Food : Turkish pumpkin tart

  For years I was not convinced that sweet pumpkin pies (or tarts) could be a real thing. I found this recipe in a recipe book of mine called Herbs, Spices and Flavourings, which is now an old and well-used book.  After I tried it, I was totally converted. I love...

Food: Stinging nettle risotto {James Vickers}

  It’s springtime!! The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing…. and so are the nettles. Just looking at them makes me think ‘ouch.’ Like most folk, childhood experiences run deep.     I never knew until a...

Food : Mandarin almond cake with chocolate butter frosting

  As I mentioned a little while ago, our twin boys turned 7 recently. For their birthday cake, I adapted the classic Middle Eastern orange and almond cake, the recipe for which is in the equally classic cookbook by Claudia Roden, A Book of Middle Eastern Food. I...

Food : Chocolate fudge brownies ~ gluten-free

    It has only been recently that we have been introduced to the world of gluten-free. One of our 6yo twin boys (ah yes, well they’re almost 7, birthday next week and we’re not being allowed to forget about it) was recently diagnosed with a...

Food : Ciabatta {it’s not as scary as you think}

    After a discussion about bread on Twitter, my good friend Kellie from 74LimeLane requested that I share my favourite ciabatta recipe here. And why not? Good bread is GOOD. Ciabatta is Italian in origin, and the word literally translates as...