Oh How Exciting!

Pop the corks, I am going to Shrewsbury! You may laugh....but it is 12 months exactly since I last went in the vain hope of finding a suitable outfit for my sister's wedding. Naturally, I came home with something entirely un-suitable and far more fun!  The quest today: hunt down the new gastro-idea; vanilla paste in a squeezey bottle, I mean how cool is that, no more scraping the pod with a murderous knife and boiling up the beans for a syrup that then gets left in a safe corner of the fridge never to be seen again.  Well not for 6 months anyway by which time it looks like something by Damian Hurst!  Next quest is to find tubes of gel colouring for cup cakes and other cake decorations, apparently, entirely natural and no nasty "e" or other additives. I have yet to discover these delights and have a feeling that once I find this market stall full on incredible edibles that there will be no turning back and I will be hooked on cup cake decoration for decades to come.  Shrewsbury is only 70 miles round trip, a mere nothing in this neck of the woods but I hesitate to go North.  I don't know why but I prefer going South or West. Cheltenham Yes. Hereford Yes. So this epic journey of discovery will be the highlight of the week and of course I will have to go to the very famous and enticing wine shop that Tanners have hidden in an Elizabethan warren of beams and exciting little corners of temptation. Their very old and delicious sherry is my favourite treat but to allow myself this extravagance, I feel that we should have a trifle for Sunday lunch this weekend. A dear friend, Fiona and myself have always had a secret passion for sherry before lunch on Sunday, this comes of having a Colonel as a father I suspect.  We have felt for the past 30 years that we were a bit vintage ourselves in our choice of aperitif but NOW, can you imagine our delight to hear that Sherry is the new "IN" aperitif in London and that Sherry Bars are opening instead of more wine bars.  Astonishing news and by all accounts (The Times, so it must be true!) these are a huge success.  Excellent Sherry has always been cheaper than excellent wine and hence the current popularity as an aperitif. So, bin the Prosecco and start buying Sherry!