All Purls. No Swine.
So. Today's "Google Doodle" is (God knows why) on the subject of "Jollof Rice." Jollof Rice is a staple of West African (particularly Nigerian) cuisine, and it is--along with such stuff as fried plantains and groundnut chop, that with which I grew up. I've never found a recipe since, which approximated my hazy memories of… Continue reading Jollof Rice!
So here I am, the day before my Queen's funeral, trying to figure out what to do to celebrate her life and my own Britishness (not a bit of the overabundance of which takes away a whit of my love for my adopted country, I assure you). Some of my family in the UK will… Continue reading In Praise of Afternoon Tea
I don’t really like olives all that much. But I adore the idea of olives. And olive groves. And the Mediterranean. The stories by Peter Mayle and Carol Drinkwater. The presence of olive trees, olive oil, olive wood, and of course “olive branches” in our mythological, literary and cultural traditions. And the history of an ancient industry that has… Continue reading Food and Drink Post: Olive Me
It's almost time to send another hot, muggy, and sometimes problematic, July into the memory banks forever. After the last two rather miserable locked-down ones, I'll have some fond remembrances of this 2022 version, including a very enjoyable dinner with friends from out-of-town, random acts of kindness from strangers and family, the completion of bathrooms,… Continue reading Goodbye July: Keep Calm and Picnic On
It's been exactly four years since a day I remember with great affection, the day on which my friend and I attended a full-day cooking school in Chiang Rai, Thailand and--with a lot of effort, hard work, and a great sense of fun--made some of the loveliest and most delicious food I've ever eaten. A… Continue reading Suwanee’s Cooking School, Chiang Rai, Thailand: Revisited
There I was, looking for something--perhaps a quote--to write about today--May 15, 2022. May, as a month, is full of both joyful and sad anniversaries for my family, but as it transpires, none of them falls on the 15th. So I visited my "go to" place, when it comes to finding something to write about… Continue reading “You Deserve a Break Today….”
For this Good Friday, a post from days of yore. The buns are in the oven as we speak. I'm trying a different recipe, one from Mary Berry, this year. I'll report back! Hot Cross Buns! A Good Friday tradition I don’t always adhere to but which, for many reasons, this year I thought I… Continue reading “One a penny, two a penny…Hot Cross Buns!”
https://youtu.be/dgHolwEkcoI I've always liked quiche as the focal point of a meal, and ever since I acquired, through various nefarious means, a small flock of chickens, and--even in the winter--a seemingly endless supply of eggs, it's become an even more useful staple of my culinary art. My basic recipe starts with something called the Keto… Continue reading Quiche Me Once, and Quiche Me Twice….
Beloved stepdaughter is leaving shortly for the trek south-and-west to Chateau Right, where she should arrive mid-afternoon. It's just the two of us (so far) today, but you never know. Angels have a habit of showing up unexpectedly here, and we never turn them away: QOTD: Entertaining Angels Entertaining Angles: Four-legged one's mostly Entertaining Angels:… Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving!
I'd be willing to bet that each of us has, somewhere back when we were very young (I get that that’s probably not as long ago for most of you as it is for me), a special memory that’s stuck with us over the years, of someone we wish we could see again, of a… Continue reading Sacred Cake