Seasonal Recipe - Risotto with Cromer Crab & Asparagus

We are big fans of local, seasonal food and at the moment, you can't go too far without seeing fresh, local asparagus for sale throughout North Norfolk. We are also very lucky to have an abundance of locally sourced fresh fish and shellfish that's available to buy from several good food outlets and Norfolk's famous Cromer Crab is now coming into season too.

These two great ingredients work really well together in the following recipe: 

Risotto with Cromer Crab & Asparagus

Ingredients (serves 2 people)

1 lemon, cut into wedges for garnish

500ml Fish Stock

250g Seasonal Asparagus

Olive Oil

1 Small Onion

150g Risotto Rice

150ml Dry White Wine

1 Dressed Cromer Crab

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Method

1.               Place stock in the pan and bring to the boil. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus, add the spears to the stock and cook for 4-5 minutes, until just tender. Remove cooked asparagus from the stock & keep warm and make sure you keep stock to cook the risotto rice. 

2.              Add a small amount of olive oil to the base of a medium saucepan with the then add the onion and fry, stirring until just soft. Add the risotto rice and cook for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and continue cooking until the liquid is absorbed.

3.              Add a ladleful of stock to the rice and stir until absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. (This should take about 15 minutes in total).

Finally, add the cooked asparagus, reserving a few spears to place on top of the dish and stir in the crab meat. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes until crab is heated through. Season to taste, top with the extra spears, then serve immediately, garnished with the parsley and the lemon wedges.

Enjoy!

Source: Recipe taken from www.waitrose.com

What's On in May

Norfolk has started to buzz with a range of different events and activities this May and we wanted to share some of the exciting things happening so you don’t miss out! 

Remember, if you'd like to attend any of these events, we still have some limited availability in our cottages throughout May and are currently offering a 10% discount* for all breaks booked and taken this month. Simply check out our availability on our website and use the following discount code when booking your break online: QP1T7. 

Norfolk & Norwich Festival
WHEN: 10^th – 26^th May
WHERE: Throughout Norfolk

The Festival is one of the oldest surviving arts festivals in the UK, which dates back to 1772 when a fund-raising concert was held at Norwich Cathedral. This international arts festival for the East of England offers a packed programme of events throughout Norfolk ranging from music, dance, visual arts and much more.

To discover more about the festival and to find out what's happing in your area visit http://www.nnfestival.org.uk

Houghton Revisited
WHEN: 17^th May – 29^th September
WHERE: Houghton  Hall, Nr King’s Lynn

The magnificent art collection of Great Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, will return to it’s original setting of Houghton Hall for the first time in 200 years.

The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to view one of the most famous art collections of eighteenth-century Europe and includes masterpieces from Van Dyck, Poussin, Albani, Rubens, Rembrant, Velazquez & Murillo.

Full details of the exhibition can be found at http://www.houghtonrevisited.com

Cromer & Sheringham Crab & Lobster Festival
WHEN: 17^th - 19^th May
WHERE: Cromer & Sheringham

Now in it’s 4^th Year, the Crab & Lobster Festival is a celebration of two lovely coastal towns, Cromer & Sheringham.

The festival raises money for local charities and offers a packed programme of activities over the weekend.

Full details can be found at http://www.crabandlobsterfestival.co.uk

Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios
WHEN: 25^th May – 9^th June
WHERE: Throughout Norfolk

Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios gives you the opportunity to see new art, meet artists and buy original artworks from the artists themselves.

There are over 450 artists involved with 231 locations dotted throughout the county where you can view their work.

Full details, including the artists involved and the exhibition locations can be found at http://www.nnopenstudios.org.uk

Fairy Fair 2013
WHEN: 27^th - 27^th May
WHERE: Holt Hall

The Fairy Fair returns to the grounds of Holt Hall, North Norfolk this May. There will be lots of magical activities and workshops, great live music, walkabout performers, entertaining shows and storytelling taking place over the two days. Plus you can discover walks through the grounds, browse the craft stalls and eat and drink at the many refreshment outlets.

