I love autumn, it truly is my most favourite time of the year. Cold enough to snuggle up, wear layers and stay indoors, but still mild enough to invite people over for dinner (and wine) and guarantee they’ll come (by January you have to promise me an insane feast to get me to leave the house). Also I think food is at its peak. Spring and Summer are strong contenders, I know, but I love nothing more than the flavours, colours and textures of autumn. Pumpkins, squashes, mushrooms, orchard fruits, cabbage, kale, game… It combines a lot of my favourite things, including a natural desire to slow cook everything and fill the house with warm and spiced smells.
Supper Clubs and Sweetcorn Ice cream
I’ve just logged in and found 3 half written posts on here… Good intentions and all that? Hey ho, in a way, its a good thing, as it means book life has been busy. Stirring Slowly is out out and there has been all sorts of PR surrounding it – demo’s, Q+A’s, podcasts etc. It’s quite strange once you’ve written a book, for me it was anyway. I put so much love and time, sweat and tears into writing, developing and testing it, that once it got released I felt a bit lost. What do I do now? I still want to talk about it, it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done! And more than anything I just want people to cook from it and to enjoy it (seeing peoples pics of what they’ve made must be one of the best feelings). I don’t want to start writing book 2 straight away, it would feel like I was cheating on SS, does that sound strange? Not just yet anyway… [Read more…]
Feast for Archie
I’m writing this post and feeling quite bleary eyed. Buzzing from the adrenaline of the last few days, emotional because of what it is all for and overwhelmed by how much love is in our hearts. When I first started planning Feast for Archie a few months ago I never dreamed it would end up the way it did, such a momentous and incredible day, and that we would raise over £3000 for two incredible charities (Sands and Tommy’s) just from a supper club! It blows me away and makes me feel pretty tearful that all of this is in memory of our little boy, and that so many people know about him and want to help… It means so much to both of us.
May has been a tough month, and in my head this week was going to be the hardest, and I know it probably still will be, but doing this has definitely helped make a difficult time less so. His legacy lives on and that is all a mother can ask for. So, thank you all, for helping me create a legacy for my baby and for helping these charities do what they do. If you would like to donate, you can still do so here.
Here are some highlights from our wonderful day, with a list of ‘thank you’s’ to everyone who helped! And a recipe for the starter – roasted ricotta with figs and honey roasted walnut kataifi.



