One of the things I love about food is the way that different foods mark out the year, its changing seasons and its various festivals. I particularly love cooking at Christmas and Easter, partly because many of the things i make on these occasions are once a year treats: the rarity of mince pies, Christmas cake and simnel cake makes both the making and eating of them all the more exciting. Continue reading “Hot Cross Buns”
Don’t blame the cook!
Everyone who cooks knows that cooking is an unpredictable business. A faithful recipe we have cooked time and time again to perfection doesn’t come out as we expected it to. You take your eye off the clock for one minute and a burning smell begins to emanate from the oven. You take a beautifully-risen cake out of the oven, and when your back is turned it sinks. Continue reading “Don’t blame the cook!”
Who Stole the Tarts?
The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne …. In the very middle of the court was a table, with a large dish of tarts upon it: they looked so good, that it made Alice quite hungry to look them – “I wish they’d get the trial done,” she thought, “and hand round the refreshments!”
(Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)
Midnight Feasts
When we went upstairs to bed, [Steerforth] produced the whole seven shillings’ worth, and laid it out on my bed in the moonlight, saying:
‘There you are, young Copperfield, and a royal spread you’ve got.’
(Charles Dickens, David Copperfield) Continue reading “Midnight Feasts”