Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
We were running out of chutney. The Green Tomato Chutney I made in September was almost gone. Although I shared Katie Stewart’s advice to wait a month before eating the chutney to allow it to mature, the family barely managed a week. Grandsons Freddie (9) and Ben (6), who’d initially been sceptical that anything made […]
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It’s not been a great summer here in London and already, although autumn doesn’t officially begin until the 22nd, autumnal weather has arrived; conkers fall to the ground from the huge horse chestnut trees on Twickenham Green, and the days are closing in. There’s been a lot of rain and cool temperatures all through ‘summer’. […]
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This dish always reminds me of Rome. I first had it in Rome in 2000 when I spent a month at a language school there and stayed in a flat owned by some friends. I had a favourite restaurant near the flat and the first time I had this dish, the fish was rombo – […]
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I’ve written about a spring risotto before – Risotto Primavera – but that was nine years ago and frankly, it’s such a gorgeous risotto it deserves a little more attention and this one is more simple (though I have to confess I’ve made it like this before on the blog, but again nine years ago). […]
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I don’t mean this as a sad heading, but I live alone, and that means inevitably many solo meals. However, it is quite unusual for me to be home alone over an Easter weekend, but with my birthday weekend not far away in April, when all the family will be here, and a particularly large […]
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I’ve greatly enjoyed watching Rick Stein’s new TV series, Rick Stein’s Food Stories, in which he travels around UK exploring food traditions and the country’s favourite foods. In each episode, he heads back to his kitchen in Padstow, Cornwall a couple of times to cook up something which reflects the foods he’s been looking at, […]
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The phrase ‘out with the old and in with the new’ came to mind as I made this soup – a phrase often heard at New Year, so very appropriate for today, New Year’s Eve. In my case I was taking some rather sad, ageing red peppers out of the fridge and before they were […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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