Theoldciderhouse's Blog

As the last of the New Year guests depart, we can take a deep breath and reflect on the Quantocks in 2011 and get on with all that 2012 promises.

Christmas and New Year were hectic here in the Quantock Hills. Our New Year break guests particularly energetic, approaching the two night break with gusto and enthusiasm for food, games and our New Year’s Day walk into the Quantocks. We will be doing the same again next year with our Somerset Christmas break starting on Monday the 24^th December (3 nights) and the New Year Break 2012 on Monday the 31^st (2 nights). Book early to avoid disappointment!

New Year guests enjoying a breath of fresh air in the Quantocks

So, what does the New Year hold? Well January, after the excesses of Christmas and New Year in the Quantocks we are having a vegetarian start to the year with a special vegetarian main course as an alternative to all our dinner menus. As we write we are preparing a squash and fennel lasagne inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall. Sounds good, and details of our special menus and reviews can be found on Ian’s one-off blog by clicking on this vegetarian Quantocks link.

Last year we supported British Farmhouse Breakfast Week by providing guests with special breakfasts and we will be doing the same between 22^nd and 28^th January. So if you fancy a bowl of West Country furmity then book a standard B&B room and enjoy an extra special breakfast on us.

As January can be a bit slow are also running a number of special value breaks – See The Old Cider House website for details. These include a antidote for the most depressing day of the year, Burns Night and Chinese sausage new year!

Back to roasting the squash for the lasagne. Until next time…

Lynne and Ian, The Old Cider House, B&B and Guesthouse, Nether Stowey, Quantocks, Quantock Hills, Somerset

It’s December and preparations are in hand for Christmas. Chutneys have been made, menus finalised and the decorations dragged out of the loft.

Christmas in Nether Stowey is magical and just feels right. On Christmas Eve the Village meets up at the Village Cross for a carol service which really puts everyone into the mood and usually we can pop into the Rose and Crown for a swift half of Stowey Brewery Ale afterwards (this year it’s a 7% old ale – served by the half!) before returning to the house for a glass of locally mulled cider in front of a roaring log fire.

Carols on the Cross in Nether Stowey

Our Menus usually have a theme to them with a Medieval feel to Christmas Eve – chestnut soup, boiled ham with home-made damson chutney and roasted winter vegetables and preserved fruits. You can really imagine what the Village must have been like when the Castle at the top of the street was built in the 11^th Century.

Christmas Day is special with a bucks fizz breakfast and then a short stroll round the village before getting back to the house for a sherry and mice pie. A few light nibbles at lunchtime and a snooze in front of the Queen’s Speech. Dinner is candlelit with all the trimmings and a fun quiz. Then, whilst we have coffee, there are presents from Father Christmas, carefully delivered by Ozy the Labrador.

Boxing day is a relaxed affair and for those that are up to it, we take a stroll up into the Quantocks. Still thinking about what to cook…

And so that’s it. All we have to do is the preparation!

See you next year.

Ian & Lynne, The Old Cider House, Nether Stowey, Quantocks, Quantock Hills, Somerset, Christmas Beaks

It doesn't get any better than this! Mid October on the Quantocks.

We have just come back from a walk on the Quantocks. It’s mid October and the weather has just been fantastic. Sometimes we just can’t believe how fortunate we are having 99 square kilometres of open access land on our doorstep.

So, what’s been going on? Well, our summer was busy with plenty of guests staying for walking, mountain biking and brewing breaks and with the weather being good – especially in September, everybody has been out and about enjoying the Quantock Hills in all their glory.

Nether Stowey is as vibrant as ever with a few changes in the pipeline. The village inns are all okay – we’re so lucky to have three village pubs, all serving real ale and taking dogs, the Post Office is creating a tearoom which should be open very soon and Coleridge Cottage re-opened and is a very interesting hour’s visit (open to the end of the month). The Village show in mid August proved to be productive with Ian winning ‘Best Stowey Man’ for the most points in show (we got a first for our bread and prizes for our cakes and vegetables).

We’re back to beer producing now that it’s slightly cooler and our ‘Nether a Prayer’ for the Minehead Beer Festival was superb (5.3% Duvel recipe). We made our ‘Nether Forget’ last week with a group of brewers for Poppy Day and next week we’re making the Christmas beer to give it plenty of time to mature before the festive season. If you want to have a go at brewing, give us a call.

