A weekend full of roasts

I have well and truly dived into wintery roasts this weekend.

Cold, dark days and nights are only good for one thing: snuggling up on the sofa and eating roasts. Lucky me ate 2 roasts this weekend, and even more lucky than that, I didn't have to cook either of them.

The first was at my friend's house. Lucy's boyfriend Sam is a fabulous cook and we were more than a little impressed with his roast lamb and all the trimmings, especially as he cooked the lamb on the BBQ outside in November!

We started with his homemade sweet potato soup.

The Cross, Kenilworth

It feels like aaaaages since I last knocked out a blog post. Bath feels like a life time ago, too. I hate being an absent blogger, so I've dedicated a little time today to write this one.

This weekend I went back to Warwickshire to visit my beloved Grandma as it's her 88th birthday tomorrow, not that I need any kind of excuse to go and see her!

We took her to the same place we always go - The Cross in Kenilworth. It's recently changed hands but the food's much the same - think gastro pub/restaurant fayre. At £25 for a three course Sunday lunch it's definitely not cheap, but we all enjoyed ourselves hugely. My favourite course was my starter: battered duck egg with a melting yolk, bacon, black pudding and salad. Pretty much breakfast in starter form - what more could you want? I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Bath

M and I spent a couple of glorious days in Bath over half term. We used the amazing Airbnb again (which I've raved about numerous times before) and stayed in Brenda's central apartment for £95 a night.

the outside of our apartment

It was my first visit to Bath and I completely fell in love with the city. It's so quaint and the buildings, made out of sandstone, make Bath one of the most stunning cities in England.

We spent the first day wandering around, getting our bearings.

I called in at True Grace candles and couldn't resist buying a set of samples. Having spent £50 on candles, I knew there and then that I should slink back to our apartment without even a glance at any more of the shops.

However, I hadn't reckoned on Seven Boot Lane and, unfortunately, our walk back took us right past their shop. I spotted these bad boys immediately. At £175 they're definitely not cheap, but the quality of the boot and leather is unbelievable. They'll see me through the next 10 winters, I swear. According to the girl that served us Seven Boot Lane is an independent boot company where a man makes every boot by hand in Spain. Check out their blog here.

The next day we visited the Thermae Bath Spa - an unprecedented let down. What a waste of time - so over crowded (why don't they put a cap on numbers?) and bizarrely nowhere to sit and relax in the pools unless you don't mind squeezing on the Jacuzzi seat which was always full. The changing rooms were similar set up to Center Parcs - unisex - nothing luxurious about them at all. I'm so glad we only went for 2 hours - I was bored stiff. We avoided extra annoying charges by taking our own towels, dressing gowns and slippers.

After watching this year's Great British Bake Off, I couldn't resist calling in for a Sally Lunn Bun which are absolutely huge. They're like a croissant crossed with a brioche bun but not as sweet as either. Well worth a try if you're ever in Bath.

We ate dinner at Sotto Sotto, Bath's number one restaurant according to Trip Advisor. Although our food was fine, we struggled to see what all the fuss was about. Our sharing bread was effectively just a very oily pizza and my fettucine with artichoke and truffle cream didn't even have a hint of truffle flavour.  The underground rooms with vaulted ceilings and waiting staff do deserve a special mention though as they were really lovely.

I can't recommend Bath enough if you want a few days away. It's just so beautiful and I know it'll be super christmassy in December. I've a good mind to go back then just to see what it's like.