The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
It’s not every day that the postman brings a package from Buckingham Palace so there was much excitement in our household when this delightful book arrived. The Royal Cookbook by Mark Flanagan and Edward Griffiths Over 50,000 people visit Buckingham palace as guests of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth for State banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions […]
I am a big fan of Seinfeld. It’s a silly US sitcom about the life of Jerry Seinfeld and his friends George, Elaine and Kramer. There is one episode in particular which makes me giggle even at the thought. It’s called ‘The Rye’ and the plot centres around a loaf of marble rye bread which […]
We are having unsettled weather in the UK at the moment and that means lots of allotment time. Either to sort out the mess after heavy rain or to bask in the sunshine while it lasts. This year, we’ve extended our allotment ever so slightly but chopping down all the nettle and bramble growth to the […]
We’ve gone a bit bonkers with the bean planting on the allotment this year. I have some runner beans of the firestorm variety which yield the vibrant red edible flowers which I am looking forward to almost more than the beans. I have various varieties of dwarf beans because I’ve discovered they grow quite happily in […]
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 […]
Have you noticed that alongside the daffodils that seem to be everywhere, there are also bursts of yellow from dandelions? They too are so pretty and brighten up banks of green in our lovely city of London – or the suburbs in my case. Like many, I’ve disregarded these these plants. Sunny and cheerful as […]
I paid little attention to World Book Day before I had children but as they started nursery and now school, it’s become a big thing in or house. They have always worn a costume from their favourite book. We’ve gone from princesses, to wizards, Gruffalos to robots. It’s all a bit of fun. World Book […]
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 […]
I really dislike sweeteners. I dislike the rubbish E things they contain. I dislike the aftertaste. I dislike the consistency. I’ve therefore always stuck to sugar because at least I know what that contains and can moderate my usage accordingly. That being said, I think I’ve found a sweetener that challenges each of those […]
I was browsing through seed catalogues this week trying to decide what to get planting this year for the windowsill, back garden and the allotment. I pondered over the herb sections for the longest while and placed the usual candidates in my virtual shopping basket – Basil, Coriander, Parsley, Dill, Chives etc. These are everyday […]
This book starts with a chapter entitled ‘From Kazakhstan to Kent’ so I was immediately drawn in. What on earth could have originated in Kazakhstan and then made it’s way to Kent? I learned that genetically this would be the apple. Yes indeed. Kent’s heritage may well be its orchards but genetic science has determined […]
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 […]