1 January 2012 marked an important day for egg-laying hens across
Europe. After years of waiting, an EU ban on conventional barren battery
cages came into force.

So does this mean that every egg we will now buy is cage-free?

Absolutely not. While the ban outlaws ‘conventional’ battery cages, it
still allows so-called ‘enriched’ battery cages. These cages give hens a
nesting, scratching and perching area and a little bit more usable
space, but still amounting to no more than an A4 sheet of paper per
bird. This is why it’s important to choose cage-free eggs.

So always check the packaging to be sure what you’re buying contains
cage-free eggs and if you are not sure – ask.

The cost of choosing eggs from higher welfare systems compared to
battery cages can be a matter of a few pennies – a small price to pay
for a major welfare improvement! So please choose eggs labelled Freedom
Food. Freedom Food labelled products are produced by animals on farms
inspected to RSPCA welfare standards. If you can’t find Freedom Food
labelled eggs then look for free-range, barn or organic.

The law in Europe requires all eggs and their boxes to be labelled
either free-range, barn, organic or cage. However, these terms
(particularly ‘eggs from caged hens’) can sometimes be in small print on
the back of the box. So don’t get caught out by eggs boldly labelled
‘Farm Fresh’ or ‘Healthy Living’ – these have probably been laid by
caged hens unless it specifically says otherwise!

Eggs are also used as ingredients in many different types of food,
including ice cream, mayonnaise, cakes, quiches and sandwiches, which
don’t legally have to be labelled with how the hens that laid them were
kept. However, foods made with cage-free eggs will often be clearly
advertised with the information on the packaging or in the ingredients
list. If you are not sure then ask the retailer or manufacturer.

The RSPCA has produced a helpful guide to choosing cage-free eggs

To find out more, go to:
www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaigns/farm/layinghens/

Share this:

Live Below the Line

This May, UK development agency Christian Aid will challenge the general public to Live Below the Line for five days.

Just like 1.4 billion people living in poor communities around the globe, those taking part will have to purchase all of their food and drink by spending just £1 per day. This is the average amount a Sub-Saharan African has to spend per head, and according to the World Food Programme, some spend up to 80% of their income on food. Shocking figure isn’t it?

Over the month of May I am hoping to place a top tip about cheap and nutritious ingredients that will considerably reduce shopping bills, how to make the most of left overs or an exciting (cheap) recipe or two on my Facebook Page.

And that dear readers is where you come in, I’d love you to comment and leave me your top tips too!

Share this:

Merry Christmas!

Now that Christmas is just around the corner I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends and fellow bloggers a very Merry Christmas and (should I not be back online in time) a Happy New Year.

Here’s hoping you have plenty of chance to eat, drink and be merry over the festive period.

Share this:

The Soil Association Organic Fortnight, is the UK’s biggest celebration of all things organic. This year the Soil Association are encouraging us all to try something organic everyday.

Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

1. Sign-up to an organic box scheme. Get local, seasonal and organic fruit and veg delivered straight to your doorstep, many are greatt value for money too.
2. Cook fresh fruit and veg from scratch. Avoiding over packaged convenience foods is usually both healthier and cheaper. Have a scout round this (and other) blogs for some inspiration.
3. Eat less meat, and when you do try lower cost cuts such as belly of pork or neck of lamb. Offal too can provide tasty nutritious meals. Get friendly with your local butcher for advice on cuts.
4. Cook in bulk. Make meals in larger batches, use herbs and spices, and cheaper ingredients like tinned tomatoes or beans and pulses to bulk things out, and then freeze left over portions. This is a great way making less into more.
5. Join or create an organic buying group. Bulk-buy your store cupboard staples with a group of friends at wholesale prices.
6. Join or start your own local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme in partnership with a local farmer. CSA is a partnership between farmers and the public where you make an annual investment for a share of the harvest and can prove great value for money 
7. Grow your own, for the freshest, most local food you can get, right on your doorstep.
8. Keep your own chickens and enjoy a great house pet and super fresh eggs every day.
9. Write a shopping list. As a nation we we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food every year. By planning meals in advance, buying what you need and not what you ‘fancy’, and using left-overs you should be able avoid the need to throw away any food at all, and save up to £50 a month
10. Take a walk on the wild side. There’s plenty of free wild food available, and identifying and picking it is a great way of having fun outdoors so get foraging.

