From Versailles to vegetables
I will never forget the eyes of a garden centre owner swelling like organ stops when he heard me chatting to Seraphina and referring to a part of my garden as the ‘Versailles section’. I had designed a forty foot rose walk, a broad path where two could walk abreast and enjoy the scent of old roses in deep borders either side. A sort of scaled down semi formal vista that you might find in any old European garden. I have no idea why I thought of Versailles. Perhaps it was an old echo of the Moberly-Jourdain incident. This was many years ago...
read moreWikio’s top gastronomy rankings: August 2009
Wikio suggested that I might like to offer a sneak preview of their top 35 gastronomy rankings. They’ve extended the usual top 20 to 35 so as to include my site. It’s great to see some old pals on this list and be introduced to new ones. I’ve just spent an hour doing a whistle stop tour of the thirty five blogs. A really enjoyable romp only marred by the fact that I’ve still not had breakfast yet. Apart from The Guardian – Word of mouth which staunchly sits at number one month after month, the top ten blogs seem to shuffle up...
read moreAbel and Cole organic vegetable and fruit box. Review.
When we were offered an Abel and Cole organic fruit and vegetable box to review, I jumped at the chance. Ever since we started to really cut back on our spending I’ve been intrigued by these boxes as many people recommended them as saving time and money. A couple of years ago just a couple of companies delivered in our area. Now there are nine to choose from. Abel and Cole don’t actually deliver to our area yet but they do deliver to my mum’s street in Cambridge so we aranged to have the organic box delivered there. They also sent some...
read moreBaby aubergines
I sprang home last Spring with a pack of Chinese legend aubergines, dreaming of a greenhouse full of aubergine plants laden with succulent fruit. By the end of the summer I had not even seen a flower let alone a peep of an aubergine. Since then I’ve discovered that the seeds need to be sown really early (by January in a heated greenhouse at the latest). So I didn’t bother this year. About a month ago I was costing a job in Saffron Walden, for my old pal Anna of onion gravy fame. And I popped into the Springwell Nursery to buy some...
read moreMini update on me
I’ve been off work for nearly three weeks now. I’ve never slept so much in my life, sixteen hours a day brings me amazing dreams and great joy to three duvet loving Min Pins. The tests came back negative for glandular fever and leukemia, which is a relief. The doc thinks that it’s another virus but arranged for new blood tests and x-rays which will be back next week. Meanwhile I’m confined to the cottage and garden. Each day I feel a little stronger and have been tackling odd jobs in the garden that have been ignored for years. But...
read moreThe disappointment of the asparagus peas
Initially it was the picture on the pack of the pretty pods that attracted me and when I read about flavour of these peas I was seduced. They took ages to germinate and flower but finally three pods appeared. I rushed back to the kitchen to steam the delicacy. The pods were of varying sizes, from an inch down to half an inch. They were vile and tasteless with a nasty scratchy texture. Danny refused to even sample one. “Why are you trying to force me if they are so unpleasant?” He had a point, I...
read moreAnother deluxe cheese on toast recipe
Last night Danny went out for a meal with his brother Mike. “You can have your cheese on toast thing.” Danny thinks of this as a snack but it was a staple supper with me for years. Last night I supplemented the cucumber with thinly sliced raw courgette and used a mild goat’s cheddar. The result was a superb combination of flavours. The trick to this delicious light dish is to grill the layered toast very gently for about 20 minutes until the cheese layer is just melting. Its perfect partner is an ice cold beer. Deluxe cheese on toast...
read moreUpdate on the guinea fowl
Having finally caught the “don’t you dare touch me” pair and imprisoned them in the laundry basket, I rang my friend E and left her a message on her answer phone. When she returned home the new guineas would be in her chicken house. Chicken house does not really describe this palatial realm. It’s the size of a double loose horse box. The hens lay their eggs in wooden vintage wine boxes that are hung on the walls. We opened the wire screen door and stepped into their kingdom. We were greeted by several plump hens, a small...
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