A Little Foodie Meet Up

Shattered, ankles battered but happy! Yup, it’s that time again – time for the Good Food Show in Birmingham NEC, which automatically means some foodie fun too. Me and a bunch of truly lovely lasses spent the day in this exhibition centre, mooching around the various wares the sellers had on display. Whilst it was a bit of a disappointment as the number of exhibitors must have been half to a third of what was there in the winter show plus there weren’t any foodie celebs wandering around, I loved seeing the girls. Two lasses I’d never met before, only ever known through the medium of food forums and the wonder of social media FaceBook but the rest I’ve met a few times now and we always have a real giggle. In fact, here they are:

So I thought I’d share a few of the photos for you all to see a bit of what was on offer at the GFS summer show (maybe we should try the London one this winter foodie buddies – give the Southerners a chance to come and play too!).

So, first things first, when I arrived, the lovely Lorna (on the right in the above piccie) was already there and by chance she mentioned that Bamix stand was only a matter of feet away, I knew where I had to head! It seems since I got my weight and eating under control plus injected some much needed exercise into my life, my spending has been a tad out of control. I’m deluding myself it’s all “just to celebrate leaving medical school” (p.s. it’s official – got my confirmation email yesterday, I’m officially a doctor!) but really, it’s compensation for not eating till I explode lol! Soooo, I just had to jump at the chance to mooch through the magic that is Bamix….

There is always a random member of the public walking across the frame the instant you pick up your camera isn’t there?! Och well, I never claimed to be a professional photographer . Anyway, I just couldn’t help picking up a rather good bargain of a top of the range Bamix stick blender with a stack of attachments – I had been saying since the last show I would buy myself one as a graduation present… Now I have!

That would be the lovely Liz’s arm gesticulating like a glamorous assistant there . After I’d spent this month’s food and fuel budget on my Bamix (oops!) we went a-toddling and found alsorts of lovely looming things.

Like those giant garlics! They were moist and delicate despite being the size of a orange! There was some yummy cheese too – the cheese stalls had plenty of free nibbly samples on offer too…

Of course, being foodies (and up since the crack of dawn to converge on Birmingham around 10am!) we were on the prowl for something yummy to have as an early lunch. The hog roast stand was the obvious choice.

The smell was permeating the whole hall, we were powerless to resist! Seating was at a premium however, as it always is in the big expo centres so we found a quiet spot next to the Master Chef restaurant and sat on the floor with our buns stuffed with half a pig, sage & onion stuffing and apple sauce! We’re not proud

Fuelled up and ready to go stroke fancy foodie buys once more, we found the Belling stand. Oh how much do I want a double oven! Alas, in this tiny flat, our equally tiny built in oven will have to do but at least I have this piccie of a beautiful Belling range, sigh…

Now the one other stall which really caught my attention was one simply called “Sponge”. I was immediately drawn to a simple display of half a dozen Victoria Sponge cakes on lovely clear cake stands, already portioned waiting for the hungry masses to come and sample. There were rows and rows of slices of the cakes wrapped in cellophane and paper bags – and they had the original Vic Sponge filled with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam plus coffee, carrot, chocolate, marble, coffee and apple crumble slices to pick from. They also had some darling little miniature sponge cakes no more than 2 inches in maximum dimensions. I wanted them all! They looked every inch the Perfect Cake – tall, well risen, golden brown with a cumb you just know was damp and butter rich to bite greedily into. I resisted getting “one of everything please!” and just gotHungry Hubby this single slice. Can I tell you, this was the best Vic Sponge I’ve ever had in my life (well the two bites I was allowed of it were!). So feast your eyes on this pic and then go to their website to learn more!

I did happen to pick up a couple of fancy aged balsamic vinegars too to complete my consumeristic compulsive purchasing today! I think salads and strawberries, if not plain vanilla ice cream will never be the same again. I give you, vanilla and blueberry balsamic and pomegranate and fig. Roll on the BBQ we’re having tomorrow so I can annoying some lucky salad leaves with these babies

(Sorry, couldn’t resist sneaking in one more of my Bamix baby!)

So there you have it – a lovely day with some fabulous foodie girls. The Internet food community is a wonderful place to be and I’m so delighted and proud to call these friends. Thanks girls – here’s to our next meet up, let’s not leave it 6 months till the next one

And oh, lest I forget before the day is through! Happy Birthday lovely Nic of Cookie’s Cakes & Bakes – I’m so delighted you spent your day with us and well done on coming hundreds and hundreds of miles for it! You’re a grand lass and I loved meeting you today. Happy Birthday Chick! Xxx

Mwah xxxx