I buy organic as much as I can, believing it to be better for us in terms of the lack of chemicals even if the nutritional value isn’t all that much different.

What about you? Do you go for the organic option and why?

Share this:

Working the Plate

As food bloggers we have to take on the role of chef, writer, food photographer, food stylist and on top of that kitchen cleaner and pot washer. Quite a busy lot aren’t we?

Food styling is a form of artwork in its own right. The job of a food stylist is to arrange and using various techniques make food look perfectly presentable, delicious and tempting prior to its photography. This requires artistic vision and the ability to convey the impression of aromas, tastes and textures through to the person viewing the photograph.

Food stylists often use specialist equipment in order to successfully create the perfect piece of food art as do many food photographers. This would include, a studio or workshop with controlled lighting; backgrounds of different colours and textures, and various props in order to compliment the food without distracting away from it.

Most food bloggers however don’t have their own studios, or professional lighting equipment, or access to pro food stylists.

Here’s a few hints on how you can style your food effectively at home no matter what equipment you have.

1. In order to style food for photography successfully, the food should first of all be of exceptional quality – it really does show up in the finished photo.
2. If the food is of a particularly vibrant colour, try using a white plate and a background that will complement that colour.
3. If the food is smooth surfaced, such as a tomato for instance, introduce texture into the background, if the food is textured go for a smoother background. This will ensure the food is enhanced in appearance but not dominated.
4. Balance your colours – two or three colours are often better than one, saying that black & white or highlighting one photographic element can be breathtaking.



5. Spritzing fruit and vegetables with water can introduce a fresher, dewy look.



6. Square dishes always look classy.
7. Smaller is better — small dishes are easier to fill up with food, which prevents your plate from looking bare, but, remember scale down the cutlery size to match.



8. Plan for a variety of shapes and forms, also think about height variations.
9. Rims on plates can be used to frame your food.
10. A large rimless dish or bowl can be used for a multitude of serving opportunities, however a rimmed bowl generally doesn’t look so good against noodle or rice dishes.
11. Serving in the pan can create a rustic look, enamel works perticularly well.
12. Banana leaves look stylish and exotic for (example) serving ‘dry’ curries.
13. Glasses or tumblers can be very effective for presenting layered foods, desserts or preserves.
14. Cups are great for presenting soups and some puddings.
15. The more wooden boards you have the better – aim for a variety of sizes and colours. They work well for everything from steaks, to breads, to becoming a base for plated foods (of course if you have a wooden dining table this last use is negated).

Do as much as you possibly can ahead of time. Food should be photographed as soon as possible after preparing, which means you’ll need a space for photographing ready to go, an uncluttered kitchen, etc. Here’s what I do before I start cooking:

1. Clean up, do all the dishes, clear worktops
2. Pick out dishes
3. Set camera up on tripod, pick out background
4. Clear your photography space
5. Think about the dish: do you need a garnish? Special utensils?

With time and patience and an artistic eye, a great photograph can be achieved. One thing is for sure is that after the amount of preparation that will have gone into the end product it will be essential to create the perfect photograph.

When I first started doing my blog, I had a point & shoot digital camera, no tripod, and I got on just fine.

In fact I still own a point & shoot camera for those times when I’m out and about and want to be able to take photographs without having to carry a large SLR or when time is of the essence. The camera in question? Leica V-Lux 20. This Leica was billed as an effective digital compact camera with a powerful 12x optical zoom lens and built-in GPS tagging, making it ideal for recording special memories when travelling, wherever you are in the world, and that is exactly how I plan to use it.

The V-Lux 20 offers fully automatic functions and specific ‘screen’ options from sports, to food, to night shots and many, many more. It also provides a complete range of manual shutter speed and aperture settings for more creative freedom and image control. In addition, the integrated image stabilisation assists the photographer by reducing the chance of blurred pictures, whether due to camera shake or difficult lighting conditions.

If you are interested in investing a little money in your photography, I’d highly recommend getting a digital SLR (single-lens reflex) camera and a trusty lens or two. There are a lot of cameras on the market, but most people find themselves deciding between Canon and Nikon. I happen to shoot Canon (50D), so my recommendations will be for Canon products, since that’s what I know.

With an SLR you’ll be able to use different lenses, change your aperture and shutter speed, set your white balance, shoot RAW–pretty much everything you’ll want to do to take your photography to the next level.

