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Elaine Stocks

@elainestocks

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Food, flowers, faraway places... former Deputy editor BBC Good Food magazine. Click @atablewithaview for more travel & eating out 🍋☕️🍳🍽️🌸

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This crazy, unforgettable summer was packed with happy days, but none happier than the wedding of Michael & Chloe. A full weekend of fun, friends - old & new - posh frocks and great food. The big day dawned sunny & hot.. then, 45 minutes before the outdoor ceremony, the heavens opened! Plan B brought us all to the historic little chapel at @hotelcastellemporda It was beautiful, intimate and hot! The service conducted by @tobyweddings was both hilarious and emotional - such a memorable weekend 💕@chloebethan @chloeenespana_ @gibsonmichaelp @crgibson105 @atablewithaview @alexandralouisewadd @jowaddilove @stevewaddilove @emmablakeston taken in Castell d'Empordà, La Bisbal d'Empordà by @elainestocks

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2 months ago

Epic steak! 🔥 Fabulous dinner at @swissbutter in Madrid. They keep it simple at this wildly popular restaurant - steak, chips, salad, bread and chilli flakes served with *THAT* secret sauce! I could taste mustard, herbs and, of course, butter. But apparently the sauce contains 33 ingredients. I could have inhaled an entire jug! Somehow we managed to share two puddings (between four): the molten chocolate and an insanely good pain perdu. ¡Buen provecho! @gibsonmichaelp @crgibson105 @chloeenespana_ @wheresollienow13 by @elainestocks

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2 months ago

❄️Cooling down with piquant, refreshing chilled soups. These have been a go-to lunch in France & Spain, where they regularly feature on summer menus. You can also make your own - find recipes for gazpacho, salmorejo, pea soup & more @goodfoodeveryday But if it’s just too hot to cook, most supermarkets stock cartons of gazpacho. Just add a variety of toppings - diced cucumber, croutons, chopped egg, ham or avocado… and plenty of olive oil
* Salmorejo + stracciatella + huile verte @lacocottefelee in Lagrasse, southern France @lesplusbeauxvillagesdefrance
* Chilled pea & asparagus soup with goat’s cheese cracker @bistro_lechoppe in Beziers, southern France
* Shop-bought @alvalle_es gazpacho + cucumber, avocado + lemon olive oil
* Gazpacho + quail egg + jamón + olive oil @samarinada in St Feliu de Guixols, Cataluña by @elainestocks

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4 months ago

Fabulous final day in Japan! Clear views of snow-capped Mount Fuji! On our last day in Tokyo, we awoke to sunshine & blue skies. So we jumped on a train to Kawaguchiko, one of the closest towns to the iconic mountain. It’s unusual to catch Mount Fuji without clouds but half an hour before our return train, the final wisps lifted so we could see the sacred peak that has inspired artists, including Hokusai and Hiroshige. Magical! @atablewithaview @crgibson105 🗻 taken in Mount Fuji by @elainestocks

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9 months ago

Postcards from the the buzzy city of Christchurch on NZ’s South Island. An earthquake rocked @christchurchnz in 2011 but despite the destruction of many historic buildings, the city is vibrant and full of positive stories.
* We loved the trams - a great way to see the city - and we also loved New Regent Street, a 1930s shopping arcade built in the Spanish Mission style and packed with shops, cafes & restaurants @newregentstreet
* The best pie of our trip - braised lamb pithivier with pea puree, harissa, marinated tomatoes & jus. We ate this beauty for brunch @miro_christchurch
* The pastel-coloured buildings in @newregentstreet
* Stupendous kimchi rice omelette at super-cool coffee spot @childsister__
* Dazzling protea flowers at the Botanic Gardens @christchurchbotanicgardens
* Lots of street art emerged in the aftermath of the earthquake - there were a lot of blank canvases! We loved this image, Rise from the Rubble, depicting the kowhai & the silvereye bird @visitchristchurch
* This ‘Gothic Revival’ building survived the quake
* Statue of Antarctic explorer Captain Scott, who died on an expedition to the South Pole - Christchurch is a major gateway for Antarctic expeditions
* Punting on the city’s River Avon
* How cute are these telephone boxes!
@crgibson105 @atablewithaview taken in Christchurch, New Zealand by @elainestocks

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9 months ago

Postcards from New Zealand’s South Island - we drove more than 1,800km, had so many wow moments and saw more sheep than people!
* The snow-capped mountains & waterfalls along Milford Sound Highway
* Lupins grow wild along the Lindis Pass - stunning
* Breathtaking Mount Cook and the turquoise waters of Lake Pukaki
* Loved this lone willow tree at Lake Wanaka, Otago. It was planted as a fence post, then unexpectedly grew into a tree!
* Cruise around Milford Sound - dramatic cliffs & towering waterfalls, and spotted fur seals (see pic 10)
* The bridge & 1930s church at Lake Tekapo - the intense aquamarine colour looks unreal but is due to glacier minerals suspended in the water
* Beautiful horse on the Gold Rush village of Cardrona, near Queenstown
* Rainbow - and cocktails - overlooking the lake at Queenstown
* Fur seals at Milford Sound
@crgibson105 @atablewithaview taken in South Island, New Zealand by @elainestocks

