Supper with Joanna Blythman

Last Tuesday during a quiet moment at work – lets say lunchtime… I had a wee flick through twitter to see what was going on in the world, when I noticed someone had re-tweeted Taste Communications tweet about a 2 course supper with Joanna Blythman who has just launched her new book – What to…

The Bakery, Dunbar

At the weekend I dragged poor Stuart half way round the country for various bits and bobs, one of the many stops we had on our travels was at Dunbar.  Some of the Edinburgh Cake Ladies have teased us on twitter with photos of the delicious cakes from The Bakery, Dunbar, so I had to…

Swedish Buns

Tonight I whipped up a batch of Swedish Buns or as Jamie Oliver likes to call them ‘Sexy Swedish Buns’, not really sure what makes them sexy! This weeks cookbook of choice is the lesser known (I guess) ‘Jamie Does’ to accompany his TV series of the same name, where he visits 6 different countries…

Walkers, the Shortbread People

This is the Walkers Shortbread shop in Aberlour, its not the most obvious.  If you didn’t know it was there you would miss it. It is a haven of shortbready goodness. Seconds of course, though some in better condition than what I have bought in the shops in the past!.  There are also Oatcakes and…

Il Pirata

Another new local restaurant has popped up near my parents, this time on the Upper Newtownards Road – Il Pirata, in what was an old KFC, though completely unrecognisable as an ex-fast food joint!  Il Pirata is named after a dead Italian racing cyclist, Marco ‘Il Pirata’ Pantani,  (because of his love of ear-rings and…

Ace, Belfast

Round where my parents live is going through some kind of eateries boom.  Every time I come home there seems to be another new restaurant in the area.  Ace is situated on the Belmont Road in Belfast, in what used to be ‘The Gourmet Burger Bank’ and before that a branch of the First Trust…

Voluptuous Aubergine Parmigiana

I have loads of cookbooks, some barely opened. Stuart likes to complain about how many I have and how they just seem to sit looking pretty on the shelf.  So, to prove to him that all the cookbooks are great and essential, I have set myself a challenge to cook at least one dish from…

An Intro to Japan

Tonight is planning night.  In just over 6 weeks we head eastwards to Japan, and all we have organised at the moment are our flights.  So we have dedicated tonight to planning our adventure.  To get us in the planning mood, I decided to cook something Japanese, so I reached for the Wagamama Ways with…

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake

Today I needed cake. We didn’t have any, so there was only one thing for it, to make some.  I fancied something zesty and fresh, and this Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake sprung to mind.  I used to make a lot a few years back, but kind of got out of the way of it….

Earthy Foods 3

On Friday Earthy Foods opened their third store in Canonmills.  As I totally love their branch up on the South Side, I was so glad that I live a stone’s throw away from this one.  I didn’t make it down there on opening day (damn you work!) but popped in as soon as I could…