Countryside weekend.
Log burners, pizza ovens and greenery stretched for miles is something very familiar to everyone in the Bromyard area!
Luckily for James and I, we had his house to ourselves for the week to enjoy each others company and even more luckily for us, our friends company.
Doug and Harry managed to somehow get the same time off from London and be in the same location all together in Hereford for longer than 2 hours. We had nailed friend time.
After what sounds like a very stressful car journey fuelled with a lot of caffeine, they finally rocked up at 10,30 pm, to which i had fully taken onboard "hanger". James had made us a very delicious sausage casserole and dauphinoise potatoes which i managed to pretty much inhale. It was great to catch up with the guys and have them over in the country side.
A very respectable 4 bottles of wine went down that evening (even when Harry and i were there!) and we all sat in the front room with the log fire burning.
At 12am, like the old lady i am, i made my way to bed, and the boys did not. I figured they would be shortly behind me but alas, i was wrong. After 3 hours of listening to them talking at the top of their lungs, James came bounding into bed to express his undying love for me before snoring like a moose for the remainder of the night. I got little sleep that evening but had finally started to doze off when i was awoken by James frantically swallowing in my ear, for him to then make a mad dash, tread on my leg and vomit up a very nice red coloured liquid in the sink of the bathroom and on the floor which I then trod in. Good night guys?
James unsurprisingly went back to bed and i was left to be hostess. Shit. Its fully hard to be a hostess in someone else's house. James had made this big plan to cook eggs, bacon and bagels, and all I mastered up for the boys are 2 different flavoured pop tarts and some chilli crackers. I think I did okay. I went to check to see if James was still breathing and then we all went outside in the sun for a bit. I left the guys alone for 4 seconds and by the time i came back out they both had handfuls of stones all over the table building things. We were all sat there for a good hour just being silly before we decided on the first beer of the day,
After a very essential co-op run for an unhealthy amount of mozzarella, eggs and Pimms which was a very welcome addition to the list, an idea from the ever full of good ones Harry, the hangover started to form in the car journey. Harry had also managed to purchase mini cigarettes at this time instead of normal sized ones and felt like the entire trip had just done him no good.
We got back and James had already started on the bacon and we were a bagel away from having a real breakfast.
Pizza oven was all fired up and James was getting in base prep, which didn't exactly go to plan. Yeast and flour covered table (and clothes) later and we had our bases ready for the oven. I then promptly went for a nap because i knew there was no way in hell id be able to keep up with him if i didn't get some shut eye.
Pizza oven is the flipping best. Doug had been looking forward to it so much so that if James hadn't have managed to get out of his hangover coma, Doug would have done it himself. And i would have helped (watched hopelessly).
We were all given a base on our boards, with strict instructions for there to be atleast an inch gap around the edges so not to go topping mental.
Parmasan goes on first as to stop the sauce from seeping into the base and then home made tomato sauce made from tomatoes, garlic and various seasonings get smooshed around to create a second layer for our toppings.
I opted for chorizo, pea shoots (which I may or may not have thought was basil at the beginning) and lots of cheese. Obvs.
What i love about pizza oven bases is they are like Carrs crackers which i am a mega fan of. Super crispy, which enables you to eat tons of them...
For my second i had some posh ham and fennel sausage. But not before James managed to burn himself, dropping Dougs pizza down the side of the flour bag which was hilarious. I had never seen Doug so hungry and then James dropped it. He then burnt the second one of Dougs just to add insult to injury.
Harry then ate so much pizza he managed to get stuck in his chair, which no one helped with and just laughed at him for what seemed to be about 5 minutes none stop.
After 4 bottles of wine we made our way inside where we all spoke in between sleep before we finally made it to bed.
Luckily for James and I, we had his house to ourselves for the week to enjoy each others company and even more luckily for us, our friends company.
Doug and Harry managed to somehow get the same time off from London and be in the same location all together in Hereford for longer than 2 hours. We had nailed friend time.
After what sounds like a very stressful car journey fuelled with a lot of caffeine, they finally rocked up at 10,30 pm, to which i had fully taken onboard "hanger". James had made us a very delicious sausage casserole and dauphinoise potatoes which i managed to pretty much inhale. It was great to catch up with the guys and have them over in the country side.