There are a lot of lenses you can get that will work for food photography and that choice is often daunting. These are the ones I use most frequently for food shots:

• Canon 50mm 1.8 If you’re on a budget and can only buy one lens, I’d recommend this one. It’s cheap compared to other lenses, and is a very “fast” lens. A fast lens is one that has a very wide aperture that creates nice depth of field and can be used in low-light situations (more on that a little later). The downsides – slow, loud auto-focus, a cheaply built plastic body, and cannot focus very close to your subject.



• Canon 60mm 2.8 Macro A macro lens allows you to really get in there and focus closely on your food (or whatever) and get details you’d be hard pressed to get with another lens. This is (like the 50mm 1.8) a fast lens.  I shoot the majority of my food photos with this lens, and I’d say if you only were to buy one lens for food photography, this lens (or another similar macro lens) would be your best investment.  If you ever plan to upgrade your camera to a pro camera like the 5D be aware that this lens won’t mount onto it.

My next lens purchase will be a tilt-shift, oh how I crave that moment, one day.

Lighting? I keep reading about light boxes and the like. Do you need one? No! You don’t need to invest in lots of studio equipment to get great images. The very best lighting you can get is free, and it’s coming through your windows every day. What you do need is to assess the lighting and work around it – this just means that you might have to change photographic locations at some points in the day, or if possible do your photography at specific times (hard I know). For example, most of my morning photography shots are taken in my lounge where as anything done after about 2pm (weather permitting) is done in the kitchen. Use whiteboards and possibly reflectors to bounce the light around as you require. That’s it! Well, almost.

Since I shoot with natural light only, a lot of times it’s slightly too dark to hand-hold my camera and get a clear image. Use a tripod and you’ll be amazed at how much better your photos get, even with point & shoot cameras. If you have yet to invest in a tripod, balancing your camera on a can of tomatoes or a pile of books can save the shot. Tripods very drastically in price, but you really don’t need to spend  fortune. I’d advise you get one with a ball head as it allows for more flexibility in movement.

Another trick to prevent movement/camera shake is to use the 2 second delay timer. This allows you to be able to step away from the camera before the shot is taken, reducing the risk of accidental movement. Oh and turn off image stabliisation if sing a tripod too.

Key lighting points:

• Using natural light is probably the number one thing you can do to improve your photos.
• Turn off the flash. Never use it! A flash will at best make your food look flat and at worst wash out all the details and create unappealing shadows.
• I find side-lighting to be the most dependable and easist to expose for. Back-lighting can be very nice, but is harder to manage the correct exposure. Full on front-lighting can work well, but is hard to get right. Experiment with everything – afterall you are working with digital and can just erase shots you don’t like – not like you have to buy the films now is it?.
• When using natural lighting, don’t place your food in a sunbeam. You want ambient, diffuse light. Things shot directly in the sun usually look too harsh, but again, it can sometimes work depending on the shot. In my opinion, the “safest” set up is diffuse side-lighting coming from nearby window.

Take lots and lots of photos. When you think you’ve taken enough, take a few more. Again remember you can whittle the number down in the editing process. I think I average around 50 photos taken per recipe, and then whittle them down drastically to just a handful for each post.

I always find it funny how one shot can be “meh”, while another shot take from a slightly different angle, or with a slightly different focus, can suddenly become “WOW!” The best way to ensure you get “the killer  shot” is to take lots and lots of them. Taking lots of photos allows you to be very, very picky when you’re editing, ensuring you never have to post a photo you dislike.

If you have a point & shoot camera, look for a setting that is marked with a little flower. This is your macro setting, and it will help your lens use the best of its close-focusing and detail capabilities.

If you are working with an SLR with more settings to choose from, here’s what I recommend:

