Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
Today is the Spring Equinox – the first day of Spring. The 19th century poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote: ‘Nothing is so beautiful as Spring.’ To be honest, we’ve had such a mild winter that signs of Spring have been with us for weeks, but oh it’s so nice to know the real thing is […]
Read MoreThe decision about what to rustle up for a quick and easy mid-week supper is often determined by what’s lurking in the fridge. Today there were 4 medium-large tomatoes and half a pot of single cream. I often make a sauce with fresh tomatoes to go with pasta in the week for a simple supper, […]
Read MoreIt’s definitely a day for soup. Storm Desmond is howling outside; winds of more than 40mph make the relatively mild December temperature feel bitterly cold. I ventured outside this morning but when I arrived back home, making those carrots and parsnips sitting in my fridge into a warming and comforting soup for lunch seemed too […]
Read MoreRegular readers of my blog will know I’m a stock snob – I never use stock cubes. I’m always amazed when famous TV chefs tell you it’s OK when they really should know better. To compare a stock cube to real homemade stock is like comparing a good coffee made from freshly ground coffee beans […]
Read MoreI had to work all weekend. There are pros and cons to freelance work. The flexibility means I can take time off for short breaks away, or an outing into central London, midweek when places are often quieter and it’s cheaper to travel. But sometimes a rush job means I have to work over the […]
Read MoreWhen I made the Greek-style beans the other night, I had quite a lot left over. I put two portions in freezer bags and froze. The other portion I left in the fridge and decided they’d make a good supper dish midweek with some eggs. I guess it’s a bit of a cheat blog post […]
Read MoreI just loved the salad I had at the wonderful Barrafina recently: Fennel, Comice Pear & Radish … … It was so simple but perfectly put together and balanced and of course I knew immediately I’d want to recreate it at home some time. At Barrafina I ordered some Salt Cod Fritters to go with […]
Read MoreThis one is for Di, who very kindly brought me back some of Yiannis’s herbs from Kardamyli where she was holidaying recently. What a treat! And so very nice of her to think of me. Writing about Yiannis’s wonderful herbs and Kardamyli was one of the very first posts on the blog, just over four years […]
Read MoreI had half a large round yellow courgette left over after cooking my pasta dish yesterday. I wanted to do something special with this home-grown vegetable, given to me by my daughter who’d grown it in her garden. To stuff it seemed such an obvious choice because once you’ve cut it in half and removed the seeds from […]
Read MoreNicola and Rachael had a bumper crop of yellow courgettes in their garden this year and brought a lovely large round one with them for me when they visited at the weekend. I wanted to do something special with this beauty. Nicola said they were good roasted so I considered cooking it as a side […]
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