2013 recipe highlights

My first full year of food blogging. I’ve cooked a full table and shared it with you. Here is a selection of recipes from each month, both savoury and sweet, from different courses and cuisines. It is such a pleasing thing to quietly work away on a post and then send it out into the … Continue reading →

‘You’ve got to have bangers and mash at least one night ‘cos it’s Revels.’

I didn’t understand the quirks of the legal world until I began dealing with Mr. Pear, who is a  barrister. The law as an institution shares with Oxbridge a particular culture, a sense of exclusivity, lifelong learning, archaic ritual, funny clothes, and taking dinner in hall. On Friday night I had dinner in one such … Continue reading →

Things I Ate Over Summer in London

Summer is slowly leaving my corner of the world. There were foggy mornings this week; I was grateful for my wool tweed (and to Chalk Farm Antiques for their marvellous stock of second-hand clothes – 100% wool jackets for under £40? I am there), but it’s still light enough to go without a hat. I … Continue reading →

Around Snacks Never Relax: Seville Orange and Cardamom Ice Cream

Today I told myself that I could get an ice cream after I’d completed the food shopping. I went down to the market, quite busy–a warm and clear Sunday–and peered into the window of the ice cream shop. It was as I feared: the unfamiliar and really, truly, ridiculously good-looking shop assistant was working. I … Continue reading →

Around Snacks Never Relax: Full-fat Greek Yoghurt + Sweet Things

I don’t mind using this as an excuse to have rich creamy yoghurt with something sweet stirred through as a filling snack; it usually involves fruit, so I allow myself to be contented with the lie that it is relatively healthy, even if it is essentially dessert. Continue reading →

Around Snacks Never Relax: Norwich – Biddy’s Tea Room and Other Stuff

Last week for my pre-birthday outing I went to Norwich with Mr. Pear to visit my friend Mary, who was accompanied by her candy girl, Matthew (not pictured, but he is also attractive!) Norwich is around 2 – 3 hours away from London by train, and I wasn’t feeling optimistic about travel because some snow … Continue reading →

The Hummingbird Bakery ‘Home Sweet Home’ Book Launch

Last Wednesday I went to the Home Sweet Home book launch at the Hummingbird Bakery’s Spitalfield branch. I’d never been inside before that evening, even though its cuteness is precisely my thing–those kinds of fancy, pretty cupcakes have never really interested me; I only make them because I know people around me like them. I … Continue reading →

Around Snacks Never Relax: Linden Honey + Buttered Muffins + Thoughts on Taking Pictures

I shall begin this by saying that this post will be about images of food and the act of looking at them. I am neither an art historian nor an artist: I’ve dabbled in practising art and studying its history for much of my life, but it is not my career so I am essentially … Continue reading →

Around Snacks Never Relax: Banana Chocolate Chip Pancake Ice Cream from Chin Chin Labs

Obviously the solution to the wind and sleet is to consume more cold things. This is my first and so far my favourite weekly special from Chin Chin this year. Every flavour comes through clearly–fresh banana, little melting bits of dark chocolate, the starchy-sweet middle of a doughy pancake. We chose salted caramel sauce to … Continue reading →

Around Snacks Never Relax: Grafton Buns

Do you remember The Fields Beneath? They continue to please me. I feel very lucky that my very first local is both awesome and earnest. It is still kind of a shock to go from living in the plain yoghurt suburbs to a place that is within easy walking distance of so many interesting things. … Continue reading →