Is there anything more cosy than settling down in front of a log fire, candles lit, glass of something delicious in your hand? I don’t think there is. If the past few months have taught me anything, it’s been to slow down and enjoy the life I have. During lockdown this process was enforced and…
Tag: autumn
Moroccan Spiced Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb
I adore the combination of flavours in North African cooking, the rich tagines, delicate sweet pastries, mounds of minted, olive oil rich couscous, bulgar wheat salads gleaming with jewel-like pomegranate seeds – and now, with autumn on the way i’d like to share one of my favourite, albeit possibly inauthentic, recipes combining local Welsh Lamb…
Late Summer Blackberry and Almond Cake
I adore autumn, I love the foods, the smells, the weather…everything! For me the appearance of blackberries, plums, hips and haws all signify the beginning of a season of abundance, a season which I feel completely at one with. This morning I took a basket and followed the little lane outside the farmhouse until I…
Autumn Recipes: A Roast Golden Beetroot Mezze, with Honey and Pomegranate #nationalhoneyweek
Roast Golden Beetroot Mezze with Honey and Pomegranate We are now firmly in Autumn’s grip and what’s left of the leaves are falling fast. One of the most vibrant and plentiful winter vegetables in the Beet, be it the rich red of the classic Beetroot or their bright, vibrant orange and yellow cousins, far less…
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….
Personal Picks for Abergavenny Food Festival 2017 #AFF2017
I am so proud to champion Abergavenny Food Festival. Abergavenny is just under half an hour’s drive from my home in Monmouth and (perhaps I am a little biased) but I absolutely love it. It’s an international festival with a wonderfully local feel; I adore the crowds, the sites, smells and of course the…
Back to school, foodie festivals….and sticky buns!
For years, those words, banded about from about mid-June terrified me. I admit that I did not enjoy school; I was classic bully fodder and suffered terribly. Now, Master A is about to start secondary school; luckily he takes after Mr D and is very popular albeit a little geeky around the edges and after…
In search of breakfast…
Allegedly the most important meal of the day; and I am inclined to agree. Until I eat breakfast I just can’t concentrate properly – I have read a great deal on breakfast, researched ‘breakfast’ throughout the world, looked in to history it it – and became rather fascinated about it’s changing role in our society….
Seasoned with Slow from The Pheasant Philosopher 