Jolly Old Jempson's

Today we ventured to the wilds of sunny Peasmarsh, famous for two things: being the location of the farm belonging to Fab Macca Wacky Thumbs Aloft, and being the location of the fabulous Jempson's.

Jempson's has been around for quite a while, in fact the business has been in existence as a grocer since 1935, but in the 80s they built an amazing supermarket with a café and a scratch bakery and deli here. Yes, I know that all sounds quite pedestrian and commonplace these days, but back in the 80s for an independent British grocery to do that was unheard of. My grandparents (both sets) were quite enamoured with the place, turning every visit into an excursion of near-vacation proportions, or going just to eat, not to shop. It has to be said the café is the main reason we went today, and the groceries we bought were just coincidental.

There are two main reasons the cafe is so fab. Firstly, all the main meals are £5 each. Secondly, they're so good!

I chose the 'Hearty Brunch', a lavish affair with two slices of bacon, a sausage, a grilled tomato, sauteed mushrooms, a fried egg, a mountain of chips and a helping of baked beans.

Sis chose the Cottage Pie which had a cheesy topping as well as a ton of veggies;

and Laura chose the Chicken Curry which came with a pappadum so large it almost obscured the rest of the food, and a side of mango chutney.

Altogether with a coffee, a tea and a latte it came to just under £18, which isn't bad at all.

We then went around the grocery store and of course I snapped a few piccies of some choice items.

It is still only 5 days into the New Year, and even though the store still had their Christmas tree up, Easter Eggs were bloody everywhere. Here are some Mars Eggs...

Some Lindt Gold Bunnies...

and some Galaxy Eggs. C'mon folks. Shameless commercialism, considering it won't actually be Easter for another 109 days.

There are no words.

The Findus Crispy Pancake is a remarkable invention, because it is filled with all kinds of different squishy fillings, which squirt out of random places when bitten into and are usually like molten lava, they don't actually resemble or taste like any pancake ever eaten and are covered in a sort of crunchy breading. Even so, you can't help but like the things.

Just put this one in for my Georgia buddies. Thought it might amuse them. Probably the only time you'll ever see the words "Southern Fried" and "Yankee" on the same product.

I must say there are some particularly brilliant names for beer out there. Some seem to have been inspired by too much WoW and Dungeons and Dragons...

Epic.

Legend.

Goliath - the beer to slay a mighty thirst.

Dark Lord.

Wychcraft and Hobgoblin.

Then there are the curiously-named Waggle Dance and Banana Bread Beer, both mighty tasty I might add.

But without a doubt the strangest name is this one, a fine pint of which I had recently in The White Lion.

Kooshti sante!