When I have some olives and anchovies knocking around the fridge my mind often suggests Spaghetti Puttanesca. I rustled this up just before Christmas and it was deliziosa (or maybe delizioso?). I don’t eat much pasta, but when I do I always think, “bloody hell, it’s so quick to make a pasta dinner, why don’t...
When I unexpectedly found myself in M&S with Mr R recently my mind went absolutely blank, and then it went berserk. I have barely set foot in any shops apart from my corner shop in over six months and my brain was in overdrive. I could buy anything I wanted, right there, right then. No...
I am not quite sure how it can suddenly be September, what happened to August? I’ve been wondering what to propose for the recipe of the month and I made this zucchini dish last night and it was absolutely lovely, so this will be it! This might be a godsend for all you allotment type...
I am on holiday – yippee! But, if you are a burglar reading this, I have a big dog with sharp teeth looking after my flat. Here on Mersea Island every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon you can buy fish directly from the fishermen on the jetty. I love it! Yesterday there were lots of flatfish...
I can’t believe that I’ve been writing this blog for 12 years – goodness me. So much has changed in that time. When I began I was a broken-hearted singleton living on a houseboat on the Thames. My tabletop cooker had to be turned on with a pair of pliers… Now I am a landlubber...
Just back from a wonderful four day holiday in Whitstable. In a huge break with tradition, I left my laptop at home. I am having a month without writing to rest my brain after all the Cooking With Columbo excitement. Writing a blog post is writing of sorts of course, but I have a kind...
Divine! As is tradition, while we are on our holidays on beautiful Mersea Island, staying in this fab fisherman’s cottage… we always buy freshly caught fish from the jetty, and make something film star related. This recipe was a BIG HIT. I know nothing about fish, and to be honest, am rather nervous about cooking...
I live on the fourth floor of a block of flats so have no garden full of fresh herbs, however much I would like one. It drives me bananas when I’ve bought a big bunch of coriander, used a few sprigs and the rest has gone mulchy in the fridge. So lately I’ve been...
I am at Brixiefest – Mr R’s new term for my self-imposed weekend of solitary writing and cooking. I have a lot to do, not least make a PIE for Yinzerella’s annual Pieathalon challenge. For the first of these last year I made Mile High Lemon Chiffon Pie and played the Vincent Price Co-Stars game...
Just before Easter, the lovely Matthew Coniam tipped me off to the fact that there was a copy of Sophia Loren’s Eat With Me cookbook on ebay for a reasonable price. I was on it like a car bonnet. I scored it for £6.99 – the only other copy on there at the moment is...
March already tomorrow? Crikey! Sophia was pulled out of the pack for this month’s recipe: and there were plenty to choose from. Sophia is definitely an expert cook, she’s written several cookbooks… The one below I really want to get hold of, the cover is so lipsmackingly gorgeous… and this more recent one, which is...
My dad once told me that when he was younger, Sophia was his favourite pin-up. Is it any wonder? There are probably more photos of Sophia Loren with food knocking around the internet than any other actress. This is partly of course because she loves to cook, and has written a couple of cookbooks… Those...
Have you ever gorged on fondue and woken up the next day feeling as though your whole body is composed of cheese? I have, a couple of times. Tonight I went to a fantastic “Butter Workshop” organised by the Guild of Food Writers and have eaten my body weight in butter. Yum yum. I will...
