When I was a little girl, there was a TV series on in the afternoons called Farmhouse Kitchen. It ran from 1970 to 1990, and was on at 2.30 in the afternoon, so watching it probably meant I was off sick from school. I think, as long as we weren’t vomiting and really nauseous, it was a way to keep us quiet. I used to … Continue reading Book Friday: Home Cooked by Kate Humble (Recipes from the Farm)
I have been married 29 years. We celebrated our 29th anniversary on 22nd October this year. I find it amazing that we’ve been married for anything like that long. More amazing, perhaps, is that we spend so long together. Bar a few hours when I teach or visit friends and relatives, we work, live and sleep within 10 m of each other. It’s okay: I’ve … Continue reading Book Friday: One by Jamie Oliver (Simple One Pan Wonders)
Wednesday was Not A Good Day in my house. My car broke down, just as I was setting off to visit my parents, and instead of taking Mum out for a pot of tea and (perhaps) a slice of lemon drizzle cake, I spent a wet afternoon waiting for the AA to recue me and then, in fear it might conk out again, driving my … Continue reading Book Friday: The Tucci Table by Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt
I love entering a new season. Despite the sun shining and a warm day in the office yesterday, there’s a definite hint of pumpkin spice in the air at the moment and leaves are ever so gradually sliding out of the green and into their authentic shades of yellow, red and gold. Autumn, to me, is very much a season of re-start. The French call … Continue reading Book Friday: Comfort (Food to Soothe the Soul) by John Whaite
2016 and the height of Great British Bake Off. My daughter’s favourite contestant was Candice Brown, a young, smiling Siren of a baker who always had immaculate lipstick on. Candice Brown made the headlines for winning that year and then, like many a famous woman in the public eye, faced headlines about every part of her life. Privacy? No way. Her engagement, marriage and subsequent … Continue reading Book Friday: Happy Cooking by Candice Brown (Easy uplifting meals and comforting treats)
I wish I had a three day weekend ahead of me. The week’s been a little busier than I’d really prefer it to be. That includes the two days I spent out of action due to some stomach problem. So this weekend is going to have to do a lot of coddling. Food, inevitably, will be part of that and, for me, I like to … Continue reading Book Friday: The Five O’Clock Apron by Claire Thomson
There’s a fondness now for magazine pulishers putting out thicker, heavier versions of magazines, sometimes focused on one area of life, and calling it a ‘bookazine’. I suppose because it’s as cost-effective to produce as a magazine, but gives you more information on the subject, as a book would. I have, in the past, bought them on subjects as diverse as computer programming, crochet and … Continue reading Magazine Monday: Your Serenity (bookazine)
Some interiors magazines just have interiors… it’s about the paint colours, and the stockists, the latest trends and where you *must* get that latest chair…. I’m a long-term subscriber to Country Homes and Interiors. A few years ago, I pared my subscriptions down to the bone (to simplify my life and in an attempt to read more online) but this one I kept. It’s a … Continue reading Magazine Monday: Country Homes and Interiors Feb 2020
How to Hygge the British Way 