Malham to Marrakesh

 Tempus Fugit as they say down the Forum. I am now under 2 weeks away from heading off and have been hard at work preparing the luxurious limo that I will be trusting my comfort and safety to in the wild, badlands outside of Yorkshire. The love of my life is the landrover, you love them or you are wrong....as Damien, a leading demi-God of the the Malhamdale Landrover Club famously stated,  'They're Less Cars, more Heirlooms' But for the un-initiated what are these fables beasts of yore... I have had a long standing love of the beasts from my time in the Army and have used they across the world over the years: They may be uncomfortable, un-economic, un-secure and have the turning circle of the Hindenberg, but by God they are fun , since 1948 till 2016 they rolled off the plant in Solihull and have been used all over the world in all sectors from Agriculture, to the Military and have been the premier off-road vehicle of choice for much of that time. I have had 3 since I left ...

M erguez are long, thin and taste distinctly of North Africa, thanks to the harissa, paprika and other spices with which they’re made. The meat in these wonderful sausages is always either beef or lamb (or a mixture of the two), never pork, and although they’re ubiquitous throughout North Africa and France, they are not always so easy to find over here. If you can’t get hold of any, use the sausage mix in this recipe. It’s coarser and not quite as fatty as classic merguez sausagemeat, but it’s just as heavy in spices and high in heat. Merguez  Use this mix to make this sausagemeat which you can use to make either sausages or kebabs. 500g minced lamb (20% fat) 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika ¼ tsp cayenne ½ tsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp olive oil 80g fresh white breadcrumbs Salt Put everythi...

A great friend of mine when she heard of this trip accused me of having a mid-century crisis ..... I strongly disagreed! Over the past few years, I have felt like I was in a kind of prison, not one with barbed wire and snarling hounds but a metaphorical one where I was tied down by the responsibilities of work, generating filthy lucre (with no real aim of what to do with it); I felt trapped and it was impacting my mental health (and making me a miserable bugger at the same time).  I had huge support from colleagues at Leeds Beckett where I worked and from my family and friends and the outcome of a really difficult year was a great one, one where I saw real possibilities and where I had a much better appreciation of where we were as a family and how much we really had achieved.   This lead me to the point where I said F**K IT (the capitals are intentional), I took the opportunity to retire early from the University started working in charcuterie with Chris W...