The Fair offers the same attractions on both days and is open from 10am - 5pm. It is suitable for families with children from 3yrs and up. Tickets are £7.50 per person (under 3s go free and do not need a ticket) and must be booked online by visiting http://fairylandtrust.org/fairyfair13.html

Gruffalo Day
WHEN: 27^th May
WHERE: Pine woods, Wells next the Sea 
May the 27th is our Gruffalo Day,
Walk through the pine woods, visit us on the way.
You can come and go as much as you please,
We’ll be there all day having fun in the trees!
Full details including prices and times can be found at http://www.holkham.co.uk/html/GruffaloDayEventsHolkhamHallandEstate-NorthNorfolkEngland.html

Beach Discovery Day
WHEN: 31^st May
WHERE: Wells next the Sea
Join the Holkham Estate education team for some hands on, fun family activities exploring the wildlife you can find on the National Nature Reserve.

During the morning session you will learn about the different shell life and get the opportunity to do some seaside crafts by making flying fish and fish hats. In the afternoon there will be a scavenger hunt to discover what creatures make the beach its home, plus you will be able to collect some beach goodies to make shell mobiles and star fish badges.
Full details can be found at http://www.holkham.co.uk/html/beach_discovery_days.html 

*T's & C's
Offer is only available for breaks booked and taken in May 2013 & is only available to customers booking directly online, no agencies. We have limited availability and offer is available on a first come, first serve basis.

Great Offers

Happy Bank Holiday Monday! The sun is shining in North Norfolk and the weather is certainly giving us something to smile about. We'd like to make you smile by offering a whopping 10% discount* for all breaks booked and taken in May. Simply check out our availability on our website and use the following discount code when booking your break online: QP1T7. 

In addition to these great offers, we are running a special deal in our Swallow cottage where your break will only cost £750 over the following dates: 31st May - 5th June, 15th June -  20th June & 1st July - 5th July. To take advantage of this great deal, simply visit our website and book your break online.

We hope to welcome to you to Cranmer Cottages very soon! 


*T's & C's
Offer is only available for breaks booked and taken in May 2013 & is only available to customers booking directly online, no agencies. We have limited availability and offer is available on a first come, first serve basis.

Top 5 beaches in North Norfolk

We are spoilt for choice when it comes to the coastline in North Norfolk. Did you know that Both Wells and Holkham feature in the Telegraph’s best British beaches review, which got us thinking about the all of the local beaches we like to enjoy.  

Here’s our top five:

Holkham

Holkham beach was famously featured in the film, Shakespeare in Love a few years back, but did you know that it’s also part of one of the largest National Nature Reserves in the country? The beach offers miles of beautiful golden sands and it really is a place of unspoilt beauty. Be mindful that if you have young children, they will need to be good walkers as this is an expansive beach where you can walk for miles before you reach the sea when the tide is out.

Wells-next-the-sea

Wells beach is a beautiful sandy beach backed by dunes and pine trees. It’s also lined with lots of colourful beach huts, giving it that authentic seaside feeling. The beach is only a mile away from the town centre so it’s easy to stroll between the two, alternatively, there is a beach car park or in the summer you can use the miniature railway to travel between both areas. The gentle sea waters makes the beach at Wells a perfect family day out and don’t forget to treat yourself to some fish ‘n’ chips whilst you are there!

Brancaster Beach & The National Trust Millennium Activity Centre

Brancaster has an accessible sandy beach with adjacent car park, making it a popular beach for families. Like Wells, its gentle sea waters make it a calm and relaxing place to enjoy the coastline and take a leisurely dip in the sea. It’s also a great place for kite flying and enjoying a range of watersports.  In addition to this, Brancaster is an extensive coastal area that’s famous for its wild birds, so offers a great birdwatching experience too.

