One of the great luxuries of having a kitchen garden is being able to be generous with the herbs you use in cooking. My herb garden is just a few steps away from the back door which is just as well as his lordship is always requesting herbs for his culinary extravaganzas at the last [...]
My ironing board entertainment for the last couple of weeks has been to re-watch The Victorian Kitchen Garden. This was cult viewing in the 1980s when Head Gardner Harry Dobson spent a year bringing a country house kitchen garden back to life. Aside from the haunting award winning theme music this programme gives a fascinating [...]
Winter has started its migration north leaving us with that bitter-sweet feeling of time passing but brighter golden days ahead. With New Zealand officially declaring the start of Spring tomorrow, 1 September, I’m sure that the country’s mood will lift to a lighter note. I’m all for the warmer longer days but can’t help but [...]
There was a moment in the first episode of the 2011 Great British Bake Off we watched on BBC iPlayer at the weekend when one of the contestant’s magnificent layer cakes slipped off the work top and landed in an undignified heap on the floor. All the words of encouragement to rescue at least one [...]
I know I shouldn’t get sentimental about my chickens but it would be completely heartless, or even cruel, to insist that mad George our rooster be confined to his barracks right now. He has a south facing view from his perch which means a full frontal attack for the bitterly wind and driving rain that [...]
I was itching to bake today but with a delicious apple fruit cake in the cupboard it would have been too gluttonous to have made yet another cake. So instead I decided to indulge my bassets with some baking of their own. Inspired by long time reader and basset lover Ms Zoomy, I recently splashed [...]
There is nothing like a pan of spicy chutney bubbling away in the kitchen to warm you up on a cold evening. Since we’ve just finished up the last jar of our seasonal chutney made almost a year ago it was time to branch out again with our preserving adventures. This time with pumpkins, quince, [...]
I inherited my mother’s Kenwood Chef and even after what must be 30 years it is still going strong. I was therefore a disappointment to the lovely people on the Kenwood stand at the New Zealand Food Show. It didn’t stop me salivating over the latest models or indeed being captivated by the retro exhibition [...]
Rubbish weather and a glut of carrots was the perfect excuse to bake yesterday. I’d downloaded Dan Lepard’s recipe for Spelt and Carrot Cupcakes on the basis that whole meal and carrot will result in healthy cake. Yeah right! In readiness for baking I got the butter from the fridge to soften. After all cupcakes are [...]
It’s not just the Irish roots in our household that make potatoes a staple food for us. Since I invested in a potato ricer it’s elevated the humble potato to an every day luxury food. I finally dug up the remaining main crop potatoes before the rain started to make them rot. I didn’t weigh [...]
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