As the nights are drawing in I decided it was time to get out the knitting needles and do something creative with the darer nights and dreary weather. We were in Pitlochry last weekend and I found some Pompom wool and there were some example scarves in the shop that looked fantastic and warm so I thought ‘why not?’ and promptly bought a ball in lovely Autumnal colours. Read the rest of this entry »

I was in Debenhams a few weeks ago and watched a knives demonstration. As I was one fo the few who stuck around the demonstrator ‘rewarded’ us with a Magic Spiral – The Original Stainless Steel Spiral Garnisher! Read the rest of this entry »

It’s getting to that time of year again where a nice warming bowl of porridge in the morning is just the ticket. For the last few years I’ve been making it in the slow cooker so it’s all ready to be eaten the minute I wake up. Read the rest of this entry »

As I have said before on this blog, I am going through a jam making obsession right now  and so far my shelves are stocked with strawberry jam, plum and brandy jam, lemon curd and my very latest concoction; plum and rum jam which (to deal with my plum glut). Read the rest of this entry »

After I had a glut of plums this September I decided I’d stew some up for the freezer to have over ice-cream in the winter. Usually I stew them for a long time then blend them to make a sauce but this year I decided to keep them reasonable whole for a chunkier bite. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been watching my victoria plum tree with glee since about July. For the last week I have been out everyday have a check in the hope that they’ll be ripe for the picking. Yesterday the were. Read the rest of this entry »

I nipped into Tesco on my way home this evening and picked up some white, milk and plain chocolate to test out my new silicon chocolate moulds.

I’d already decided I wanted striped chocolates so first off I melted the white and carefully spooned it into each mould to fill up about 1/3. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been experiments with making my own chocolates since about Christmas and really loving the concoctions that can be created and how impressive they look. I also have to admit I’m enjoying the ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ from friends when they see then. Read the rest of this entry »

The Girl Who Kicked a Hornets’ Nest is the last book in Steig Larsson’s trilogy. One think I really do love about his books is that there’s no time wasted on recapping the story for the benefit of anyone who a) can’t remember or b) can’t be bothered reading the preceding books. It’s right into the story and action which is perfect if you’re hungry to get into the story and find out whether Lisbeth………..(as if I’d ruin that for you!) Read the rest of this entry »

I bought The Personal History of Rachael Dupree for my Mum’s birthday and as with all my book related gifts to her it ended up back in my house (probably unread..) It’s also a first novel for Ann Weisgarbe.

I’d been thinking of reading it for a while but was concerned it might be a soppy one (and not my scene) but one day decided to bite the bullet and read it. I have to say my fears were unfounded. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve read another of Xinran’s books and it was done and dusted in a day so I had high hopes for Miss Chopsticks. I was not let down. From the moment I opened it I couldn’t put it down and I was gutted when it was finished. That’s probably my one criticism of her books, they’re over way too soon and leave you wanting more. Good for her but maybe not so good for the reader…maybe next time I’ll pace myself better and it won’t be over so fast. Read the rest of this entry »

I threw a dinner part last week and for the pudding I was wanting to make champagne and raspberry jelly. As there was a driver I scrubbed that idea but since the weekend I’ve been wanting to try it.

Today I found a recipe on the BBC site for sloe gin and blackberry jelly which I read and adapted for my own tastes with pretty darn good results! Read the rest of this entry »

My New Year resolution this year is to take time away from my computer (I run a web design company) and read more. I love reading but last year I just never really had the time to do it as much as I wanted.

This year I have a 45 min train journey each day and I’m going to use that time to read until my little heart is content! I have no idea which books will appear on here (I always choose on a whim) but after each one I’ll be doing a short post on my thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »

For my birthday this year I asked for Sew! by Cath Kidson as my Mum had given me her sewing machine a few months before (to quote Dad “someone may as well use it”)  and I hadn’t had much luck making anything with it. Read the rest of this entry »

My garden furniture is looking a bit tired so I was trying to come up with cheap ways of fixing it up without resorting to taking it all to the skip and starting again.

I decided I would make some cushions and a tablecloth for the picnic bench to give us something comfy to sit on and to hide the worn table. Read the rest of this entry »

I love Autumn, I love being able to go looking for blackberries and chantrelles and this year I’ll be having my first shot of elderberry picking too.

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I was in London at the weekend and had decided before we got there that I HAD to get to the Hummingbird Bakery to sample one of their cupcakes and see what all the fuss was about. Read the rest of this entry »

After a Saturday rummaging around in bushes with a friend I had a fair sized (and pretty early) crop of blackberries in my house today. Most got frozen for later but I decided the others called for being made into muffins. Read the rest of this entry »

For a friends Hen night a few weeks ago I decided that as were all having a pamper day in a hotel it would be a nice tough to take some handmade chocs. As I’d left it too late to do my soft ganache centred ones I had to improvise! Read the rest of this entry »

We were on holiday to California last year and one of the guest houses we stayed in offered us homemade limoncello. When I got him it was one of the first things I wanted to make to transport us back to our fantastic holiday. Read the rest of this entry »