UK Food Bloggers Association

We have moved!

2009-09-12T17:17:00.000Z

Don't forget the UK Food Bloggers Association has now moved to www.ukfba.co.uk. See you over there!

Win a Meal for Two at an Anthony Worrall Thompson Restaurant

2009-08-04T12:34:00.004Z

This Post was written by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes

I have just learned of a rather brilliant competition open to UK Bloggers.

Those lovely peeps over at Gaviscon Double Action are offering fabulous prizes in their The Nations Favorite Double Act Competition.

First Prize is a £200 voucher for two, to dine at Anthony Worrall Thompson’s restaurant, The Greyhound, in Henley-Thames, plus one night’s stay at the Hotel du Vin in Henley, and £100 toward travel expenses.

33 runners-up will receive a signed copy of ‘Fast Family Food’ by Anthony Worrall Thompson.

Not bad as far as prizes go, huh?

In a recent survey done by Gaviscon Double Action (a heartburn and indigestion remedy), they discovered that Apple Crumble & Custard is the nation’s favourite Double Act pudding. Now who is going to argue with that? It is perfect comfort food.

Apparently, 58% of Brits admit that they would not turn down the offer of a pudding under any circumstances and 16% of men are eating their favourite pudding once a month compared to 17% of women. Those poor men musn't have a food blogger living with them or I am sure the percentage would be much, much higher!

All you have to do to enter this prize draw, is to choose from the 11 favourite puddings listed and then enter your details. It is too good an opportunity to miss!

Simply Summer eBook Giveaway

2009-06-08T19:52:00.002Z

Summer is in full swing in the northern hemisphere and very few people are in the mood to cook. This is where Angela Tunner’s eBook will rescue you. I’ve already tried three fabulous recipes to tempt you and written a review, but now you actually have the chance to win this great book in electronic format. To find out how, click here.

This Post was written by Michelle from Greedy Gourmet

Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure Hamper Giveaway

2009-05-25T22:29:00.002Z

The Best of British - Cookbook Giveaway

2009-05-11T22:16:00.003Z

I've just finished my review of this excellent cookbook. Here's your chance to win a copy, details here.

This Post was written by MICHELLE from GREEDY GOURMET.

Iron Cupcake: London

2009-05-07T08:28:00.002Z

This Post was written by The Caked Crusader from www.thecakedcrusader.blogspot.com

Hello everyone

I am just about to launch Iron Cupcake: London, a monthly cupcake competition. Each month has a theme that entrants have to incorporate into their cupcake. Although it is a competition and there will be a winner, it's basically an excuse to get together with like-minded people and eat cupcakes...which can't be a bad thing!

Details of the first challenge are now available on the website: www.ironcupcake.co.uk

I really hope to see some of you there!

Brand New Website for the UKFBA

2009-04-07T11:15:00.004Z

I'm very pleased to be able to tell you that the UK Food Bloggers Association has a brand new website that will enable not only food bloggers in the UK but also friends of the UK food bloggers to network with each other.

The UKFBA have teamed up with Trusted Places in order to bring you the new website, which you can take a look at by clicking here.

All you need to do is register to create your own profile and then you can add links to your blogs or websites, upload photos and videos, create RSS feeds and much more.

Visit the new website at www.ukfba.co.uk.

Julia x

2009-03-24T11:27:00.003Z

This Post was written by Pete.

Hi, fellow food bloggers. Having written This Edible Life for some time, I've decided to launch a new blog and this time I need your help...

Over at Cooking The Larousse I'll be cooking my way through the culinary bible The Larousse Gastronomique but it's up to the readers to decide what gets cooked next. Will the first dish be ACHAR, ATTEREAUX of chicken livers, or Escargots à L'ARLESIENNE? It's up to you to decide.

Free Cookbook Giveaway

2009-03-01T17:21:00.002Z

Hi all,
Taking the lead from Michelle I thought I'd let you all know about a free cookbook giveaway that's taking place on my site right now:

http://www.realepicurean.com/2009/03/free-cookbook-giveaway/

This Post was written by Scott from Realepicurean

A Slice of Cherry Pie Forum Book Club - March 2009

2009-02-22T20:45:00.007Z

This Post was written by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes

I thought it was about time we got the reading group on the Slice of Cherry Pie Forum up and running again, so I popped over to Amazon to have a look at what paperbacks they had on offer and came across a zany little book called We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee.

Here is a review:

While looking for a place to buy for his 76-year-old mother after his father's death, Benjamin Mee, living in France with his wife and two children, received details of his "dream scenario" by his sister. Unusually, the property in question was a struggling zoo.

We Bought A Zoo tells the story of how the dilapidated Dartmoor Wildlife Park, populated by around 400 exotic animals, was transformed into the busy Dartmoor Zoological Park by an ordinary family using a trial-and-error method. Along the way, Mee has to deal with an escaped jaguar, fighting (among people as well as animals), an escapologist wolf, and a tiger which stands up during general anaesthetic.

The book also describes how the family coped during the gradual deterioration of Mee's wife Katherine due to a brain tumour and how they coped with her loss.

--------------------------------------------------

This book is reviewed by readers as sad, but also a laugh-out-loud kind of book. I think this is just what we need after such a long winter, well for some of us anyway It is available on Amazon and Play for £5.49, alternatively you could order a copy at your local library.

If you would like to join in then leave a comment on the forum to let us know you are joining us and we will start a discussion about the book, as the month progresses. The discussion thread will contain the word SPOILER, for those who haven't finished yet.

I hope everyone is happy with this and that you will all join in. It should be fun!

Holler
:)

Matthew Biggs’s Complete Book of Vegetables

2009-02-16T22:16:00.004Z

Hi guys,
Thought you would be interested in another food book giveaway and this time it's about vegetable gardening. Here are the details: http://www.greedygourmet.com/2009/02/16/giveaway-3-matthew-biggs%E2%80%99s-complete-book-of-vegetables/

This Post was written by Michelle from Greedy Gourmet

Artisan-food is off to the Megas....

2009-02-11T23:03:00.006Z

Ok, occasionally you have to blow your own trumpet, and I make some apology for doing it here. So by way of reparation, first I'll share with you a new cheese we found recently, produced by a tiny cheesemaker in one of the Lake District's remote valleys, also the scene of Britain's favourite view, according to many. It's perfect, but you'll have to visit to get hold of some.

Now for the trumpet blowing, we were absolutely delighted to be shortlisted in the Guardian Media Awards Independent Media category. So it's off to a swanky party in London for us at a 5 rosette joint. Can't be bad. - Martin & Cecilia - creators of Artisan-food.com - Cumbria's on-line food magazine.

This Post was written by Martin from Artisan-food

Want to try Abel & Cole's Mixed Veg Box?

2009-02-02T22:38:00.003Z

This will be my second giveaway and this time round it will be a Mixed Veg Box. More details here:

http://www.greedygourmet.com/2009/02/02/giveaway-2-abel-coles-mixed-organic-fruit-vegetable-box/

I know personally I've always been curious about these box schemes and have to admit they are actually quite okay.

So why not give it a whirl?

This Post was written by Michelle from www.greedygourmet.com

Cherries and Chat

2009-02-02T00:15:00.006Z

This Post was written by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes

Food and chat!

It is exactly what we all love, isn't it? Add some cherries into the mix and you have the A Slice of Cherry Pie Forum, which is hosted by the gracious Julia of A Slice of Cherry Pie and the founder of the UK Food Bloggers Association.

This is a free food forum and everyone is welcome to join. There are recipes, discussions, a veg patch, a wine bar and even a book club (We haven't had a new book to read for a while, so any new suggestions would be welcomed)!

Why not come along and have a look and maybe a chat. You will find some really friendly and welcoming bloggers there.

I hope to see you there :)

GrapesTALK

2009-01-17T14:48:00.003Z

I am the editor and publisher of GrapesTALK.

The imminent issue has a Focus on Spain and will be published on 1 February 2009.

The next issue will have a Focus on Italy. So if any of you would like to contribute on food and/or wine on Italy or Slovenia then it would be great to hear from you.

No fee but byline and your copyright.

we@grapestalk.co.uk

Warren Edwardes

Editor & Publisher, GrapesTALK

CEO Wine for Spice http://wineforspice.com

CEO Hyde Park Wines http://hydeparkwines.co.uk

Happy New Year

2009-01-04T00:28:00.000Z

Since there hasn't been a post on this board in a while I may as well take advantage and say HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!

This Post was written by Scott from Realepicurean

Calling All London Bloggers

2008-11-13T17:20:00.002Z

This Post was written by Andrew Webb from eyedropper.co.uk and Channel 4's Big British Food Map.

Hi all, next week is the final week of the Big British Food Map, a seven month food tour of the UK's best shops, restaurants and producers guided by the public.

I'm in central London next week and am wondering if any of my fellow food bloggers would like to meet up and tell me - on camera - what their favourite food haunts are and together we'd pay them a visit, if my tiny budget stretches to it I may even be able to pay for something! We'll link to your blog from the Channel 4 food site in return and you'll get to see your face on the smallest screen.

Interested? Drop me a line at bigfoodmap at channel 4 dot com

Thanks.

PS. This was the best hot chocolate I've ever had... pity you have to go to the north west tip of Scotland to get it!

2008-10-31T09:40:00.001Z

This Post was written by Lynn fromLynn's Cooking Blog.

Fame is indeed a fickle mistress, and one that I'm afraid I'm currently courting. Today is an important day in the Spencer household. For both Andy, my wonderful husband, and I, start new jobs / careers. His is as an internet radio station manager, producer, writer and broadcaster, mine..................as a food writer and broadcaster. Yikes.

http://www.flagradio.com/

I've got a show!!!!! A weekly 1 hour program about food - what else? I'm going to put links on the radio website for suppliers and also suggest recipes for featured foods that tie in with the topic being discussed.

The radio station goes 'live' today at 12.00 noon and my first show will be broadcast on Monday at 15.00. It's called 'Lynn's Cooking Show', and for my first program, I'm exploring the world of wine, along with someone who I think you'll find a familiar name. They could have offered me Jilly Goolden and Oz Clark , but no, I held out for........Antonia Lloyd . Antonia has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of wines, and the best way of matching them to foods - especially important for the upcoming party season. And if you don't who Antonia is......shame on you!!!!!! She's only a wonderful fellow blogger who's blog 'Food, Glorious Food' should be one of your first ports of call when you're browsing the web. After mine, of course.

Wish me luck.

