The Autumnal comforts alongside ‘two cooks together’

Being a great lover of food and a keen cook, I love nothing more than sitting by the fire on a Sunday night, armed with bowls containing generous helpings of venison stew and apple and blackberry crumble to follow. The crumble, freshly baked from the oven, is made with blackberries picked earlier that day and served with an overflow of custard, an indulging touch to any dessert and in my eyes (which, most of the time, are much bigger than my stomach) is the crème de la crème of traditional comfort food. There is nothing more satisfying than getting stuck into the pleasures of home-cooked cuisine whilst watching one of my favourite programs, Downton Abbey – the only reason I welcome the dark autumnal nights, which bring with them a brand new series…and isn’t it good so far?!

Having been lucky enough to meet the handsome and in foodie terms, mouth-watering Matthew Crawley, aka Dan Steven’s at last year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival, as  a big fan, I was equally excited when it was revealed that this year brought the ‘Women of Downton’ to town. And with them came the bubbly and witty culinary genius behind the lavish dinners that make us drool over our TV screens, Mrs Patmore, known in what I’m reluctant to refer to as ‘real life’, Lesley Nicol. The crowds assembled in the cold and dismal conditions of Sunday night, to listen to Mrs Patmore and Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper, also known as Phyllis Logan, talk of the tales and mischief that occurs behind the scenes at Downton Abbey. Accompanying them was author of The Chronicles of Downton Abbey, Jessica Fellowes, who is niece to the writer of this much loved production, Julian Fellowes, as well as the woman behind all the beautiful costumes, Caroline McCall. And just like an episode of the program, nobody was left disappointed! Once the audience had recovered from the many fits of laughter that broke out during the talk, mainly as a result of stories like the appetizing lobster that turned out not to be the most tasteful prop to grace the kitchen work tops, it was a quick dash to the Waterstones book tent to meet ‘the staff from downstairs’ before an even quicker sprint home to make the next episode of Downton itself. Once I had made the front of the queue, given a forwarding address to the costume designer for all unwanted outfits, shared a quick joke with Mrs Hughes on the chances of sending her staff round to my house for a day, I got to Mrs Patmore. After requesting a recipe which involved serving Matthew Crawley up on a silver platter, I mentioned to her I was a cook myself, by which point she invited me round for a photo of ‘two cooks together’ – a star struck moment that outweighed many encounters with actual celebrity chefs. To finish off a fantastic Sunday, I went home to curl up on the sofa with a bowl of delicious and warming stew to comfort the cockles whilst watching my new culinary friend in another fantastic episode of Downton Abbey.