The trouble with having a holiday is it becomes an opportunity to stop and think about things, and to contemplate whether what you're doing is really what you want to be doing... You see, I started this blog at a time when things weren’t ok. It was a means of distraction. A way to keep myself preoccupied when things were getting a bit much; a source of comfort and fun. It was a window into a different realm...
Read MoreSwedish treats
If you do a quick search for "toscakaka" you'll find that it's a traditional Swedish cake comprising a light, buttery sponge with a crunchy almond and caramel top... Aaaaaand, that's pretty much it. While most classic...
Read MoreA thinking person's pud
I've never much cared for rice pudding. To be fair, it's not something we really ate growing up, and I'm sure that the few times I tried it it was probably that abominable out-of-the-can stuff that would rightly put anyone off. But in all honesty the idea of sweet, mushy rice just never really appealed...
Read MoreFresh beginnings
I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions, finding it far more productive to set goals and aspirations as the opportunity and needs arise. Nor do I particularly like the idea of writing a 'justification post'. We all know that, first and foremost, blogs are a self-indulgent space, so what would you care about where things are headed? The whole thing's a right wank, let's be honest, but everyone needs a hobby and if I can share that with someone who's interested then so be it...
Read MoreA plenty of plums
Summer - every year it catches you out. At first you're grateful for the longer days; marvelling at how well the (your mum's) garden is growing, as you and it both enjoy a bit of that revitalising sunshine. But then the next thing you know it's pushing 40℃, the birds have descended, and...
Read MoreA dangling conversation
Conversations were thought to have come about during the late 1770's, when these sweet little tarts were created to celebrate the publication of Madame d'Epinary's book, 'Emilie's Conversations'. Served at a function touting quite the attendance list, rumour has it that...
Read MoreAn unpretty pud
Last month some friends and I paid a visit to Walwa Park, a charming little family-run farm on the northern outskirts of town. Along with a tour of the property and some very insightful discussions about growing, rearing and processing your own pretty-much-anything, we were treated to the most amazing feast - an overly-indulgent lunch of slow-roasted roast pork with all the trimmings...
Read MoreBrowned Butter & Bay
Browned butter is, without doubt, one of my favourite ingredients. The smell it creates is indecently good, and the complexity and depth of flavour it adds to any dish is a wonderful thing indeed...
Read MoreAutumn pie
The leaves have coloured and fallen, a cold wind gusts from the south. The once fresh and crisp blue morning fades to grey as the dark clouds roll in to deliver their sudden, heavy downpour. And so it is that we retreat indoors to the comforts of a warm stove, happy in the knowledge that it is now, undeniably, pie weather...
Read MoreGazing at stars
Like most bakes it started in a fairly roundabout way. Some chaps on a podcast I regularly listen to were discussing a hilarious, Mary Shelley-style mock of stargazy pie involving frankfurters and blueberries, and while I could picture exactly where they were headed I'd never before heard of, let alone eaten, stargazy pie. Time to remedy that...
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