• ISO: Set to the lowest possible, probably 100. The lower the ISO, the “cleaner” your image will be. Photos shot at higher ISOs have a lot of digital “noise” in them that looks like colorful static. Higher ISOs are used to increase your camera’s sensitivity to light, allowing you to shoot in darker conditions and still maintain a shutter speed that is fast enough to prevent blurry images. But since you’re using a tripod, and your food isn’t moving, it’s best to keep this setting as low as possible for the best looking images.
• RAW or JPG: If you have a choice, shoot RAW. RAW files record lots and lots information about each photo, which allows you to bring the most out of the image in post-processing (editing color, contrast, white balance, etc.). Be aware that you may need special software to process RAW images. If RAW isn’t an option, make sure your camera is set to the highest resolution JPG option available.
• Shutter Speed and Aperture: In my opinion, shutter speed doesn’t matter so much in food photography; it’s your aperture, or f-stop, that’s most important. When shutter speed would matter is for “freezing” action, or purposeful motion blur. For example, if you were pouring maple syrup over a pancake and wanted to “freeze” the pouring syrup you would need a fast shutter speed. And lets say you wanted a shot that showed the motion of you tossing a stir-fry you’d require a slow shutter speed. But on the whole, you’ll be more interested in apertures than shutter speeds – you could easily set your camera to aperture priority rather than full manual to make life easier to begin with, without any detrimental effect. If you’ve ever wondered how photographers get that nice, blurry background with only one thing in focus, now you know. aperture! The aperture of the camera is the opening that lets the light in. Think of the aperture on your camera the same way as the pupil in your eye. When it’s dark out, your pupils expand to gather more light. If someone shines a light in your eye, they constrict and get very small to let less light in. Your camera’s aperture is the same. One of the side-effects is what’s called “depth of field.” When the aperture is very wide open, only a small amount of the image will be in focus. If the aperture is very small, much more of the photo will be in focus. By the way, the technical term for the pretty, smooth and silky blurry parts of an image like this is called “bokeh.”



• Angle of Shots: For food photography, a lot of times people stand above the dish, take a photo, and that is that. Overhead shots can work very well, but try taking photos from lower angles, even level with the food itself. Close up is great too, but be careful not to go too close! It’s always important to leave some frame of reference for the viewer so they know what they’re looking at, even if it’s just the edge of the plate, or the rim of a glass.

I use Photoshop to process my images, but, there are many other software options out there for you to choose from.

I hope you have found this post useful. If you have any questions please either leave me a comment below or feel free to email me.

Remember the focus should always be the food!

Share this:

Culinary Travels may be a little quiet over the next few days, maybe even a couple of weeks as I unfortunately am going into hospital (now don’t go worrying) and my time spent in the kitchen will be markedly reduced over the coming weeks.

Expect to find the odd post about the joys of hospital food and a few long overdue book reviews, sure I’ll have enough time on my hands to be studying them.

Thank goodness for recently purchased MacBook and every handy iPhone then … at least I can sit with them whilst I have my feet up gaining the much needed R&R.

Copyright Google Images.

Share this:

It’s now nearly two months since the earthquake hit Haiti and an estimated 700,000 people are living in make-shift shelters.

H2Ope for Haiti is an online raffle that Jeanne from CookSister helped launch together with BloggerAid – Changing the Face of Famine (BA-CFF) to raise funds for Concern Worldwide’s relief effort in Haiti.   They selected Concern Worldwide because of its excellent track record and quick response after the quake to provide clean drinking water and water purification tablets.  This non-governmental international humanitarian organisation was founded in 1968 and works around the world to reduce suffering and work towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.  Concern International has been working in Haiti since 1994 and had over 100 staff members on the ground when the earthquake struck.  Despite losing several team members in the tragedy, they were still very quick to act with distribution of supplies.

Although the raffle is now over, you can continue to donate on the JustGiving page. Please do give what you can, every little will help make a big difference to this country in great need. The H2Ope for Haiti campaign has already raised £959 in just two weeks.

I was lucky enough to win signed copies of two of Simon Mujamdar’s books – Eat my Globe & Eating for Britain. Both of the books sound fabulous and I’ve come so close to relenting and buying them anyway, I cannot wait to get my hands on them.

You can see who else won what here.

Share this:

Wikio Gastronomy Ratings (March 2010)

1. Word of Mouth
2. Eat Like A Girl
3. Food Stories
4. Dos Hermanos
5. Hollow Legs
6. Cheese and Biscuits
7. Thring For Your Supper
8. London Eater
9. Gastronomy Domaine
10. A Rather Unusual Chinaman
11. The Catty Life
12. Essex Eating
13. Tinned Tomatoes
14. Intoxicating Prose
15. Culinary Travels of a Kitchen Goddess
16. London Chow
17. The London Foodie
18. The Foodie List
19. Spittoonextra
20. Cherrapeno

Obviously I’d love to see my site in the top 10, okay okay who am I kidding, I’d obviously like to be at the number one slot; who wouldnt’? That doesn’t stop me grinning from ear to ear like the metaphorical Cheshire cat though to see I’m ranked at number 15 – a massive 22 place leap from last month; obviously I’ve been doing something right with the blog recently. I’ve also noted that the number of subscribers I have is rising rapidly too. Hooray from this very happy blogger.

