A Cooks Tour To The Lake District

Sis in Law and I spent this last weekend in the Lake District.  If there was ever a place that could truly be described as God's Country it must surely be this part of the world.  This was my second visit, my first trip was several years ago when I spent a lovely summer's long weekend in Windermere and Bowness, taking in Ambleside, Grasmere and Hawkeshead as well.  That trip mainly centered around the historical aspects of the area, Beatrix Potter (I was brought up on her stories!) and Wordsworth.  This time the trip pretty much centered around FOOD!  Would you expect anything else from me lol.  So here are my highlights to some of the foodie delights that can be found in the Lake District (and one or two non food related smiles too)!

This swan was in Bowness and he was quite indignant that he wasn't being served any food.  I'm not sure if persistence paid off or not.

Our first meal was at a real find, slightly off the beaten track.  Nestled in between the stunning village of Crook and the Windermere Golf Course is The Wild Boar, billed as an Inn, Grill and Smokehouse.  I had the Deep Fried Skinless Cod in Beer Batter with triple cooked chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce.  I've never had triple cooked chips before but what a revelation!  Crisp and crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.  And I loved the presentation, the chips came in their own individual frying basket and homemade tartar sauce in a tiny little kilner jar, very sweet!  Sis in Law had the Twice-Baked Smoked Westmorland Souffle served with pickled walnuts, beetroot carpaccio and an aged balsamic dressing.  Both meals were devoured post haste and that combined with the beautiful surroundings, which included an open log fire crackling away and fantastic services meant we actually considered going back there for a few more meals.  This place is a must if you are in the area, you'll not be disappointed!  No photos of the food though, I'm afraid I left my camera in the car!

Next stop was our hotel for the weekend.  Storrs Hall is right on the side of the lake, about a mile and a half from Bowness (Although we had to laugh that every time we asked for directions the answer was usually a mile and a half, the actual measure of a mile and a half seemed to vary greatly!!) and is a Grade II Georgian Mansion ... nuff said!  Lovely staff and very idyllic.

This was the view of the lake from our room. A very peaceful spot to rest your weary head ... and legs ... and bulging stomach!

On Saturday we headed to Kendal.  The main purpose of this trip was to find The Famous Chocolate House 1657.  That's the Chocolate House above and below is the reason we had to visit ;0)

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake enjoyed by Sis in Law and washed down with a Tower Garden Hot Chocolate ~ rose flavoured milk hot chocolate finished with cream and a Turkish delight.

And this bad boy was consumed by yours truly.  It is called Minette and is an ice cream sundae made with vanilla and raspberry ripple ice cream, topped off with raspberry sauce, nuggets of meringue, whipped cream and (wait for it) white chocolate.  Oh yeah!  I didn't manage to eat all of it but I did manage to polish off my drink of 'Cromwell's Downfall'.  This was a milk chocolate and peppermint hot chocolate finished with cream and mint.  and then we popped down to the wee shop downstairs (nearly killing ourselves on the tiny spiral staircase on the way!) and made one or two purchases.  I was restrained and only came away with a few hot chocolate stirrers, cubes of chocolate (milk and caramel in my case) set on a stick that you dissolve in warmed milk and top off with cream!

As you can imagine we needed to burn off a few of the calories we had consumed since arriving in the Lake District so I stupidly made mention of a lookout I had climbed on my first visit called Orrest Head, this one in Windermere, so up we went.  I love the inscription that has been set into stone just as you are about to hit the final leg of the climb ... which also happens to be the steepest part!

But the view from the top definitely is worth the effort, it is quite perspective setting really!

When I was little I used to call a sky like this a 'God Sky' because I always thought the rays of light poking through the clouds was actually God peeking through.  I still prefer to think of skies this way ;0)

And there were some pretty spectacular views on the way back down too.

Dinner (can you believe we actually managed to eat more food!) on Saturday night was at the Lamplighter Bar and Restaurant, also in Windermere.  Its a fairly unassuming looking place, both indoors and out but the staff were lovely and the food was so not your regular bar meals.  The portion sizes were out of this world!  For example, Sis in Law ordered Lemon Sole Fillets for her main, what she actually got were two whole lemon sole!  Plus new potatoes, carrots and green beans!!!  I order the Duck Leg with Sweet and Sour Sauce, I got two duck legs!  I'll not even mention the starters or desserts but lets just say we had to waddle back to the car!

On Sunday we decided to take in the sites of Ambleside and some food related treats in Grasmere on our way back to Scotland.  Bridge House in Ambleside makes me smile every time I see it, so cute!  It almost reminds me of gingerbread house.

Speaking of gingerbread ... this is Sarah Nelson's Gingerbread Shop in Grasmere.  It is tiny but apparently it is the original!  The gingerbread made here isn't quite what I expected, its a bit more like a cookie, sandwiched with a  very thin and somewhat cake like center and topped with another cookie like layer.  Its very very very gingery and very popular!

And this concludes our whirlwind Cooks Tour to the Lake District!  Hope you have enjoyed the sites and delights as much as we did, and if you ever get the chance to visit this spectacular part of the world please do, you will not be dissappointed!