Hunstanton

Hunstanton, also known as Sunny Hunny, is famous for it’s striped cliffs. This seaside town is great for families whatever the weather as there are amusements arcades as well as the beach to enjoy. The shallow beach can offer some fantastic rock pools to explore when the tide is out and for the more adventurous; it’s a great beach for kite surfing. If you’re one for taking it easy, then why not hire out one of the beach huts, chill out in your deck chair and enjoy the seaside experience and an ice cream!

Blakeney

Blakeney nature reserve offers 4 miles of natural coastline that hosts a massive spectrum of wildlife including seasonal migrating birds and seal colonies. The reserve also has varying landscapes, a sand and shingle spit, salt marshes, sand dunes and a range of plant life. It’s a spectacular place to discover and enjoy our beautiful wildlife and unspoilt surroundings.

Pedal Norfolk – Celebrating British Cycling

Between the 3^rd – 6^th May, Holkham Hall are running a fantastic 3-day cycling festival, Pedal Norfolk, to celebrate British Cycling.

There are lots of events and activities planned for cyclists of all abilities over the weekend. For the keen cyclist, you can explore beautiful Norfolk by entering the sportives that cover 250 miles over the 3 days. To enter the sportives, you must apply online via the British Cycling website. There are also plenty of family activities to get involved with from the basics of how to use a balance bike to family coaching and a competitive downhill family race.

If cycling is not your thing, there’s still plenty to keep you entertained locally. Holkham Hall will be open to view during Sunday and Monday and Holkham beach is great to explore. There are also several walks to enjoy plus lots of villages to discover nearby that are fully of boutique shops, galleries and great places to eat.

Our cottages are less than 10 miles away from Holkham Hall and over the bank holiday we have availability in Garden House, Avocet and Swallow, all of which sleep 6 people. We are currently offering a special 4 night bank holiday deal in Garden House & Avocet with a £100 off plus 3 nights are available in Swallow.

View our cottages and book online here >>>

We have a secure cycle store on site plus facilities for washing down bikes and a laundry room available to wash and dry sports clothes. You can finish the day unwinding in our heated indoor pool and Jacuzzi before getting a well deserved rest in our very comfortable beds.

North Norfolk has some great scenic routes which are great to discover by bike. Learn more about the cycling routes that are local to our cottages by visiting our website.

Competition Time!

We’re giving you the chance to win a short break in one of our luxury 4* cottages when we reach 150 likes on our Facebook Page^†.

All you have to do to enter is simply ‘Like’ our Cranmer Cottages Facebook Page and ‘Share’ the competition post. When we reach 150 likes, we will enter all the names of those who have ‘Liked’ & ‘Shared’ our post into a draw and we will announce the winner on our Facebook Page.

^†Terms and Conditions

All entrants must have ‘Liked’ our Facebook page and ‘Shared’ the competition post. The draw will take place as soon as we reach 150 Likes on our Facebook Page.

The winner must supply full contact details including email address, postal address & contact telephone number upon booking.

The break can be taken either as a 3 night weekend break (Fri – Mon) or 4 night midweek break (Mon-Fri). Break must be taken between Friday 15 November 2013 and Friday 21 March 2014, subject to availability and excludes school holidays, Christmas & New Year. Cottages would be 4* 2 bedroom family properties Owl, Wagtail, Tern (sleep 4) and 3 bedroom Woodpecker (sleep 5). The prize is not transferable, there is no cash alternative & cannot be taken by a third party. Once booked it cannot be changed.

Easter fun in North Norfolk

We look forward to Easter at Cranmer because the signs of spring and the promise of better weather is looming on the horizon. It’s also the time of year we start to see lots of activities taking place in the North Norfolk area so our guests have plenty of things to do when they visit.

Over the Easter break weeks, there are lots of family led things to do and here’s just a few ideas we wanted to share with you:

SANDINGHAM HOUSE

Visit the house where the Queen & members of the Royal family spend their Christmas holidays. Sandringham House opens up to the public from the 30^th March and is a fantastic day out. You can take a tour of the house and fantastic grounds plus visit the museum where there are collections of Royal vehicles, photographs and memorabilia. Visit Website

HOLKHAM HALL

Holkham Hall will be running Easter activities between Good Friday and Easter Monday. The old kitchen will take you back to Victorian Times as cooks prepare and Easter Feast, where you can join in too by trying tasty treats, making decorations and helping Branston the butler lay the grand table.

