Charleton Fruit Farm, Montrose, Scotland

During our trip to Scotland last month, I managed to find a few Pick-Your-Own fruit farms near Aberdeen. We took a leisurely drive (about 50 minutes) to Charleton Fruit Farm at Montrose. It was raining when we left, but we kept our fingers crossed and luckily for us, when we arrived at the farm, it stopped raining and we were greeted with fine weather albeit a little muddy (but that's what wellies are for).

Brambles... beautiful sight!

Passed by Stonehaven to get to Montrose

Upon arrival, we headed to the shop to get baskets/containers and the staff kindly pointed out the zones where we can pick fruits from. They have a wide range of fruits available here, including strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, brambles, gooseberries, currants, plums and apples. We have picked strawberries before in KL but not any of the other fruits, so the kids were super excited!

We first arrived at the plots with blueberry plants; blueberries are Baby D's favorite fruit. It was definitely a wonderful experience for our kids getting to see/touch a blueberry plant and picking fruits from it :) You could see them beaming with smiles.

Blueberry plant

Picking his first blueberry...

The strawberries are grown under a tunnel. Initially we were told that there were no strawberries available for picking, but we were so happy when we saw loads of plump juicy ones ready for picking. Before long, the kids have already filled a whole container, so it was time to move on to the next plot.

Daddy telling kids- pick the red and juicy ones :)

Strawberry flower

I got a box full of strawberries! Looking mighty pleased with himself

Scotland is known to grow some of the best raspberries in the world (we always buy loads from the supermarket) so we definitely must pick some here to bring home with us. Raspberries are really fun to pick, you have to slip them off the central white seed. And lovely to eat too!

Chloe picking raspberries 

There were apples too, but we didn't pick any - just taking photos! :)

As well as plums

Ooooo and lots and lots of bramble (aka blackberry)- one of my favorites! Very prickly so be careful when you pick them. I think they look so pretty.

Blackberry flower

The red ones are really really tart... u got to pick the black ripe ones.

Once you have finished picking your fruits, simply bring them back to the shop to be weighed. They're really reasonably priced - blueberries £4.00/kg, brambles & raspberries £3.30/kg and strawberries £3.00/kg. I think we paid less than £3 for all the fruits that we picked (almost 600g of strawberries). I was also impressed that the fruits kept really well, we had them in the fridge for about a week and they were still super fresh. Most importantly, we had a really wonderful time picking the fruits.


There is a large play area for kids and a super huge sand pit, unfortunately most of the toys/slides were wet due to the rainfall earlier so we didn't get to play much.

HUGE trampoline

Instead we went to the coffee shop and had hot chocolates to warm ourselves up. The kids shared a bacon butty while we had the warm asparagus soup with roll as well as a big breakfast. :)

Yummy hot chocolate

Cosy coffee shop with friendly staff

Big breakfast

Asparagus soup

They also have ready-picked fruits and vegetables (marrow, courgettes) as well as their famous strawberry tarts for sale in the shop.

Verdict: A great place for a fun family day out! :) Highly recommended.


Opening times: According to their website, fruit picking is available from March to December. March 24th - June: 10am - 4pm; July - August: 9am - 5pm; September/October/December: 10am - 4.30pm.

Price: Total bill at coffee shop £18.00.

Location: Charleton Fruit Farm, Hillside, Montrose, Angus, DD10 9EW (1 Mile North of Montrose on the A92).

Tel : +44 (0)1674 830226

Website: http://www.charleton-farm.co.uk/

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Recipe: Stir fried udon with prawns, scallops and sweet chilli sauce + WORLDFOODS Giveaway

Hi everyone! I am delighted to share that WORLDFOODS products are now available to purchase at all Cold Storage stores (including Penang and Johor), Jason and BIG supermarket.

Why WORLDFOODS products? If you're a busy parent / someone working full time with little time to cook / someone who wants to whip up a quick meal in the kitchen, WORLDFOODS is simply perfect for you. Through my collaborations with WORLDFOODS this year, I have discovered many interesting & delicious sauces which I can use for my everyday cooking ie. for stir fries or as a marinade or dipping sauce. They're really convenient and easy to use. Furthermore, WORLDFOODS sauces are food allergens free, trans-fat free and gluten free with no artificial preservatives, coloring or flavouring,  and are suitable for vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and Muslims.

To celebrate WORLDFOODS being stocked in these new locations, we are doing a giveaway whereby 3 bottles of WORLDFOODS Dipping/Stir-Fry sauce will be given away to 1 lucky winner.

Please enter your details onto Rafflecopter App below as well as commenting in this blogpost "I want to enter this giveaway" with your name and email address - you can gain more entries by completing additional steps in Rafflecopter. This contest is open to those living in Malaysia and Singapore, and will run until 7 September 2014 23:59. The winner will be contacted via email.

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I very rarely use bottled sauces unless they are a trusted brand like WORLDFOODS which contain no artificial preservatives, coloring or flavouring. Furthermore, it is very convenient and easy to use and I can whip up delicious meals for family in less than 30 minutes.

We like having "fast food" for lunch, and by fast food, I don't mean McDonalds but a delicious plate of pasta/noodles. Back in my uni days, I used to make a noodle dish with sweet chilli sauce (which I loved a lot) hence I am recreating it with udon and WORLDFOODS' Thai sweet chilli sauce with kaffir lime.

For this dish, I used king prawns, scallops and chicken as well as adding in lots of vegetables (carrots, sugar snap peas and cabbage) so this is a pretty healthy dish to serve to your family. The sauce is aromatic and tangy, making this noodle dish very appetizing. Total prep and cooking time is under 20 minutes.

My boy loved it :)

Nom nom nom!

Stir fried udon with prawn, scallop and sweet chilli sauce
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5-8 minutes
Cooking time: 8-10 minutes
Serves 2


Ingredients
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
200g fresh udon
8-10 sugar snap peas, topped and tailed and halved lengthways
1 cabbage leaf, finely sliced
1/4 carrot, peeled and julienned
80g chicken breast, sliced
8 king prawns, peeled and deveined with tails intact
6 scallops (I used Hokkaido)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp mirin
2 tbsp WORLDFOODS Thai sweet chilli with kaffir lime sauce
Salt

To garnish
Spring onion, finely chopped
Toasted white sesame seeds



1. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Once boiling, add the udon and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Set aside.

2. In a wok, heat oil over medium high heat. Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute until lightly golden. Add chicken breast and cook for another 1 - 1 1/2 minute, until cooked through.

3. Add cabbage, sugar snap peas, carrot, prawn and scallops, and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add in udon, and season with light soy sauce, mirin and WORLDFOODS Thai sweet chilli with kaffir lime sauce. Taste, and season with more salt as necessary.

4. Garnish with spring onion and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

*Other locations you can get WORLDFOODS products from are:  Village Grocer (Bangsar Village 1, Sunway Giza, Mt Kiara), Jaya Grocers (Intermark, Empire Shopping, Plaza Jelutong) and Hock Choon @ Ampang.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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