Child Poverty Day

2008-10-09T15:22:00.001Z

This Post was written by Anne from Annes Kitchen http://anneskitchen1.blogspot.com

What are you doing for lunch on the 17th October? Chances are even the most planned of us haven't even thought that far ahead yet!

Well this year why not do something different and instead of buying your lunch in, take a packed lunch to work / school / university etc and donate the money you would have spent to Child Poverty Day, you can find more information here: http://www.actionaid.org.uk/childpovertyday/

Why not get your family, friends and colleagues involved too? You can register on their website and download posters, fundraising tips etc, I currently have a pile to blu-tack around my office!
I will be posting my favourite lunch recipes in due course to give you some ideas!

I am also planning to bake and auction them off to raise further funds, is there anything you could do maybe in your place of work? An interesting idea on their website is ask the Police very nicely to 'borrow' a cell for the night and sponsor your boss / director etc to spend the night!! Am sure if you pay enough and ask very nicely they might even keep them longer!

Another competition - the Cuisine Cup

2008-10-08T15:00:00.002Z

This Post was written by Niamh from Eat Like a Girl

Hi all,

Another competition, I think this will be of enormous interest to alot of members here (including me!).

I was at L'Atelier de Chefs yesterday for one of their lunchtime cooking classes and they mentioned a competition that they are running - the Cuisine Cup. Basically, to enter you need to create a salmon dish and enter it, 12 finalists will battle it out in their kitchen in London for the UK heat, and the winner of this, gets to go to Norway for 4 days. there are also prizes of a £75 gourmet gift vouchers for all of the London finalists.

I found this info on their blog and there's more info here: http://www.atelierdeschefs.net/cuisinecup/en/node/269

After the success of Cuisine Cup last year, L’atelier des Chefs launches the second edition of Cuisine Cup!

What is “Cuisine Cup”?

Cuisine cup is the first free “European” cookery cup for amateurs (because it happens in France, Belgium and here...)! It is a contest during which non professional cooks compete by cooking their most amazing recipes!

If you love cooking, if you are an advanced cook or just a beginner do not hesitate to dash into the adventure of Cuisine Cup 2009! Have no complex: everybody can participate at any level. There is one exception: Professional Chefs are not allowed!

This challenge appeals to your culinary creativity, your capacity of improvisation and your speed of execution in cooking. Products and cookery subjects are chosen by the jury.

How does it work?

This is really simple to participate in Cuisine Cup! Log on to www.cuisinecup.com and apply before November the 10th by posting the recipe of your choice around the "Salmon" ingredient.

12 candidates by city will be held and will participate in the days of qualification which will take place in the closest atelier from your home: Paris Lyon - Bordeaux - Brussels - Nantes - Lille – London

The 23rd of November is the day of the qualification of the best cook by the jury in London.

From January you will be able to follow the episodes of this contest on internet

After the tests, only one candidate by city will be held by the members of the jury to participate in the big final. The semi and grand-final will happen on the 8th of February in Paris!

What to win?

The cooks who will be qualified will win L’atelier des Chefs' aprons. Gourmet Gift Vouchers of the amount of £72 will be offer for the quarter-finalists. The 8 semi-finalists will win a wonderful 4 day-journey to Norway! And our finalist will win amazing household appliance!

Who is the Jury?

We will have 2 famous Chefs in London: Pascal Aussignac from le « Club Gascon » (1 star) and Will Torrent who is an English pastry champion at the world championships.

Trish Deseine, the famous cookery writer, will be our president of honour!

Then, ready to take up the challenge? Log on right now to www.cuisinecup.com .

After Eva last year, why not become the winner of this cookery cup?

Competition Time?

2008-09-26T10:55:00.001Z

This Post was written by Lynn from Lynn's Cooking Blog.

Do you want me to tell you about some of the e-mails that I’m getting?

I got one on the 22nd Sept, and I’ve been wondering what to do with it. Here’s the deal…………an online agency, which conducts web site campaigns with bloggers (that’s me) has contacted me about a competition that they’re running. Good prize of £100 of groceries, easy as pie questions. But to enter, you’ll have to register with their site, and, I suspect, you’d start getting e-mails from ’specially selected companies’. I know a lot of sites have these competitions, but I personally view them as a cheap way of of marketing, and of gaining a lot of e-mail addresses for their clients to then spam with. Also, I think that a newspaper would charge them for advertising space, but they get cheap (actually it would probably be ‘free’ ) advertising space on a bloggers website. I don’t think that I’m particularly media savvy, but I feel that these companies are taking the piss, to some extent.

So, if any of these companies want to PAY me for advertising their competitions, and can assure me that anyone who registers for it will not be spammed for all eternity, then I’ll reconsider.

British Food Fortnight challenge (...and competition)

2008-09-21T12:26:00.002Z

This Post was written by ANTONIA from FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

I am very excited (...and somewhat nervous) to announce that I am hosting my first ever blogging event! I hope you will consider joining me by entering a dish that celebrates the very best of British food.The 20th September sees the start of British Food Fortnight. This event, now in its seventh year, is a celebration of the fantastically diverse range of foods produced in Britain. It is also the largest volunteer movement educating children about food. Much maligned in the past by our European neighbours, Great Britain is today a nation of top-quality produce and exciting food: we should be proud of this!

British Food Fortnight offers a great excuse to remind ourselves of the pleasure of eating quality seasonal, local produce.

Not only do I think we have some of the best produce around, I also think that Britain has a wealth of wonderful national dishes. From Lancashire hot pot and Welsh rarebit to Sussex pond pudding and apple crumble, our culinary heritage is rich in delectable goodies. The challenge for British Food Fortnight is to create a thoroughly British dish from (where possible), locally-sourced ingredients. I very much hope you will consider taking part, even if you have never entered a blogging event before. Everyone is welcome!You can cook absolutely anything - sweet or savoury, starter, main course, pudding, sweets, cakes, jams, chutneys. All are encouraged! The only stipulation is that the recipe must be something which is typically British. If you can find out a bit about the origin of the dish, then do share the details if you have time.

As far as possible, please use British produce to create your dish. Obviously this is not practical for every ingredient but meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables should be British and preferably locally-sourced.Whilst this event is obviously rather geared towards British-based bloggers, anyone is welcome to join in. If you do not live in Britain, use produce local to you but please come up with a traditionally British dish.

If the thought of a spot of thoroughly British cookery wasn't enough to get the creative juices flowing, I am also offering a prize for one lucky participant. All entrants names will be put in the hat and a winner picked at random. The winner will receive a copy of Marguerite Patten's 'Century of British Cooking'; a fascinating guide to the history of British food packed with interesting and nostalgic recipes.

I really hope you will join me in this celebration of the best of British!Here are the guidelines..

1. Please post your thoroughly British dish during British food fortnight - 20th September to the 5th October.

2. In your post, please include a link back to me and also to the British Food Fortnight website.

3. You are encouraged to use the British Food Fortnight logo in your post, but this is not essential.

4. Once you have posted your dish, please email me by Sunday, 5th October at abitofafoodie [at] gmail [dot] com with the following information -

-Your name

-The name of your blog

-Your blog's URL

-The name of your dish

-A link to your post of the dish

-Please attach a photograph of your dish

For full details of the event, please follow this link to my blog.

Passionate Cooks Wanted - UK

2008-09-17T20:33:00.005Z

This Post was written by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes

Are you a talented cook who is looking for that big break? Are you fiercely proud of your county and want to see it go all the way? Do you want to learn from some of the country’s finest chefs?

If the answer to these three questions is yes – then read on!

ITV Productions is looking for contestants to take part in a brand new, day-time cookery series called Taste the Nation. If you have a passion for food and want to represent your county in a national cookery knock-out, then this is the show for you.

But it gets better, you will be mentored and masterclassed by one of the Nation’s finest celebrity chefs and your cookery skills will be pushed to their max. You will also be judged by some of the country’s fiercest critics so this show is not for the faint hearted!

You can be an amateur or professional – but have one thing in common your talents in the kitchen could impress a celebrity chef.

We will be filming the series from November 2008 to February 2009. If you are not the one then perhaps you might come into contact with just the sort of people we want to find!

Please register your details on our phone line 09011 986 986 or email tastethenation@itv.com clearly stating your name, county and daytime contact number.

Terms and Conditions

You must be 16 years or older to apply. Calls cost 10p per call from BT landlines. Calls from other networks may be higher and from mobiles will be considerably more. Callers must be 16 or over. Lines close on Thursday 20th November 2008 at midday. Calls made after closing time won’t be counted, but may still be charged. We cannot guarantee that all applicants will be called back. Terms & conditions at itv.com/terms.

Hosts required for DMBLGIT

2008-09-13T15:47:00.000Z

Would you like to host a round of Does My Blog Look Good In This? Email me at arb AT andys-scribblings DOT co DOT uk.

Host required for this month urgently! And for October, November and December.

My cmputer has just recovered from a crash where all my contacts and host details were stored; so if you were previously in the list sorry but we are starting again! And if you asked to host now is the time to ask again!

Cheers

Andrew

Win a £500 dinner for two at a Top London Restaurant

2008-08-12T15:39:00.005Z

This Post was written by Niamh from Eat Like a Girl

Hi all,

I've just started working with Trusted Places and we've a fantastic competition that might interest you. You can win a £500 dinner for two at a Top London Restaurant. More details here: http://trustedplaces.com/docs/win500

It’s very easy to enter, you just need to write a review (you can write as many as you like, the more you write the greater your chances) and share your trusted places with the community .

It’s a great site, I was a member long before I became an employee, and, it’s definitely a community that’s fun to be involved with. So, if you're interested, sign up and review, and, who knows - you might be indulging in one of London’s Top 10 restaurants, all on us :-)

Niamh

Covent Garden Night Markets - Tasting Evening Invitation for the UKFBA

2008-08-11T19:30:00.004Z

Following its huge success in 2007, Covent Garden will once again be revisiting its heritage as the original larder of London with London’s only food night market, and now including a kitchen theatre fronted by celebrity chefs.

To Londoners’ delight, the historic Piazza will be transformed into a foodie paradise this summer and will feature even more unique, mouth watering stalls from some of the UK’s finest traders. There will also be stalls selling fish caught fresh from the river Thames including Grade A oysters, a wild game stall offering everything from grey squirrel to pigeon and Melt chocolate for bespoke, exclusive delicacies.

Learn how to cook with some of the UK’s top chefs from the Hairy Bikers to Willie Wonka and Fergus Henderson as they cook up a storm on the Piazza with exciting new dishes prepared with fresh produce taken directly from the market stalls. Chefs set to host their own exciting Kitchen Theatre from 6.30pm are as follows:

· 15th August: Hairy Bikers – Geordie duo renowned for working their way around the world on their motorbikes.

