S’mores, cider, & a night by the fire.

07.05

Fire-pit-smores-Cider-with-Rosie-cover

Tania, Freya and I bonded over food. The first time we ever met was over drinks and French fries in a pub just off the King’s Road. The next time we met up was at Borough Market, which then turned into an evening of cheese fondue at Freya’s flat over in London Fields. Since then, every time we’ve seen one another, whether it’s been for birthdays, special occasions, or just a quick half hour catch up somewhere in town before we all scatter off to different appointments, there’s been food involved in some form or other.

A couple of months ago we hatched a plan to combine our favourite things- cheese, wine, chocolate and uhh…each other (have I made it sound like we’re dating? Because I kind of feel like I have…). We dubbed it ‘Cheese Night’, because we’re dead original like that. And this weekend, on a Sunday evening that stayed *just* dry and warm enough that eating outside didn’t feel like a punishment, our plans came together!

Cheese-board

Let me set the scene…

The night was to be held at the Chappel household (that’s ours), and Tania, Freya and her husband Adam, and Jason and I were each to purchase a couple of different types of cheese, some saucisson (Tania recently introduced me to the wonders of saucisson, and now I’m nothing short of obsessed), a bottle or two of something cold and crisp, and one essential component (you know, marshmallows, biscuits, chocolate) of the s’mores that I’ll get to talking about later on. The scheme was a good one, foolproof! Except that what we actually did was each buy loads of everything, so we ended up with basically an entire deli counter and fromagerie set out on a table in our back garden! Just as well that there’s no such thing as too much cheese, right?

^^ Up there we’ve got a creamy Stilton called ‘Cropwell Bishop Beauvale’, a cows cheese with a vein of ash, Compté, and three different types of saucisson (garlic, venison, and straight up). What you can’t see is all the bread, the three other types of cheese sitting just out of shot on the board, the caprese and green salads, smoked sunblush tomatoes, and olives to boot. And crackers too. Oh, and radishes. ^^

To go alongside our garden dinner party, Rekorderlig sent us over a few bottles of their beautiful fruit ciders as part of their #BrighterNights campaign! It couldn’t have been a more perfect opportunity for cider drinking to take place, and hey look! It’s cider, with Rosie! On Cider with Rosie! I think that’s the first time I’ve been able to do that in 3 years of blogging. (Totally worth the wait.)

Speaking of cider though, Rekorderlig is my hands down my favourite and has been for years. It’s sweet but not overly so, the flavours are divine (the strawberry and lime is the best if you ask me!), and poured out over a few ice cubes and some chopped fresh fruit, it makes the most perfectly effortless garden party drink going!

Rekorderlig-cider-CiderwithRosie Spring-garden-party-CiderwithRosie Rekorderlig-cider

^^ Mango & raspberry flavour is so good! And so is wearing Jason’s jumpers…^^

Garden-dinner-partyCider-with-Rosie

Once the cheese feast was over and done with and we’d all eaten our fill (which took an embarrassingly short amount of time considering we all consider ourselves cheese eating pros and two of our number, Tania and Jason, have Gallic blood…), we moved onto the second course. S’mores!

Jason and I looked into hiring out a fire pit for the evening reception of our wedding a little while ago, but decided that since the hire price was barely less than purchase price, we’d go ahead and buy it instead of having it just as a one off. And considering that we’ve had it maybe three weeks tops and have already worked our way through several bags of marshmallows and two loads of firewood, I think it’s not been a bad investment!

Firepit-Cider-with-Rosie Freya-and-Adam-Cider-with-Rosie How-to-make-smores-in-the-UK

Since Adam is Canadian and Freya herself is basically Canadian too (it’s a long story, you’ll have to ask her for it…), I was under strict instructions not to buy any, and I quote, ‘horrible British marshmallows that always taste really bad’! Instead, Freya came armed with a suitcase-sized bag of giant American marshmallows (those things are like four regular sized mallows all in one), which, I have to say, were the absolute bomb. They toasted up a treat, and were so ginormous they basically were a meal in and of themselves.

We stuck them on skewers, held them over the burning logs until they turned golden and melting, then sandwiched them between chocolate digestives and sat back to enjoy the bliss. I”ll tell you though, I’d not realised until recently quite what a messy business s’more-eating is! Ted had a whale of a time hoovering up the crumbs beneath our feet…

Toasting-marshmallows Cider-with-Rosie-smores-Nishaantishu-photography Cider-with-Rosie-smores-Nishaantishu-TaniaJoyFelicityJane Toasting-marshmallows-by-the-fire

We stayed sitting by the fireside late into the night, toasting endless rounds of marshmallows (plus the odd piece of bread too, that got slathered in butter and topped with flaky salt- divine!) and soaking up the woodsmoke. In fact, we soaked up so much woodsmoke that I can still smell it on my hair, even though I’ve washed it since! I don’t mind a bit though, because really, who could complain about catching a scent every now and again that brings back memories of crackling firewood, warm hands and faces, belly laughing until my stomach aches, and dreams of cabin holidays in Canada with the very best friends a girl could ask for.
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* This post was sponsored by Rekorderlig as part of their #BrighterNights campaign, who asked if I’d like to include a feature of their ciders here on Cider with Rosie and since Cheese Night was already in the diary, it seemed the most perfect opportunity! As ever, my opinions are nothing but honest, and I’m so happy to be able to recommend a brand of cider I’ve loved for years :)

** Photo of Tania holding a flaming marshmallow, and me holding a corker of a s’more, by Freya!

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23 Comments
Posted in COUNTRYSIDE LIFE, FOOD, FRIENDS, HOME, JASON, SPRING
  • emily couture

    Beautiful photos :)

    emily xx

    emilycouture95.blogspot.co.uk

  • http://sophiesmakeupblog.blogspot.co.uk/ Sophie

    Lovely post Rosie!