You will also get the opportunity to guess the weight of a giant Faberge-style chocolate egg, which has been especially made by The Chocolate Deli for Holkham’s Easter event.

Other activities include a treasure hunt plus plenty of games and crafts including the opportunity to make your own Easter hat.

Holkham will also be opening up a fantastic new woodland play area for kids on the 25^th March so make sure you visit this whilst you are there! Visit Website 

PENSTHORPE

Between the 28^th March – 14^th April, Pensthorpe will be running an Easter Eggstravanasa which consists of a self guided trail that will take you around the reserve so you can uncover some fascinating facts about nature in the Spring time. There are lots of games to play and questions to answer, whilst also learning how the natural world ties in with Easter Traditions. There’s a prize available for everyone who manages to answer all of the questions. Visit Website

CREAKE ABBEY

Easter Egg hunts and craft activities will run from the 28^th March – 14^th April. Children will be taken on a magical tour of the abbey ruins, around the shops and nearby lanes to hunt down an Easter Egg whilst craft activities will include making a cute wooden spoon bunny or chick, creating hanging springtime bugs and limited edition Easter pictures to colour in and decorate. Visit Website

GRESSENHALL FARM & WORKHOUSE

There are lots of Easter fun activities taking place at Gressenhall between 28^th March – 14^th April. Take part in a new for in Art Attach! Meet our shepherd to find out more about our sheep and lambs and also have a go at creating life yourself by making a newspaper post and planting a runner bean seed which you can take home to grow. Visit Website

We also have a fantastic coastline and our beaches are great for exploring at this time of year. There are plenty of little rock pools to hunt around in to find small crabs, fish and shells. If you are really brave, you can also paddle your toes into the icy waters of the sea too!

During the run up to Easter we will be updating our Facebook Page on a daily basis with other ideas on what you can do in North Norfolk over the Easter Holidays, so make sure you like our page to keep informed. 

Seasonal Recipe

Joseph from The Art Café in Glandford, has kindly shared his popular Rhubarb & Custard Cheesecake recipe with us. 

Early or forced Rhubarb is much pinker and sweeter than the rhubarb harvested later on in the year, so is best for this recipe.

FACT: Did you know that Rhubarb is actually a vegetable as it’s a stem of a perennial plant?

Rhubarb & Custard Cheesecake

Serves 8 - 10 people depending on how sweet you are. 

FOR THE BASE
You can either use a good quality shop brought shortbread biscuit or make your own using the following ingredients:

150g Plain flour
100g Margarine
50g Caster sugar
Pinch of salt 
1tsp of ginger powder

Cream together the margarine and sugar, then add the salt and ginger. Mix together and then add the flour, Knead using your hands and roll out into a rough but even shape and bake for 15 minutes at 160 degrees c.

After they are slightly golden take out of the oven and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, whizz them up in a food processor to turn into crumbs and add a touch of almond essence.  Spread into the desired final cheesecake tin and flatten as much as possible then bake for 7-8 minutes again at 160 degrees c. 

FOR THE TOPPING

600g fresh Rhubarb (forced is better as it has more flavour) 
300g light soft brown sugar
Juice of 2 lemons 
Drop of red food colouring (optional) 
3 tbsp Agar Agar flakes
450g cream cheese
250ml custard (either home made of shop bought)
150ml double cream 
4 tbsp caster sugar

Chop and wash the rhubarb into rough chunks, place in a deep pan with the light brown sugar and a dash of water and heat until "thick and mushy" then add in the agar agar and leave to cool (add the colouring here if desired) 

Put the lemon juice, cream cheese, custard, double cream and caster sugar into a blender and mix until completely smooth, and add the mushed rhubarb until "tart" enough for your taste.  Blend once more and pour onto of the biscuit base. 

