Mid week WFO dinner

Steve and Barb joined us last night for the first firing up of the WFO (wood fired oven) for pizza this summer. Mark was keen to get some dough tips from his mentor Steve - and we had a delicious thin crust margarita. This followed some stuffed zucchini blossoms, asparagus and sage leaves. It is such a short blossom season, we can't resist frying them up whenever we find a few on the vine. A great starter, with a glass of champagne- Michel Turgy Blanc de Blanc. Finally lamb kofta grilled in the WFO , with a greek style salad and tsatsiki. Lots of great wine including a Bandol Tempier Rose 2009, Vieux Telegraphe 1995. Sat outside until well into the night.

Steve Adams, oven mentor and our official photographer took all of these photos.

Love those blossoms

Although Mark had managed to plant our vege garden in early May - we were still surprised to see on our return from France that the zucchini plants were already blossoming. Enough blooms to make an appetiser of - stuffed with goat cheese and basil, supplemented with sage leaves and my first go at dipping asparagus in the light batter and shallow frying. Sea salt and a squeeze of lemon completed the dish. Eaten on our porch and accompanied by a glass or two of 1999 Mayacamas Chardonnay from the Napa Valley, we were in heaven.

Blooming blossoms

Since his early arrival back on the farm, Mark has been busy planting our new garden. Every year it gets bigger. Tomatoes, green beans, peas, zucchinis, potatoes. Just some of the produce we will be enjoying this summer. He has transplanted some raspberries down to the pond and near where the new fruit trees are planted. He is hinting that jam may need to be made. The zucchinis are blooming already, which means he has to put more in so that there are blossoms for frying when I get there. We thought we would also try zucchini fritters, with a yoghurt and mint dipping sauce. Right now he is eating baby zucchinis sliced into his spring vegetable pasta.