Maria Crick has always wanted to run her own restaurant and now her dream has come true.  The new Cafe del Mar in Bury St Edmunds offers a tapas/meze menu with 3 dishes for £10.  At the moment it is BYO wine, allowing for a very affordable night out.

• inside the cafe
• greek salad
• panna cotta with blackberries
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In this video Peter Bayless from Braxted Park Cookery School in Witham, Essex explains how to cook the perfect steak. Peter won BBC Masterchef in 2006.

Steak is a staple of the Great British diet but all too often it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Peter shows how easy it is to cook up an exciting meal, and reveals how to make sure your steak is cooked exactly how you like it every time. Follow Peter's step-by-step guide to cooking the perfect steak accompanied with a tangy chimichurri dressing.

You will need the following:

 1 sirloin steak (or steak of your choice)

Olive oil & seasoning

Cast iron griddle pan with ridges

Kitchen foil

Tongs

...especially the one in Elmswell who we promised to mention a long time ago and only just got round to doing it. Why? Because it's on our doorstep, has lots of great value choice, couldn't be more helpful if you want to learn about meat - and why would you drive all that way to buy meat from a supermarket if you could get it here?

Yes folks, this is where the name comes from...

This is the bowl of soup that I bought for my lunch at Morrisons cafe in Beccles yesterday. Presentation is obviously not high on the list!

Why not come and stay with us at suffolkfoodie hq in our new loft room? Situated in the pretty village of Badwell Ash in Mid Suffolk, it's perfect for exploring the whole of East Anglia and only an hour from the Suffolk coast, from Cambridge and from Norwich, and an easy hour and a half drive or a train ride from London. The room is perfect for one or two guests as either a twin or a king-size bedroom and ideal for work or for a relaxing break. We have country walks close to the house and two old bikes that can be borrowed for cycle rides. There is public transport into Bury St Edmunds from outside the house or you can park on our driveway. The loft is sunny and bright with a stable door to let the morning sun in all year round and a balcony overlooking our lovely garden.

• This is the balcony
• with a great view of the garden
• as the Loft is the top floor of our new cartlodge
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• It's a comfortable room to relax in
• have your first breakfast
• with a spacious bathroom shower
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The small kitchen area of the loft is well equipped with a microwave grill and fridge freezer and a good supply of crockery including coffee and tea making facilities. We provide your first breakfast too. There is a bar-style table to eat or work from and a comfortable armchair. You will find wifi and a television and there is a land-line phone with free local calls included as the mobile signal in the village is poor. All linen is 100% cotton and large, thick, fluffy bath towels are provided.The loft room has its own private entrance, approached by a metal staircase. The balcony outside the room has a table and two chairs and there is also a ground level covered patio area below. We don't allow smoking in the room but you can smoke here outside if necessary.

• The en-suite bathroom is well equipped
• the kitchen is perfect for making light snacks
• and it's a large room with plenty of room for two people
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We look forward to welcoming you to Suffolk. Contact us here for information or please mention that you saw the room on suffolkfoodie when booking through Airbnb. 

This is one you need to book ahead.  On Friday and Saturday nights only at 7.45pm in Middlewood Green, it's a farmhouse (converted farm building) with fine dining at a set time, with a set menu and a set price £35.50. There is a formula here, and as "newbies" we were welcomed by the patron/chef and given the format and The Rules. 

"Help yourself to wine and serve it yourself" - Bravo for the affordable quality choice of wines.

"Food will be served, water topped up and bang on the kitchen door if you need anything during the meal"

Plate after plate of competently cooked food came out of the kitchen, but nothing blew us away. Service did the job, food was delivered, plates were cleared, more food delivered, plates cleared... but no interaction from the young and efficient staff, get the jist? We duly knocked on the kitchen door requesting another roll to mop up the pate, but there were no more available and anyway we would be "filled up with the other courses"  This is the perfect place to go with a small party of friends when you want to have a good chat and be fed together, but I did feel that we were expected to say "thank you for having us" as we left.     

• Allium
• Risotto
• 
• Triple citrus pudding
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We went to Buxhall Coach House this week, it was fun trying to work out where to go in the dark... not much exterior lighting, so we seemed to land in what we hoped was a parking space, and found our way in by the candle lantern that was by the front door. Honor cooks and her mother, Sarah looks after the front of house, with the help of some shy young staff. This is not a pile-them-in and rush-them-out sort of restaurant, but has one sitting (everybody arrived at once on the night we were there) and service depends on the dish you have ordered; everything is prepared in-house. Their excellent menu makes ordering very difficult, and it took a while to decide. Honor is a fabulous chef and her abilty to work these flavours with a balance of ingredients, all of which were top quality, is a real art. There are only a handful of places that I could name in Suffolk where the food has a "wow" factor and this is one of them. My pictures are tagged so you can see what we ate but some dishes were wolfed down before we got a chance to take a photo!

• Pasta al forno
• Plum and frangipane tart
• Hunters style rabbit
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Would you like a stand at Church Farm Barn Christmas market?  Are you an Artisan producer? Ruth Williamson and her husband Paul are holding a Christmas Market in their barn at Church Farm, Bradfield Combust on the weekend of December 14th and 15th.  Throughout the month of December they sell their farm grown Christmas trees and homemade fir wreaths from the barn.

Ruth says "the market is undercover in our Suffolk barn, dry but may not be all that warm!  I am looking for local producers such as a breadmaker, cheese supplier or Christmas pudding maker or any food that could be good for Christmas or to give as a gift.  I am happy to consider craft makers too!  I charge £20 for the 2 days and supply a table and chair" for more details email Ruth at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.%20<This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This is one small branch of the £3.99 pear tree bought from Lidl four years ago.The tree has been espaliered and grown against a sunny wall by my father.  I wish I had taken a picture of the whole tree.  The crop was impressive!