So here’s what happened – we had a rare NIGHT OUT in Soho the other week, us lucky entertainment-starved parents – whoop! We wanted dinner somewhere fun and noisy, at one of those dimly lit joints with no reservations where you get drunk in the queue while you’re standing around in unsuitable shoes, shivering in […]
Summer has truly snuffed itself out, and most evenings you’ll find me snuggling under a blanket being controlled by Paul Hollywood’s piercing eyes on The Great British Bake Off or watching Series 2 of Breaking Bad (I know, I’m very behind, but I went into labour watching the first series*, so, uh, it’s been a […]
If I went on the Great British Bake Off, my showstopper cake would be a massive replica of Paul Hollywood’s face. I would emulate his lovely year-round tan with butterscotch frosting and stick on silver spray-painted chocolate Matchmakers to get his spiky grey hair just right. I would probably win the whole thing, for sure. […]
I found a beast of a marrow at the side of the road a few days ago. Well, it was actually in a cardboard box on a neighbour’s wall, hanging out with several other pumpkins, with a sign saying ‘please take’. So not liking to miss out on a freebie, I popped the marrow in […]
Now that there’s a touch of chill on the night breeze, my thoughts turn to steadying puddings for approaching autumnal afternoons. I am an absolute whore for fruit crumbles, but ONLY if there is enough of the satisfying topping. So often I have been saddened by meagre bowls of stewed fruit covered in thin crusts […]
Rock goddess/poet Patti Smith doesn’t look like she spends much time worrying about her next meal. I imagine she eats for fuel and doesn’t make a fuss. She’s all rangy and sinewy, giving off an air of wiry strength as though she regularly chops logs with an axe. However, when she opened the Green Man […]
It’s no secret that Dalston in East London has gone a little bit posh. But it was not always thus. When I temped at a charity there years ago, it was pretty grungy. Every day I’d pick my way down Kingsland High Street, edging over discarded takeaway chicken bones and broken glass, avoiding rough looking […]
I know this isn’t a food-related post, as usually you’ll find me ranting about how much I hate pine nuts, but I wanted to share with you my feature published in The Guardian today. It’s about discrimination towards working mothers, and I’d love it if if you could share it via Twitter, FB etc. You […]
I’m totally hooked on having our front garden turned into a vegetable plot. I really think everyone with access to a spare, unloved bit of land should do it if they can – especially since you can be a lazy git and not do the work yourself. Rachel de Thample, local Transition Town volunteer in […]
When I lived in Cambridge, I was an angst-ridden teenager, with a penchant for misery, waistcoats and questionable ethnic clothing such as Guatemalan patchwork tops and tie-dye. At the time, the town was for me a seething hotbed of frustrated desires and misunderstandings – the atmosphere at my school was toxic like the film Heathers, […]
Toast & Butter 