Category: Writing
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A&E and Gooey Honeycomb and Sea Salt Chocolate Brownies
Today I have been thinking about cake. Generally speaking this is a normal day for me. Cake is satisfying, whether to eat or simply think about; the softness of the crumb, the smooth crack of icing under your teeth. Ok, I appreciate eating cake is much more satisfying than just thinking about it, especially for…
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Peckish?
My stomach was rumbling. I don’t know about you but by 5pm I like to know dinner is on its way so I can either start the anticipation or admit defeat and find something to nibble. This evening I caved and nibbled. This is the person who, to celebrate handing in their final year dissertation…
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Bolognese: Florence III
Last night I stood sweating over the Bolognese in a determined attempt to perfect it without an Italian present. As I gently folded the ragu, allowing steam to billow and steam my face like a meaty sauna, I looked for the creamy consistency Alessio (aka Alex) had taught me, and breathed in to smell the…
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Quick zabaglione: Florence II
When you think of Italian food you probably don’t automatically fantasise about something sweet. ‘Dolce’ is a word we have absorbed into the English language thanks to Dolcelatte cheese and Dolce & Gabbana yet not for its original meaning. To me the word conjures up images of sorbet, a glass dish of fresh and juicy…
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An eating excursion: Florence
The distant view of Florence is iconic, its ancient Duomo towering high above the tangle of terracotta. Even through the frozen mist and hesitant snow of midday, which in summer would otherwise have been a pleasant Italian riposo, the view from Piazzale Michelangelo was breath-taking. I have been lucky enough to visit Florence three times in…
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Birthday Chinese
When I asked my sister when we started our family tradition of Birthday Chinese food she just responded with, ‘A long time ago.’ So this could remain quite vague. It was my birthday yesterday which, naturally, included the traditions of birthday cake (white chocolate and orange made by Fiona’s fair hand), presents, and a full…
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A good apple
My family were never one to stock the kitchen full of junk food. Of course, as a grumpy 9-year-old I was furious about this as I was missing out on all the delicacies my friends would smugly recount to me at school. Of course, now I am grateful. Maybe I’d have a mouth full of…
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Coconut cheesecakes in a glass
University is not the time to be channelling your inner culinary goddess. Amid the daunting hubbub of your new, shared living-space, independent lifestyle, and friends with whom to socialise and act cool around, spending time cooking in a dismal, slightly greasy and stained student kitchen is low down on the priority list. Instead, you become…
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Leftovers and my mum
My kindred spirit is my mum. They say women eventually turn into their mothers and I bet that’s not far from the truth. Every now and then I catch myself mid-way through a ‘classic mum’ facial expression or imitating her disparaging noise, the vocal version of an eye-roll, which I seem to have perfected over the…
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Notes on the week
Here are notes on the week: Today I finally visited my friends at the cookware shop where I worked for about five years during university holidays and to save for travels. Even when I believed I was going to direct Anastasia the musical and a Harry Potter TV series I still had an unhealthy obsession…