    Sophie x | SophiesMakeupBlog

  • https://www.woodenwindowsills.co.uk woodenwindowsills

    Ahh this looks like the perfect evening! :) There is something so good about nights where everyone brings different food on the same theme and you eat, laugh and sit by a fire! the s’mores look incredible too! :) Alice xx

    http://www.woodenwindowsills.co.uk

  • Anna

    Omg this is so lovely!!! It looks like you had a great time :D

  • http://www.alittlelusciousness.com/ rosie alittlelusciousness

    What a heavenly evening! Our firepit is still sitting in the garden with half the packaging on… really need to get it out and going!
    Rosie xx

  • http://www.littlemisskaty.co.uk/ Little Miss Katy

    This sounds utterly perfect! Cheese and wine are two of my very favourite things and I love the idea of having it in the garden over a fire with friends :)

    (Also love the idea of a fire pit at a wedding by the way. Totally stealing that for my imaginary future wedding!) xx

    Little Miss Katy | UK Lifestyle Blog

  • http://www.brittonloves.co.uk Lauren S

    The fire pit is such a nice addition, this sounds like the perfect evening with friends! I always loved a flavoured cider or beer, tastes so much better especially in Summer :)

    Lauren x

    Britton Loves | Lifestyle Food Beauty

  • http://stampplease.blogspot.com/ Camille

    This looks like the perfect evening with friends! We love our firepit. There’s nothing better than sitting around it on a chilly evening.

    Silly Medley: Lifestyle and Travel

  • https://rhymeandribbons.com Amanda @ Rhyme & Ribbons

    There’s nothing like American marshmallows :) xx

  • Kathryn

    You’re posts are so inspirational, makes me want to up my photography and blogging game.
    Sounds like you had an amazing evening, in all honesty I wish every night was Cheese Night for me. I can’t get enough of the stuff!

    Kathryn /Cherries in the Snow

  • http://www.permanentprocrastination.com/ Permanent Procrastination

    This all sounds and looks amazing. Plus I love rekorderlig.

    Tegan xx – Permanent Procrastination

  • Emma Farley

    Looks like a perfect evening :)

  • http://www.adashofginger.co.uk Kirsty W

    This sounds like the perfect evening – food, friends & cider! That fire pit is wonderful too, bet you’re going to get so much use out of it!

  • http://kenzieblogslife.blogspot.com Kenzie

    Your photos are really nice! This whole evening looks incredible! :)
    xx
    Kenzie
    Behindhazeleyes06.blogspot.com

  • Suze

    How lovely that you were able to toast your cheese evening with cider! I love the jamjars you’ve used to serve it in

    Suze | LuxuryColumnist

  • http://www.maidenincornwall.co.uk Maiden in Cornwall

    Wow, this looks just perfect. I would love to have a fire pit for my back garden. Will just have to make do with BBQs on the beach til then though!

    Liv | http://www.maidenincornwall.co.uk

  • http://lizziedailyblog.blogspot.co.uk/ Elizabeth Rebecca

    Looks like you had a great night with your friends. Cheese night is a great idea.

    Lizzie Dripping

  • http://www.thelibrarian.co.uk/ Georgina

    I looove s’mores! We also had them one evening a couple of weeks back with the American marshmallows, I actually keep a bag in just for s’more making! I’m going to try making my own graham crackers this weekend too to see if they are better than digestives :) looks like you had a brilliant cheese night :) xx

  • http://runningwhitehorses.blogspot.com Carina

    When i saw that photo of you drinking cider, i was thinking “OH YES, CIDER with Rosie!” That sounds like an incredible evening you had. Those s’mores look soooo good. What a better way to chill with your friends by a nice open fire.

    X, Carina
    Running White Horses | Fashion + Travel

  • http://www.annainwonderland.co.uk AnnainWonderland

    Looks lovely, Rosie! x

    http://www.annainwonderland.co.uk

  • http://withloveinmind.co.uk/ Hannah | With Love in Mind

    Ahh I absolutely love doing this! My hubby and I will quite happily sit at the front of our house (unfortunately that’s the bit that gets the sun – not our extensive garden at the back doh!), with a log burning and a skewer full of marshmellows. We are yet to share this with friends, but I’m now feeling inspired! Lovely post.

  • Rachel Burdett-Smith

    All this food looks so amazing! And the smores are the best! Can’t wait to have a go at these when I go camping this summer.

    http://lifewiththeroofdown.blogspot.co.uk/

  • http://www.thegemagenda.com Gemma

    Wow, what a lovely evening spent with good friends :) It’s moments like this that get treasured the most :)

    Gemma x
    http://www.thebritishfeather.com (A UK Lifestyle Blog)

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