SUNDAY LUNCH -THE VANE ARMS

Nothing beats a Sunday Lunch round Nanna's with the whole family and no where to sit - which is every Sunday for me. We like to call it 'Stuff your Face Sunday' and the goings on are exactly what it states on the tin. But every once in a while it's nice to venture out and have Sunday Lunch somewhere "in the sticks" with friends. Welcome to my Sunday...

With some of us living locally and some up in Newcastle we like to meet places we have never been to or in a village we would have never known existed. Having decided to meet in Thorpe Thewles, a small picturesque village not far from Sedgefield, we embarked on this sunny Sunday and drove away from the bright lights of Middlesbrough, to a pub called The Vane Arms.

We wandered in to take a peek at the menu only to be greeted by a fellow tea lover and one of our very own tea bee's! I knew instantly that we were on to a winner!  As we have chatted about The Vane Arms I discovered that other tea lovers apparently lurked here too. BONUS!!

We were joined by 4 of my best friends, and this little guy:

But someone got a little hungry...

The day out was really quaint with lots of treasures on the walls and in glass cabinets. There were also these delightful drawings:

We all had a good look at the menu and decided to order nearly everything we could get our hands on. I am not a vegetarian but do like a good veggie starter and this menu does not disappoint! I opted for the beetroot and goats cheese salad.

Sweet coloured beets on a bed of salad leaves and crumbled goats cheese. This was a real treat. There was a salmon bellini too, but that got gobbled up just as soon as the plate hit the table!

Choices for the main event were beef and lamb. We ended up doing this 50/50 because my food envy struck once again as soon as the lamb was put down. The beef came and it was real tasty, I was happy with my choice as it just melted in my mouth. 

I am a huge fan of roast potatoes too and these were no exception. Cooked to perfection, all crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

You'd think that this lunch could not get any better, right? Well it did! We also had the pleasure of cauliflower cheese! It was all crispy on top and the rest of the cheese melted away over little florets of cauliflower. I do like a side that you wouldn't expect to accompany my lunch. We also had a sweetcorn debate while chowing down. Personally, I am a fan! So why not pop it on your Sunday dinner? Some of the others were no sweetcorn goers. Sweetcorn is underrated!! 

A side of tradtional roast dinner favourites, carrots, broccoli and more cauliflower.

It all went down a storm.

Now I was feeling really hungry so decided that when you can have one course, why not have two? And when you can have two courses, why not have three? OK, so I am coming across as more than a  little ravenous but, in my defence, it was Sunday Lunch!

With far too many choices for dessert (and me eating most of baby Eli's chocolate buttons) I decided upon the cheese board. This meant I could trade my cheese and crackers for bites of my company's sweet, sweet puds! See how that works? 

I do love a good bit of cheese and chutney.

The delish cheeses on this board were: 

And I also got a lesson off my crackers friend - get it? I was given the down-low on what is what in crackers town.  I, myself thought they were all the same, but no! We had puffs and water biscuits. There was  even one which had salt on one side so that when you place the cheese on the plain side you get a contrasting salty taste when you pop that cracker in your mouth. Who would have known?!

Ultimately, I had a nibble of everyone else's dessert.

 The apple and blackberry crumble with the most delightful custard.

The apple frangipan was  huge hit too. 

We decided upon espressos to give us that after dinner kick. Look at them cute little shortbread biscuits! 

The after group photo (one for the baby's album). 

As we are not fans of having our photo taken we went our separate ways, discussing if we can get our hands on some theme park tickets before the newlyweds embark on their American adventure (honeymoon).

If you happen to go for a drive out for Sunday Lunch DO stop by at The Vane Arms!!!

 It was really tasty and they also use local produce which in my eyes is always a winner. 

Thanks tea lovers! X