East Midlands Food Festival

It rained *all* day on Friday

It rained and rained and rained *all* day on Sunday.

So it was just as well that we had arranged to go, with Bea and Steve, to the East Midlands Food Festival on Saturday when the weather was warm and sunny and delightful!

The festival was held near Melton Mowbray, where I had never previously been and which is famed for its pork pies and for Stilton cheese.  I knew about the pork pies but didn't realise that it was equally famed for the Stilton.  I rather like Stilton cheese.  Not quite so fussed by the pork pies, largely because the pastry is too rich for me.  I tend to make my own, with a slightly less rich pastry!

The festival is held in the grounds of Brooksby Hall, which is a conference, wedding, agricultural venue.  It was a lovely location - although I rather wish I had worn my wellies or at least my walking boots.  The ground was very muddy!  Outside there were stalls selling all sorts of hot food.  Inside the marquees there were stalls and stalls and stalls of local and not-quite-so-local food producers' wares.  There were, indeed, many stalls selling local pork pies (although not the famous Melton Mowbray pork pies) and other stalls selling Stilton and even some selling pork pies with Stilton!  But there were other things there too.  The kipper people we ran across at the York Festival were there from Lancashire.  And, much to my sadness, the goose man we found in York was also there.  The sadness was that I hadn't really expected him to be there and so had not come armed with the money to buy a small goose for Christmas. I did, however, have the money to buy a box of small, boiled crayfish, and a few other tasty bits and pieces. And The Builder had the money to buy us pork burgers for lunch and a pint each to wash it down with (beer for him, cider for me).  Bea had a pint of beer too.   Steve did not - he had volunteered to drive!!

It was a good day.  And it really was just as well we went on the Saturday.  One of my foody Twitter pals had intended to go on the Sunday. And in the end - didn't