Chicken salad and real apple juice

publication date: May 5, 2008

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author/source: Fiona Beckett

Yesterday finally felt as if spring had come. After weeks of unsettled and unseasonably cool weather it was warm and balmy, rich with the scent of blossom. We went out with friends to the village of Wrington just outside Bristol to follow an ‘art trail’ of exhibitions by local artists. (Yes, I bought something - a delightful picture of radishes by a talented collage artist called Anne Carpenter)

We had lunch in a cafe in Barley Wood walled garden which wasn’t amazing apart from the heavenly setting but they did serve a really fabulous artisanal apple juice made from their own fruit (a mixture of Bramleys, Blenheim Gold and one other variety I can’t remember). It was perfect with a chicken salad - fresh tasting and tart.

Afterwards we wandered through the apple orchards which were full of pink and white blossom, the ground studded with clumps of bluebells. After a sad week last week attending a memorial  for a very good friend it felt great to be alive.