Lasagna al forno

October 12, 2020.Reading time 14 minutes.

Given my love of Italian food and because I’ve been writing this blog for over nine years now, it’s a bit surprising that I haven’t given a recipe for a traditional Lasagna al Forno before. I’ve given a vegetable version and have talked about making – and eating! – lasagna, but have not given an […]

A New Look

October 8, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

We all know it’s a time of change and it seems that blogs are not immune. WordPress have discontinued their old classic editor as a way of writing the blog and so I’m having to adapt to a new way. That may not sound like a big deal … but believe me it is. I […]

Soothing Soups

October 4, 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

The long hot summer, which thankfully relieved some of the stress of living through the pandemic as we all learnt to meet in gardens, whether private or public, has fast moved into a wet and windy autumn. If the sun was a comfort in the summer, soup steps in to warm us up and comfort […]

TV Review: The Great British Bake Off 2020

September 23, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

What a joy to see the return of The Great British Bake Off last night. In the 10 years of its life I’ve moved from liking it in its first incarnation on BBC1, to feeling a bit bored by it and almost giving up watching, to then loving it after its move to Channel 4. […]

Fresh Pasta with Sausage & Broccoli Sauce

September 6, 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

My son Jonathan has been a keen cook since he was small enough to need to stand on a stool to chop and mix ingredients and his sons Freddie (5½) and Benjamin (2¾) are fast following in his footsteps. Thus they were very excited yesterday by Daddy’s new ‘toy’: a super-grade KitchenAid mixer with a […]

Quiet Kew Gardens

August 31, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

I’ve been a Friend of Kew Gardens for about 30 years. I live only a couple of miles away so these famous – indeed, UNESCO World Heritage Site – Gardens are local to me and where I most often go for a walk. Usually, I can just turn up when the fancy takes me and […]

Pasta with Cauliflower, Saffron, Chilli, Pine Nuts & Raisins

August 24, 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

This is an adaptation of a Rick Stein recipe in his Long Weekends book. I’m particularly attached to this book (and the accompanying DVD of the TV series) at the moment, not only for its great and reliable recipes, but its subject: Long Weekends. Pre-Lockdown I’d become well practised at making the most of a […]

Four Hens and Some Very Special Eggs

August 13, 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

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 […]

Eat Out To Help Out

August 13, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

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 […]

When ‘Drinks’ Became the New ‘Dinner’

August 11, 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

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 […]