My friends, it’s been too long. Nearly ten days with no recipes for you, and no farmer’s market visit for me. Frankly, I don’t have a great excuse for my absence. A dash of illness, a sprinkle of work, a smattering of melancholy and a good dose of culinary disinterest affected both my time and inclination to blog. Read more…
Let me preface this post by saying that I have nothing whatsoever against Ireland, the Irish people, or anything related to either. I myself am an entire eighth Irish, after all. (Can I get a Guinness with that?) But I just don’t understand the widespread appeal of St. Patrick’s Day. Despite its name, this is really a day about a country, not a fifth century saint. And what other nation is afforded the honour of having its culture celebrated the world over, with festivals and parades and general drunken merriment? To be perfectly honest, it just don’t seem fair. Read more…
As you might have noticed, I’ve been going a little pumpkin-crazy lately. Sure, the little £0.75 numbers I get from my local farmer’s market don’t seem that big, but just one makes a heck of a lot of pumpkin purée! I’ve been using it in so many ways: a pumpkin and goat’s cheese lasagne from Nigella’s Christmas book, in some festive whoopie pies, even as a light-but-creamy pasta sauce with sage, nutmeg and ricotta. I’m watching myself closely for signs of becoming round and orange, convinced as I am that I’m thisclose to actually turning into a pumpkin. Read more…
When I first moved to the UK, I went through something of an adjustment period. Understandable for anyone in a new country, but what affected me probably isn’t what you’d expect. It wasn’t the culture, the food, or the people that threw me, it was the language. Read more…
My favourite breakfast treat is undoubtedly the scone. While some might go in for muffins, some for pancakes and some for waffles, to me there’s nothing better to eat (or bake) first thing in the morning than a crumbly, tender, buttery scone. Actually, I love scones at any time of the day. Sitting down to an English Cream Tea , a decidedly scone-centric activity, is one of my favourite things to do ever. But breakfast scones and teatime scones, at least in my opinion, are two different animals. Read more…
I had fully intended to blog about these sticky buns, which I made for Andrew’s birthday breakfast on Thursday, yesterday. Circumstances, however, colluded to work against me, and I wasn’t able to. See, Andrew and I woke up yesterday in a “home improvement” frame of mind. He’d taken the end of the week off work, and we had the brilliant idea to ask his parents if they’d mind taking us on a quick trip to Ikea, to pick up a few odds and ends we’d been thinking about getting for the flat. Read more…
No, it’s not a typo. “Yummity” is my boyfriend’s highest form of praise for food, and these muffins I whipped up this morning were pronounced extra yummity by the critic himself. Well then. Read more…
In the autumn, when the leaves begin to fall from the trees and the days get shorter and cooler, most people (the type with varied interests and a healthy grasp on reality) are prone to melancholy. Foodies, however, see this change in a more positive light. A new season means new produce to buy, new recipes to try, new realms of gastronomic pleasure to explore. Summer’s remaining wares might start to look a little stringy and tired, but right around the corner is the most delicious season of all: harvest. Read more…