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9 months ago

Epic views - and a magical pink sunset ➡️- in the medieval hilltop village of Aínsa, in northern Spain. We loved climbing the very narrow steps to the 11th-century Santa Maria church bell tower to gaze out over the rooftops and mountains, including La Peña Montañesa. The village, in Aragon, has a huge fortified castillo, cobbled streets & even a Michelin-starred restaurant @restaurantecallizo (sadly closed when we visited). We’ve spent September driving through France to northern Spain, and back again, plotting our route with the help of @lesplusbeauxvillagesdefrance @lospueblosmbe and @thetimes travel features - huge thanks to super-planner & driver @crgibson105 #pueblosbonitos taken in Ainsa by @elainestocks

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a year ago

Gorgeous Gordes - perched on a rock, 340m high, in the south France - one of the @lesplusbeauxvillagesdefrance and it’s easy to see why. With breathtaking views across the Luberon valley, the village has an historic chateau, a church, beautiful dry-stone buildings and is packed with cafes, bars, restaurants and little shops. There’s even a branch of @maisonladuree in the main square! Historically, the village was isolated & poor. Most of the population worked in the wool & silk industries, or grew madder - which was used to make red dye. There was also olive farming - until the great frost of 1956 destroyed the industry. By the end of the Second World War, the population had shrunk from around 3,000 to less than 1,000. It was artists, like Marc Chagall & Pol Mara, who led the revival of Gordes, attracted by the light & the landscape. Today, Gordes has a population of about 2,000 and is a tourist hotspot. The first shot - through the window - is from Le Cercle Republicain, a cafe-bar with a little terrace overlooking the valley. This is one of the last few remaining Cercle Republicains in France. They were set up to uphold the principles of the Republic, and combat the influence of the church & royalists. During the Second World War, the bar became a vital hub of the Resistance in this remote mountain village @atablewithaview @crgibson105 taken in Gordes, Luberon, Provence by @elainestocks

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a year ago

London for free! Lots of overseas visitors has meant we’ve been doing touristy things over this incredible summer. All fun but can be expensive. Horizon 22 was one of the best experiences and it was absolutely FREE! At 254m high, @horizon22b is the highest viewing platform in the capital - an ear-popping 58 floors up in the lift. (The Shard is London’s tallest building but the observation gallery, costing about £25, is slightly lower.) We spent at least an hour spotting the landmarks - you can see as far as the Thames Barrier & Canary Wharf, Croydon & Crystal Palace and out to Wembley. It’s breathtaking. All you need to do is go online at 10am on Mondays to book for a fortnight ahead. Thanks for the tip @susann_hohlfeld by @elainestocks

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a year ago

Remembering my Auntie Jackie, who would have been 99 today - she died late last year. My aunt was born in Liverpool in 1926 – the same year as the late Queen – and witnessed a century of great change. The Second World War, three Coronations, five monarchs, huge advances in technology and, latterly, the Covid pandemic. The first photo shows her with her older sister Yvonne and her super-stylish mother (my nana) - looking like she’s walked straight out of the Great Gatsby. Jackie’s father (my grandfather) was a captain for the Harrison Shipping Line in Liverpool. He was often away at sea – mostly sailing to the West Indies, South America, India, Ceylon and Africa. His voyages inspired my aunt, her sister and her baby brother Ian (my dad -see pic 4) to travel the globe. Auntie Jackie became a geography teacher and then deputy head of a big grammar school in Morpeth, Newcastle. She and her husband Colin, who were married more than 50 years, enjoyed decades of travel, well into their seventies. After she died, I found a letter that she’d written to me 10 years previously. In it, she said: ‘Do everything that you can together and don’t put off going places. Make the most of life while you are fit and able.’ Those are words to live by. by @elainestocks

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a year ago

Summer lovin’… salads, chilled soup, skewers and lots of picky bits from the fridge. So good to eat outdoors - in both Spain & London - but In this heat, it’s got to be quick to cook or totally no-cook. Not too hard when there’s so much fresh produce to choose:
🍅Tomato, burrata & broad bean salad with salsa verde - recipe at @goodfoodeveryday rustled up by @kate.roberts.58760608
🥫Gazpacho - refreshing yet satisfying. You can buy gazpacho in all the Spanish supermarkets, so easy yet feels so smart
🍑Peach, jamón & burrata salad
🍉Watermelon & blue cheese - eating this on repeat!
🌶️Sticky chicken, chorizo & padrón pepper skewers - another @goodfoodeveryday recipe - served with flatbreads & tzatziki
🍒Juicy cherries from @mercatpalafrugell
@atablewithaview @crgibson105 by @elainestocks

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a year ago

Ginormous girasoles - the sunflower season has started early in Catalunya, which has been scorching hot all June. So joyful to suddenly drive past a field of these sunny blooms and see many more about to burst into flower 🌻 taken in Catalonia, Spain by @elainestocks

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a year ago