Doves at Christmas
One Christmas, my mother took us to Hamley’s in London’s Regent Street. This vast toyshop on six floors was overwhelming. A massive leap from Eden Lily’s toy department in Cambridge. I was about four years old and had my Christmas money to spend. I planned to buy something very special.. The magic department was enormous, with a very long counter and not much on display. I was delighted when I spotted exactly what I wanted in a showcase on the wall. Even better, I had enough money to buy one. When I pointed it out to my mum...
read morePot roast pheasant (gypsy style) recipe for Christmas Eve
A Cottage Smallholder Christmas tradition is pot roast pheasant on Christmas Eve. Partly because it’s in season and is a treat but mainly because it’s bunged in the oven for a good hour an a half whilst I get on with another task such as helping Father Christmas with packing the stockings for the household. F.C. usually stops for a sherry early evening to swap recipes, although it’s awkward manoeuvring the sleigh in the back since we fenced the kitchen garden and shortened the runway (Heathrow take note). Cooking game can be...
read moreEasy marzipan recipe and a few icing tips
I love marzipan. The homemade kind is the most delicious and it’s a cinch to make. My mum used to announce that she’d made it with such a sonorous trumpeting that, for years, I imagined it was a complex procedure. I made it in a matter of minutes and rang her just in case I’d got something wrong. She was a bit crouchy that her secret was finally revealed. Her marzipan recipe is below. Some people prefer cooked marzipan. This is a much more complex process and is covered here on the Delia online...
read moreGravel Drive
Our cottage is set back about fifty feet from the road. Before Danny arrived, grass stretched from the house to the gate. I planted daffodils and in the spring these were preceded by pools of bright blue wild crocus. It was, as a friend described, an idyllic scene. Straight out of Thomas Hardy. The grass was fine for a weekend cottage but when we moved here permanently, the daily toll of tyre tracks scored deep welts in the grass. In the winter, the muddy path to the door was slippery and hazardous. I ignored this but D wanted a solution....
read moreThe mystery of the missing snow baby
Just after the second world war, my parents were stationed in Germany and bought a small bisque snow baby to decorate their Christmas cake. It was happily waving and sledding on the cake each year for as far back as I can remember. “I’ve kept this snow baby for years,” my mother would say as she soaked the icing off the sled after Christmas. A tiny reminder of a happy time. A few years ago it vanished. I don’t know whether it was on a slice of cake that my sister or I took home after Christmas, or whether it was eaten...
read moreSunday Roast: Best roast chicken (or turkey) with piquant automatic gravy recipe
One happy day, Danny opened the small box that holds the Tobasco bottle and pulled out a slip of paper. It was a recipe suggestion for roast chicken baste or a marinade for barbecued chicken. There was just a list of ingredients (no amounts or method). The list intrigued him, it lay beside his place for a couple of days and was studied as he sipped his coffee and tucked into supper. Finally he announced: “I’m going to try this. Can you get a free range chicken from Fred’s for next Sunday, please.” Fred Fitzpatrick,...
read moreHow to attract birds to your winter garden. Part two: winter flowering shrubs for you and the birds
I think that I get more pleasure from winter flowering shrubs than any other shrubs in the garden. When they flower it’s like a surprise visit from an old friend. The birds like them too; the flowers attract insects and these in their turn attract the birds. My Mother advised me to plant winter flowering shrubs near the house, this was good practical advice as we don’t spend much time pottering in the depths of the garden when it’s chilly. She also pointed out that it would be a good idea to put the most scented shrubs in the...
read moreGuest spot: Winning Combinations by Katherine Dodd and Paul Arguile
This is Paul’s and my second guest posting. I feel at this point I should come clean. About a month ago, I invited ourselves to Fiona and Danny’s, which, I think, was very good for me, though I’m not sure how good it might have been for our cottage-smallholding hosts. Despite us eating up half a weekend – precious when you have schedules as hectic as theirs – Fiona and Danny generously welcomed us into their cosy, log-fire-warmed cottage with good cheer. Sitting around the table, with Min Pins at close quarters...
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