished the join together but no-one sees the underneath. Turning the cake over I carefully trimmed the edges of the marzipan to the size of the cake. 

Hey presto - it looks like a Battenburg 

Oh my what fun I had, I do enjoy baking and I do enjoy putting my own mark on things. This was such fun, a little daunting at times but it all turned good in the end.

Hubby and I love this cake, the sponge is so light, the chocolate spread perfect as a filling and the marzipan goes great with the chocolate and vanilla flavour.

A 'make it up' cake that I'll be making again!

Absolutely  delicious 

My latest travels 😉

I'm not allowed out 😕

I have to stay home 😕

I'm missing our holidays and days out 😎😔

However I have been discovering the delights and wonders of the extensive grounds at the beautiful Midlands' estate Maison Hearnden.

On arrival the vast block paved driveway offered so much directional walking: front to back, side to side, orbital circuits .... the choice was exhausting, all with the added bonus of a slight incline.

After visiting every block (I wanted to get the most out of my experience) I decided to explore further and ventured down a long, oak fenced path. Glimpsing ahead through the open wooden gateway I was intrigued by what lay ahead ...

Under foot changed from block to paving and after passing the necessity of any estate (big or small they all have rubbish 😮) I discovered more of this beautiful estate.

First was the delightful walled garden with bright yellow primroses filling their ornate containers bordering the first sign of wildlife .... I must revisit as I'm sure in the summer there will be a passion flower in full bloom.

Turning left the paved area stretched out before me, it was quite a few footsteps to the other side. As I strolled passed I was tempted to climb the stairway on my right but not wanting to miss anything I resisted and continued two more steps forward to discover another delight...

... a super little tucked away bistro seating area, complete with more wildlife, so many birds in this garden. Spring flowers in bloom and bud added to the attraction, I must bring a flask next time as this would make a perfect rest stop.

Retracing my (two) steps I climbed the stairway onto the gravel courtyard and discovered evidence of Maison Hearnden being a real working estate, the laundry maid had been out earlier doing the chores!

I was surprised and delighted to find a pond with a seating edge allowing visitors to rest and spend time watching the friendly fish. I didn't see any notices but maybe the estate sells fish food as the fish with their open mouths suggested they expected shadows above the water to be bringing treats.

Travelling on across the red gravel I spotted not only a bird feeding table but an ancient bird bath; this must be the wild part of the garden, confirmed by the fern and dishevelled hyacinths.

Just beyond the wild garden was something I had been hoping to see ... a grapevine! No estate is complete without a vineyard. I can see it is early days but with plenty of signs of life this vine looks like Maison Hearnden could be producing its own delights in 2020 😉

Rambling along, across gravel and block edging, I followed a slate path. A secret place, I had found the gardener's secret place. I did knock but sadly no-one was home.

It was a little disappointing to still be on my own, part of me had hoped to accidentally bump into someone else but it was a treat to have all the exciting discoveries to myself. 

Another sign of closure was soon upon me, an all weather party venue. There was no doubt about it, evidenced by the wine bottle ornament and hanging lights, this gazebo seating area was entertainment central .... just not right now 😉

Passing another piece of party evidence, wine table complete with hidden cooler, I returned to the top of the stairway and having a last longing look at the gazebo I made my way down the stairs, across the paving and back to the blocked driveway where my journey had begun.

To my surprise, and delight, I had spent 30 minutes touring this amazing estate. Every step was a new discovery, there are many places I will be visiting again when I am next in the vicinity. Unbelievably I had walked a mile, who knew it was so extensive, I'll need my hiking boots next time 😂

The morning after ..

Morning all ..... I'm home 🙂

I won't lie yesterday was not the nicest days I've had. 8.30am at Coventry Hospital for a pre-op procedure (you don't want to know and I'm not telling 🤫) followed by an operation at Nuneaton in Day Theatre and finally home 7.30pm 😔

I'm feeling ok, bit washed out but the scar is in a less restrictive place so a bit easier than last time. It's a pj day as that is easier to check my dressings but not a sofa day as I'm hoping to enjoy a coffee outside as the sun is shining.

I am still self isolating, as are Nick and Michael; my follow ups will be by phone but I have a scheduled hospital appointment later in April, this of course may change. So now it's a time to get stronger, get the last bits of drugs out my body, calm my mind and hope the op results are good.

I cannot thank the NHS staff enough: my consultant, the Breast Care nurses, the radiographers, the theatre staff, the recovery team and everyone who works behind the scenes to keep it all going. Focus on the news is the virus but the NHS is still looking after other patients, certainly less in numbers and I think soon this will change. Patient wise we were very small in number, usually one in one but we were spaced apart and I only saw three other patients, I was the only one in theatre recovery whereas before the bays have been full.

All staff were protected for my safety and theirs, face masks on everyone, one dedicated nurse per patient, constant hand washing, changing gloves and aprons (why I think there is a shortage, they get through so many so quickly) and sanitising everything. One nurse is now off three days ... her priority is the ease her hands, they were red raw from the constant washing, hand gel, glove routine .... it really is dedication 😍

Thank you so much for all your messages, it's been a long, troublesome road that happened out the blue and hit us all. Your kindness has really helped, thank you 😘😘😘

Thank you Michael for staying home too, great cooking ... are we having pretzels next 😘

Thank you Philippa for all our chats, it's hard being separated but it's good you and Michael can video call so we do see each other 😘😘

HUGE thank you to my amazing hubby Nick, I could not have got through this without him both at hospital visits, at home looking after me and supporting me emotionally .... I know yesterday was a long day for both of us 😍

Hopefully the news will be good when I next see my consultant and the next steps will be a little easier, thank you everyone, stay safe x xx