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Special thanks to Sarah Connor and Jane Dougherty for this uniquely wonderful gastronomical sonnet, composed on the spur of the moment via a Twitter exchange: Shall I compare thee to a hot pork pie?No ta, nor neither steak and kidney, please.And yet the scent of gravy flutters byWith sweet effluves of pale green mushy peas.I... Continue Reading →
I was supervising the kitchen staff in preparation for the St Valentine's Day feast when I heard the herald's horn blow from the hills beyond my Summer Palace. With an excited rush of anticipation, I ran to the lookout post and sure enough, I saw the long-awaited sight: the rebel fleet approaching! Preparations Soon, the... Continue Reading →
The Victoria Sponge cake is the mainstay of British Baking. It is simple to make, versatile and tastes great. I have made many in my time. My record is an afternoon tea for 60 people! All of the cakes for this party were variations on the basic Victoria Sponge mixture. Today I'm sharing my top... Continue Reading →
Regular readers may notice that a lot of these poems have already appeared in one form or another on this blog. Apologies for the repetition: some of the poems I have written this week fit nicely into a tweet so I decided to recycle. Do let me know your likes and dislikes: be honest, I... Continue Reading →
39 steps on the stairway to heavenPier 39 where the sea lions bask in the sun39 circuits round the same sun of this earth39 years since my birth 39 lines on my face tell a storyat 39 years I’m less youthful, but more-me39 years and no body can stop meas long as I've paper and... Continue Reading →
For this week's results, I am going to hand straight over to judge Nick Reeves: he both provided the artistic inspiration for the challenge, and took the time and skill to judge with patience and perception. It has been a great honour for me to work with such a talented artist and writer. I hope... Continue Reading →
Fuži s tartufithat was 'pasta with truffles' the year after we first metmy first visit to Sloveniathere was also:steak with truffleseggs with trufflesasparagus with ham and truffles- to think I'd never tasted them before! The time we took the carwe thought we'd take back trufflesto Londonin the cara three-day journeyit was September and they were... Continue Reading →
It's Australian Open time, and Don's cat Priscilla is ready for action. She's honing her skills so that she'll be fit to take part over Zoom should the opportunity arise. If she's not too busy fitting her head into a piece of toast, that is! If you enjoy Don's unique blend of Flippant, Comic, and... Continue Reading →
Today is a public holiday in Slovenia, in celebration of the National Poet, France Prešeren. A public holiday in honour of a poet: how wonderful! I wanted to be the first to wish you 'Happy Prešeren Day!' and tell you a bit more about the poet's life and works. France Prešeren Prešeren was born in... Continue Reading →
It is almost one whole year since the pandemic started to take hold worldwide, and since we entered our first lockdown. How the world has changed since those early days! I wrote a tweet about it a few days back: 'does anyone remember how strange it felt the first time you went out wearing a... Continue Reading →
