A Month in the Country 11 - Sunday Lunch at the Country Pub

The Rampant Cat - Woolton Hill

It's what many thousands of people do every week here in the UK,  but I still look upon it as a real treat - a traditional Sunday 'Roast'  in a local pub, plus a pint of good British ale ( - for Alec, though a little lime and tonic for antibiotic-popping me)

The British Sunday roast usually features several slices from a large joint of meat (Beef, lamb, or - for Alec, today, pork...while the lovely chef at the Rampant Cat makes an excellent Nut Roast for veggies like me), accompanied by roast potatoes ( ultra hot pub ovens seem to be the only ones that get that golden, crispy outer crust with a soft and fluffy inside), a selction of vegetables (broccoli, carrots and braised red cabbage today) and - biggest treat of all - a superb Yorkshire Pudding, for which, again, a searingly hot oven is required. Top it all with some caramelised gravy (again, a veggie one for me…) and the treat is complete: the unspoken, extra treat for me being that I did not have to cook it!

Cheers, everyone!

We only do this half a dozen times a year, which turns an ordinary mid-day meal into something all the more enjoyable for its rarity. Now I think I can hear the kettle going on and the tray being laid for tea and coffee downstairs…'Escape to the Country' is already recording on the telly.

I think it’s a lazy rest-of-Sunday afternoon for me!!!

Journal Prompt - What 'ordinary, everyday' things do you do that can be elevated into the realms of 'special treat' for you by virtue of their infrequency, or by the fact that they are made special by those who accompany you? Do you give yourself 'every day' treats just by yourself? If not…can you think of how you could do so? - they are very good for your wellbeing!

 

Comments

[Terri Derrick]

NOTHING planned for today! Yay! I have some things that need to be done - like washing the dogs and cleaning off the patio and emptying the rain barrel on the plants that need it today (101F). All in good time and then I get to see what I want to do the rest of the day. Cooking chicken tonight.

Question - do Brits not cook their own roasts? I love a roast in the Crockpot! SOOOO tender.

[Terri Derrick]

I'm going to try to make the Yorkshire Pudding tonight with our dinner. Thanks for the recipe link.

[Diana Birchall]

I remember you took me to a wonderful Sunday meal years ago, Roz. Was that where we went? Though I think I'd remember the name The Rampant Cat!

[Mad Englishwoman]

We're a veggie (me) and a meat-eater (husband) too - we seem to muddle along together!