Meet (left to right) Gwen, Mildred, Maud and Gerty. My daughter and her wife recently got four hens. They live in a 16th century farmhouse in Worcestershire, at the end of a long unmade-up road surrounded by farmland. They’re not farmers themselves, but at their home they’ve created a wonderful bucolic living space where they […]
I’d heard about the government’s ‘Eat out to help out’ scheme to encourage people back into restaurants but hadn’t thought through whether and when I might actually take advantage of it. Then I found myself participating twice by accident yesterday! It started in Richmond in the morning. I’d taken my two little grandsons (5½ and […]
If ever we doubted the importance of social interaction, then the last five months of pandemic living has highlighted our basic need to connect and meet with others. From the grim early days of isolation within our houses, we’ve slowly stepped back out towards our more social selves. But we’re still a long way from […]
It was as I was publishing my last post with the red mullet recipe that I noticed a message from WordPress congratulating me on my blog’s 9th anniversary. Yes, it the blog’s birthday!! I was too busy to cook the blog a birthday cake (and in truth, there’s no one around at the moment to […]
As the lockdown continues we find ourselves adjusting to some extent in a number of ways. I don’t mean it’s easy and we all want it to end, but being in a constant state of panic is neither sustainable nor healthy. Some light relief is needed at times! Whether it’s a lovely walk in nature, […]
The pandemic is teaching us many things, and for me highlighting what’s really important in my life. My family of course are by far and away the most important thing. But food is important to me too; it always has been and I’m sure will go on being so. Yet what’s highlighted now is my […]
I think the word of the week – other than ‘coronavirus’ of course – is ‘unprecedented’; we are living in unprecedented times. Certainly I’ve never known anything like it – and I’ve been around for a few decades (I have three gorgeous little grandsons now!). Theories abound about how it all started. Politicians and ‘experts’ […]
We can’t escape the need to stay as healthy and strong as we can during the current coronavirus epidemic so I’m reblogging another healthy salad. This post also explains why eating a largely alkalising diet is good for us and helps maintain optimum health.
With a lot of anxiety about staying healthy at the moment, this seems a good time to post this recipe from the early days of the blog again – 8 years ago! But still a sensational antioxidant salad; still delicious; and still good for you.
Guilty cookbook addicts often say they really mustn’t buy another cookbook; they don’t need another cookbook. As shelves strain under the weight of heavy cookery tomes it’s easy to feel you must have enough. But of course you can never have enough. Not if you love cooking; love finding out about food and its history; […]