worcestershire sauce

and healing old trauma, kind of.

if you missed the first installment to our uk summer, you can catch up on our london start to this trip here

we soon picked up the hire car from kings cross and proceeded on the drive back to our old home—worcestershire.

a little background..

not many people know this, but my husband and i are from the same hometown and went to the same high school. but, we actually never actually knew each other during this time. i was in the year above him, and didn’t pay much attention to the boys in the year below. we had mutual friends, and i might have served him a pint once in the pub i worked at. we met in bristol at university. he was just graduating as i was starting.

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sidenote—when i was meant to go to uni, i still didn’t have a clue what i might want to study. so instead, i fled the uk for fun. i fell in love with my first love, chris—and moved all the way to new zealand to live with him for 2 years. more on that later!

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we were stopping just outside worcester, in the sweet little village of upton. we wanted to try and change the narrative of our trip this time, to try and break some of my generational trauma related to going back.

we found a really cute little cabin the woods, which was the perfect antidote and felt like somewhere new. even though we were only 10 minutes from worcester city centre.

one thing i will say is that this trip reminded me of how beautiful the surrounding areas of my hometown are. i was so lucky to grow up in the west midlands countryside, and as a child, i, of course, took it all for granted. i spent my summers rolling around in fields with friends and adventuring every single day. summers are some of my fondest memories growing up. getting chased by the local farmers, climbing trees and being totally in love with all of my girlfriends. we cycled everywhere and stayed out most nights until 11pm flirting with boys and having sleepovers at pips house. pip was my best friend and the vicar’s daughter. we were twin souls and very mischievous. we truly had the best time.

from left to right - lucy, sam, vics, pip, me & hazel

our little cabin in the woods was perfect. it was nestled into the grounds of a stately home and was amongst the hills of historical malvern and the rolling countryside of worcester. we couldn’t believe we had found such a gem of a place.

and if you ever find yourself in worcestershire, here is the airbnb link.

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we had dinner at andy’s parents house on the first evening and his mum cooked a delicious chicken tray bake. and after a few gin & tonics, we retired back to our little cabin for the night. but not before a pint in the pub on our way home, of course!

after the best night sleep ever (the country air will do special things to you), we decided to wander into upton for a little stroll and then knew we were cooking for my dad that night, as it was his wedding anniversary—and so needed to find all the ingredients for a our special dinner.

andy’s mum told me about an amazing farm shop out in holt—broomfields, another little country village in the surrounding area, and so after our wander around upton we headed to holt.

i could write an entirely separate substack on broomfields. the abundance of produce was out of control and out of this world! i was like a kid in candy shop. it was glittering—full of summer fruits and farm-fresh, incredibly sustainable, hand-reared meats. the butcher even caught me ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the butcher counter selection and humored me with his silly quips on how he liked to ooh and ahh over the meats, too. even thought it was his job!

we picked up some gorgeous steaks, and some delicious, natural worcestershire wine (the uk actually makes some pretty good wine these days. i hear it is because of global warming—it has a very similar climate to some parts of france. but the jurys out on that imo). and then headed over to dads to cook a little anniversary dinner for him and my step-mum.

we met dad at his local pub for a few drinks before dinner. by now, i am sure you can sense how much the pub plays such a large part of uk life. it’s like a community of sorts—a gathering place to catch up with pals regularly. but honestly, pals you might only see in the pub. it’s an institution! and of course, we had some crisps and a few pints of ale.

as soon as we arrived at dads, the northern soul was playing out of dads newest contraption—a sonos speaker. and so we popped some bubbly we had just purchased from broomfields and proceeded to make some snacks. enter pan con tomate.

we also made steak with peppercorn cauliflower puree and, for dessert, vanilla ice cream with olive oil and flaky salt.

the best night, with the best people. my husband, my dad and my step-mum. maybe coming ‘home’ wasn’t so bad afterall.

the next day i went to see my beloved aunty and uncle, rich and jo. rich is my mums brother and i grew up loving both of these people immensely. i have always been very close to them, and again—i cherished memories of summers in their garden and helping my aunty Jo clean out her horses. i hadn’t seen them in over 5 years, so i had to stop by.

we caught up on life and it was such a lovely afternoon. i feel most similar to my uncle in regard to people in my family—they don’t have kids and have enjoyed food, travel and building their home over the years. just like andy and i. i always remember thinking how cool they both were. i cried when i drove away from their house, and i could see my uncle crying too. it was such a sweet reunion. (i’m crying as i write this too).

after that we picked up my dad and step-mum and dropped into andy’s dad 70th birthday party, which was also really cute! we saw people we hadn’t seen for maybe 5-7 years and also got to celebrate gray, andy’s dad. it was all very happy and emotional. and who doesn't love a classic british church hall shindig?

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we left worcester the next morning, and hot-stepped it to our beloved bristol to catch up with old friends over more pints and of course—a sunday roast. again, we saw friends that we hadn’t seen for 5 years (or more in most cases). it was such a fun day for food and old friends.

after a very happy time back in worcestershire and bristol, we left for cornwall the following day. and this is where the real food adventures begin! stay tuned.

talk soon

xo