The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
It’s Chocolate Week in the UK and what a chocolatey week it has been. I have been using every excuse to eat as much chocolate as possible. And why not?! It contains endorphins – those lovely little feel good hormones and I need a few thousand of those at the moment with all the cold […]
I think September really is the best time to visit New York. The first time I ever went that side of the Atlantic was about eighteen years ago and it was in September. What I remember most was walking. I loved the block and grid system. So easy to get around. Street level was fascinating. There […]
Afternoon tea is one of my favourite pastimes. How luxurious to sit and simply drink tea. From a pot. In a cup and saucer no less. However as an Indian I find it rather strange that it is a luxury. When I was growing up tea was always fussed over. Making a brew of chai […]
Last year my raspberry bush at the allotment gave us what seemed like a never ending supply of luscious ruby raspberries. This year we’ve had equally a bumper crop. It has been so easy eating them simply off the bush while picking. Especially in the hot and humid weather we’ve been having in England recently. […]
Did elderflower season start last longer last year? I don’t know about you but I think I have blinked and missed it. I don’t even remember walking around the allotment inhaling the wondrous scent. I think that may be because they’ve moved the manure right next to the tree! An ancient and wondrous plant A […]
It’s Indian mango season. The season I look forward to the most. The season that makes me salivate the most. The season I never tire of because I could eat my bodyweight in Indian mangoes and then perhaps your body weight too! They are beloved in my household and we usually buy dozens of boxes […]
Sunny skies of late and unseasonably warm weather have seen trees come into bloom earlier this year. Spring blossoms almost pass us by without a second thought. This would never happen in Japan. Over there, it is customary to celebrate trees coming into flower and the season is currently in full swing. It’s ‘Hanami’ time. […]
Bananas are my go-to food when I need to eat but don’t have much time, when I’m hungry but not hungry enough for a full meal, when I’m starving but need to exercise first and finally when I want a bit of decadence. In all these scenarios eating a banana simply does the trick. It […]
Cherry season is a long way away but I could not resist buying a small pack at the market last weekend. Goodness knows where they came from but after my run in the wind and rain I thought I deserved a little pick me up. Cherries were also the theme of a recent event I […]
Life gets pretty overwhelming sometimes doesn’t it? The business of work and school and home merging together too easily. Priorities and pace overlap and the wrong things get prioritised and grumpiness sets in. I’ve started to consciously challenge my grumpiness. Is it worth it? Or rather should I focus on all the little things that […]
I am not a huge fan of Christmas Pudding or Christmas Cake. I don’t like fruit cakes as a whole. Teacakes would be the only exception to that. So I’ve experimented with a traditional recipe using a range of dried fruits that I like – mainly cranberries as it is Christmas! You’ll need 175g dried […]
“Do you think Santa watches Bake Off Mummy?” said my youngest the other day. I wasn’t really sure how to answer that so I obliged with “Of course he does. Someone has to bring Paul a present don’t they?” She laughed but pressed on. “So do you think like Mary and Paul Santa gets a bit […]