Those of us fortunate enough to have space for a greenhouse, a sunny patch of garden, allotment, or indeed – in my case – a brilliantly-bright conservatory, are rubbing our hands in either glee or tense anticipation. Months of tending, cutting out pesky suckers, watering, feeding and tying up are about to pay off with …
Do you want/need extra brownie points this Christmas? Have you forgotten anyone on your list and are scratching your head for ideas? Even if you aren’t in the doghouse for something or other, and you have been as organised as I have not, these wonderfully-easy preserved lemons will be most welcome. If you have never …
What’s the first thing that springs to mind when I say/write ‘vinegar’? In Britain it would definitely be ‘fish and chips’. In an eco-warrior’s house it might be ‘cleaning spray’. I don’t think many people would say ‘fruit’. I may be showing my age but I wouldn’t be without a bottle or two of fruit …
Here in the UK we are coming up for the effigy-burning, firework-displaying extravaganza that is Guy Fawkes Night. Also known as Bonfire Night, November 5 commemorates the evening in 1605 that 13 young men had planned to use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Poor old Guy Fawkes should have …
Now, you may be trying to stay as far from the stove as possible. Your cooking horizons may have shrunk to slicing things up for sandwiches, maybe stretching to cutting up fruit if eating it whole is impossible. You may even be fanning yourself with a sheaf of shockingly high electricity bills right now, a …
Today I have put together three recipes that you can give as gifts and/or keep for your Hanukkah or post-Christmas table. All three are extremely easy to prepare, possibly even at the same time. The mustard seeds need an overnight soak but otherwise this trio of condiments is straightforward. They also require a minimum of …
I really wish someone would invent Smell-o-vision for computers, then you could smell what I smell. The gorgeous, heady scent of simmering Seville oranges has to be one of the most pleasant aromas – ever. Earlier today, as the fruits were bubbling away I nipped upstairs (sounds a very daring dereliction of marmalade duties, but …