I came across some photos early this evening that gave me an idea for my post tonight. Since we arrived in 2002, we have always used the local butcher for his hearty handmade sausage and hand-cured and cut bacon. We have also kept faith with a local dairy, ordering our eggs and milk daily so that they are delivered fresh at our door the next morning. Well, here are a couple of photos which I found on www.lakelandcam.co.uk which were taken by Tony Richards, although we do not buy our produce from the place he photographed. Rather, the phone numbers I ring to order our breakfast foods from come from a place just a mile down the road from Blenheim Lodge.
Every day or evening, I will ring the dairy to order our eggs and milk for delivery the next morning. The eggs are large and yolky, with really orange yolks, and the milk comes in pint glass bottles, bottled the old fashioned way, and capped with cream tops if I have been decadent enough to order full fat milk. I am afraid these wonderfully fresh eggs have spoiled us, and supermarket eggs have yet to enjoy a look into our kitchen ever since we arrived at Blenheim Lodge in September 2002, which was, of course, when we began ordering said eggs from the local farm.
Our local butcher makes a few different types of sausages, but we have plumbed for the purely pork ones, because not everyone enjoys the herbs that are part and parcel of the local Lakeland Cumberland sausage. The one thing good about our butcher’s sausage is the fact that he does not use all kinds of discarded scraps to make them up. Instead, they are full of goodness, with a very high meat content. I even asked him once whether they were stuffed with breadcrumbs because one of our guests could not take gluten. The answer? A resounding ‘No!’
There is good news for vegetarians if they are dining at our Bed and Breakfast. Every choice on our breakfast menu is vegetarian, save the full breakfast, which includes meat. However, we do substitute quorn sausages for the meats if a vegetarian wants a full breakfast. One of my favourite vegetarian choices on our breakfast menu is scrambled eggs. Another is an oven-fresh croissant served with a delectable muffin!
Aside from the menu choices available at breakfast, guests can also help themselves to cereals, fruit and yoghurt. Juice, tea, coffee and toast are served at table. Sometimes, guests will want something a little different from what we normally serve; in which case we will always try to oblige where possible. We also always ask our guests whether we can get them anything else as we go round the tables to ensure that everyone has all he or she requires for breakfast.
Mum always used to say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As I very seldom eat breakfast, I cannot make an informed comment about this. For most people, however, breakfast is an important meal, which is why we go to such lengths to serve quality local produce to our guests.
Blenheim Lodge . . . panoramic Lake views, peace and tranquillity, nestled against acres of beautiful fields and woodlands, in the heart of the English Lake District National Park.’