Category: Guide

  • How to make gyozas

    How to make gyozas

    When you move to France, gyozas aren’t the first foods which come to mind. I should be writing a diary about all the baguettes and eclairs I eat, not Japanese finger foods. For those who are interested, I eat a lot of baguettes, but we had one with lunch today and it was a BIG…

  • Mocha Cinnamon Babka and Apricot Almond Babka

    Mocha Cinnamon Babka and Apricot Almond Babka

    I first tried babka at Honey & Co. In their little restaurant on Warren Street, its white walls and plants whisking customers away from smoggy London to a momentary respite of sun-dappled tranquillity, there is a counter laden with tempting cakes and pastries. After a memorable meal, stuffed to the gills and discovering a new…

  • Christmas Baking: Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie

    Christmas Baking: Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie

    And so, it’s the countdown to a Covid Christmas! Does that sound cynical? Nowadays, Christmas requires returning home two weeks early for the obligatory quarantine. Never mind that France and the UK were both in respective lockdowns. Ok, yes, I’m cynical. Upon touching down in London, it was like Christmas exploded. Christmas appears to be…

  • French recipe: French Crêpes

    French recipe: French Crêpes

    As I predicted, moving abroad has its hurdles. I write this still awaiting my SIM card and with no bank account, not for the lack of trying. Administration in France is not easy at the best of times but add a pandemic and doors start gently closing with a perfunctory, ‘Désolé!’ Unlike French bureaucracy, that…

  • The 4 Best Sweet Breakfasts

    The 4 Best Sweet Breakfasts

    November in Toulouse is not nearly as austere as other parts of the northern hemisphere during late autumn. The sun glitters through next door’s hedge, the sky is a spotless azure (most of the time), the leaves are gently turning from green to red, and, in fact, it’s colder inside than out due to a…

  • 10 things you can buy only in French grocery stores

    10 things you can buy only in French grocery stores

    Moving to another country is accompanied by its customary culture shocks. Making sure you drive on the right-hand side of the road for one, and looking left then right when crossing said road. It’s surprisingly easy to forget. I’ve been introduced the famous Tabac carotte which dates back to the 19th century, Flunch which is…

  • The 4 best savoury breakfasts

    The 4 best savoury breakfasts

    A girl doesn’t ask for much. It would just be wonderful if: I am coming to terms with the fact that three points on this list are impossible (although I’m taking some comfort in wishing my hair to miraculously change as I sleep). Breakfast, though, is easy. To start, I need to discover what makes…

  • How to be French: A guide to eating

    How to be French: A guide to eating

    Bonjour mes cheries, bienvenue! Mon français est mauvaise. Désolée. I will continue in English, it’s better for us all. An excursion to France these days is no longer as relaxed and romantic as one might imagine. Social-distancing and masks tend to take the amour out of the air. That said, Gaylord and I reunited (with…

  • 8 Great Restaurants in Wellington, New Zealand

    8 Great Restaurants in Wellington, New Zealand

    I lived in Wellington for six months and left in March, excited for the travels ahead while planning to upload this post about my dining experiences. Then, a pesky little pandemic happened, no biggie, so I decided to postpone it as it’s rather like rubbing salt into the wound – look at all these amazing…

  • The List

    The List

    We’ve all been there. (Yes, I’m speaking on your behalf, dear reader, sshhhh don’t say anything – I’ve got this.) We return home after a truly hellish day at work and the last thing you want to imagine is 1. cooking dinner and 2. continuing to stand up. This aversion to cooking can be alarmingly…