Baking (sweet)

Orange and pine-nut cookies

Thumbnail image for Orange and pine-nut cookies May 24, 2012

  I am a great lover of jokes.  Give me an audience and a platform and the first words out of my mouth are far more likely to be a joke than any other possible opening gambit. (I once told a joke that involved improper relations with a pig to 100 people at a plenary [...]

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Self-saucing chocolate cherry puddings

Thumbnail image for Self-saucing chocolate cherry puddings March 28, 2012

So – who can tell me what a Trojan horse is?  This is one of those questions that shows your age, I’m afraid.  If you are of a certain age (ahem!) you will tell me about how the Greeks besieged the city of Troy but despite their efforts, nothing seemed to be able to break [...]

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Nectarine & plum galette, and being remembered

October 18, 2011

Have you ever had the experience of meeting somebody and within minutes of parting thinking “what an amazing person- I want to see them again”?  I don’t mean that heady feeling of a romantic connection with your heart all a-flutter and everything seen through rose-coloured spectacles – I mean in a totally non-romantic context.  Of [...]

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Chocolate peanut butter chip brownies

Thumbnail image for Chocolate peanut butter chip brownies September 5, 2011

  I always wonder how people like emergency medical personnel or bomb disposal experts manage to do their jobs properly.  I mean, can you imagine trying to concentrate on the specific and difficult job you were trained to do, while all around you there is chaos, noise, and people calling out and generally distracting you?  I [...]

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Apricot and pistachio galette

Thumbnail image for Apricot and pistachio galette July 18, 2011

  Overheard at the recent Plate to Page workshop in Weimar: Jamie:  ”What do eating and sex have in common?  They are two of the only human activities that engage all five of the senses:  touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing.” Jeanne:  ”And the advantage that eating has over sex is that you don’t get [...]

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Spiced chocolate orange cake: decadently gluten-free

Thumbnail image for Spiced chocolate orange cake: decadently gluten-free January 19, 2011

  I check my watch – plenty of time before the guests get here – and permit myself a little hint of a smile:  my ability to juggle all my many and varied commitments is a constant source of pride to me.  I pass the mirror-shiny eye-level oven and pause briefly to smooth my cerise cashmere cardigan [...]

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Blueberry muffins – superfood never tasted so good!

April 27, 2009

  Superfoods. If you believe the press and the marketing machine, these are everywhere.  Except here.  Goji berries from China.  Acai from South America.  Wheatgrass from the USA. Noni fruit from Tahiti.  Blue-green algae from, erm, the sea.  Of course, being so exotic, these superfoods don't come cheap.  But hey – you can't put a price [...]

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