Follow us on twitter

The Intellectual Dinner Club has joined the Twitterati Follow us @IDinnerClub and catch up with all the latest news and gossip.

Cookery School with Rosemary Shrager

The day we had been waiting for finally arrived! Two of our Witches...Phoebe and Catherine set out early this morning for a day of culinary magic with our favourite chef Rosemary Shrager. The cookery school is set in the idyllic North Yorkshire countryside at the swanky Swinton Park Hotel. We rocked up in Phoebe's tiny Peugeot and were greeted warmly by Rosemary herself who had coffee and chocolate brownies waiting for us. A dark cloud had settled over the dramatic landscape and Rosemary's cosy, warm kitchen sprung to life as we got stuck into the recipes that we would be cooking today. The menu was as follows: Soda Bread; Tomato soup; Prawn, Olive and Fennel Salad; Twice Baked Cheese Souffle; Rice Balls and Lamb Chops with Fennel, Peas and Mint.



Our gravity-defying souffles...yummy!



This, you may think was going to be quite a lot of hard work but under the watchful eye and generous praise of Rosemary we were chopping shallots and whisking up egg whites like the pros.



  We are proud to say that we were on the winning team and our beautiful, perfect souffles received woops and cheers from Rosemary as they were pulled from the oven (how smug were we!) The day ended with a sumptious lunch with Rosemary with all of the dishes we had created, chatting about her new cookbook and top tips and techniques. It truly was a perfect day, not to be forgotten. Culinary Bliss! Thank you Rosemary. 

 

David made us laugh in his racy apron...ooooh saucy!



 









To purchase Rosemary's new book go to:  http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/rosemary+shrager/absolutely+foolproof+classic+home+cooking/8135239/

Fame!

We could get used to this...swanning into the 3 Acres in our finery for a spectacular day of free food, free drink and being treated like a star, in our very own Sainsbury's magazine photo shoot. We glided elegantly into the 3 Acres car park after our near death experience, involving a head on collision with a giant tractor, we would like to say we arrived in a swanky limousine but alas dear viewers it was nothing more than Caroline's silver Corsa, with a temperamental exhaust, which trumped all the way into the car park. Amanda, of course, had made her own way there; choosing to arrive a little more gracefully. When we arrived we found Amanda had already installed herself at the bar with a glass big enough for her to swim in. After the excitement of being shown to our suite, jumping onto a few beds and having our make-up touched up by Kara, we descended into the Krug dining room.

And so began two exciting hours under the expertise of photographer Steve and Art Director Alex. This included a lot of reminiscing about past meals and funny stories, which, as the wine flowed got ruder and ruder. With mouths full of cheese, crackers and wine who knows what the final pictures will look like, all we know is we can't wait to see them in the September issue of Sainsbury's magazine out on the 1st August 2011, we're waiting with baited cheesy breath.

Tea and Cake

A year ago I turned thirty. Thirty? How had I got here? It was time to tick another box on the application form, I was older than Beyonce...there was a big three in front of the zero! On my thirtieth birthday I woke up feeling depressed that my twenties had left me and I had been pushed rather too quickly into my thirties, I wasn't ready yet...I laid awake staring at the ceiling trying to figure out...beyond the hangover whether I felt different or not. I didn't. But here I am a year later turning thirty-one and I actually feel fine, because for the first time ever I've stopped counting. Yes, I would like to be younger and now that I'm too old for Club 18-30 I'm starting to think that actually I might like to go...ok maybe not. I am after all a grown-up now and so for my thirty-first birthday I decided it was time to celebrate in a grown up way.

 Amanda, Caroline, Danielle and Phoebe all helped me to celebrate at Gerry's at Neaverson's in Huddersfield. It's a charming little tea shop in the town centre, decorated with teacups, bunting, white tablecloths and serving up a tasty lunch and a generous slice of cake. I love it, it was the perfect location for our sophisticated lunch...that is until Danielle declared that she had Phoebe's underwear in her bag...and fired a thong across the table at Phoebe's head. Luckily Phoebe caught it in time, or it would have landed in the middle of a table of women who were sat behind us! It turned out Phoebe had saved Dani from a fashion crisis and had loaned her some underwear about a year ago and so Dani was kindly returning it in the middle of lunch in front of the entire clientele at Gerry's!

I had a fantastic day...sipping tea with the girls and greedily tucking into chocolate cake. Unwrapping my beautiful presents, including an amazing Laduree cook book and feeling very grown up. Maybe my thirties won't be so bad after all, especially if my four favourite witches are here for the journey too...I guess that age doesn't really matter anymore.

Catherine xx

Read more about Gerry's in our restaurant reviews