All recipes, both our own plus those reprinted with permission from cookbook publishers
Although I like Valentine Warner’s approach to food and cooking, I have mixed feelings about his telly programmes, mostly stemming from his incessant winking and innuendos (which might be charming in person but don’t translate to TV). I actually had to switch off when he referred to mini lavender meringues as “fairy tits”, though friends would ... Read more »
Today is Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Happy Diwali! The name itself means “a row of lamps” and describes the traditional ghee-filled earthenware lamps which are traditionally lit in their hundreds and thousands. An unforgettably beautiful sight. There are a number of different reasons and stories behind the festival which you can read about ... Read more »
Last week saw me doing more baking than drinking, as I found myself entering the Great Chocolate Cake-Off taking place at Chocolate Unwrapped. Although I thoroughly enjoy baking, in recent years it’s tended to be more bread based, so the prospect of coming up with a chocolate cake worthy of being eaten by anyone other ... Read more »
Although we’ve not achieved as much as we’d hoped over at the new allotment (which we took on this time last year) we have enjoyed harvesting fruits from the existing trees and bushes. Our plum tree gave us a fair crop of juicy sweet fruit. I’m glad we picked nearly all of them on one ... Read more »
Bravo! Ouais! Le Vacherin Mont d’Or est arrivé! In France, there’s quite a celebration when the season of availability for this fabulous cheese rolls around once again. Officially known in France as Vacherin du Haut-Doubs this soft, unpasteurised cheese with a pale yellow salt-washed rind originated in the Jura mountains that cross France and Switzerland. ... Read more »
People assume that because I’m so obsessive about food, I must surely be an experienced cook who has turned her hand to most of the common recipes and many of the more unusual or elaborate ones besides. Truth is, I am neither as adventurous or experienced a cook as you might think. I love eating, ... Read more »
I’m very excited to share the news that you can try a delicious Mamta’s Kitchen curry on the new Autumn Winter 2011 menu launching at Leon restaurants today. With both a chicken and a vegetarian option available, we hope the rich, well-balanced flavours will appeal to Leon customers, new and old. See full menu So ... Read more »
The yellow raspberries I harvested from the allotment recently were so beautiful I wanted to make something pretty enough to do them justice. Having filled a couple of tubs with blackberries too, a fruit tart seemed an ideal way of putting both to good use. I’ve peered through the windows of countless patisseries, admiring the ... Read more »
I’ve been so pleased about how much people have been enjoying the Ice Cream Wednesday series on the blog, not just reading my own posts but being inspired to buy their own ice cream machines and get in on the action too! Kate aka The Little Loaf is a fellow food blogger and a twitter ... Read more »
Ice Cream Wednesday started out as an evening of ice cream making amongst friends, after my friend Dom (the founder of Chocablog) and I were both loaned an Gaggia ice cream machine to review. I took my machine to Dom’s place and we gathered 11 of us together, along with an eclectic range of ingredients, ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]