Celebrity. Culture.

I'm sat in the lounge at Terminal 5 waiting for my flight to Chicago, and Jamie Oliver is sat a few yards from me. I'm not writing this to claim bragging rights on nearness to fame or anything: t's more that I'm intrigued at my own reactions and emotions.

Firstly though, some background: we don't have a television at home - so no regular updates on so-called celebrity behaviour and antics; I'm not an avid Jamie fan in any case, as, although I enjoy cooking, and co-own a coffee shop, it's not my thing; from the snippets of news I get from the internet and general chatter amongst friends and collegues, I understand that recently he's received some flack for this persistent use of extremely bad language on his latest TV show (which I mention because I have a low tolerance for bad language, as for me it's simply a sign of lack of self-control and laziness with the English vocabulary, which has more than enough words to express any feeling one might have).

Therefore (eventually getting to my point), I find it immensely intriguing that I should be feeling some need to glance at Jamie every now and again, so that I can see this 'celebrity' in real life. For some reason I'm curious about his demeanour, what he's doing, and what he looks like. Why? I can only surmise it's a subconscious subscription to western popular culture, which in turn is the pursuit or worship of fame and glamour. Is it a fundamental building block of human nature (or at least of mine), that fame is alluring, and the money and power that it brings tempting?

Well, those are my musings on the matter, and, you'll be glad to know, I managed to restrain myself from dashing over and getting his autograph. Or, more importantly, inviting him to appear as a guest chef at the coffee shop one Saturday morning ;-)

Food and councillors everywhere

What a lovely day at the Farnham Food Festival. Our Smith & Causey stall was wonderfully positioned next to Steve Drake's cooking demonstration, Grandpa's Spells band, the organics burger stall, and a chocolate stand - a real sensory overload!

So lots of food, but also lots of councillors. I enjoyed seeing many colleagues perusing the market throughout the day, and had rewarding conversations with one of two of them. In fact, at one point I think I spotted at least 6 councillors there at the same time!

Stonewall

No, I'm not about to make a political statement about justice or sexuality.

Instead, I'm referring to Stonewall Kitchen, a really amazing range of food that I've discovered in Fox & Obel's. The shop is even better than I remember from a few months ago. They've extended the hours, and it looks like their private dining and outside catering activities are broader and busier.

And I can't help smiling as I browse there. Everything looks sumptious, from the cured meats, onto the vast range of cheeses, and the onto the speciality teas and various coffees. If I get the chance, I might pop back again tomorrow... baggage allowance in mind of course!

Fox & Obel

What a great food store. It's the kind of place that one day we hope Smith & Causey will develop into. But, for now, I'll satisfy myself with walking along there shortly, and getting some maple syrup and pancake mix to bring home for next week. Yes, I'm very American with my breakfasts now, and I even like maple syrup on my bacon!

Olympic? No, black gold.

On the night when the Olympics finished with the customary 4x400m relay, Rach and I are watching a film about a much more unfair relay in which only the final few runners make any money, and the starter gets virtually nothing.

In summary, the Ethiopan farmers - who work in co-operatives, in villages, all dependent on the coffee trade for their lives - receive 200 times less that the retailer grinding and selling their coffee for an americano, a latter, or a capaccino.

Since opening our coffee shop we've strived to everything possible to buy responsibly and relationally, and we believe that buying our coffee through Union Hand Roasted does that. But, watching the movie, we're struck by the drop in the ocean that Union respresents. However, bit by bit, small purchasers in the coffee markets, and small retail purchasers, can make a real difference.

Lythe Hill Hotel

I'm still not (see previous review) intending a regular feature of restaurant reviews, but my wife and I did just have the most wonderful break in a beautiful part of our borough, and I feel it deserves a mention.

The Lythe Hill Hotel sits just south of Haslemere, and once ensconsed there, we could have been a million miles from the busyness of SE England. Picturesque and peaceful grounds, a great spa, and especially good, the Auberge de France.

The hardwood smoked chicken breast with kiwi sauce for starter was subtle, sweet and succulent, and the salmon with cod and chorizo sauce a surprise and sensational combination. (Can you see that I've used the S section of my thesaurus?)

So essentially this is a hearty recommendation, and if you go for the special Sunday night package, you get one night in a lovely room, dinner, the spa, and breakfast all in the price. A wonderful way to finish the weekend, and start the week.

Click here for the Lythe Hill Hotel website

Birds. Plural. Still.

... even though a 2 year old made best efforts to dispatch one of our chickens with his flying shoe!

All in all, it's a been a great day otherwise, with lovely local white and rose wine in the garden, rounding off a barbeque of sausages and home-made beefburgers.

O what a beautiful morning...

... O what a beautiful day.

Wow - it's a great morning - the air is clear, the sun is shining, the birds (and our chickens) are singing (or clucking), and members of the Farnham Local Food Initiative are sowing and planting for the very first time.

What a delightful day on which to do this, and I hope that everyone enjoys themselves immensely. Robert Simpson has done an amazing job pulling this together, and his enthusiasm and perseverance are infectiousness.

There's still time to join in. Visit their website for details, and be down there for 10 am this morning!

Inn on the Hill

I'm not (yet) intending on making this a regular feature, but thought that as it's a Saturday, and for most a day off, I'd also make it a day off from anything connected with politics.

Hence, a restaurant review. We picked up a friend from Hindhead, a colleague from a hotel in Haslemere, and then headed to the Inn on the Hill. It wasn't on a recommendation, more an attraction to the branding (which shows that it sometimes works), and we weren't disappointed.

Simply but elegant surroundings, and friendly (and family-friendly) staff, combined to make us feel at home straightaway, and even though they needed the table for a second-sitting, we didn't feel rushed at all.

The South-African sausage starter was wonderful (evidenced by the speed at which our 10 month-old son gobbled it down), and apparently the wild-mushrooms on Brioche pretty good too.

The only down-side was the sirloin steak which took well-done to a new level of crispy. Otherwise the double-burgers were too huge to finish (and to give the waiter his due, he did warn us - us being me and my ex-Professional-American-Footballer colleague, thinking that nothing could defeat us having seen a 64oz steak in Chicago last year), and gorgeous, and the duck in a ginger sauce uncommon and delicious.

Well, I've probably proved that (a) my food vocabulary could be widened, and that (b) meat is high on my list of things to eat. Otherwise I've hopefully shown that Inn on the Hill will see us again sometime, but just don't ask for your meat well-done - take it down a notch.