There’s a lady at work that I have mentioned on here before, and we will call her the cheffing diva. It is she to whom I spill all my culinary aspirations each day and she does the same in return. Both of our interests in food is rather obvious by our ample frames, but as other larger than life folk may know, we stick together. And if the side effect of excellent well thought out lovingly handmade food is a lifetime on the hips…? So be it, because I wouldn’t give up these experiences for anything. Continue reading a cheffing diva… →

So my sister-in-law started me down another cooking philosophical rabbit hole (which I think we will call cuisinological conundrums from now on). My brother and I don’t speak often, not because we don’t want to, but because we don’t need to. I’m there for him and he’s there for me, when the chips are down. He’s an amazing guy, clever, sporty, good looking (we look the same by the way…) and he’s one of those weirdos that does decathlons or triathlons or those kind of things which prove you are a sporting great, even if you’re too old to play on a team anymore… Continue reading from scratch… →

Well, this cook has worked and lived on five continents, sampled all the food, tried to evolve my palate, and tried (with limited success) to incorporate international cuisine into my repertoire, but I have to tell you, I return most of the time to the old British classics, which I suspect I learned from my mum and my grandmothers. Continue reading a very british kitchen… →

Now and again life tends to get a bit existential. You may wonder why you were put on this earth and what special role you will play for mankind. But if you are a newly inspired blogger, you might look at the number of people who have read your blog and start to wonder, what’s it all about? Why are you blogging? And why are people reading it? Continue reading a cooking cult… →

I feel I live a very cheesy life, but not in the way you might expect. I wouldn’t say my life revolves around cheese, but I could say that it revolves around food, and cheese is a relatively integral part of that, being that I think cheese adds a certain amazingness to most of the foods I like. What’s not to like about cheese toasties, cheesey potatoes, parmesan cheese on your salad, on your pasta, cheese on its own with wine… I could go on and on actually! Continue reading can we have some cheese, please…? →

There’s a perverse little saying I heard from a beloved Frenchman once, we will call him PP. He was expounding on the virtues of cheese and wine at a supper soirée and he poured a glass of a delicious red wine for the group, pushed the cheeseboard into the middle of the table and said “eat some of this… drink some of that… open your cheese…”. Continue reading open your cheese… →

It’s Handsome’s brother’s birthday tomorrow and one of our favorite things about the brother in question and his lovely wife is their shared interest in food. They are very interesting to me, as they love to eat out and they are the type of people who will find a favorite place and then visit it again and again. Continue reading giving the gift of food… →

I have finally had some success with bread. The breadmaking machine instructions book had two recipes that I have found work every time, as long as I’m not making it for a special occasion, in which case, I repeat my epic fails! Continue reading breadmaking… some success and some more failures… →

Oh dear, we had to cancel for the second time. Eagle eyed readers will remember that this was planned for 2 weeks ago, but two of the guests came down with a nasty stomach flu that we didn’t want to spread around. So we rescheduled for tonight, thinking that we could give it a bit of a valentines theme and do some heart shaped whatever or some red roses or something. Continue reading dinner party tales… cancellation # 2… →

I have never moved anywhere in my life where I held so many prejudices and mistaken apprehensions/ imaginings as I held about the Middle East. I imagined a country filled with misoginistic men, downtrodden, covered women and children whose whole lives were determined by whether they were born a boy or a girl. Continue reading qatar by far… →