May's small things

I've had a few little photos hanging around for a little while that I wanted to share but it didn't seem like they'd really make posts of their own - so rather than leaving them sad and alone while I tried to work out how to extend potential posts, I decided it was better just to share them all in one go and possibly do a monthly round up of little tidbits.

First off, it's a recent visit that D and I made to The Queen's Oak in Finchampstead.  We went for lunch as I had read reviews that suggested it was child friendly and that it had a playground - a perfect way to let him run a bit of energy off while I enjoyed the sunshine and my current favourite tipple - soda water and cranberry juice.

The food was good.  I had mushrooms on toast that were seasoned perfectly and covered with just the right amount of rocket - not so much that you feel like you need to eat forkfuls of the stuff on its own in order to get through it and not too little so that you wonder if it was a bit of an afterthought.  The ciabatta was of good quality too and toasted just a little.

D was really rather chuffed with his sausages and chips.  Check out those THREE sausages.  He really charmed the staff too.  When asked what he wanted he repetitively told them that he wanted ketchup... and chips... and sausages.  Ketchup was definitely the most important element of the meal. In this, he is definitely more Mr K's son than mine... 

The chips were amazing.  I am forever looking for somewhere that sells good chips - crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  These came about as close to perfection as any I've ever tried.  All in, our meals plus drinks came to £13.  I'm hoping to get Mr K over there at some stage.  The promised play area was good fun and D had his first try at a 'big boy' swing.  

This is our ONLY successful attempt at a 3d dinosaur cookie.  Father Christmas bought D a stegosaurus set for Christmas.  I'm not sure if the recipe that I used for it was wrong, or if I made the biscuits too thick but they just kept falling apart.  They were still tasty and D loved making them but it was a bit of a shame not to have been able to make more.  

Finally, Shake Shack.  These photos have been waiting to be shared for ages... along with my thoughts about them.  The wait was a bit longer than I would have liked, the chips fairly decent but not exceptional and the shakes were pretty good.  I was a bit disappointed by the cheesy chips too as the cheese sauce wasn't quite right for my palate.  We went for just a basic shake - so maybe if we can be persuaded to make the wait, we'll give a more adventurous shake a try next time.