The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
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 […]
Eric Lanlard has become a true baking celebrity with so many TV programmes and appearances to his name. I had the honour of meeting him recently and was really rather surprised at how down to earth he is. And I say honour because there is some proper talent and experience behind that sparkling, cheeky personality! […]
This is the perfect book if you want to help your children understand the full cycle of food and have a lot of fun. I think it’s really important that children have a good relationship with food and the authors of this book feel the same which is why I connected with it straight away. […]
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 […]
Baobab. Ever heard of it? I vaguely remembered that it was something that looked like a coconut and came from the ‘upside down tree’. I had no idea it was edible until I met the lovely people at Phytotrade Africa. They are a not for profit organisation who represent the natural products industry in Southern […]
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, […]
This book like the one that accompanied series two (which I took part in!) was written by Linda Collister with inputs from Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry and the contestants. It’s split into eight categories : Cakes, Biscuits, Breads and Sweet Dough, Tarts, Pies, Desserts, Puddings and The Basics. Each section has a basic recipe and then three […]
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 […]
Vivien has been making and demonstrating preserves for 25 years. She has won numerous awards and has 18 years of judging preserves at competitions on her CV too. I recently met Vivien at a special jam making evening in London. She’s incredibly down to earth and not as scary as you would imagine WI judges […]
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 […]