· 22nd August: Willie Harcourt-Cooze - the modern day Willie Wonka, famed for his 100% pure Venezuelan Black chocolate

· 29th August: Fergus Henderson – head chef of St John restaurant and famous for his book and philosophy of ‘Nose to Tail Eating’

The night markets run every Thursday and Friday until 29th August (3:00pm-10:00pm on Thursdays and 12:00pm - 9:00pm on Fridays). Kitchen theatres will take place from 6.30pm

UK food bloggers are invited to an intimate tasting evening this Friday 15th August at 6pm, followed by the chance to see Hairy Bikers (www.hairybikers.com) cook up a storm at 6.30pm.

As part of the tasting evening, Covent Garden Night Markets would like to offer you some redeemable vouchers, so that you can sample the produce and dishes at the market for free. If you would like to attend you need to email Nik_Thakkar@jcpr.com and include a link to your blog.

This Post was written by NAME from A Slice of Cherry Pie

Beer2go with food

2008-08-09T15:21:00.002Z

This Post was written by Paul Garrard from RealAleBlog

Beer is the perfect accompaniment to food !
No other drink is quite as versatile or offers such a variety of flavours. Different beers are able to complement a whole range of different tastes and food styles. It is particularly good at coping with spicy food.

For a handy crib-sheet with some of our suggestions for beer with food matching:
Click here

Market Kitchen Quiz: More Info.

2008-08-07T07:04:00.003Z

Hi everyone,

I have some more information for you on the Market Kitchen Quiz. Firstly, the quiz is in the evening, not during the day, so if weren't able to put your name down because of work or other committments during the day, maybe you'll be able to now.

Arrivals are from 6.30pm at Borough Market for drinks, and the quiz starts at 7.30pm. Entry will be by invitation only. The quiz will be food related with lots of entertaining interactive rounds.

I'm really looking forward to the evening, our very first UK Food Bloggers event! I'll be drawing the names this weekend so if you're interested email me before Sunday.

This Post was written by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie

PUDZ Amateur Pudding Chef Competition

2008-08-06T11:25:00.002Z

This Post was written by Alex from Eating Leeds.

PUDZ (the pudding people) are holding an Amateur Chef pudding competition. The Glasgow, Birmingham and Bristol heats are still to come, and the finals will be held in London in November.

Full details of the competition are here.

I have it on good authority that, at this stage, the Glasgow heat looks to be a little less hotly contested than the other regions, so if you can make it to Glasgow Met on 28 August, it will be worth investigating further!

Best of British!

Do you want to be on Market Kitchen?

2008-08-05T18:16:00.002Z

Thanks to everyone who's emailed me volunteering to be on the UKFBA team for the Market Kitchen Quiz.

There's still time to put your name down for the team, so if you're available on 19th August and can get to London's Borough Market just drop me a line at ukfoodbloggersassociation AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk.

This Post was written by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie

Bacchus - End Of An Era

2008-08-02T23:40:00.007Z

Next weekend sees the closure of Bacchus - the East End's best modern fine dining restaurant. A new fine dining venture is planned for the future, but the Hoxton site is being transformed into a gastropub. For more details, see this blog post from Silverbrow and this one from me.

Many London food bloggers know Bacchus and have enjoyed eating there. Some will be meeting up for a drink there on Wednesday night (6th August) to say goodbye to Nuno Mendes and his crew. I can't be there myself as I'm working in Barcelona, but my dad will attend on my behalf. Everyone is welcome to come along and join in.

This Post was written by Trig from Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef

Cornwall - A few quick suggestions

2008-08-01T21:58:00.001Z

I've just got back from Cornwall, but I'm off for a week of cycling in the Channel Islands tomorrow! I'll be back with new pics and stories after 11 August! In the meantime, if anyone of you happens to go to Cornwall this summer, these places are a must:

1) The Wave, St Ives - fabulous, fabulous food! MUST VISIT. I cannot stress this enough.

2) The Gurnard's Head Hotel, near Zennor - great food, great atmosphere, great service by good-looking waiters

3) The Jewel chippie, Newlyn - mmmm lemon sole freshly perfectly cooked, tasty chips, massive portions, good value. daily specials available, and sometimes include scallops!

4) The Kitchen teahouse, Polperro - lovely place, friendly & fun owners, the best cream tea I've ever had (those scones... sigh!)

5) Philps pasties, Hayle - delish!

And do try the Moomaid of Zennor ice-cream!!!

Will tell you more when I get back!

Adios!

Market Kitchen Quiz - Team Needed!

2008-07-31T07:52:00.004Z

Hi everyone,

I have some exciting news for you; the UK Food Bloggers Association has been invited to participate in a quiz to promote the new series of Market Kitchen in September.

The quiz will be held on the 19th August at Borough Market and we'll compete against the great and the good in the publishing world - with a great prize for the winners!

We need to get a team together with 5 players so if you're interested, a member of the UKFBA and available on that day please drop me a line at ukfoodbloggersassociation AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk. I expect we'll have a high volume of interest so I think the fairest way to get the team together is to put all names in a hat and draw them out. I'm hoping to be coming along myself, if I'm able to get the time off work, so that means we need another 4 members (with a few in reserve).

I have no other information at the moment but will let you know as soon as I do.

This Post was written by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie

Know any students who are off to uni this autumn?

2008-07-29T07:16:00.003Z

This Post was written by Fiona Beckett from The Frugal Cook

If so perhaps you could pass on a link to my student cooking site Beyond Baked Beans and new Beyond Baked Beans student cooking page on Facebook where students can upload pix and videos of their own culinary masterpieces!

In fact if any of you have a favourite recipe - or tip - from your student days do post it on the page or send it to me to upload on the site. (Obviously with a link to your blog)

You don't have to be a student to be a fan ;-)

Many thanks,

Fiona

2008-07-17T16:06:00.003Z

This Post was written by Maninas of Maninas: Food Matters

Many thanks to everyone who took part in the of Eating with the Seasons - JULY!

The round-up is now available HERE!

Join me!

EATING WITH THE SEASONS IN AUGUST

Go and find out what’s in season where you live in August.
You can choose: fruit, vegetables, fish, meat.
Write a post/text if you are a non-blogger containing a recipe and/or information about your chosen seasonal item. You may post more than one recipe.
Post it and email it to me before 15 August, and I’ll post a round-up in a few days. The plan is to go from 15th to 15th in the month (eventually), so we have some time to enjoy the recipes for dishes that are in season.

To take part:

Please send an e-mail to maninas [DOT] wordpress [AT] yahoo [DOT[ co [DOT] uk including the following information:

your name and country (and town if you wish)
your seasonal item
name & link to your blog
name of your post & link to your post
one photograph
with ‘Eating with the season’ in the subject line of your e-mail
& please link to the main post

I'm looking forward to your seasonal goodies!

Reminder: Eating with the Seasons - JULY

2008-07-11T16:03:00.003Z

This Post was written by NAME from Maninas: Food Matters

Join me!

EATING WITH THE SEASONS IN JULY

Go and find out what’s in season where you live in July.
You can choose: fruit, vegetables, fish, meat.
Write a post/text if you are a non-blogger containing a recipe and/or information about your chosen seasonal item. You may post more than one recipe.
Post it and email it to me before 15 July, and I’ll post a round-up in a few days. The plan is to go from 15th to 15th in the month (eventually), so we have some time to enjoy the recipes for dishes that are in season.

To take part:

Please send an e-mail to maninas [DOT] wordpress [AT] yahoo [DOT[ co [DOT] uk including the following information:

your name and country (and town if you wish)
your seasonal item
name & link to your blog
name of your post & link to your post
one photograph
with ‘Eating with the season’ in the subject line of your e-mail
& please link to the main post

I'm looking forward to your seasonal goodies!

London Food bloggers Group on Facebook - come join us!

2008-07-07T16:16:00.004Z

This Post was written by Niamh from Eat Like A Girl

Hi all,

We've started a London Food bloggers Group on Facebook. We thought it would be great to find each other, get to know each other and our blogs a bit better, share information, chatter, who knows, maybe meet up!

Come join us!

Everyone is very welcome.

Niamh

No Croutons Required - July

2008-07-06T16:20:00.003Z

This Post was written by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes

No Croutons Required is a monthly, vegetarian soup and salad challenge, hosted by myself and Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen.

For this month's challenge, I would like you to think up a soup or salad showcasing your favourite herb or one you haven't experimented with yet.

The herb garden is now officially open!

The Rules

1. Post about your vegetarian, herb soup or salad.

2. Mention "No Croutons Required" in your post and link back to Tinned Tomatoes. You are free to use the "No Croutons Required" logo in your post.

3. Email me a link to your post at nocroutonsrequired@googlemail.com and include your name, the name of your blog, your location and the name of your dish, with any anecdotes.

4. Entries must be in by 20 July 2008.

The roundup of entries will then be posted and readers will be able to vote for their favorite soup or salad in the poll.

The winning soup or salad will be announced at the end of the month and the winner will receive this badge to display on their blog.

5. Good luck :)

Facebook Blog Networks

2008-07-02T19:16:00.002Z

This post was written by Alex from Eating Leeds.

A Blog Networks application has just been added to Facebook. You can create a network for your own blog (join mine!), or just become a fan of blogs you like. As with a lot of Facebook apps, it suggests similar blogs, so you might even find a new site!

Trip to Cornwall

2008-06-30T12:20:00.004Z

This Post was written by Maninas from Maninas: Food Matters

Hi everyone!

I'm off to the beautiful Cornwall for a week at the end of July. Any tips, suggestions, recommendations on places to visit, restaurants to try, foods to sample? Much appreciated! Ta!

Maninas

Event Announcement: EATING WITH THE SEASONS

2008-06-22T22:59:00.001Z

Eating seasonally & (as much as possible) locally is something that I am very passionate about. For me, these are some of the most important reasons for it:

Environment. Greenhouses, food miles, pollution. All this comes to our tables attached with green beans from Kenya in February, or butternut squash from Argentina in June. And it's really unnecessary. Eating seasonally is one of the simplest changes to our lifestyle that we can make to make our world a better, cleaner, greener place. Please join me!

Flavour. This one is a no-brainer. Let us compare and contrast. Watery, tasteless tomato in January vs. its juicy flavourful cousin in July. Now which one would you rather have? I think you know what I'm getting at.

