Christmas really does seem to start earlier and earlier every year, even more so for food writers. This year I’d like to share with you how I personally prepare for the festive season. Starting on Stir Up Sunday, the day traditionally set aside for preparing the Christmas Pudding, I’ll be offering recipes, tips and ideas…
Category: The Family Life
A Few Foodie Thoughts In The Bleak Midwinter
After Christmas, the harsh month of January brings about a distinct need for creative culinary construction. It begins with the craving for spring. Soon after the Christmas items disappear, just as the Easter eggs start filling the supermarket shelves my heart yearns for oranges. There’s something wonderful about those Spanish oranges which conjure up the…
The Pheasant Philosophises: Part 4: Queen Victoria’s Pineapple
In a society of sexual equality, I often think to the past and wonder what stories lie behind others. In childhood, I was always regaled with tales of my Great Great Great Grandfather, an interesting character who had, apparently, owned an Italian Fruit Warehouse in Bath during the 1840s and 50s. As a man he…
The Monmouthshire Food Festival – Fit for a King (or the son of one anyway!)
Last weekend, Thomas of Woodstock’s once splendid castle at Caldicot played host, for the second time this year, to The Monmouthshire Food Festival. In general the weather held and there were some moments of dazzling sunshine, as visitors were treated to two splendid days of food, drink, demonstrations and workshops. Although not the biggest in the…
An ancient dish which has moved with the times – #worldporridgeday
Oats have been cultivated since at least 2000 bce, they are sturdy crops, keep well, are filling, full of minerals and have saved many a country from starving to death in harder times. They have been used in soups, stews, breads, oatcakes, gruel and most famously in Porridge. Following on from my previous article about…
The Pheasant Philosophises: Part 3 Sunday Morning Musings: Seasonality
So, this week saw the end of National Cake Week, the beginning of National Seafood Week and tomorrow we look forward to the start of British Egg Week. Whilst I enjoy these specialised food and drink weeks it does make me wonder how on earth the British food industry survived for all those years without…
This little piggy went to market….then into the freezer…..and it was yum!
This weekend I’ve gone a little bit pork mad. On Friday I took delivery of 1/2 a free-range, rare breed pig from Martha Roberts’ The Decent Company. I was very impressed by the obvious bond she has with her pigs and (so far) I am certainly not disappointed in the quality of the meat. Rare…
Spicing up the Welsh Cake for the Autumn
Welsh Cakes have always been my go-to standby for surprise guests; they are so simple to make and are best eaten hot, bounced from hand-to-hand almost straight from the pan. My grandmother, who at the age of twelve took over her family’s weekly baking told me how Welsh Cakes scarcely made it out of the…
Into the woods…..The Forest Showcase Food Festival 2017
As a great supporter of local food festivals, I am always delighted to share my enthusiasm with anyone who cares to listen. It now being ‘food festival season’, I am spoilt for choice. Last weekend I attended a small but perfectly formed festival in The Royal Forest of Dean, about twenty minutes drive from my…
Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness…A little taster of the project I’m currently working on…
The Forest of Dean is at its best in the Autumn months, when the great oaks, once famed the country over for their strength and height, and used in shipbuilding, are burnished in the golden light of an Indian summer. The forest’s leaves encompass all shades from tawny yellow, to ruby-red and dark earthy brown….
Seasoned with Slow from The Pheasant Philosopher 