We have just got our second electric bike from Exmoor Unplugged and we are hiring these out at £25.00 per bike per day. So if you fancy a day out in the quiet roads around the Quantocks give us a call. We’ll be putting a page on our site soon to let you know what’s going on.

We have just uploaded our special Saturday night menus to the food page on the site, so why not join us for a night away for a romantic break.

The Old Cider House, Bed and Breakfast Accommodation, Quantocks, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Feta and Pea Salad

We’re sitting out in the garden in the shade (21°C) drinking a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc, having just taken out the courgette and lemon bread out of the oven. This has to be what living in the countryside is all about! The guests have agreed to have their Mediterranean chicken and raspberry Eton mess outside tonight and we’re looking forward to a very relaxing evening watching the sun go down with jugs of country red wine and some quiet jazz in the background.

July wasn’t a bad month. The weather was very kind to us with warm days and most of the rain falling overnight. This has been perfect growing weather (plants and weeds) and we’ve bought practically nothing from the grocers – everything has come from the garden – peas, mange tout, carrots, broad beans and freshly dug new potatoes. We’re now getting our first tomatoes and cucumbers and so salads are the order of the day. The girls are laying well and the fresh eggs for breakfast cannot be beaten (well they could be if you wanted scrambled egg for breakfast!).

The Quantocks are fantastic during the summer months and because they are not so well known, they are still quiet and unspoilt even at the height of the holidays. We’ve been lucky enough to have been chosen to trial an electric bike (for hire in the Quantocks and Exmoor) and have been out in the Hills seeing the area from a very different perspective.

Trialing the new electric bike for Exmoor Unplugged

The summer is not really the time for beer making, but we have managed the odd summer brew and Ian spoke about beer and walking on BBC Radio Somerset (02.08.11 listen on-line until 08.08.11 http://bbc.in/oyrnPR 2h13m30s) on the subject. We have just made some pilsner style lager which is bubbling away and our summer ale (Nether Underestimate a Blonde) should be ready for the pubs in mid August.

We’ll we’d better finish off our wine and get into the kitchen – it’s not such a hard life.

Remember we usually have midweek accommodation here in Nether Stowey. Just click on The Old Cider House for details

Quantock Hills guests tend to fall into two categories those that pack light and those that don’t. As I type this I have just cleaned our king-sized bed, Quantock Room. Very nice guests, but a bathroom full of toiletries – two shower gels, a family sized Head and Shoulders, conditioner, two toothpastes, hairdryer – the list goes on. They needed an extra holdall to carry the stuff. Now, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, but with a little planning all the toiletries for a two night stay can be fitted into a small toilet bag or even a 20cm x 20cm freezer bag. A few tips:

• Pop into boots or Superdrug and visit their travel section. Here they have a range of travel miniatures all designed for a few days away – alright you’ll pay a bit over the odds but…
• Buy a set of three empty 100 ml plastic bottles from boots or your local supermarket and fill them up with favourite toiletries from home. These can be re-filled time after time
• Don’t bother with a hairdryer. All our rooms have a small one

Clothes – many people do not know what to pack. Nether Stowey is a very relaxed, as are the Quantocks in general, so you won’t need your poshest frock or suit. The Old Cider House is friendly and if you’re eating with us a shirt and jeans will be fine – especially if you are taking advantage of one of our two night mid-week breaks. You will be probably eating in one of the Nether Stowey pub bars, so again casual wear will be fine.

If you are planning to walk in the Quantocks then be prepared for the occasional shower – even in the height of summer – you’ll probably be grateful for a bit of west country rain to freshen you up.

So, you are all prepared for a short break in the Quantocks, now all you need to do is book that midweek break by calling 01278 732228 or e-mailing us at info@theoldciderhouse.co.ukor by going to the website at The Old Cider House, Nether Stowey, Quantock Hills, Somerset

The Bristol Channel and Mendips from Nether Stowey

Having said that April was fantastic weather-wise, May has reverted to type – still nice but more spring-like.

The weather broke on our May Fair day. The whole village of Nether Stowey came out to celebrate this annual event and the rain held off. We were running a stall just to participate really, but also to support the National Animal Welfare Trust and to promote www.dog-friendly-quantocks.co.uk our attempt to make the Quantocks the most dog friendly destination in the UK (big plans!). If you want to know more about this, keep an eye on Ozy’s blog for further information – he tends to be better at blogging and tweeting (click here for Ozy’s tweets) .

