Thomas Fudge’s – Better than Baking: I’m something of a fair weather baker and I generally only fire up the oven to bake if I have friends around. While I love home baked biscuits, if I do bake I tend to make lots – and then somehow they all get eaten. It doesn’t matter if […]
Mary Arden’s Farm, the Tudor Kitchen and the Art of Chocolate.
The Tudor Kitchen at Mary Arden’s Farm and some Twenty-First Century Chocolate Making in Shakespeare’s England: Quintessentially English countryside and villages around Stratford-upon-Avon seems, in my fanciful eyes, remarkably unchanged since Tudor times. The narrow lanes lined with hedges, timber-framed houses, castles and manor houses in themselves are enough to take any visitor a step back history. […]
Foxhole Spirits at The London Cheesemongers
Preview of Foxhole Gin and Cheese Pairings for World Gin Week: I love trying new Gin – and, having never heard of Foxhole, I was intrigued to be invited along to a preview of a Gin and Cheese pairing event. The London Cheesemongers is a charming artisan cheese shop just off Sloane Square in Chelsea. […]
Introducing The Craved Collective
Something for Food Lovers to get excited about Last Christmas I was sent a wonderful collection of artisan products to review. Packed in a rather special wooden crate I thought it would make the perfect present for a food lover, but having tried a few of the products, I actually got an insider’s understanding of […]
Perfect Pesto
Italians do it better – Pesto World Championships, Genoa, Italy: It stands to reason that Italians should make the best Pesto in the World. A simple fusion of two kinds of cheese, garlic, basil, olive oil, pine nuts and salt sounds on the face of it like something that could easily be recreated anywhere. But, […]
Caorunn Gin Giveaway
The Gin born out of a Scottish Whisky – Caorunn: What happens when a Scottish Whisky distillery turns their hand to making gin? Well, read on and find out. Caorunn Gin is carefully crafted in the Scottish Highlands, in the Balmenach Distillery, one of the first distilleries in Scotland to be licensed in the production […]
Sipsmith’s London Gin at The Trading House
Sipsmith’s at The Trading House: The Trading House is one of those places tucked away in the City that is so discreet from the outside that stepping through the doors really does give you one of those ‘wow’ moments. Now converted into a bar, this former bank is both stunning and quirky. Everywhere you look, […]
Gin – Basics for Beginners
The Makings of Gin: I’m on a mission to educate myself. I enjoy gin, I drink gin and tonic and I generally like gin-based cocktails. And, although I understand that every gin differs because of the botanicals which are added to the spirit, I find the whole subject a bit confusing. Should I be […]
Workshop Coffee, Clerkenwell
Workshop Artisan Coffee in Clerkenwell: Clerkenwell is not my normal patch. Achingly trendy, home to Zetter Town House and the Modern Pantry, it’s somewhere I keep meaning to visit properly. But, picking one of the coldest days of the year isn’t conducive to wandering the streets, so I scurried into Workshop Coffee a couple of […]
Mapledurham House and the Miller – English Artisan Food
Mapledurham House and Meeting the Miller: “The Stately Homes of England How Beautiful they Stand…” Noel Coward Mapledurham House, an Elizabethan stately home in Oxfordshire, has belonged to the same family since 1490. Beautifully renovated by the current owners and inhabitants John and Lady Anne Eyston, it is an amazing testament to the tenacity and […]