Leave in the fridge to set for 4-6 hours (or pop in the freezer if you are pushed for time)

Serve and Enjoy!

A flexible events venue with a green twist

The Green Room was the final barn to be fully refurbished at Cranmer and opened in October 2012. The aim of this room was to offer a fully functional events venue that’s available to local businesses to book and use for meetings and events whilst also being an intimate venue to host yoga classes, showcase holistic therapies and exhibit local artwork and photography displays.

In addition to this, the Green Room is also available for our cottage residents to use, to hold celebrations and parties. It’s even a great private dining area which can be utilised when large group bookings can’t all fit in one cottage dining area and they need some extra space.

This flexible venue combines traditional and contemporary features and can accommodate up to 25 people. It’s equipped with state of the art technology including a large flat screen TV, AV equipment & WIFI internet connection. Specialist lighting has also been installed to offer ambience lighting to suit any occasion.

The venue is self-contained with toilet facilities and a small galley kitchen and all facilities are situated on the ground floor making it wheelchair accessible.

As part of our Green Tourism Gold Award and to support our green ethics, the venue is eco-friendly and powered from our on-site wind turbine and solar panels. In addition to this, we offer recycling facilities, supply recycled pens, pencils and paper, ensure that any unused water is used to water our plantsand only serve fairtrade tea and coffee.

If you’d like to learn more about using the Green Room to host an event, class or party, we’d be delighted to discuss your requirements and organise a venue viewing. Contact us by calling 01328 823135 or drop us an email to bookings@norfolk-luxury-cottages.co.uk 

A busy winter at Cranmer

Now that February is here and the nights are beginning to get lighter, it feels like we’re beginning to emerge from the depths of winter and look forward to spring.

We love the early signs of spring cropping up around Cranmer, the odd snowdrop scattered around the grounds, buds beginning to appear on trees and signs of daffodils beginning to emerge from the ground give us a sure sign that the warmer weather isn't too far away.

Whilst we look forward to the coming months, we can also look back and say that we've had a rather busy winter. November saw us launch The Green Room, which is our purpose build events and meetings room. It’s been designed to cater for business hire during the week as is also available for cottage residents to hire to hold family celebrations or use as a private dining room when the cottage space just isn't enough.

We've also had an influx of visitors to the cottages over the winter period. Christmas is always a busy period for us because North Norfolk comes alive over this festive period, but it's also been a very busy January too.

To make the New Year rather eventful, the inclement weather hit us in January covering Norfolk with a good covering of snow. It certainly made the North Norfolk countryside look picture perfect.

In addition to all of this activity, we've also been busy refurbishing some of our cottages. Swallow’s kitchen and Woodpecker’s bathroom and former bunk room are currently undergoing new transformations and we’ll be unveiling the new look very soon.
Looking ahead into February, half term is looming along with Pancake Day and Valentine’s Day too! There are lots of half term activities taking place throughout North Norfolk and it’s not too late to book a break with us.

Don’t also forget that Mother’s Day is on Sunday 10^th March. Why not treat your mum to a well-deserved break away. We’re currently offering a free bottle of champagne OR a box of locally made handmade chocolates from The Chocolate Deli Company in Walsingham with any short breaks booked over the Mothering Sunday weekend* Simply use voucher code 4FF61 if you’d like the bottle of champagne, or 1KE5C for the chocolates when you booking your break.

The Hoste Arms are also offering a fantastic mothering Sunday package. Champagne afternoon tea followed by mini facial and back massage £70.00 per person – contact Hoste Beauty Spa to book. Tel: 01328 737022. It's the perfect gift for the perfect mother!
To keep up with what’s happening locally to us, make sure you keep checking our Facebook page as we regularly post up local events, activities news and information.
Don't also forget sign up to our newsletter to receive our exclusive offers and latest updates.  

*Offer is available from 7^th February until 8^th March for all short breaks that fall over 10^th March 2013.