Food cost. Eating what's in season is not only better for the environment, and tastier, but also by far easier on the wallet. When in season, blueberries are not just at their best, but also at their cheapest. Also, in my books, buying tasteless food is a real waste of money. Pointless.

Variety. It forces me to stop indulging in my favourite foods, and explore other possibilities. And so discover new favourite foods! :)

Harmony with the Nature. Eating certain foods at a certain time in the year somehow just feels intrinsically right. Imagine a comforting hug of a velvety butternut squash soup on a winter evening, or a crisp refreshment of a simple salad on a summer afternoon, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

How can we do it? Certainly, the first step is to try and find out what's in season in your part of the world and when. This is where this event comes in. I'd like to encourage us all to do a little research on what's in season where we live right now, share information, our experiences and recipes and create a resource of delicious seasonal recipes for everyone to use.

Join me!

Go and find out what's in season where you live in July.
You can choose: fruit, vegetables, fish, meat.
Write a post/text if you are a non-blogger containing a recipe and/or information about your chosen seasonal item. You may post more than one recipe.
Post it and email it to me before 15 July, and I'll post a round-up in a few days. The plan is to go from 15th to 15th in the month (eventually), so we have some time to enjoy the recipes for dishes that are in season.
Please submit a post specifically written for this event, and please do not submit this post to other blogging events; one exception are photography events such as Does My Blog Look Good in This.

To take part:

Please send an e-mail to maninas [DOT] wordpress [AT] yahoo [DOT[ co [DOT] uk including the following information:

your name and country (and town if you wish)
your seasonal item
name & link to your blog
name of your post & link to your post
one photograph
with ‘Eating with the season’ in the subject line of your e-mail
& please link to this post

I really look forward to your entries!

TasteSpotting Replacement

2008-06-15T11:12:00.003Z

Tastespotting has died - sad but true - plenty of comments elsewhere on the whys and the laments but head on over to http://foodgawker.com/ for a very similar replacement!

Hopefully this site wont fall prey to the same problems and will pick up the users from tastespotting.

This Post was written by Andrew from SpittoonExtra

Your Association, Your Way

2008-06-03T20:52:00.002Z

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you know that I'm working on some exciting new developments for the UK Food Bloggers Association. Blogger isn't working as a platform for us anymore so I'm looking to move to a new one where we can all contribute and network much more freely. I'm also looking at events and activities that we can become involved in so that the association is more active and offers you, as members, much more.

Things are still in development but most importantly I want to ensure that the association gives you what you want from it. So, I'm keen to hear from you - let me know what offerings you'd like to see from the association, how you'd like to use it, what features you'd like to see on the new platform, and what ideas you have for making the association fun and beneficial to us all. We can get some discussion going on this post or if you'd rather email me please do so at asliceofcherrypie@yahoo.co.uk

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,
Julia

This Post was written by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie

2008-05-11T08:16:00.002Z

This Post was written by Lynn from Lynn's Cooking Blog

Not that I've been quoted (as far as I know), but I found this interesting article while browsing. Definitely something to bear in mind.....

Fight for Your Writes

ULTIMATE comfort food, what's yours?

2008-05-04T19:37:00.002Z

This Post was written by Lorette from Yummy Homely Food

Sorry but I need to know!
it's a BAAAAAAAAAAAAD night tonight (don't ask!).
Whenever I need REAL comfort food, few things will do. Dark chocolate (a lot of), digestives dunked in milk perhaps. All very well but I got none of those AND need to have a proper meal since I am running tomorrow.
One of my ultimate comfort food is "coquillettes" with grated cheese and butter. coquillettes are tiny pasta, like small curbed macaronis, and a traditional dish we had when we were kids (hence why -I think- comfort food for me all those years later).

Cooked in salted boiling water for 9-10 minutes (al dente), drained and quickly returned to the pan so some of the cooking juice stays with them. A good knob of butter then LOADS of grated cheese. Gruyere tastes like home for me as does gouda (?) but cheddar would equally do.
That's is, 15 minutes later I feel better already.

what's your ultimate comfort food? You can leave a comment on my blog or let me know HERE

Can chefs write recipes for the home cook?

2008-05-03T07:57:00.005Z

This Post was written by Fiona Beckett from The Frugal Cook

I've just been looking at one of Gordon Ramsay's recipes in the Times today - an Easy Bouillabaisse. So far so good, we all like easy, but it contains 1 kilo of pollack, 600-800g of clams and mussels and 800g of assorted other fish. For 4-6 people.

I know I'm fixated on frugal cooking but that seems to me to be way beyond what most people - even Times readers - can afford to spend on a meal.

The problem with chefs is that they live in an unreal world where the cost of ingredients like this can be offset on the menu. They also tend to find it difficult - unless they have a resident home economist in tow - to scale down recipes for the average household. Who can forget the River Cafe's notorious chocolate nemesis cake which dramatically collapsed on almost everyone who tried it?

So what's your experience of trying chefs' recipes? Do you find they generally work? If not, what are their shortcomings? Do you have any favourite chefs you go back to again and again? I'd love to hear.

Enjoy the Taste of Scotland

2008-04-26T20:39:00.003Z

This Post was written by Lynn from Lynn's Cooking Blog

' Enjoy the Taste of Scotland' is a food event being held in Glasgow over this weekend. I was lucky enough to attend the Press Day yesterday and have written it up, complete with photographs on my site.

http://lynnblog.praemedicatus.com/?p=101

Bookworm in the kitchen

2008-04-25T15:59:00.001Z

A beautiful review of more than just a cookbook by Foodari member Aniawl.

Aphrodite
Isabel Allende

If you wanted to be cynical, you could argue that Aphrodite is essentially a drummed up aphrodisiac cookbook – after all, it talks about food, it talks about love, it talks about passion for both, so I guess you could be justified. A quick search on Amazon throws up a whole list of “erotic cookbooks” where the celluloid clichés of strawberries, chocolate, oysters and champagne and the 101 ways with asparagus to make him want you more feature highly.

And yet, Aphrodite is a very different beast. The author – Issabel Allende – Chilean writer associated with the “magical realism” literary movement, throws in a little bit of …well… magic into this beautifully written and greatly imaginative potion of a book.

To say that Aphrodite is a cookbook would be a huge simplification and a great injustice to this book. It is a part memoir, part travelogue through artistic, poetic and literary references to sex and food and part recipe collection. It is also wildly self deprecating and humorous account of the writer’s long standing love affair with food.

How can you not love a book which begins:

“I repent of my diets, the delicious dishes rejected out of vanity as much as I lament the opportunities for making love that I let go by because of pressing tasks or puritanical virtue”.

For Allende the world of sensuality does not make a strict distinction between the pleasures of the flesh and pleasures of the table – the two are intrinsically intertwined. What I love about her book is that she goes beyond the cartoonish portrayal of what that relationship might be and she finds sensual pleasures in the most common of recipes – the earthy flavours of Bouillabaisse soup, Osso bucco or humble rice pudding – accompanied by stories from either writer’s own experience or that of her friends, and richly illustrated by numerous artistic references and dripping with poetic quotes.

The first half of the book is a delicious journey through history and exploration of what the relationship between the lust for food and lust for love looked like. We look back to the ancient Greece and Rome, medieval Europe, Byzantine excesses as well as more modern times. The writer draws by the handful from her own specialist subject – the literature, bringing us some wonderful and sometimes surprising excerpts from world renowned writers – amongst others – Pablo Neruda’s Ode to Conger Chowder:

[…]the tender eel
glistens,
prepared
to serve our appetites.
Now
you take
garlic,
first, caress
that precious
ivory,
smell
its irate fragrance,
then
blend the minced garlic
with onion
and tomato
until the onion
is the color of gold. […]

The second part of the book is a collection of recipes – Sauces, Hors D’oeuvres; soups, main courses, and desserts. The selection of courses is very cosmopolitan and varied – you will find there foods that are commonly perceived as aphrodisiacs, as well as ones that may surprise you.

You might want to try this simple dessert:

Soused Pears

This was the favourite dessert of my sainted aunt Teresa, who despite the purest of souls acquired a coquettish gleam in her eye when served this treat.

Ingredients

1 large pear, peeled and halved
Juice and grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 pinch nutmeg
1 glass red wine
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick

Preparation

Hollow out the core of the pear halves and fill with lemon juice to prevent it from turning dark. Combine ricotta, honey, lemon zest, and nutmeg and fill the core with mixture. Refrigerate. Mix together the wine, sugar, cinnamon stick, and heat to make a thick, fragrant syrup. Pour over the chilled pear halves and serve immediately.

Your Favourite food food places

2008-04-23T09:30:00.005Z

This Post was written by Andrew Webb from Eating Albion / Channel 4

Hi all. Some of you may have seen a post I put on the UKFBA website a few weeks back about The Big Food Map project I'm doing for Channel 4. See here

Well after asking Julia’s thoughts and permission, I’m back with a big favour to ask. As foodie folk with your ears to the ground, I’d like to ask what your favourite five (or more!) food places are in the UK and add them to our map alongside C4 talent’s favourites so that when it launches on 30th April there’s stuff there for the rest of the public to see and interact with.

So that’s five different food places (their names, locations, contact details if you know them) with a short review/reason (paragraph or so/50 words) on why they’re good, even better if they’re from all over the country.

We’re interested in everything from a bio-dynamic organic grower to a greasy spoon that’s a pillar of the community. Producers, retailers, independent shops, deli’s, butchers, fishmongers, all sorts

What’s in it for you?
Well in return for helping Channel 4 pre-seed the map with content we’ll add a link to your blog in each review you add. (normal users don’t get this) And we’re also writing an article about food blogging and will list those of you who contribute, this’ll have your name, the name of your blog, a link to it and a short bit about you and why you started it, like Julia’s asked you for the UKFBA.

When the map actually launches you’re more than welcome to add more places, and enter a competition to win £100 worth of organic groceries every month.

How do I contribute?
Well you can add a reply on the UKFBA forum, or in the comments below or email me direct at bigfoodmap -at- channel4 -dot- com

Name of Place:
Address:
Post Code:
Address: (if you know it)

What kind of place is it? (Choose one of the following, up to three max)
Baker | Deli or specialist | Market | Butcher | Farm Shop | Pub | Local Box Scheme | Fishmonger | Restaurant | Café | Greengrocer | Take away | Sells online |

Good for..? (again choose one of the following, up to three max)
A hangover! | Just the two of you | Fab with Friends | Hearty | Healthy | Traditional | Exotic | Proper Boozer | Posh Nosh | Eccentric Owner! | Al Fresco |
Cosy and snug | I’ll Expense it!

