I often think I like them better when they're half dead ...

This weekend I have cracked pastry-making. Perfect every time (4x). And, of course, it's not rocket science; but it's satisfying, al...

My beautiful blue Orpington hens laid their first eggs this week, just in time to help with the Easter baking. I bought them in October, a s...

I've always had trouble making flapjacks that don't flake into a hopeless mess of crumbs, never quite managing to achieve the chewy ...

I've just planted out some peas and beans. Sadly, the autumn-sown peas and beans didn't survive the winter, mainly because I was too...

Here's a worthwhile time-saver: garlic paste on hand in the fridge, no need to fry off before adding to - well, anything you're cook...

Karen at Cornflower baked the original Jim Lahey bread today ... it's a two-day process that makes good bread. If you need bread on th...

I've been baking a lot of bread recently. I haven't bought a loaf for a couple of years, and these days my homebaked bread feeds not...

... in case you've ever wondered about the other 56 Thanks to Posterous

This wonderfully easy new-to-me way to cook polenta comes from Paula Wolfert 's terrific new book, Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking . Ther...

All through the winter I've seen this greater spotted woodpecker feeding in the garden. In the last few days he's been boring holes ...

Five years ago, when I started this blog, I posted two recipes on the first day. One of them has reappeared in the Telegraph , which is wher...

I made Tarte tatin for pudding the other night; it's an indulgence, but an enjoyable one - Lucius said it was the best thing I'd eve...

I tried a couple of weeks ago to make a rye loaf, but it was fit only for the hens. They loved it, but they're connoisseurs of good grai...

We eat risotto at least once a week, as I always have plenty of home-made stock & we're not great soup drinkers. This is a good way ...

The Guardian has made a list of the best food books of the decade . Interesting overview, and, of course, there's always room for a few...

We've been snowed in for most of the week, so Christmas has taken us a little by surprise ... not many decorations, not much shopping. B...

We're snowed in here, so it's been a day of quiet pleasures: a walk round the wood, a little photography, some bird watching, a game...

My sister brought Meyer lemons from her garden in California. It's impossible to buy a Meyer* lemon here, so it was a wonderful gift - t...

Lunch was an elegant protest in a flurry of snow in Trafalgar Square. Delicious fruit smoothies, vegetable curry, all the fruit you could f...