Category: Writing
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What are the best pastries in Paris?
It sounds rather dreamy, doesn’t it? Paris and pastries! The picture-perfect image: sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower with a couple of eclairs. I’m going to have to abruptly halt this fantasy to say there were no visits to the Eiffel Tower this time *sob*. We did mooch around the eerily quiet city on…
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French Road Trip: Ardèche to Paris
A month ago, Gaylord and I filled the car, lowered the flat’s squeaky shutters, and drove off on our holiday, leaving the Bonsai plant to fend for itself (it didn’t and Gaylord is now in mourning). The plan was to take a long drive to Paris, with stops along the way in Ardèche then again…
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No place like home
Yesterday, my parents moved out of the house we as a family have lived in for twenty-seven years. It is white and has bumpy roughcast exterior walls, and when I was younger I would find a soft section and dig my finger in, dislodging the occasional pebble. I apologise to the new owners for the…
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French recipe: Cherry Clafoutis
And so, finally, six months later, I’m back in France! It’s almost unbelievable to think the last time I saw my boyfriend was on a dark, wet morning in December as he dropped me off at the airport, our last kiss between two face masks. At long last – Christmas, a birthday, and, oh yeah,…
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Fig, rosemary and fennel soda bread
Guys. I have news. And it involves a rather divine soda bread recipe. Firstly, you might be thinking, ‘Oh what a lovely photograph!’ (not that I am putting words in your head but it’s what my mum and sister both thought so I’m just assuming). If you are thinking that, this is where I dive…
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Rice Pudding Pancakes
At the beginning of this little hiccup known as Covid, panic descended on the world’s population and people stormed the supermarkets. A natural instinct, sure, although I still can’t understand the toilet roll wipe-out. In the general rush of stockpiling, everyone went mad for tinned goods, just in case we needed to climb into our…
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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…
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What to eat this January
We’re back at that time of year – oh happy January! After Christmas, I often feel like a lump of lard. December is a reckless month for eating, one that I fully support of course, but it’s really no wonder the hashtag idiom #newyearnewme popped up a few years ago. With the fresh new year…
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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…
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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…