Your Name: (this will appear on the map and link to your blog)
Your Blog URL:
A little bit about you:

That’s it in a nutshell. I know it’s a big ask, but if you’d like to be amongst the first to share your local knowledge with Channel 4 we’d be extremely grateful. The idea behind the big food map is that users suggest the best or most interesting food places, and I go and check it out, interview the owner and publish the video and article on Channel4.com for all to enjoy.

Here’s some more info. Thanks for reading

Who’s doing this?
Andrew Webb, a freelance food writer for Channel 4

How can I contact him?
bigfoodmap -at- channel4 -dot- com

What’s the duration?
27th April to the 17th November 2008

When is he in my area?
April 27th - May 12th - The South West
May 13th - May 31th - Wales
June 1st - June 21st - The West Midlands
June 22nd - July 9th - The North West
July 10th - August 16th - Scotland
August 17th - Sept 1st - The North East
Sept 2nd - Sept 21st - Humber and the Yorkshires
Sept 22nd - Oct 8th - East Midlands
Oct 9th - Oct 24th - East Anglia
Oct 25th - Nov 26th - South East and London

Where’s this appearing?
Articles, photos and videos on channel4.com/food which
Regularly gets 5 million page impressions a week

The Big British Food Map

Britain, it seems, is in the throes of a food revolution. Channel 4's Big Food Fight season of programmes throughout January united Channel 4's food talent in a quest to get people thinking about what they are eating and cooking better quality food. The reaction to the season, both from viewers and 4Food users alike was huge. What is clear is that as a nation we want to know more about where our food comes from, and crucially we are willing to vote with our feet and make real consumer changes.

The Big British Food Map is one man's quest to harness our collective knowledge of interesting and delicious food across Britain and the stories and people behind those products. Even if most of us still do our weekly shop in a supermarket, we all know of at least one or two places, be they near our homes, near work, or where we go on holiday, where we can buy or eat really good food. Maybe you know a farmer, a grower, manufacturer, producer or an independent retailer? Or a great restaurant or pub that's at the heart of the local community. We also want to hear from food bloggers, have you got your ear to the ground in your area and want to show Andrew around? We want to hear and share the food stories of Britain, and meet the people behind them.

Andrew Webb is the food lover who will embark on a journey across Britain, region by region, gathering suggestions from users about their favourite food places, visiting those places, trying the food and meeting the people who make it, and writing about his experiences on 4Food.

REMINDER: One Perfect Ingredient

2008-04-04T15:46:00.002Z

This Post was written by Maninas from Maninas: Food Matters

REMINDER:

One perfect ingredient, many ways to cook it

One competition, 5 LUCKY WINNERS!

ONE PERFECT INGREDIENT - THE COMPETITION is still on!

Write about your favourite ingredient, post a recipe and enter the competition to win Marcus Wareing’s fabulous new book

One Perfect Ingredient, Three Ways to Cook It.

Wine for Spice on LBC Radio

2008-04-01T11:18:00.003Z

I have just got a call from a producer on LBC Radio to talk about matching wine with curries and spicy food.

I'm going to be chatting live with Jeni Barnett on the Food & Drink Programme
on FM 97.3
on Sunday 6th April 15:40 > 16:00. (changed to 20 mins)
The whole programme is 15:00 to 17:00.

(listen live)

Best

Warren Edwardes
CEO Wine for Spice
http://wineforspice.com

IMBB Updated

2008-03-28T08:20:00.001Z

You may be pleased to know that Is My Blog Burning has been updated. It has a fresh, wonderful new look but I think you will have to update your RSS feed reader with a new feed address.

More importantly you can register, log in and upload your event details rather than relying on me! Hurrah. And it seems to work too!

This Post was written by Andrew from Spitton.biz

Hello Food Bloggers!

2008-03-25T21:26:00.000Z

This Post was written by Ryan from Ryan's Recipe Blog.

I have just been accepted as a member of the UKFBA so I thought I would pop in and say Hi!

I have been cooking for a long time, and recently discovered the food blogging scene so thought I would give it a go. I love trying out new recipes, either making them up, sharing with friends and family, or trying out new recipe books.

Hopefully I will be able to learn a lot from the other members, so look forward to taking part in this Association!

Hello, and thanks for having me!

2008-03-25T13:21:00.002Z

This Post was written by The Caked Crusader from www.thecakedcrusader.blogspot.com

Just wanted to post to say thank you for letting me join the UK Food Bloggers Association - I get a tremendous amount of pleasure from blogging and hope that others enjoy reading my efforts and hopefully baking the recipes!

Please stop by my site and take a peek!

Thanks

Gluten Free Flour Giveaway!

2008-03-24T22:15:00.003Z

This Post was written by Naomi from Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried

I have recently found out that I have leaky gut syndrome and have decided to follow the specific carbohydrate diet to heal myself - it's supposed to work wonders.

But I'm left with a cupboard full of gluten free flours; sorghum, chestnut, millet, tapioca, teff.... I've decided to give them away to one lucky UK blogger so that they won't go to waste while I am getting better and avoiding flour of all types, gluten free or not.

All you need to do to add your name to the list is to visit this post and let me know that you would like the flours. At the end of the month I'll put all the names in a hat and pick a winner, box all the flours up and send them with love.

Hope to see you there.

Naomi x x x

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a problem

2008-03-24T20:11:00.003Z

I've been sitting here updating the UK Food Bloggers Association list of members and adding the new members to the list of authors and we've reached the 100 mark. Fantastic, 100 members! But this is a double-edged sword, as on entering the 101 member blogger gave me a red error message - I can't have more than 100 authors on the blog! Eek.

So I'm not sure what we do now. It looks like new members will have to email me with posts they want to put up, which is going to be a logistical nightmare to be honest - and I'm really not sure I'm going to have the time.

I need to have a think on this, but in the meantime if you have any thoughts or suggestions they would be most welcome.

This Post was written by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie

Channel 4's big food adventure

2008-03-21T08:34:00.004Z

This Post was written by Andrew Webb from Eating Albion

From here:

to here:

Hello readers and fellow members of the UKFBA. I'm a long time member - first time poster, but I thought you'd all be interested in a little food based project I'm working on for Channel 4 and how you can help shape it.

Firstly, have a skim over Eating Albion, particularly the about page, this post and finally 'Eating Albion goes mainstream' for indepth information on what I'm doing. If you've got an egg on the boil and not got time for that the premise is this: I travel around the UK for seven months investigating interesting food and people. But what makes this extra special is that I'm guided by you guys, the readers. Think Louis Theroux of food guided by you. Of course I can't go everywhere, so we're also building a google map that allows you to add your reviews and journeys to it, along side my route.

Why are we doing this? Well the online noise and reaction to the Big Food Fight season on C4 in January showed us that there's a real interest to find out where food comes from, how it's made, and how it's consumed. So that's what I'm going to do. As well as meeting farmers, producers, growers, retailers and chefs, I want to meet you, fellow food bloggers, hopefully from the different regions of the UK. You don't have to represent that region per se, for example you could be a Italian food blogger living in Wales, you just have to be interested in talking about food and sharing the knowledge of your local area with the rest of the country.

Finally, if you're within easy reach of Central London, I'm hosting a 'beers/wine & chats' night at Channel 4 head offices to showcase the project and see if we've got the tone right. We can take about 15 people maximum, for more information and details on how to attend, see this post on EA.

Just one final thing. This isn't a TV show, it's a proper web based thing using all the goodness of the internet: linking to blogs, hosting video and images, a Google map and recipes. It'll also have great content and a great story at the heart of it that will inspire others to do the same.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Andrew

PS. Here's a picture of me with a Gordon Ramsay mask on.... just for a laugh.

The Art of Cuisine - Toulouse-Lautrec and Maurice Joyan

2008-03-18T15:43:00.000Z

The first of our reviews of weird and wonderful cookbooks by Foodari member Aniawl.

It doesn’t get much more decadent than Monsieur Henri Toulouse-Lautrec - the artist remembered as much for his paintings as for his fondness of the seedy underbelly of late 19^th century Paris with its cabarets, girls of the night and his favourite muse – the “green fairy”

It shouldn’t then come as a great surprise, that he was also a great gourmet and applied himself in the kitchen with the same flamboyant, exaggerated and artistic flare as he did in any other part of his life. “The Art of Cuisine” – a book published after his untimely death ( from syphilis – as any self respecting artist in those days) is an attempt to collect some of the recipes that he was credited with inventing and others, as the book’s cover puts it, that “were garnered in his company from acquaintances of all classes of society”. The co-author of the book is Maurice Joyant- a childhood friend of the artist and an art gallery director.

The book itself is a pleasure to read. It’s illustrated with Lautrec’s original art – his well known paintings as well as illustrations of menus he produced for extravagant banquets he gave to his friends and fellow artists. I suppose it won’t hurt to mention that while he may have made the Moulin Rouge and Crazy Horse’s dressing rooms his second home, his actual roots were in a very wealthy and respected aristocratic French family, which certainly helped with the funding towards the exquisite dishes. The book is divided into 9 chapters organised around the choice of main ingredients (Of fur and feather; Shellfish and molluscs) or type of dish ( Soups, Sauces, Desserts) and is preceded by a culinary notes section to enable a modern cook to attempt the recipes.

But what about the food...One thing, which is certain, is that restraint did not feature highly in his vocabulary, or on his plate. Although not included in this book, he is credited for invention of “steak Lautrec” which involves taking 3 steaks, stacking them one on top of another and grilling together till the one on the bottom and the one on top are charred. Then you separate the steaks, throw the top and the bottom one to the dogs and eat only the middle one, which by then should be perfectly cooked.

As I don’t own any dogs and my cats won’t touch anything that hasn’t been turned into neat cubes and encased in jelly, I haven’t had a chance to try this one, maybe some day. I also decided against attempting the Fillet of herons, Stewed marmots or pan-fried Squirrels : “ Having killed some squirrels in autumn, skin them the same day and empty them. Roll them up in a piece of lard and let them brown with some good quality butter in a copper saucepan…one must not risk using spice of any kind as it may take away from the animal and its exquisite nutty flavour.”

The book however has a few more accessible, although certainly unusual recipes. You may want to attempt this one:

A Green Chicken

Take a piece of ham, some bacon, some sausage meat of port or veal, some soft bread crumbs and parsley. Chop it up, salt and pepper. Blanch a kale, take out the heart, chop it and mix it with the meats. Mix it up with the whole beaten eggs and a half a glass of milk. Roll the stuffing up in several large kale leaves, laid one on top of the other in such a way as to give the appearance of a galantine of fowl.

