Spears to Slay a Dragon With?

A cheerful welcome to everyone who subscribed to Essentially England News during the last month! Here you'll find England news, site news, travel tips, reviews and our Recipe of the Month, all in one easy-to-digest email.

First, I owe all existing subscribers a big apology. I’ve no idea how I did it, but I managed to send out last months newsletter twice in an hour. I hope my battle with technology didn’t cause too much annoyance.

Easter is over and the kids are back in school … so traffic is mad again and commuting takes a lot longer. More time to think of pages to add to the site. And muse about technology. As an impromptu experiment I’ve joined twitter …. if you’re in with the tweets, maybe you want to look me up. Tweet esseng.

What's New at Essentially England?

House smelled like a bakery for the whole weekend as something was always bubbling away in the oven. And no, I didn’t go as far as making Toffee Apples. For my money they belong firmly to Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night and we’re still a whole summer away from that.

For those who like to read, I’ve added a travel stories page to the site to complement the pictures of England one. If you have any funny, sad or memorable stories … please share. I’m not the only one who’d like to hear them.

Travel Tips and Reviews

The papers report that more English families will spend their holidays in England this year. We’re also expecting more European visitors as the exchange rate is very favourable at the moment – as if we had not noticed …

So a few tourist spots, amongst them Bournemouth and Poole in Dorset and Dunster in Somerset, have decided to accept Euros alongside Pound Sterling for goods and services. Great news for European visitors and great news for those of us who have Euros left over from previous holidays. Almost amounts to free treats, doesn’t it?

Fairs, Festivals and Things to Do

St George’s Day is also celebrated around the rest of the country. Birmingham is laying on a smoke-breathing dragon in the city centre and lots of fun for the kids. Corfe Castle runs its Knight School until the weekend, so if you fancy you could watch your kids slay the dragon.

Recipe of the Month - Asparagus x2 - Just to celebrate

So instead – and because it’s my favourite vegetable – here are two quick and easy ways with the bright green stems. Both make wonderful lunches or light suppers with maybe a pink rhubarb fool to follow.

1. Grilled Asparagus with Bacon
   Take two large bunches of asparagus. Snap off the ends if they seem dry. Wash and pat dry. Take each spear and wrap it carefully into a rasher of bacon. Pick good bacon and a cure that you like. Line them up on a baking tray. Sprinkle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Place under a very hot grill until the bacon is cooked and the asparagus is almost tender. (You’ll want some bite left in it.) Serve on thin crisp toast with – maybe – a little watercress on the side.
2. Griddled Asparagus with Olives, Parmesan and Balsamic Vinegar
   This is one of my favourite ways of having asparagus for lunch. You need about 6-8 spears per person, plus a slice of toast each. Wash and trim the spears. Rub all over with a little olive oil and cook on a very hot griddle for maybe 4-5 minutes. (this depends a bit on the thickness of your asparagus spears). They’re done when they’re bright green and still have some bite. Place them on the toast – which you can rub with a clove of garlic if you must – and drizzle with some olive oil. Shave Parmesan over the top, add a handful of good quality Kalamata olives and dribble over a tiny bit of old balsamic vinegar.

I know what I’ll be eating this weekend!

And Next Month …