Silly me. I thought the hardest thing about writing a blog while working a full-time job would be finding the time to post, but I was wrong. My biggest issue over the past couple weeks has been somewhat different… it’s the light, or lack thereof. Barely mid-September, and London has already decided to provide me with dark and gloomy weather come dinnertime. Which, as any photo-snapping food blogger out there knows, makes it next to impossible to get a good photo. Read more…
You’d be forgiven, lately, for thinking that I’m on extended holiday. But here in the UK, we kind of all are. Easter plus a certain upcoming wedding means back-to-back four-day weekends and an understandable amount of laziness in between. But for myself, the laziness is at a minimum; heading up to Andrew’s parents’ last weekend and getting ready for a visit from my parents this week means I haven’t had a lot of time for cooking or blogging. Read more…
I was recently talking (er, emailing) with a friend back home about how November is second-worst month of the year. Top spot of course goes to January, the harbinger of seemingly-endless dreary weather and a depressing post-holiday funk. But November is right up there; the prettiness of early Autumn is gone, the rain is almost constant, and as my friend put it, “each day is colder and darker than the last”. Yup, that about sums it up. Read more…
Last month, I did something extremely (some might say uncharacteristically) clever: I bought a small glass Pyrex dish. Nothing fancy or all that pretty (it was only £2 at Sainsbury’s after all) but as it turns out, that little dish was an awesome buy. Read more…
First off, let me preface this post by making a number of excuses, of the type that my boyfriend warned me never to engage in when I first started this blog. (“Your readers aren’t interested in why you posted late, or not at all- don’t apologise!”) See, I felt fine on Sunday night. Just fine- I’d gone to the farmer’s market, made and bottled some homemade ketchup, re-read the third Harry Potter book for approximately the 8th time in my life, and been over to my sister’s for cake. Read more…
Of all the misnomers in this world, the one that infuriates me the most is banana bread. I love the stuff (could eat my sister’s all day long), but let’s face it- this is a very poorly monikered treat. Nine times out of ten, the “bread” in question is actually a cake; there’s oil or butter, vanilla extract, eggs- not to mention the requisite cup or so of sugar. For heaven’s sake, there are sometimes chocolate chips involved. Read more…
You’ve probably all heard of Welsh rabbit/rarebit, the delicious late-night snack and lunch dish so beloved of the British Isles. It’s a simple idea, really: take some toasted bread and top with a mixture of egg yolks and cheese (often with flavourings like chili, Worcestershire sauce or ale), and put the whole thing under the broiler until bubbly and delicious. Apply to mouth. Read more…
Back at the beginning of January, I wrote about my foodie resolution for 2010, to bake more bread. A resolution made with the best of intentions, borne of visions of wholesome, proud loaves emerging from my kitchen one after another. Not to mention the great arms I was going to have (you know, from all the kneading). Read more…
Happy New Year! Are you waking up blurry-eyed and blurry-headed, from too much champagne and too little sleep? No? Me neither- Andrew and I stayed in last night, feasting on good food, good TV and a moderate (ok, slightly more than moderate) amount of alcohol. I awoke surprisingly refreshed this morning, ready to greet 2010 with open arms. Read more…
Is there anyone reading this who doesn’t like dumplings? Is that even possible? I’m not trying to be obtuse, honest- I just can’t imagine that there’s a human on this earth who doesn’t grow weak at the knees at the thought of those bite-sized morsels of deliciousness. As you can probably deduce, I love dumplings. All kinds- Chinese, Thai, Polish, British. When I was growing up, I looked forward to my family’s Dim Sum Boxing Day tradition almost as much as I looked forward to Christmas (possibly more). Read more…