Tie up and put it to cook in boiling water with some fat, some potatoes – like a cabbage soup - for one and a half to two hours. Salt, pepper with aromatic and ordinary pepper. Untie the green chicken and serve it surrounded by potatoes. The broth makes an excellent soup.

A large stuffed cabbage roll:

Stuffing: 1/3 lb. Each ham, pork sausage and pork or veal; ½ cup breadcrumbs, ½ cup parsley leaves, (use ¼ lb lard only if sausage is very lean).

Have you noticed how there’s no mention of actual chicken in the recipe above? Nope. There just isn’t. I blame it on the absinthe.

I will leave you with the penultimate recipe in his book – although be warned that the lack of ingredients may prevent you from trying it

Saint on the grill

With the help of the Vatican try to procure for yourself a real(!) saint. Treat him as St Lawrence was treated on August tenth A.D. 258. When you have whipped him, lay him on the grill over a big bed of charcoal, like his predecessor, if he is a real saint, he himself will ask to be turned over in order to be grilled to a turn on both sides.

Have you got a subject you want to write on? Contact Us

One Perfect Ingredient - THE COMPETITION

2008-03-17T00:18:00.001Z

One perfect ingredient, many ways to cook it

One competition, 5 LUCKY WINNERS!

As promised, here comes your chance to win Marcus’ new book!!!

Focusing on one ingredient at a time, Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing presents at least three imaginative, delicious but simple ways of cooking with it, offering a wealth of fresh ideas on how to use the everyday ingredients that repeatedly show up in your shopping basket. (.... Read the rest of the review and find out more about Marcus' new book here.)

To win the book, all you have to do is tell us about your favourite ingredient, including why it's your favourite and what is your favourite way of cooking it. Post a recipe using this ingredient, and preferably some photos, containing a link to my blog, and a link to this event and the words 'One Perfect Ingredient'. Preferably, your ingredient will be the main ingredient in the meal or feature strongly in the dish, and it can fall within one of these categories: Vegetables, Fish and shellfish, Meat, Dairy and eggs, Fruit and Store cupboard (e.g. chocolate, pasta, couscous, rice, legumes, etc.). If you wish, you may post more then one recipe! You're also welcome to submit more than one entry!

Non-bloggers are also welcome! E-mail me your photos and recipes, and I'll post them on my blog for you!

Unfortunately, the competition is restricted to UK and Europe only, as DK have said they will post the book only to European and UK addresses. I'm sorry about that.

To take part and win Marcus' book, please send an e-mail to maninas [DOT] wordpress [AT] yahoo [DOT[ co [DOT] uk including the following information

your name and country
name of your blog
link to your blog
name of your post
link to your post
one photograph
with 'One Perfect Ingredient' in the subject line of your e-mail

Please submit a post specifically written for this event, and please do not submit this post to other blogging events; one exception are photography events such as Does My Blog Look Good in This.

The deadline for this event is 7th April 2008.

During the following week, I will post a round-up of all posts on my blog, and draw the winners! My method? Easy peasy! Writing all names on a piece of paper, putting them in a bowl, and drawing the 5 lucky winners! After that, I will e-mail you to ask you for your addresses, and send them to the publisher, Dorling Kindersley, who will post the book to you!

______________________________________________________

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Macro lens for Olympus E410?

2008-03-16T13:10:00.001Z

Hi all,
We've got a new camera (yay) and need to buy a macro lens for some close up food photos etc. Now I lack knowledge in this field entirely. A quick scan of Google shows me lots of stuff - can anyone shed any light on what I should buy - recommending something or such?

This Post was written by Scott from Realepicurean

Cookbook Review: ONE PERFECT INGREDIENT by Marcus Wareing

2008-03-12T21:39:00.005Z

This Post was written by Maninas from Maninas: Food Matters

“Pure simplicity by the best working chef in London.”

JAMIE OLIVER

If you always try to shop according to what’s in season like I do, you may just get a little tired of eating the same old dish all the time, especially in winter when there isn’t much choice around. No matter how big a fan of broccoli, carrot or cabbage you are, you are bound to get bored of it at one time or another! Fear not, this wonderful new book by Marcus Wareing comes to your rescue! Focusing on one ingredient at a time, Marcus presents at least three imaginative, delicious but simple ways of cooking with it, offering a wealth of fresh ideas on how to use the everyday ingredients that repeatedly show up in your shopping basket.

....... Read the rest of the review and find out more about Marcus' new book at

Maninas: Food Matters.

_______________________________________

Coming soon on Maninas: Food Matters!!!!

ONE PERFECT INGREDIENT, THREE WAYS TO COOK IT

ONE COMPETITION, 5 LUCKY WINNERS!

Here comes your chance to win Marcus’ new book!!!

I’m organising a competition here at Maninas focusing on people’s favourite ingredients, and ways to cook with them.

5 LUCKY WINNERS will receive Marcus’ new book from the publisher, DK!

Stay tuned - more details coming soon!

_______________________________________

2008-03-10T19:31:00.001Z

Pat a cake pat a cake baker’s man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can!

Last March I launched my very first food blogging event, the ‘Easter Cake Bake’. I asked my fellow bloggers to bake themed cakes for Easter. The event went down a storm and had 29 amazingly creative entries. Take a look:

If you click on each picture you'll be taken to the blog that it came from. It was so hard to find a winner but in the end I chose Cheryl at Gruel Omelet for this fabulous entry:

I hope you're feeling inspired now because we're going back to our kitchens armed with wooden spoons and creativity for round 2! Here's how to enter.

Entry Details

All you need to do is bake a cake, or several smaller cakes, with an Easter theme then post about it on your blog, including a link to this post so that people know what the event is about and how to enter. Feel free to use the logo too.

Once you've baked your cake and posted about it send an email with ‘Easter Cake Bake’ in the subject line to asliceofcherrypie@yahoo.co.uk by Monday 31st March with the following information:

• your name
• the name of your blog
• a link to your post
• a picture of your cake(s)

I’ll post a round up of all entries and announce the winner. Happy baking!

This Post was written by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie

Lemon Thyme - My Newest Discovery

2008-03-10T00:26:00.006Z

This Post was written by Margot from Coffee and Vanilla.

I wanted to share with you my new discovery - Lemon Thyme.
I'm sure many of you know this herb, but some maybe not... like me a week ago.
I discovered it by chance when my online ordered groceries arrived with surprise, they replaced mint that I have ordered with lemon thyme ;)
I did not use it like I previously planned to do with mint, in my favourite Minty Cherry Tomatoes but... I made something even more delicious: Baked Salmon with Seaweed Salt and Lemon Thyme.

Have a great and sunny week! :)

You Know You Are Food & Beer Obsessed When...

2008-03-09T19:25:00.003Z

This Post was written by Leigh from The Good Stuff

1. Your holiday destination is chosen by 'regional speciality' and not weather/location/kudos/price. In fact, travel is completely justified by food, rather than experiences or sights.
2. You read blogs like this one. All the time. And by that, I mean 'When you should be working'.
3. You're walking down the street. Two charity-box wielding volunteers corner you outside Borders. One is for 'Rescue the Children/Dogs From An Awful Life (delete as appropriate), and the other represents 'Save our Local Microbrewery'. Your immediate response is 'Mine's a Pint, Barkeep.'
4. Your 'Top Ten Greatest Films in The World Ever' List includes 'Big Night', 'Sideways', 'La Grande Bouffe' and 'Babette's Feast'. Or, if you're female, 'Chocolat.' (The book was better).
5. Speaking of books, your cookbook collection makes up at least 20% of your home library....
6. ...In fact, a trip into Waterstone's 'Cooking' section brings on hyperventilation, insane purchases (ooh, the French Laundry book - put it on the card...'), and palms that haven't been sweatier than the time you 'accidentally' ordered a Jenna Jameson flick on the missus's Amazon account.
7. A balmy weekend proposal of 'A pleasant walk in the country' translates as 'A chance to track down an awesome pub/micro that no-one else has found this side of 1975'.
8. Meals are planned. On a calendar. With Beer Matches. And this rota is fitted around re-runs of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Well, it wasn't going to be Delia, was it?
9. ...You see nothing wrong with this. In fact, everything you cook or drink is there to be tasted, reviewed, and discussed with your foodie chums. Everything.
10. Not only is your kitchen the most used room in the house, its the cleanest, most expensive room in the house (Yeah, we got the sofa at the charity shop but check out my Sabatier Five-Knife set...).

Would anyone else like to share? Let's get our obsession out in the open...together, we can work it out.

No Croutons Required - March

2008-03-04T23:59:00.005Z

This Post was written by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes

No Croutons Required is a monthly soup and salad challenge hosted by myself and Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen. The challenge is vegetarian based, but we hope it will just be a great line up of good food that anyone can enjoy!

Our first, ever challenge was hosted by Lisa. And, boy that was a round-up and a half! We had 71 delicious entries, I mean, can you believe that? It was just mad!

The winner of our first challenge, to make a vegetarian soup that even the most carnivorous diner would drool over, was the super talented Johanna with her Wanton Dumplings in Ginger Broth.

Doesn't that look stunning?

Well done Johanna!

So now it is my turn to host. Eek, the nerves!

The No Croutons Required challenge for March is to make a spicy soup that will tingle on the tongue.

Check out the rules here!

Fairtrade Fortnight

2008-03-03T11:28:00.003Z

This Post was written by Jonathan from Foodari

As we enter the 2^nd week of the 2008 Fairtrade Fortnight we felt it was time to add our support to this worthy cause. Fairtrade has helped millions of people from developing countries – farmers, workers, their families and the whole economy since its inception. Farirtrade was launched in the late 80’s in the Netherlands with goal of improving the situation of the producers by focusing on the role of the consumers. Since that time Fairtrade has developed into a world recognised label of approval for fairness and ethical production.

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual event to celebrate the products which carry the fair-trade label. The Fortnight kicked off with an action-packed event on London’s Southbank on Sunday 24^th February and runs through to March 9^th. There are plenty of ways for the public to get involved to support this worldwide campaign. Its not too late as there are lots of exciting events going on this week. To learn more and to find out when the Fairtrade bus is visiting your area click here.

To give a balanced view in the very near future Foodari will be exploring “How Fair is Fairtrade?”

