Category: Winter

  • Stick blender Mayonnaise – Salad dressings No. 2

    I promised some more salad dressings when I wrote the Vinaigrette recipe the other day. I really looked forward to doing this post because mayonnaise this way is so simple and so spectacular. You’ll have great mayo in less than a minute. I hope once you have made this the first time, you will not…

  • Felin Ganol Amaretto Flour: Sourdough Bread

    It’s very funny how life works. I nearly met Anne & Andrew Parry from Felin Ganol Mill last year. We were temporarily in the same room and then I had to leave the next day. That was at an ‘international’ meet up of bakers in Bethesda, North Wales. Love of bread (and food in general)…

  • Winter Panzanella Recipe – Bread Salad

    If you make or use much good bread, you’ll have bits left over that are a shame to waste. Sourdough is great for this because it lasts without going mouldy much longer than yeasted bread. So you can collect a little stash. The bread needs to be a few days old and dry or drying.…

  • Llŷn Peninsula sunset and Wicklow Mountains

    A perfect end of daylight on our 23rd Wedding Anniversary. A gorgeous sunset. On the horizon on the right you can just see the silhouette of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. They’re a good 60 miles away, so the visibility is good. We like it here…

  • Vegetarian chilli with chocolate recipe

    Chillies and chocolate are a classic combination. The spicy warmth & smokiness of the chilli combine perfectly with the rich, smooth depth of the chocolate. I was prompted to develop a recipe by Choclette’s February I Should Cocoa Challenge. The challenge was to use chocolate in a savoury vegetarian recipe. I’d previously done a Challenge…

  • Vinaigrette Recipe – Salad dressings No. 1

    Writer and permaculture enthusiast Emma Cooper & her husband Pete came to us for a very enjoyable visit last year. We had lunch which included roast chicken, roasted pumpkin sourdough bread and a foraged salad. Emma asked me afterwards for the method for making the dressing. It’s taken me a while, but here’s the recipe…

  • January flowers on the Llŷn Penisula

    Wandering through the garden today I was amazed at how much was in flower. We’ve had a really mild winter so far, but cold is on its way and some of these flowers will not survive. How many can you identify?

  • Spelt, ginger and cardamom cookies

    This is the latest in the Short and Tweet Challenge. I just love using spelt in baking. I add it to yorkshire pudding batter, shortcrust pastry and love it as a percentage in my sourdough bread. We’d made these cookies when we first got Dan’s book and loved them. This time I had a look…

  • Vegetarian Haggis Recipe

    When I tweeted the meat version haggis recipe, I was asked on twitter whether I had a recipe for a vegetarian haggis. I did not and said that I would develop one. I’ve now done this and it’s below. Modesty isn’t going to prevent me tooting my own horn: I think it’s really good. I…