So now it’s time to say the big thank you to all who frequent this blog and chatter away to me with their comments, I really do apprecite you visiting and I just love having you comment away. Cheers to you and here’s to many more good blogging times. Onwards and upwards so they say.

I must say it’s delightful to see so many blogs I’m an avid reader of doing so well but it is also greatly entertaining to go taking a peek at some of the others I’m not aware of – sometimes I like what I find and other times I don’t but we can’t all like the same and wouldn’t it be a boring old world if we did.

There are some fabulous blogs on this list, so if you’re not already aware of them, I’d heartily recommend you take a wander and have a read. Take my advice and make sure your cuppa is freshly brewed and you have the free time to while away a few hours, it is surprising how quick the time flies when you’re having fun  in cyberspace.

Share this:

Following on from my post about Fairtrade Fortnight – The Big Swap I received an email discussing fairer baking. Now I think you’re all aware of how much I love to bake and of my principles regarding ethical eating, so of course it immediately grabbed my interest.

I am rather disappointed to say I didn’t realise that two years ago, Tate & Lyle, announced plans to move its retail cane sugars range to Fairtrade with no resulting price increase to consumers. This of course was a wonderful move and in the first year alone, the switch created a return of over £2 million in Fairtrade premiums for cane farmers. If only more companies would do the same.

To encourage fairer baking, Tate & Lyle along with cupcake queen and author Lily Vanilli, have developed a trio of delicious and unusual recipes using Fairtrade ingredients, and of course, I am delighted to share them with you.

I haven’t had the spare time to get baking yet, but I will be trying out the recipes and will of course feedback about them here.

I hope that you will also feel able to support Fairtrade Fortnight through your blogs and encourage “Fair” baking during the run up to Fairtrade Fortnight. Maybe you would also try one of Lily’s recipes with a view to sharing the results with your readers?

After all, what could leave a better taste in one’s mouth than a delicious cake made from fairly traded ingredients?!

Lily Vanilli’s Fairtrade Bacon and Banana Cakes

• 4 rashers unsmoked organic back bacon
• 150g ripe Fairtrade bananas (approx 2 small)
• 60g Fairtrade honey
• 100g unsalted organic butter (at room temperature)
• 40g Tate & Lyle Fairtrade caster sugar
• 140g organic plain flour (sifted)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 large, free-range organic eggs (at room temperature)
• Handful Fairtrade Brazil nuts (toasted & chopped)
• 1/2 tsp grated Fairtrade nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Fairtrade ground cinnamon

1. Lay rashers of bacon on a foil lined sheet and place in a cold oven with the temperature set to 200c for approx 20 mins or until crispy. Allow to cool
2. Turn heat down to 180c
3. Mash bananas with honey in a small bowl and set aside
4. Sift together all the dry ingredients into a large bowl – flour, sugar, baking powder, salt
5. Cut butter into small chunks and add to the dry ingredients, blend with an electric mixer on medium speed until evenly incorporated
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition
7. Mix in the banana/honey mixture, spices and Brazil nuts to taste
8. Spoon into cupcakes cases, filling almost to the top
9. Bake in preheated oven for 15 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean
10. Remove and leave to cool in the pans for approx 3 mins – then transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

Frosting:

• 55g unsalted organic butter (at room temperature)
• 325g Tate & Lyle Fairtrade icing sugar
• 1/2 cup (4fl oz) organic double cream
• 2 tbsp Fairtrade honey

1. Beat the butter until smooth, then add half of the sugar, the double cream and the honey
2. Continue beating, slowly adding the rest of the sugar to achieve a smooth, even texture
3. Ice each cooled cupcake with a thick swirl of frosting and top with strips of cooled bacon and chopped Brazil nuts.

