The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
I do love Instagram. It’s procrastination at it’s best! I mostly snap food and the odd picture of our beautiful Pip. It has however now also become my app of choice for taking and editing photos. It’s so easy and intuitive to use to get great results. There are a few Instagrammers that I am […]
Last year was the very first year I went to a festival. I don’t know how I have got to the age of 46 without having experienced this most British of summertime activities. We chose Camp Bestival. We had heard nothing but good things so literally the day before we booked, loaded up the car […]
It was my birthday yesterday and I wanted to celebrate but also do something completely different. Friends suggested various bars and restaurants but to be honest I really didn’t want a big night out. I thought about the theatre but there isn’t anything that I feel compelled to see. This year I just wanted a […]
Taste of Christmas opened in London yesterday at the Excel. I took the afternoon off with a view to relaxing and picking up some Christmas shopping. I started at Action Against Hunger’s cloakroom. The team were also selling a wide range of Christmas gifts, wrapping presents and had a shop ‘n’ drop area. I had […]
It’s Chocolate Week! A whole week dedicated to all things chocolate so I could not let this wonderful experience with master chocolatier Paul A Young slip by without sharing his words of wisdom and recipe for simple Chocolate Truffles. First a quick bio.. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Paul, here’s a quick […]
I was recently invited to a masterclass with Eric Lanlard. I am a HUGE fan of Eric’s work and so I cannot tell you how excited I was! The class was held at his new The Cafe at Cake Boy in Battersea. It’s a really cool place to hang out near the river with lovely, […]
A few weeks ago I entered the 2012 Nom Nom Nom Challenge – a Masterchef style cook off for food bloggers/writers which took place at the fabulous Cookery School in London. Myself and Meena at Chai Lounge Supperclub in Edinburgh won third place with the judges. I’d dearly love your vote to so if you […]
Jam. Such a simple word. Why then does it instil so much fear when paired with the word ‘making’? I made jam once. Poured it into a jar and it went solid. Rock solid. Even placing the jar in boiling water didn’t loosen the contents even slightly. The expensive Kilner jar went in the bin […]
It’s really been a washout summer so far in the UK. I am however the eternal optimist and I am certain the sun will return and stop even naturally, brown skinned me looking pale and tired. The rain also has had no impact on my quest for delicious summertime drinks! Yesterday I attended the launch […]
There has been much talk of foraging this year or perhaps my reticular activator has simply been on a foraging focus! Whether it’s been brought on by the recession and the idea of free food, a wish to support British business in this Jubilee year or simply us all wanting to reduce the impact on […]
As some of your know my camera’s SD card died earlier this week so I’ve been struggling to get access to the last few weeks pictures. I am delighted to say that I have prevailed over technology (for now!) and can share with you my favourite images from the Chocolate Festival on the Southbank a […]
The Chocolate Festival returned to Southbank Centre to celebrate all things chocolate. It was a lovely event in a beautiful part of London and there were lots of opportunities to get stuck into all sorts of chocolatey delights AND see me do a demo of delicious chocolate canapés ready for the festive party season. I was there on Sunday 11 December at 3pm – which […]