Rachel Allen book signing in Alfriston, East Sussex

What a fun day today has been. It all started on Saturday when Claire came home with the latest Rachel Allen cookery book, Home Cooking, for me. I thoroughly enjoy watching Rachel's cookery series on TV and have got all her other cookery books as well. Her style is simple and delicious and it's got me interested in cooking again! No mean feat in our household where we have a number of picky eaters. I've been trying out new recipes and am enjoying cooking things from scratch. . . Long story short, Claire had gone on to Rachel's website and had been telling me about it. Yesterday afternoon I decided to have a look at the website myself and that's when I noticed Rachel was having a book signing in Alfriston today. Alfriston is not that far from us (though with my little detour to the South Africa shop in Newhaven it was an hour or so there) so I phoned Mum and asked if she fancied going. . . I knew of Alfriston and had heard that it was a lovely village - sounded like a good place to visit and we'd get to meet Rachel at the same time. I took two of my cookery books with me and off we went. . . The bookshop holding the event was Much Ado Bookshop (seen below). Rachel's books on display in the window We hadn't decided whether to go get the books signed first or go for lunch first. Looking in the shop we saw that there was a queue, but it wasn't too long, and decided to go to the signing first.

Rachel was as lovely in person as she comes across on TV. We had a chat and she signed our books. Emily and Claire were most put out that I was going to meet her and they couldn't, so I asked if she would mind signing her autograph for them. Her message to them was to enjoy cooking and I'm hoping they will now start participating in the cooking ;o) Rachel Allen, me and Mum

The owners of Much Ado Bookshop were very friendly and helpful and the lady had put a lot of effort into making some of the recipes from Rachel's books for the customers to sample. I have to say one of my favourite recipes from her Bake book is the Quiche Lorraine - it is simply delicious!!! That was one of the recipes for people to sample today and I had a bite of Mum's slice which made me realise I really need to make it again soon!

The two books Rachel signed for me.

What a great experience!

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While in the bookshop we mentioned we were going to have some lunch before heading home and were directed down the road to Wingrove House where, we were told, Rachel had had brunch that morning - certainly seemed worth a try and it didn't disappoint. Lovely decor and friendly staff plus delicious food was a winning combination.

Walking down the road (above) to Wingrove House (below)

The outside of Wingrove House

And finally, this house caught my eye as we walked back to the carpark. It's such a quaint village and I know already that I want to go back to explore more.

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What a great day!

xx

PS. I must apologise for the lack of paragraphs in this post. No matter what I do, blogger seems to remove the space between paragraphs. If anyone knows how to sort this out, I would love to hear! Thank you!!