Farm-bought beef, a proper Yorkshire roast and a Thursday spent feeding the people we love.
A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to get a beef box from a local farm. Two hundred pounds’ worth of some of the best beef I’ve had in years. We clubbed together with a friend to buy it and keep it in their freezer, which has given us a lovely supply of beautiful meat and plenty of reasons to get together for something to eat.
We fancied a Sunday roast dinner but it was Thursday — “ah no matter,” says me, “a roast can be enjoyed any day of the week!” We phoned around and it was happily agreed a topside joint was more than welcome on the menu for that Thursday evening, and if we were having roast beef, we were going to do it properly!
I’m from Yorkshire. There were always going to be Yorkshire puddings, and there’s never any danger of anyone leaving hungry.
It had already been a busy day. After the usual chores, we got the Scotties’ Halloween costumes. If you’ve known us for a while, you may remember that our Scotties love to dress up, so this was an important part of the day’s proceedings.
Then it was off to the dog park to blow off some steam, which is always good fun. It was the first properly cold day of the season, and the prospect of a roast dinner in a warm kitchen felt entirely appropriate. A Sunday roast on a Thursday was making more sense by the minute.
A kitchen, good friends and seven extra guests
We don’t do a great deal of cooking in the caravan these days. As life has evolved, we’ve found ourselves cooking more often in friends’ kitchens. I suppose it’s become a bit like a supper club. We cook and clean up in return for the use of a proper kitchen and somewhere warm and comfortable to sit down and enjoy it all together.
It’s a lovely arrangement. I get to do something I love, everyone gets fed and we get to spend time with our friends. Best of all, they love dogs, so the clan come with us too.
We’ve been in our current location for almost two years now and have met some of the loveliest, most genuine folk—there’s always a wanker or two, but we pay them no heed. We’ve made friends who’ve become a lovely part of our lives, and getting together over something home-cooked, sharing stories and laughing round the table can turn an abundant Sunday dinner into something even more wonderful and memorable.
Having a proper kitchen to cook in is a pleasure in itself. I still love making a meal for people, putting a bit of everything on the table and watching everyone tuck in. There’s something deeply satisfying about feeding your friends well.
Good memories round a dinner table
Even when I was working at the last farm I was at, I cooked in the farmhouse kitchen for my boss, other staff members and friends. I have such fond memories of us gathered round that dinner table, enjoying a home-cooked meal before settling down in front of a real fire and exchanging stories.
We made Christmas dinner there for everyone too. Ah, good times.
Those are the moments I love: the food, the company and the lovely feeling of being warm and comfortable with people you enjoy. A full table, everyone fed and happy, and no particular reason to rush off anywhere.
There’s been much more of that sort of cooking than caravan cooking lately, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
In true Yorkshire fashion
For our Sunday roast, we made sure there was a bit of everything. Some homegrown, some not, all coming together around that lovely beef. Yorkshire puddings, potatoes, vegetables, gravy and enough dishes to leave very little of the table showing.
The photograph was taken once we’d started eating, which is probably the most honest picture of a dinner like this. Plates already full, serving spoons amongst the dishes, wine poured and everyone getting on with enjoying themselves.
This was a proper feast, made to be shared.
I do love that generous way of eating, with everything put out for people to help themselves. Passing dishes round, making sure everyone has what they want and somehow finding a little more room for something you couldn’t quite fit on the first time.
And the beef was wonderful. Buying that box together had been a very good idea.
Full plates and happy people
As the wine flowed, stories were shared and we settled into the evening. Good food, lovely company and plenty to talk about—the sort of evenings I’m always happy to make time for.
By the time everyone had finished, we were stuffed to the gunwales. We all sat back in a contented heap, unable to move for a while and beginning to feel slightly dozy. Nobody was going to be leaping up and doing anything terribly energetic.
There’s a lovely satisfaction in that, looking round after a meal you’ve made and seeing everyone full, comfortable and happy. Especially when you’ve enjoyed every bit of it yourself.
Our supper-club arrangement does usually involve us washing up. We hadn’t forgotten. But after that dinner, with everyone settled and the evening having been so lovely, it could wait.
A feast fit for a king. And a kitchen that could wait until morning.