I don’t know about you but in spite of my good intentions (mastering the art of watercolour painting, getting to grips with my abysmal French and Spanish language skills, reading improving books), the Coronavirus lock-down has led to me gorging on trashy novels, trashier TV programmes and an awful lot of snack food. Continue reading
I know why they call them blood oranges now. During a moment’s inattention, I cut the tip off my finger when I was slicing them.
But while blood oranges are still in season, grab half a dozen. Because apart from the gore-fest that was my kitchen last night, this makes a fantastic cocktail ingredient. Continue reading
I love turkey and all the assorted trimmings as much as anyone. I even love sprouts. But it is possible to overdose not just on the food but all the Christmas-related recipe features you get at this time of the year.
So I thought I’d share some of my culinary disasters instead, with their remedies where possible. Continue reading
I can’t help noticing that there’ve been a lot of people looking at my bullace jam recipe lately and I thought another use for these tasty wild plums might not go amiss. Continue reading
The UK Vegetarian Society has declared May 19-24 to be National Vegetarian Week.
Regular readers will know I’m a confirmed carnivore but I do cook quite a lot of veggie recipes, partly for non-meat-eating friends, partly because they make a pleasant and healthy change and partly because Him Outdoors is a demon gardener and we have a lot of home-grown fresh veg. A keen eye will spot the baby broad beans behind the chives.
So to save you from trawling through a year’s worth of recipes, here are my edited vegetarian highlights. Continue reading
I combed the supermarket shelves for crystallised flowers for a cake I was planning to make and could only find some rather garish sugar nonsense.
But the garden is full of primroses and violets so I decided to make my own. Continue reading
Hardly a recipe at all really but a fantastic snack with a cold beer or a glass of wine. Continue reading
Nothing, to my mind, beats home-made lemonade on a boiling hot day. Well, ok, maybe a glass of chilled white wine or a cold beer with condensation running down the bottle, but I’d like to talk here about non-alcoholic drinks. Continue reading