Children's Food Festival

Today [well Saturday - we're posting this on Sunday!] we've had a ball at the inaugural UK Children's Food Festival near Abingdon in Oxfordshire. The weather looked promising (still packed a brolly & sun hats though!) and it was only an hour on the M4.

We all know James likes to cook and help in the kitchen. We've always encouraged him and he has a pretty good understanding of different types of food. He knows that food is grown and isn't just produced by Sainsbury's! I'm hoping that this early appreciation will serve him well throughout his life. Now to get him to eat parsley.....!

The Festival was held at an airfield and there were many tents, marquees and stalls, not only promoting and selling healthy food for children, but offering samples and getting the children to participate in educational activities and food preparation. Lively musicians added to the air of festivity.

Our first stop (and purchase!) was at an olive stall - James was thrilled! We went on to eat pots and pots of yoghurt, ice cream, pear juice and honey and honeycomb (complete with a display of real bees). There were some real highlights - James made pesto from scratch with a mortar & pestle, almost by himself but with a bit of elbow grease from Mum and Dad, he selected a carrot fresh from the ground and cleaned, peeled and ate it, he put oat grains through a mill and made rolled oats (and ate those too!), he saw sausages and pasta being made, took his turn at churning cream in an effort to produce butter and the funniest thing was when I turned around to find him he'd crouched down under a wooden cut out of a goat and was milking it! Well, it did have teats and a bucket, so he did it!

For dinner, James shelled broad beans and helped me make fresh pasta. Our final dish was tagliatelle with pesto, broad beans, bacon and cherry tomatoes. James ate up every scrap and we congratulated him on his culinary skills. The pesto was delicious! What a clever cookie!

Photos are here.