Staffordshire Oatcakes

2008-03-01T19:21:00.011Z

What's a "Tunstall Tortilla", or a "Potteries Poppadom", or a "Clay Suzette"? They're some of the names given by the locals to Staffordshire oatcakes. Staffordshire oatcakes are a fantastic fast food available around Stoke on Trent. Made with oats they're fairly healthy (but most locals would have bacon and cheese and possibly other fillings on top). They're very cheap, where else can you get a cooked meal and change from a pound?

The shops are run by some great characters (pictured above is Oatcakes and Pikelets which is situated opposite Hanley's Central Forest Park). Every shop is slightly different, and has it's own secret recipe. See here for a map of all the shops that I'm aware of (I'm working my way around each one to try and find the best).

The reason for this post is to alert you to the disappearance of the last Hole in the Wall oatcake shop. This historical gem is facing demolition and the local paper, The Sentinel, has launched a petition to help save the world's last remaining hole in the wall oatcake shop. Should the National Trust step in (like it has with the Birmingham back to backs)?

When I asked Glenn Fowler for permission to take the photographs below of the Hole in the Wall, he said (tongue in cheek) "they'll be valuable when we're gone"!

This Post was written by Bill from Good Food Shops.

No Croutons Required

2008-02-22T19:13:00.003Z

This Post was written by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes

The day of reckoning is here!

The No Croutons Required challenge entries have been posted. All 71 of them. Wow, what a start!

For those of you who haven't come across it yet, No Croutons Required is a new monthly soup and salad challenge, hosted each month, by myself and Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. Lisa took the plunge and started the event with the challenge of making a vegetarian soup that would make even the "most carnivorous diner drool..".

If you would like to vote for your favourite, then just pop across to the roundup and leave your vote in the comments box.

The winner will be announced by the end of February and will receive a natty little badge for their blog.

If you would like to take part in the challenge, then pop across to my blog at the beginning of March, to see what the next challenge will be.

An Introduction from Alexx

2008-02-20T16:04:00.006Z

This Post was written by Alexx from http://www.alexx.org

1. Where are you based?
I currently live in North London but am hopefully moving to Hitchin in the next few weeks.

2. How long have you been blogging?
Only since December - I'm a newbie!

3. What's the best thing about food blogging?
I love talking about food, and I love writing, so blogging allows me to combine the two! I've also begun to discover all kinds of other inspirational foodie blogs and am being inspired to improve my photography skills.

4. What's the worst thing about food blogging?
Remembering to take the photos! And I worry sometimes that I don't update enough.

5. What inspires you to cook and write?
Other people's blogs, fantastic food writers like Nigel Slater and Tamasin Day-Lewis, and wonderful ingredients.

6. Where do you like to blog?
On my laptop on the sofa, normally!

7. What's your signature dish?
I love risottos of all kinds and often make them up with whatever seasonal ingredients I have to hand for unexpected guests. Risotto is something which totally lends itself to improvisation and I love improvising.

8. What about you might it surprise other bloggers to know?
I'm looking forward to moving out of London - although it has FANTASTIC food shops and restaurants, moving out of town is going to mean a huge gain in kitchen space....and I hope to master baking and pastry in the extra room!

I'm really excited to be joining this community - I love keeping up with this blog and it's great to have an online 'home' with a UK focus.

Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook

2008-02-19T12:36:00.002Z

This post was written by Alex from Eating Leeds.

Next Wednesday evening (27 Feb) sees the launch of The Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook. I thought it would be a good idea for those of us (I can't imagine I'm the only one with a recipe being published!) attending the launch to meet up and perhaps organise something a bit tacky like a group photo.

Any thoughts? Either comment on this post or email me!

Memorable Steak

2008-02-18T17:16:00.000Z

A memorable meal from our nonagenarian blogger Robin from Foodari for the second in a series of historic views of food.

In 1947 the General Manager and I, Chief Engineer , of a large pottery company got permission to visit and report on the American Pottery industry with particular reference to automatic making which we intended to introduce to Britain.

After a number of inoculations we caught a Dakota from Northolt to Prestwick to catch the midnight fight by KLM from Amsterdam to New York. On the way, embarrassingly, I surprised a Chinese Lady in one of the loos and could only bow my apologies and flee. It was another five and a half hours on to New York where they insisted on inoculating us all over again before we caught a plump DC4 on to Pittsburgh where we arrived somewhat bedraggled, hungry and thirsty.

There seemed to be only one solution for we were coming from the still rationed Britain and arriving in the USA - steak.

We were bowelled over when brought a large plate each with a steak hanging over each side by a couple of inches or so. And this was neither the tough off cuts that we had grown used to during wartime Britain, this was prime beef, juicy, succulent and so tender. For what had seemed like days of waiting for a fine meal disappeared in seconds.

It did wonders for our morale and suddenly by power of food we were back on top of the world again.

Lunch with the FT

2008-02-16T19:19:00.003Z

I've been advised about a promotion the Financial Times is running which starts today, that I though you might be interested in. It will be in association with Harden's restaurant guide, and the FT is inviting readers to enjoy a great value lunch and to tell the FT about it. By doing so, they could then win a trip to Cognac, courtesy of Rémy Martin.

The way it works is that the maximum price per head for a two course lunch will be £20.08. When readers make a booking, they will simply need to state that they are having 'Lunch with the FT'. No vouchers are required, but people will be required to take along a copy of the FT to the restaurant instead. Participating restaurants include Le Café Anglais, Asia de Cuba, Cocoon, Chez Bruce, The River Cafe and Club Gascon.

After the lunch, the FT is inviting readers to give feedback to help the FT select the FT Readers' Favourite Restaurants. If they write a full review they could win a trip for two to Cognac, courtesy of Rémy Martin, and see their restaurant review published in FT Weekend and on FT.com.

For more information visit www.ft.com/lunch

This Post was written by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie

Food Magazines in the UK

2008-02-12T18:09:00.000Z

This Post was written by Maninas from
Maninas: Food Matters

Hello everyone,

What's your favourite food magazine in the UK?

I look forward to your answers!

Maninas

SnackShots #2 - Leek

2008-02-12T17:47:00.000Z

On the 1st of March Wales celebrates St David’s Day in remembrance of the death of Saint David who died on 1 March 589. Every year a huge parade is held in Cardiff and it sure looks like something to behold. Wales has two national emblems: the daffodil and leek. As pretty as the yellow flower is we unfortunately can not eat it, so let’s make this event about the leek.

How do you like your leeks? Baked, steamed or fried? Maybe you’d like to show off your abstract photography skills by playing with the fine lines and concentric circles of the vegetable. Whatever you do, we want to see it!

Are you a fan of the leek? Then why not write about it as well!

For more information, click here.

This Post was written by Michelle from Greedy Gourmet

Bouillabaisse

2008-02-11T09:43:00.000Z

We are privileged to introduce our nonagenarian blogger Robin from Foodari for the first in a series of historic views of food.

Foreign motorbike touring holidays during my annual leave had confirmed my preference for the small village of Le Canadel in the Toulon area as a stopping off place to the more popular and developed area around Nice and Cannes. It sits on a crescent bay half a mile wide and is ideal for swimming and was the scene of the first landing from N. Africa during the last war, commemorated by a stone on the beach. It was only some years later that I was to discover that Le Canadel had been chosen for health reasons by Sir Henry Royce, the great Rolls-Royce engineer, to set up a design centre from where he reputedly ruled the Derby Factory with a rod of iron. Royce is said to have sketched in the sand on the beach his chosen V-12 cylinder layout for the 36.7 litre ’R’ engine which was to win the Schneider Trophy outright for Britain in 1931 and in scaled down form become the ’Merlin’ which powered our fighters and bombers in the last war.

The Hotel de la Plage at Le Canadel, 2 minutes from the beach, was owned and run by Mr.Caturegli and his wife and their son and his wife. Catu as he was known had been head chef at a Paris hotel before bringing his family here. Having stayed with the Catus several times I had almost become part of the family and so was not surprised when I went to Toulon for some money to be asked if I could possibly get a spade and bucket for their little grandson. I duly returned with a bright red bucket and yellow spade gratefully received. In thanks Catu decided to cook a bouillabaisse for his three guests, a Dr. Gautier and his wife from Paris and me. This is a speciality along the Mediterranean, based on a mixture of at least four different fish cooked in water or white wine with tomatoes and oil and flavoured with saffron, garlic and parsley. It was a huge and splendid meal.

For 4-6 portions you will need;-

2-3 teaspoons Olive oil or 2-3 oz butter
1 large Onion. 1-2 cloves Garlic, crushed. 2 Tomatoes
11/2 lbs mixed fish- Sole, Red Mullet, Eel, Hake. The more the better.
1 pinch Saffron. 2 level teaspoons Salt. ¾ teaspoon Pepper
1 Bay leaf. 1 small Lobster or cooked Prawns.
¼ Pint White Wine. Garnish- toast, chopped Parsley

Heat the oil or butter in a large pan. Then fry the sliced onion, garlic and sliced tomatoes until just soft.
Put all the ingredients except shellfish and wine into the pan cutting the remaining fish into neat pieces. Pour 11/2 pints boiling water over the fish and boil briskly for 12-15 minutes. Remove Lobster from shell and cut, as other Shellfish into small pieces. Add white wine 5 minutes before end of boiling time. Remove Bay leaf.
Pour onto hot dish and garnish with toast and chopped parsley.

Don't Target My Kids

2008-02-07T22:18:00.000Z

This Post was written by Margot from Coffee and Vanilla.

Junk food is full of fat, salt and sugar. Eating it regularly could cause serious health problems like high blood pressure and obesity.

If you care about health of your children, sign the petition of the British Heart Foundation campaign against junk food advertising. I signed it already :)

To learn more about this campaign, please read here: Don't Target My Kids.

The Art of Devilling Mushrooms

2008-02-07T12:48:00.000Z

This Post was written by Tom from Foodari

Devilling is a splendid technique. It can be applied to many different foods but is particularly good and most popular with mushrooms and kidneys.

This is how to devil mushrooms:

Slice your mushrooms and part cook in butter. Not too much but so they get to that slightly softened juicy stage! Next add Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup, mustard and season to taste.

Serve into ramekins and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and grill for a minute or serve onto hot toast.

How easy is that. It makes a delicious starter, a wonderful sauce over a steak, and is also great in the middle of a hot baked potato for a warming winter lunch.

And here's the recipe for Devilled Kidneys

Let me introduce myself.... I'm Maninas

2008-02-03T23:51:00.000Z

This Post was written by MANINAS from Maninas: Food Matters

It's about time I said hello to everyone here, given that I've been a member for ages. Sorry about that... My name is Maninas and I’m a foodie from Croatia,now living in the UK with my British husband. I've embarked on a fabulous journey through the world of food, looking for tasty morsels and good stories!

