A Family Day at the New Forest Show
Last week son and I headed to the New Forest & Hampshire County Show for the day with our friends, and we all had such a lovely time. There was so much to see and do that we easily filled the whole day.
One thing I’d definitely recommend is getting there early. We arrived not long after the gates opened and it was so much easier to look around before it got really busy later in the day.
We started with a banana and oat muffin workshop at Little Joe’s Kitchen, which we’d booked in advance. It was such a lovely little cookery school and really good value for money. Everything was measured out into bags and the children used simple hand measurements to mix everything together. Watching them proudly piping their cake mixture and decorating their muffins was a lovely way to start the day.
After that, we spent hours wandering around the show. We watched demonstrations, explored the local produce market, tasted far more samples than we probably should have and visited the animal tents. Out of everything we saw, the enormous cow was definitely the highlight for my son!
Food is always one of my favourite parts of any day out and this was no exception. There were so many brilliant stalls that choosing lunch was almost impossible. I eventually settled on a fresh salad with a glass of champagne, which I enjoyed while watching the entertainment from the Grandstand. It felt like the perfect way to take a break before carrying on exploring.
One of my favourite discoveries of the day was The Whimsical Forager. They were serving frozen limoncello slushies, which were exactly what everyone needed on such a hot day. I got chatting to the owner, who told me all about how she developed her range of liqueurs. I always love hearing the stories behind small food businesses, and her passion really came across.
I couldn’t resist bringing home a bottle of the Lemon & Basil liqueur.
True to form, I wasn’t home for more than an hour before I was in the kitchen experimenting! I shook it with plenty of ice, poured it into a chilled glass and finished it with a drizzle of the olive oil I’d brought back from Croatia the week before.
It was absolutely delicious.
The fresh lemon, the basil and that peppery olive oil worked so well together. It’s definitely a drink I’ll be making again before summer disappears.
We also came home with a new sign for the treehouse, handmade in front of us which was a lovely touch!
Days like this are exactly why I love food festivals and county shows. I always come home with a few new ideas, a bag full of things I probably didn’t need to buy and lots of inspiration to take back into my own kitchen.
