The Bull at Charlbury
Friday 27 June 2025
You know you have passed your role as a parent when your adult children say it would be nice to have a family weekend away together. I say this with affection because when I look back to my young adult life, I was always bringing my parents on holiday with us. There must have been some stress involved, which I have mostly forgotten. What I remember is that my parents were quite good at just following us around and that they were happy to go anywhere and eat anything.
I continue to feel sad my dad has passed away. He would still be happy to join us on our holidays. One of our earliest trips in England was to the Cotswolds, so I retain a great fondness for the whole area.
This past weekend we rented a Grade II listed cottage near to Charlbury, which was convenient for The Bull (a Public House = Pub) located at Sheep Street. I had made the reservation, and as Mom + Host (should be contracted to one word = Most) I encouraged everyone to just order what they wanted. We had a fabulous meal. Then we discovered at the end that Junior 3 had surreptitiously gone ahead to pay for our lunch.
You know you have passed your role as a Chinese parent when your adult child pretends to go to the toilet and settles the bill on the way.
We shared many small dishes (soda bread and butter, crab on toast, pork pie, sweetcorn fritters, cheese and Marmite straws) and a few desserts. Some of our mains below: pork chop, chalk stream trout, farm salad, chicken pie and mashed potatoes. I tried very hard not to ask others for photos of their food. We agreed that we would definitely go there again for a meal. For similar gastropub food in London, I would head to The Bull and Last in Highgate, where we had dinner two weeks ago with Travel Couple.
The cottage had an AGA range cooker (no electric oven or microwave as back up) which could have been challenging. Fortunately we have all used one before so knew its capabilities and limitations. It was a fun experience but I would never want one. My Gaggenau oven and hob are my first (kitchen) loves.
Our first night’s dinner of pasta with courgettes, cherry tomatoes, garlic, chilli and parmesan, made by Junior 2 on the AGA
Chocolate and almond cake for dessert
The thing about the English countryside is that there are many walks along public footpaths that you can access. Photos below from a short walk. The family did a longer walk the next day which I skipped, preferring a quiet time of reading in one of the cottage’s two comfortable living rooms.
Saturday 28 June 2025
The cottage also had a large garden and a barbecue. With the warm weather, eating dinner outdoors made a lot of sense. Especially when I didn’t have to do the cooking. Photos of our dinner, meat cooked on the barbecue and vegetables partly in the AGA.
Sunday 29 June 2025
After a cooked breakfast (sausages and bacon with toasted wholegrain sourdough – yum), we made our way back to London and our other commitments. In our little community of 36 houses, we have a tea party every Summer where each neighbour brings something to share. My contribution was some scones, with Cornish clotted cream and wild strawberry jam. I ran out of plain flour and finally took the plunge with bread flour which is what some bakers suggest. Well, it turned out quite well considering I was in such a rush. Simple notes at the end of the post, and a more detailed one to follow.
Our next family gathering is on Wednesday when we are seeing the theatre production of Totoro (Gillian Lynne Theatre) together.
For the Scones:
(makes a lucky Baker’s Dozen = 13 scones)
500 g bread flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
125 g unsalted butter, cold
55 g unrefined caster sugar
250 g milk
1 egg
Make the scones in the way you have been taught (I will elaborate later when I write a proper post). This time I flattened the dough somewhat by pressing it gently with my fingers, then folded it and repeating the action several times. Use a round fluted cutter (6 cm) to cut out 13 scones. Place on a lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with a mixture of egg beaten with a little single cream. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 200 C fan/ 220 C electric for 15 minutes. Serve with cream and jam.