While the weather recently has been unseasonably cold and wet, this weekend has brought a little sunshine and returned us closer to what we’d expect this time of year. As I type this I’m ...
It’s a funny old year so far, isn’t it? Last time I blogged we were on the tail end of a heat wave (it had been 24 degrees c just the weekend before), but right now we’re struggling...
The fantastic weather recently has meant we’ve been able to go out and start foraging early. There’s not an awful lot above ground level in spring, but the Blackthorn (or Sloe) bush stand...
This time of year is almost as good as Autumn for foraging. Both March and April are full of enough bright and sunny days that you could almost think summer has decided to come early (certainly, temp...
If there’s one time of year I love, it has to be spring. Being able to sit in the conservatory and look out proudly to the garden (which is now full of daffodils) makes all the hard work last y...
Today has been the first day pretty much all year where we’ve done a little foraging, and I think that in itself is a reason to type up my first post in quite a while. I’ve been spending ...
Playing in the snow with Mia!
For a couple of years now I’ve been buying a vegetable box each week. Some people think that it is a waste of money and are quite entitled to their opinions, but for me it has allowed my kitche...
Spiced Pumpkin Soup This pumpkin soup almost didn’t make it to the blog. That’s not to say it isn’t delicious (it is), but it’s just so simple anyone could do it. Still, it ta...
Opening Walnuts Last autumn Gosia went pretty crazy about picking her own walnuts. Now I’ve got nothing against foraging, but she’d spend day after day in the local park filling up bucket...
It’s the start of 2012; I suppose that means I need to start this post by wishing you all a Happy New Year! Typically for a family with a young child we stayed in on New Year, meaning we missed...
When my sister said to me that instead of a present for Christmas she just wanted a chocolate cake I really had to get my thinking cap on! I needed something both eye-catching and delicious – a...
This recipe pretty much sums up the phrase “…after the horse has bolted”. Christmas has already been and gone yet here’s my guide to roasting the perfect Goose. I know, I kno...
I know the feeling. It’s almost Christmas (or gone Christmas, depending upon when you’re reading this) and you still haven’t decided what to cook. Never fear, what follows is 10 of ...
Although I started the Christmas season with good intentions of making my own Christmas puddings this year (I even went out to buy appropriately shaped bowls), I never got round to it. So enter this ...
I know, I know. At this time of year I should only be making thing which include cloves, cinnamon or brandy in the list of ingredients. Well this recipe doesn’t – but it still tastes deli...
I’ll get straight to the point here. It’s freezing outside, I can’t be bothered going to the shop but fancy something warm and delicious. Enter the World’s greatest comfort fo...
Can you believe 2011 is almost over? Neither can I…It seems only yesterday I was typing up my recipe for Damson Gin, and yet we’re already at the stage where I’m bottling it. Still,...
A box arrived at my house this past week. It was black, cardboard and unassuming – but large and heavy. As I hadn’t ordered anything I was intrigued, so with the help of the ever-curious ...
Around this time of year I totally change my preferences and go into all out “comfort food” mode. That means lots of stews and casseroles for main course and dishes like this for desert. ...
I’ll be honest here, to call this a recipe is a bit of an exaggeration. What it really is, is an idea. And it’s not even my own. I’ve heard a lot of people talking recently about th...
I was lucky enough to receive a box of the Hotel Chocolat Sleekster Winter Cocktails truffles for review recently. After very careful consideration of whether or not to review, I decided to do so. An...
Winter has arrived and I’ve entered hibernation mode. Unlike a month or so ago where I was out foraging for pretty much everything I could lay my hands on, natures bounty is now rapidly dwindli...
Since Mia came into our life – and probably a bit before it – we’ve made a conscious effort to sit down as a family each meal time. I remember going on holiday years ago and seeing ...
Until this year I’d never even considered the crab apple before. I’d long thought of it as a small, barely-worth-picking fruit which is pretty much inedible unless you cook it. In fairnes...
For some reason this year the hedgerows are bursting full of juicy berries – everything from sloes to rosehips – and I can’t for the life of me figure out why more people aren’...
One of my earliest memories of foraging is that of walking along the side of a local railway line picking as many brambles (blackberries) as my rolled up t-shirt would hold (and then getting shouted ...
Jams and preserves
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