Carrot Cake

December 3, 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

It had been promised for a long time. When grandson Freddie (8¾) and I have been to Wisley Gardens a few times over the last year, we’ve indulged in carrot cake in their cafe. It’s a generous slice and we tend to share it; it’s rich, moist and dark, with a traditional cream cheese based icing. […]

A Baking Mistake Isn’t Necessarily a Disaster …

November 16, 2023.Reading time 14 minutes.

I’ve said on these pages a number of times that I’m not really a baker. By this I mean I rarely bake cakes and tend to stick to old favourites most of the time when I do. The particular old favourite that I’m writing about here goes back an impressive 40 years! I’ve written about […]

Spain 2023: Exploring the Local Area

September 27, 2023.Reading time 7 minutes.

Linda and George’s lovely house – in the style of a Spanish finca – is tucked into a gorgeous valley in the mountainous north-eastern part of the Costa Blanca in southern Spain, with glorious views. It’s only about a 15-minute drive, though, to the coast and the town of Moraira or inland, there’s the town […]

Spain 2023: A Day Trip to Valencia

September 22, 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

I’ve made the day trip to Valencia from Linda & George’s home in Spain a number of times. It’s a beautiful city that I don’t think I could tire of visiting. The city is the capital of the province of Valencia and the third largest municipality in Spain. There has been a city there since […]

Spain 2023: Return to Alicante

September 20, 2023.Reading time 7 minutes.

Remarkably, it’s been six years since I lasted visited my good friends Linda & George in Spain – a trip that was once an annual one. But covid and other things intervened, though happily I have seen them a number of times in London since then. So, it was with delight that I once again […]

Tomato Chutney

August 18, 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

I had a lot of tomatoes. There were tomatoes on the three small plants in a pot outside my back door. Planted mainly for the benefit of the grandsons but with them away for the summer holidays, there’s no little person around to pick off the ripe cherry tomatoes and pop them straight into their […]

The Real Greek, Strand WC2

August 17, 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

I was going to the theatre for the first time in ages, to see The Pillowman at the Duke of York’s Theatre in St Martin’s Lane. Having not long been back from Wales, I was a bit late suggesting to my friend that we met to eat first, and thus my usual haunt for that […]

A Week in North Wales, 2023

August 13, 2023.Reading time 19 minutes.

I’ve just returned from a lovely week in North Wales with the family. I didn’t know Wales well at all and welcomed the chance to get to know it better, especially as I have a Welsh daughter-in-law and three half-Welsh grandsons. The cottage we rented was in the Snowdonia National Park and thus we were […]

Restaurant Review: Barrafina, Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross

August 3, 2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

I’ve been meaning to go to Coal Drops Yard for ages … well since it opened in October 2018 and people started talking about it being a great foodie destination. So when good friends Annie & Jerry suggested meeting there to eat at Barrafina, I was delighted. At last, I was going to make it […]

12 Years of Blogging and a Life in Food

July 25, 2023.Reading time 20 minutes.

It’s the blog’s 12th birthday today. I published my first post on 25 July 2011: The Single Gourmet Traveller & Greek Aubergine Salad. I’d recently returned from a lovely solo holiday to Greece and decided to write a blog about travelling and eating alone, with a particular emphasis at the start in finding places where […]