I live on the side of a hill, with common land all around me. Sounds idyllic. But at this time of year there is a definite down-side to rural life. It’s wild garlic season, and there are huge clumps of it on the banks and verges surrounding the house. It looks quite pretty, with little […]
I’m not into purely decorative pottery; everything I make is designed to be functional. So there was no point putting my newly-fired tagine on a shelf and looking at it – I wanted to try it out. But I was very wary about using it for the first time. I have a friend who used […]
Ever since my favourite pub, the Plough and Harrow, closed I’ve been looking for an alternative place to go to for an occasional lunch/dinner with friends. The pub at the top of my hill is well within walking distance and serves good food, but it would be good to have other options on my shortlist. […]
Over the last few weeks I’ve become absolutely gripped by The Great British Menu, weekdays at 19:30 on BBC2. Apparently, it’s been an annual event for quite a few years now, but I’ve never seen it before. It’s got some of the best chefs in the UK, most of whom have at least one Michelin […]
There is a group of women I know through work (though through a combination of the Three Rs – Retirement, Redundancy and Resignation – only one of them is still there) who have a standing arrangement to go away together once a year to a meeting of The Pudding Club. This year, for the first […]
I’m trying to think what the opposite of “haute cuisine” would be. I need my friend F. to advise, but “bas cuisine” is close enough. It’s fair to say that the food was not one of the highlights of the holiday! But then, I went there for the five-star rubble rather than fine dining, so […]
A friend gave me “Jamie’s 15 minute meals” as an early Christmas present, knowing that I find it a real chore cooking for myself during the week. Christopher and I each had a copy of Katharine Whitehorn’s “Cooking in a Bedsitter” which draws a distinction between “cooking to stay alive” and “cooking to impress”, and […]
I spent three days last week at our Hampshire HQ, having a series of all-day meetings with my customers, so that meant staying for two nights down there. There is a dearth of good quality accommodation in the area, particularly at a price that the corporate hotel booking system deems acceptable, so I stayed again […]
Christopher and I always had our “best” meal of the week on Saturday night, a tradition we picked up from my family. I remember the excitement when my sister and I were deemed old enough to stay up for Saturday night dinner with our parents, rather than having alphabetti spaghetti on toast in front of […]
It was a good job that Tim the pest-controller was able to fit me in on Tuesday to deal with the mice, because I spent the rest of the week away on business at our Hampshire offices. That involved staying overnight for two nights, and it’s always a major challenge finding somewhere to stay that […]
