This is the kind of post that usually gets published around new year, looking back on the best of the previous year. However, I had a busy start to 2025 – family and work – and so a look back on 2024 passed me by. Now spring is on our doorstep (not officially with us until the Spring Equinox on 20 March) with bulbs popping up through the earth, buds swelling on trees and bushes, noticeably longer days and the sweet sound of birdsong at dawn. A round-up of last year’s posts was forgotten. But then, as I was making Plum Chutney this morning for the third time since I first made it last October, the thought came into my head that if I was writing about favourite recipes, then this just had to be top of the list. So, I then thought a little more about other recent favourite posts and this is what I came up with.

FAVOURITE RECIPE(S)

Plum Chutney

I like the plum chutney a lot myself but the family love it so much, I can’t keep up with demand. My son, daughter-in-law and their three boys (4, 7 and 10) all like it a lot. The boys, apparently, would eat it by the spoonful if that were allowed. It started with the Green Tomato Chutney I made at the end of last summer when it was clear the tomatoes I’d been growing in the garden weren’t going to ripen any more. That was spooned up at a great rate by the family and more requested. But you can’t buy green tomatoes in the supermarket; they’d liked my ripe tomato chutney too but not as much as the green version. So something different was required. I scoured my cookbooks and the internet and when I came across Rick Stein’s plum chutney, I knew that was what I was looking for. I like Rick’s recipes. They’re straightforward and reliable. And this recipe is indeed wonderfully easy (though does require you to chop up about 20 plums!) and so far very reliable. If you like chutney then do give it a go. We like it with fresh crusty sourdough bread and a chunk of some gorgeous cheese but it’s great with cold meats too. (Click here for recipe.)

Cod with Potatoes, Tomatoes & Capers

I’m adding this favourite fish dish too because it’s become one I make frequently. Part of its appeal – apart from loving cod and the other ingredients – is that it can be part prepared ahead of time. I pick grandsons up from school three days a week and give them supper, so I like recipes that are either quick to cook once they’ve gone home, or something that can be partly prepared and finished off once I’m ready to eat. So I cook the sliced potatoes in salted water until almost tender. Then I drain them and put them in a small overproof dish with halved cherry tomatoes and some capers, over which I’ve drizzled some olive oil, and it’s all ready to go into the oven later. It doesn’t take too long to cook and I put the fish on top for the last ten minutes as it doesn’t need long. (Click here for recipe.)

FAVOURITE RESTAURANT

The Palomar

After a long hiatus, a much loved restaurant was finally revisited – and it didn’t disappoint. It was just great to go back to The Palomar. So good in fact that after reading my post, my daughter asked if we could go there for her birthday treat (we’d had somewhere else booked!). (Click here for review.)

FAVOURITE PLACE TO EAT WITH KIDS

Brasserie Blanc, Southbank

Usually with the grandsons, we go to somewhere like Franco Manca. They love it, I like it and they have an excellent value kids’ menu. However, after seeing The Nutcracker with them in January, I was looking for somewhere a little more special and remembered how much I liked Brasserie Blanc when in the Southbank area. A quick look on their website showed an appealing kids’ menu. So it was booked. Son Jonathan also joined us after work and he and I had a very good early evening set menu. It turned out to be brilliant choice and most definitely ranks as one of the best ever kids’ menus I’ve come across with the boys. Unfortunately we don’t have a Brasserie Blanc nearer to our home than the Southbank, so we’re just going to have to take the train to Waterloo sometime to treat ourselves to a meal there again. (Click here for review.)

FAVOURITE ART & FOOD OUTING

A Day on the South Bank & Bankside London

One of my favourite things to do is have a day in London, first visiting an art gallery and then finding somewhere good to eat lunch. Now that my two eldest grandsons, Freddie (10) and Ben (7) are old enough to be showing an interest in art, I’ve started sometimes taking them too. Our first art excursion was to Tate Modern last April. We found a David Hockney for Ben who’d been learning about him at school; we visited The Globe Theatre as Freddie had been learning about the Tudors and Shakespeare; and then lunch was at a nearby Real Greek, where their dad joined us for lunch, having walked from his office nearby. It was a lovely day. A real delight to have the company of three of my favourite people and doing one of the things I like best. (Click here for post.)

FAVOURITE DAY TRIP

A Day in Ludlow

My daughter Nicola lives in Worcestershire, which is a bit too far for a day trip from London, so I tend to visit for a night or two. She’s great at finding interesting things for us to do while I’m there and last June, she suggested going to Ludlow. I’d been to Ludlow before, but many years before, so it was almost like a new place to go to. I remembered it was lovely, but not quite how much. We found plenty to do, a great place to eat – and of course it was special to have a day trip with my daughter and grandson Rufus. (Click here to read all about it.)

FAVOURITE SHORT BREAK

Aldeburgh in April

Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast has become one of my favourite places for a short break. It’s a straightforward and not too long drive from London, so it’s a very easy place to get to for a couple of nights. I’ve heard it described as ‘Islington on sea’ which is perhaps part of its appeal to me – a city person through and through who once lived in Islington! But what I particularly like is that I’ve found a place to stay that I love going back to – The Cross Keys, a pub with just three rooms that backs onto the seafront. There are great places to eat; interesting little independent shops and cafes; a brilliant deli. The Aldeburgh Fish & Chip shop was voted one of the nine best in the UK by National Geographic Traveller Magazine in 2022 and there are few foodie experiences more wonderful than eating freshly cooked fish and chips from a bag on the beach for lunch. But most of all I love that huge Suffolk sky that seems to go on for ever; the beach that has never been crowded when I’m there (is it ever crowded?) along which I can walk for literally miles. It’s starting to feel like a second home and I’ve already booked to go back there in September. (Click here for post.) 

I hope you enjoyed my memories of the last year. Do let me know of any favourites you have!