A very respectable 4 bottles of wine went down that evening (even when Harry and i were there!) and we all sat in the front room with the log fire burning.
At 12am, like the old lady i am, i made my way to bed, and the boys did not. I figured they would be shortly behind me but alas, i was wrong. After 3 hours of listening to them talking at the top of their lungs, James came bounding into bed to express his undying love for me before snoring like a moose for the remainder of the night. I got little sleep that evening but had finally started to doze off when i was awoken by James frantically swallowing in my ear, for him to then make a mad dash, tread on my leg and vomit up a very nice red coloured liquid in the sink of the bathroom and on the floor which I then trod in. Good night guys?
James unsurprisingly went back to bed and i was left to be hostess. Shit. Its fully hard to be a hostess in someone else's house. James had made this big plan to cook eggs, bacon and bagels, and all I mastered up for the boys are 2 different flavoured pop tarts and some chilli crackers. I think I did okay. I went to check to see if James was still breathing and then we all went outside in the sun for a bit. I left the guys alone for 4 seconds and by the time i came back out they both had handfuls of stones all over the table building things. We were all sat there for a good hour just being silly before we decided on the first beer of the day,
After a very essential co-op run for an unhealthy amount of mozzarella, eggs and Pimms which was a very welcome addition to the list, an idea from the ever full of good ones Harry, the hangover started to form in the car journey. Harry had also managed to purchase mini cigarettes at this time instead of normal sized ones and felt like the entire trip had just done him no good.
We got back and James had already started on the bacon and we were a bagel away from having a real breakfast.
Pizza oven was all fired up and James was getting in base prep, which didn't exactly go to plan. Yeast and flour covered table (and clothes) later and we had our bases ready for the oven. I then promptly went for a nap because i knew there was no way in hell id be able to keep up with him if i didn't get some shut eye.
Pizza oven is the flipping best. Doug had been looking forward to it so much so that if James hadn't have managed to get out of his hangover coma, Doug would have done it himself. And i would have helped (watched hopelessly).
We were all given a base on our boards, with strict instructions for there to be atleast an inch gap around the edges so not to go topping mental.
Parmasan goes on first as to stop the sauce from seeping into the base and then home made tomato sauce made from tomatoes, garlic and various seasonings get smooshed around to create a second layer for our toppings.
I opted for chorizo, pea shoots (which I may or may not have thought was basil at the beginning) and lots of cheese. Obvs.
What i love about pizza oven bases is they are like Carrs crackers which i am a mega fan of. Super crispy, which enables you to eat tons of them...For my second i had some posh ham and fennel sausage. But not before James managed to burn himself, dropping Dougs pizza down the side of the flour bag which was hilarious. I had never seen Doug so hungry and then James dropped it. He then burnt the second one of Dougs just to add insult to injury.
Harry then ate so much pizza he managed to get stuck in his chair, which no one helped with and just laughed at him for what seemed to be about 5 minutes none stop.
After 4 bottles of wine we made our way inside where we all spoke in between sleep before we finally made it to bed.
I finally got to meet Doug's family the day after, for Sunday lunch. I was greeted with open arms and we were all immediately escorted to another room that held the wonder that is bar skittles. After having a mini panic attack because of a) new social situation and b) involving a game, i drank some wine and got stuck in. It was hilarious. James did pretty well, Harry was, well Harry and i'm am mostly on par with him. After some kungfu moves and a double throw, I somehow managed to win the game which literally never happens to me. Ever. Gilly, Doug's mum, gave me a high five and excused the colourful language i muttered under my breath when faced with difficult skittles, agreeing that it was exactly what she thought too. Ha!
We went for lunch which was a beautiful spread of cold meats, pate's, cheeses i had never heard the names of and jacket potatoes, where Angus, Doug's dad, created a toast for me for the skittles! Never have I had so much praise in one day. I tucked into my jacket potato and was loving life.
We all shared some turkish delight after which was off the chain and said our goodbyes.
I can't wait to see them again.
We went for lunch which was a beautiful spread of cold meats, pate's, cheeses i had never heard the names of and jacket potatoes, where Angus, Doug's dad, created a toast for me for the skittles! Never have I had so much praise in one day. I tucked into my jacket potato and was loving life.
We all shared some turkish delight after which was off the chain and said our goodbyes.
I can't wait to see them again.
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