Rhubarb-almond tart
We’ve been busy round here. Next Wednesday is my 30th birthday, and we’re throwing a Dia De Los Muertos party in the back yard. I basically wanted to recreate the graveyard in San Miguel De Allende that we spent my birthday in last year, and I’m one of those annoying people who will try and make everything myself, so we’ve been building Katrina statues and... Read More
Pickled Watermelon Rinds
I like watching people test for good watermelons, because it makes them look crazy. I know this, because I do it, and people look at me like I’m crazy. I learned the knocking technique from an Israeli woman who claimed to be the ‘queen of vegetables’, who would bustle around the grocery store, knocking on watermelons until she’d delightedly find the right... Read More
Blackberry and elderflower mojitos
I’ve been getting into this whole ‘drinking’ thing lately. I’m not a big drinker in general, usually- I mean, 4oz beer is enough to make me start acting very silly. Last time I had 2 beers I think I danced on a table. And the last time I had 3 beers I actually threw up for about 2 hours. Plus then there’s the foggy head and all the new friends that... Read More
Lemon pudding cake
I hope you don’t mind another lemon recipe. They might be rolling out while they’re still in season. I’ll try not to wax poetic this time, since I’ve made my feelings abundantly clear. This pudding cake looks complicated. I mean, it IS complicated, but it’s also super easy. You mix everything together, then fold in the dry ingredients, then fold in... Read More
Blood orange panna cotta.
Jam and I were woken at 2am by screaming last Saturday night, the night before we were to leave on a ski trip. Our neighbour, Daisy, was coming home from a party, and saw sparks flying from the back garden– she went to see what it was, and the back quarter of the garden was on fire! She woke her family, and then woke the rest of us, and we all threw clothes on and ran outside... Read More
Lemon marmalade
My first experiment with marmalade started and ended 2 years ago. I was really into fermenting things at the time, and decided that, better than regular old marmalade was FERMENTED MARMALADE. Of course all of this was at the prompting of Jam, who loves marmalade (somewhere, under that handsome face and messy hair is an old tweed-clad English man dying to escape). You see I really... Read More
The best tart ever
It’s so common in the UK to see apples and blackberries together. They’re kind of a perfect combination. Alone, they’re great, but together, there’s this magical alchemy that makes you wonder if there maybe is some kind of design behind this whole existence thing. Yeah, I know… the human body is amazing, the complexities of the universe are beyond... Read More
Prickly Pear Jelly
Prickly pear cactus grows all over the Southwestern US. It’s a big, beautiful plant, and the whole thing is edible, once you remove the thorns. In Mexico it’s as common to eat as eggs, but here it’s a relatively unknown food item, except in Mexican communities. In Mexico it’s called ‘nopales’, and the fruits are called ‘tunas’. I... Read More
Rustic plum tart
British plums are different to American plums. I know this, because when I moved to America, I was sorely disappointed when I went plum-hunting. Now, I’m sure the same kinds of plums exist in the UK, but the ones I remember are ones that grew in peoples’ gardens. They were oval shaped, not round. They were pink and green. They were sweet and juicy and, well, plum-like.... Read More
Persimmon cake
The colours and smells of fall make me really happy. The bite in the air, paired with the smell of spicy things baking in the oven make me want things like warm wooly socks and big fluffy blankets, and a pile of good books, and cakes on the counter, and a never ending supply of hot teas and hot chocolates and hot baths. And candles. Those yummy spicy smelling candles. Speaking... Read More