Our new pear tree

Of course this is the busiest time in the garden. We lost our apricot tree to the frost and have replaced this with a pear. Hopefully this will be a bit more robust. Most of the garden veg is in with just a few late seeds going in as I type. We are having a few very early carrots (fantastic), strawberries and rhubarb. We are now frantically trying to use the last of our frozen produce so we can re-stock the freezer.

It’s been a busy month for beer. Our Royal Wedding beers went down well and we brewed a mild (for May is Mild month) and a special Church Ale, to celebrate the new solar panels being installed! (see our brewery blog to keep up to date with the beers).

The Rector puts on a brave face drinking the solar panel beer!

There is something about things breaking in multiples. Sometimes it toilet seats, this week it’s been televisions – it’s as if the TV companies have sent a signal down the line to blow up all the Freeview boxes. The upside is that all the tellies will be nice new flat screen affairs in all the upstairs rooms.

As usual we are always very busy at the weekends. We are working on some ideas for mid week breaks so if you have a few days spare and want to get away from the rat race, there is no better place than the Quantocks.

Ian, Lynne and Ozy the Labrador The Old Cider House, bed and breakfast, guesthouse accommodation, Nether Stowey, Quantocks, Quantock Hills, Somerset.

Something has definitely gone wrong with the weather. Bank holidays are supposed to be wet and cold, however here in the Quantocks the days have been fine and warm – perfect for walking in the hills. Easter was spent doing just that, enjoying the countryside around Nether Stowey with Ozy the Labrador.

Of course, it is now the asparagus season and our little plot is producing a few spears a day. On one of our walks last week we came across a shady glen full of wild garlic (ramsoms) and picked a few – so here’s our Asparagus and Wild Garlic Recipe (for 4):

• 400 grams (dried) of your favourite pasta – we like Lumaconi (large shells)
  

  Aparagus and Wild Garlic Recipe

• A handful of spears of fresh asparagus – home grown from our garden in Nether Stowey
• Half a dozen wild garlic leaves per person (roughly chopped) and picked from Quantock Common
• One red onion (chopped finely)
• 300ml of double cream
• A few tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese
   
• Salt and black pepper
• A fair sized knob of butter

Start cooking the pasta in a large pan of boiling, salted water. Five minutes before the end of cooking, melt the butter in the pan and gently sauté the onions until soft without browning. Add the asparagus and sauté for about two minutes. Add the wild garlic and cream and season to taste. Slowly bring the sauce to the boil and then turn of the heat and pour the sauce over the drained pasta. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and serve immediately with hunks of freshly baked bread.

Sadly we lost one of our chickens this week. Boleyn was our oldest hen and the matriarch of the coup. She had been unwell over the winter but had recovered and for the past three months had been back to full health and even producing the odd egg (very odd!). Last week she started wheezing and we put antibiotics in her water, but after a week of being poorly she finally passed away peacefully in her sleep. The other six hens don’t appear to be too upset and we are still getting five or six eggs a day – perfect for a proper full English breakfast at The Old Cider House

Off to taste our Royal Wedding beer now – this has been served at the Bridgwater Arts Centre Beer Festival, The Rose and Crown and at The Combe House Hotel – for more information on our beers look at www.4ale.co.uk or the Brewery page of our website

Ian, Lynne and Ozy, The Old Cider House, Bed and Breakfast, Guesthouse, Nether Stowey, Quantocks, Quantock Hills, Somerset

As I type at 8.30am on Monday morning, the sky is clear, the sun shining and another warm day lies ahead – this has to be one of the loveliest times to visit the Quantock Hills. We have taken advantage of the longer and warmer days and been out to both Fyne Court and Glastonbury Tor (both National Trust properties and free!) with Ozy (see his Ozy’s blog Ozy the Labrador or follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/ozythelabrador ). There is so much on the doorstep and we like to take advantage of our few spare hours off.

We are now gearing up for Easter (we have a spare twin going for Good Friday and Easter Saturday due to a cancellation). We also have good availability for the whole of Easter week for a short break in the Quantocks – so take advantage of the weather and get down here.

On Saturday night we cooked one of our Somerset tasting menus with a number of mini dishes all containing Somerset produce form Nether Stowey and the Quantocks. Of course, we are now in rhubarb and asparagus season – both of which we have in the garden – so it’s a real treat for a short midweek break.

Potoates in at The Old Cider House

Talking of the garden, we got our new potatoes in at the weekend and some of the salad crops in the new raised beds – so fresh salads for the summer!

The Old Cider House, Bed and Breakfast, Guesthouse, Nether Stowey, Quantocks, Quantock Hills, Somerset