• Melt the butter and mix in the crushed black garlic.

• Rub it in all over the joint, season well and leave to rest for 1 hour.

• Preheat the oven to 180C (fan)

• Add a good glug of olive oil to a frying pan and seal the meat all over.

• Place a few roughly chopped onions and carrots into a roasting tray, place the meat on top and pour over the oil from the pan.

• Place in the oven for a minimum of 1hr 15. I cooked ours until the Thermapen registered it at 55C. We like our beef medium rare but cook it how you prefer yours.

• Leave to rest for 15mins, carve and enjoy with a selection of roasties and veggies.

Happy St Patrick’s Day you lovely lot!

• Preheat the oven to 160c (fan)

• Grease and line two 20cm cake tins.

• Melt the butter in a pan with the Guinness.

• Whisk in the cocoa, sugar, sour cream, eggs and vanilla paste.

• Fold in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.

• Divide between 2 tins and bake in the oven for 30mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

• Leave on a wire rack to cool.

• Beat the butter, icing sugar and milk on a high speed until pale and fluffy.

• Transfer into a piping bag.

• Place on layer of sponge on a plate then pipe blobs of buttercream all over the top.

• Put the caramel in a piping bag and drizzle across the buttercream

• Place the second layer of sponge on top, repeat the buttercream piping and scatter over the green sprinkles.

There was loads! Four types of sandwiches (ham, egg and cress, smoked salmon and cucumber), three types of cake (vanilla cheesecake, chocolate brownie and tiramisu), shortbread, delicious scones and lashing of clotted cream and jam. Apart from the nutty brownie everything else was so good. We actually couldnt finish it all of it as there was so much.

I've already decided to take my mum, aunts and cousins here when they come over for my hen party in June. They all love afternoon tea as much as I do so this will be the perfect way to spend our day before we go to the holiday cottages we have booked in Ilkley.




If you are in the area, I strongly recommend you pay the Chevin Country Park Hotel a visit. I checked out their bar menu which was brilliantly priced too. I've a feeling myself and Mr T will have to go one evening for dinner.