Fairtrade Devil’s Food Ale Cakes

• 115g unsalted organic butter (at room temperature)
• 45g Divine Fairtrade cocoa
• 155g Fairtrade ale (Honey Ale)
• 170g organic plain flour (sifted)
• Pinch of salt
• 2/3 tsp baking soda
• 225g Tate & Lyle Fairtrade caster sugar
• 1 large free-range, organic egg (at room temperature)
• 3 fl oz (3/8 cup) organic buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 180c
2. Bring ale to the boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa. Leave to cool until it reaches room temperature
3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside
4. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixture until very light and fluffy (about 5 mins)
5. Add the egg and beat until just incorporated
6. Beat in the cooled ale/cocoa mixture
7. Add the sifted dry mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two parts – beginning and ending with the dry and beating after each addition
8. Spoon the batter into a baking tray lined with cupcake cases (2/3 of the way full)
9. Bake in preheated oven for 15 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean
10. Cool briefly in the pans and then transfer to a wire rack until cooled completely.

Frosting:

• 85g/3 fl oz (3/8 cup) – Fairtrade honey ale
• 15g Fairtrade cocoa
• 115g Unsalted organic butter (at room temperature)
• 340g Tate & Lyle Fairtrade icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp Fairtrade vanilla essence
• Small bar Fairtrade chocolate to decorate
• Handful toasted Fairtrade Brazil nuts (optional)

1. Boil ale in a saucepan, remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa. Allow to cool completely – transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge if necessary
2. Beat the butter until smooth
3. Add the vanilla, ale/cocoa mixture and half the icing sugar and continue to beat. Gradually add all of the sugar – beating continuously until you reach a consistency you like
4. Spread onto cooled cupcakes and top with shavings of Fairtrade chocolate and Brazil nuts.

Fairtrade Burnt Butter, White Chocolate and Brazil Nut Cookies

• 280g organic plain flour (sifted)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 170g Unsalted organic butter (at room temperature)
• 220g Tate & Lyle Fairtrade light brown sugar
• 100g Tate & Lyle Fairtrade granulated sugar
• 1 large free-range organic egg (at room temperature)
• 1 free-range, organic egg yolk (at room temperature)
• 1/2 tsp Fairtrade vanilla essence
• Handful Fairtrade white chocolate chunks
• Handful Fairtrade Brazil nuts (chopped)
• Zest of one Fairtrade lemon

1. Preheat oven to 150c
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan and heat, stirring continuously until brown bits begin to form at the bottom of the pan (approx 5 mins)
4. Beat the melted butter together with the light brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth
5. Add the egg & egg yolk and beat to incorporate into sugar/butter mixture
6. Set the mixer to a low speed and gradually add the sifted dry ingredients
7. Add lemon zest, chocolate and Brazil nuts to taste
8. Roll dough into 2 inch diameter balls and lay on a lined baking sheet, approx 2 inches apart, bake in preheated oven 15 mins or until brown around the edges and soft in the centre.

Share this:

The lovely Polly has tagged me. I’m supposed to come up with thirteen little known facts about myself to share with you before passing along the tag, but to be quite honest I don’t really go in for completing tags and meme’s that often.

So I’ll bore you all with thirteen little known facts about me but I’m not going to pass it on. If however, anyone decides they’d like to complete the tag themselves, feel free to carry it on (a link back would be appreciated mind you) :)

1. I have a slight addiction to cookbooks, take a look over in my cookery book library page and you’ll get the gist.
2. During my school days I always aspired to become either a journalist or lawyer; somehow I ended up a nurse – don’t ask, it’s complicated.
3. I live out in ‘the sticks’ (countryside) and it’s a love/hate thing; I hate not being able to walk to good deli’s, cafes etc, but I love that I can take my dogs for long walks and runs in the National Forest areas near my home.
4. I am an only child.
5. I’m never without a note pad and pen to jot down any food related ideas I come up with while I’m out and about, or my camera so I can take photo’s of any exciting discoveries or thought provoking items.
6. I have a ‘theorist’ learning style.
7. Mostly I read the news online but on a Sunday I always buy a paper – The Observer generally.
8. I’ve been blogging for nearly three years, and believe me, the time has flown by.
9. I have everything but the kitchen sink in my handbag – filofax, iphone, notepad, pens (multiple), umbrella, magazine or book (most often both), moisturiser, purse and makeup to name but a few items – clearly I don’t travel light.
10. The only food I cannot abide is tripe, the smell alone makes me feel nauseous.
11. Currently my favourite kitchen activity is bread baking.
12. My favourite author is Roddy Doyle, his work never fails to ‘move me’.
13. I am currently studying a mentorship course.

Share this: