Because he said the piece I wrote about him in last year's Christmas edition of Suffolk magazine was 'sensational'. And he says that if I go to his butchers he will give me a bit of free bacon.

It was only at the end of our lunch that I realised I was actually in Roger Deakin's farmhouse, looking at the moat he swam in.  I have just been reading 'Notes from Walnut Tree Farm' - Jasmin tells me she gets lots of visitors 'just wanting to have a look' at where he lived and wrote about. Lunch was good - everything home-made with lots of quince chutney made even better with the really good wine we had brought with us. I had some interesting conversations with John but couldn't work out if we were the only ones who didn't know everyone else? That's the problem with Suffolk isn't it - lunch clubs and pop-up restaurants might be just too London for here - but Jasmin will find out and let us all know.

with mulled wine, soup, sausage rolls, brownies and various  other lovely things.

Ladies and gentlemen and other people , this is about to become a website and so I  have been to a training course  (www.phoenixinternetconsultancy.co.uk) in Haverhill to learn how to do it. The sandwiches and freshly made mini -quiches were so good I had to find out where they were from. Around the corner is a cafe where they do a dish of the week (madras beef curry when I went) and other lovely home-made food. Italian meatballs, mozarella and tomato sauce - all home-made, for £3.20 anyone? 

What is real Suffolk food? Have just had a conversation with a tv company who are searching for it and they mentioned something they thought was traditional Suffolk food that I had never heard of before. This was perfect on a cold foggy Suffolk evening, we eat anything in Suffolk!.

Sunday lunch at Pakenham Fox this time, where a crowded pub indicated this is a popular event.  The buffet had a choice of three meats (had the roast belly of pork - looked the freshest and tasted pretty good).  You get called up table by table and can pile your plate as high as you like for £8.95.

In the New York Times (yes, I'm that kind of girl...) I have just read an article about restaurants listing their wine lists on i pads and increasing sales by vast amounts. This is because people choose on average more expensive wines than they would from a tatty old book, perhaps because they can see much more information about the wine than usual and can cross reference things like the grape or the area. How long before that comes to Suffolk eh?

Went for a walk around Thornham and popped into the Four Horseshoes - a Greene King pub -mid-afternoon to find their carvery still in full swing. It runs all day and is £10 for a plate enough to keep my teenage son happy.  Good choice of nice veg but we are starting to spot the obvious but fatal flaw in a Carvery - how do you keep the meat moist and juicy?   We have to keep choosing the fatty Pork Belly (which was quite tasty) as everything else looked a bit dry...

11th August 2020 - Ten years later and we return here to Eat Out to Help Out. We sat in the very lovely pub garden and the young staff were simply delightful offering a smooth and upbeat service. Food was good although I had the steak and mushroom pie which was really a tasty casserole with a puff pastry lid. Beers are excellent so I had a pint of Woodfoode's Wherry and a pint Earl Stonham Brewery best bitter.

...but made this at home with mulberries from the freezer because the puddings are never this good.

Often go to this bakers in Eye, just the thing to warm up after a cold morning out but would like to have more time to go to the cafe down the road  - how is the coffee?