1. How long have you been blogging?

I've been blogging since May 2007, and loving it! It's become a little more difficult to find some time to do it, but I'm determined to keep going!

2. What's the best thing about food blogging?

My food blog is my creative playground, and a place where I can share it with friends and other foodies. Also, it gives us an amazing insight into so many kitchens of the world! Now that is truly fantastic!

3. What's the worst thing about food blogging?

a) not having enough time to do it
b) cold food! by the time I took all the photos.... :)

5. What inspires you to cook and write?

Food itself, all the gorgeous ingredients, aromas, flavours... Also, travelling the world through it's foods! At the moment, I am particularly interested in Indian cuisine, but other cuisines, including Croatian and British of course, feature in my blog!

6. Where do you like to blog?

At home, in the comfort of my living room.
I'm good - no blogging at work!

7. What's your signature dish?

Hm, I don't really have one specific signature dish yet... If I had to choose one, I guess it would be my own creation: grilled halloumi with red chili, basil, lime juice and olive oil dressing (pictured below). It symbolises everything I love about food and cooking: inspiration, experimentation, bold flavours and discoveries. I was hugely inspired by the combination of flavours and ingredients. This simple recipe has it all: chilies, which I can hardly live without nowadays; basil, which is an amazing herb; lime juice for the sour taste that I’ve become addicted to; and olive oil, which is an old comforting (family) friend, omnipresent in Dalmatian cooking (and used a little excessively by my Dad, to put it mildly). It also has tomatoes, one of my favourite vegetables, so versatile and so delicious whether cooked or raw; and halloumi, a type of mild Cypriot cheese, which is one of the discoveries I made this year.

No Croutons Required

2008-02-02T17:38:00.000Z

This Post was written by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes

No Croutons Required is a new, monthly soup and salad challenge hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa's Kitchen. Lisa is hosting the first challenge, and the theme is vegetarian soup.

The challenge is open until the 20 February 2008. A line-up of entries will be posted after this date and the winner will receive a gorgeous badge for their blog.

I hope you will join in the challenge!

Check out the rules on Lisa's blog and give it a go.

If you have any questions you may leave a comment or email us at nocroutonsrequired@googlemail.com.

Love
Holler

Hunting, Gathering and Eating

2008-02-02T10:07:00.000Z

This Post was written by Jonathan from Foodari

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about free-range chicken, the state of our intensively farmed produce and the need for us all to get closer to food production. The cause for quality food of provenance is a key theme and a major concern to Foodari.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of enjoying perhaps the freest range meat possible, in the freshest way and with more than a touch of enjoyment.

Shooting has long been debated as a cruel sport for a bunch of toffs, who, when not on horses chasing poor foxes, are blasting birds out of the sky.

The shooting season came to an end for us yesterday without any toff behaviour but with an illustration of how ancient county ways can, not only preserve our countryside but produce brilliant food.

There were 6 friends wandering through woodland with guns and three dogs. Baggins the insatiable springer who worked tirelessly all day, Millie the older yellow lab to retrieve supper, and Georgie, her daughter, looking pretty.

Many yards were covered in the pursuit of the pot and dare I say an extremely enjoyable day of rough shooting, man against beast under the winter sun. Some would say that the bird won but at least we shot enough for the pot that evening.

So the next stage in in enjoying this wonderful free-range meat of the most proven provenance was for me to retreat to my life in the smoke and prepare supper.

It tool all but 5 minutes to remove the plump breasts from the birds and decide that pan frying with mash would be the perfect end to a fine day.

I was not disappointed. Admittedly the meat may have benefited from hanging for a day but to experience true hunting, gathering and eating in one day is a privilege that should not be restricted.

Advertising on your Blog

2008-01-29T16:28:00.000Z

This Post was written by Lynn from Lynn's Cooking Blog

I got an e-mail today. Not, I hasten to add, an unusual event, but it was an e-mail for a new advertising 'platform'. It's for something called 'ebuzzing'. I assume that others got one as well. It got me thinking.

I didn't set up my blog to make money, but to try and communicate with other foodies the joy that I get from cooking. I'm all for making money, but I wonder of allowing adverts on our blogs demeans them and makes them just another web page.

"ebuzzing allows bloggers to earn money by publicising things they actually like, and even to define their own price for doing so." That doesn't sound too painful, but when I think more about it, it seems to me that what it will allow is advertisers to pay peanuts for publicity, and also to create a doubt in readers minds - are we talking about a product because we actually like it, or because we're getting paid for it?

I'd like your views on this please.

Lynn xxx

OFM Eco Foodies

2008-01-28T10:25:00.000Z

This Post was written by Jonathan from Foodari

The Observer Food Monthly always causes excitement in the Foodari household and we were particularly impressed by yesterday’s focus on the top eco foodies. Whilst I may or may not agree with their grading, and I think there was far more scope for local food heroes, it did raise the profile of one of the key issues of our time – food provenance.

Channel 4 and Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall can take much credit for generating the latest wave of eco interest. For the past 5 years the organic and free range movement has grown in statue and importance, but coverage has generally been restricted to the middle classes. What I was delighted to see in the interview with HFW was an illustration of how easy it can be to eat quality food of proven provenance without impact on the weekly budget.

I admit that my first coverage of the Chicken Out campaign was a critic of seemingly sensationalist television, but I was wrong. HFW is worthy of his number one position in the Observer chart; he is truly passionate about reducing food miles, carbon footprints and encouraging local seasonal eating. He also demonstrates how free range chickens should not dent the weekly budget - firstly as they are extremely good value compared to any red meat and secondly because one chicken can feed a family for 2 if not 3 meals from one bird.

Keep up the good work OFM and we at Foodari hope to play a part of what will need to be a long, sustained campaign.

IYP - Blog Event

2008-01-27T16:24:00.000Z

This post was written by Alex from Eating Leeds.

OK - it's International Year of the Potato, which is an excuse for a blog event. Introducing ... The Potato.

You can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. Make mash and blog about it, or find some rare-breed potato, do some research, make something new and ... blog about it.

You don't have to have a blog to participate (just email me) - but submissions need to be in by the end of February and I'll do the write up in the first week of March!

Happy potato eating!

The Marmalade Festival - February 10th Cumbria

2008-01-24T21:38:00.000Z

This Post was written by Martin from Artisan-food

Artisan-food is organising the food part of the magnificent Marmalade festival, to be held at Dalemain House, Cumbria, on February the 10th this year. There will be around 24 local producers attending and we are planning to make it a real taste sensation. The Artisan food marquee and Dalemain's historic barn will be connected together and this is where all the producers will be. We have a fantastic line up with over 50 citrus themed products on offer. So if you are anywhere near the lake District, come and visit. The festival is on from 10-4. E-mail me or just come to our stand to say hello.

We are also getting some superb publicity for the event. 4 full pages in the Sunday Telegraph magazine, 4 Pages in Tastes of Britain, an article in the Field, plugs in Food and Travel, BBC Countryfile amongst others, as well as lots of great local coverage too. It seems that Orange is the new Black, well at least in a food sense. Our latest will be UKTV Food - Market Kitchen - transmitted on 31st January at 7pm.

We have some fantastic local artisan producers who will all be bringing their own citrus twist to the festival, they range from Susan Aglionby who breeds Longhorn cattle and as well as selling her beef, will be cooking some of her excellent slow grown, grass fed, traditional breed organic beef for people to taste (click here or more info).

Susan is part of the Hadrian Organics network and will also be accompanied by Eva’s organics, a fantastic local organic vegetable grower who runs an excellent local box scheme in the North of the county.

We have two local artisan cheese producers, Leonie Fairburn from Thornby Moor and Lynne Ballentyne Dykes from Wardhall Dairy who produce excellent cheeses from single-herd raw milk, they will be matching their popular hard and soft as well as goats cheeses with citrus chutneys amongst other things. To complement this we will also have a great selection of other citrus cheeses from around the UK bought to us by John Natlacen of Churchmouse Cheeses, recently voted as “the best independent cheese shop in 2007” (Click here for article)

People will be able to try cooked venison with cranberry and orange jelly as well as sample a canape of Venison Pate with Cumberland jelly, the venison is from Deer ‘n’ Dexter, (click here for article)

We have one of the countries finest stoneground organic millers attending, notably the Watermill (click here for article) and whilst on the bread theme, The Moody Bakers a local cooperative with an excellent reputation and products will have a selection of breads, marmalade cakes and lemon drizzle squares. The counties butter maker will be selling handmade butter, called Cream of Cumbria, “you may be able to whip their cream, but you can’t beat their butter”.

Jane Maggs from Wild and Fruitful will be creating the official “Festival marmalade” out of Seville oranges and locally grown quince, a fitting challenge for a producer who is known for her excellent jams, jellies and chutneys. Also present will be Lizzie Smith who has won many awards for her fabulous Cumbrian Frutta Cotta, and recently created a Mostarda version that was awarded the “best new product” at the recent NW fine food awards. (click here for article)

The Gift of Oil, described by Gordon Ramsey as having “dazzling oils and amazing vinegars” will present a variety of citrus infused oils for sampling. Our very special Lyth Valley Damsons can be sampled steeped in Gin from Cowmire Hall and there is lots more too..

Chef, Nick Martin, who we call “Cumbria’s culinary ambassador” will be cooking various dishes too, based on local produce, just in case you are not tempted by any of the food on the stalls!

I hope to see you there, come and visit the Artisan-food stall and watch me preserve some lemons, you can also buy the winning festival bread and there's lots more we plan to do.! - Martin

Who says healthy can't be tasty?

2008-01-24T15:52:00.000Z

This Post was written by Jonathan from Foodari

Like most of us I had far too much to eat over the festive period and whilst Christmas is a distant memory there are certain reminders around the waistline (and the credit card!). Therefore although my New Year's resolution is starting late it is to be healthy in the mornings and start the day with a wholesome breakfast - I will see how this goes and look to progress right the way through to lunchtime and beyond.

So here's a tatsy starter to the day, named after a very small girl called Molly who quite liked it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as she and I do...

Ingredients:

Porridge Oats

Bran

A selection of nuts (any of - walnuts, hazel nuts, almonds, brazil nuts)

Currants or sultanas

Dried apricots roughly chopped

A few handfuls of oats to one handful of bran. The bran gives your muesli some depth. Add as much of the other ingredients as you feel comfortable with. The nuts must be put into a tea towel and beaten with a rolling pin. Its an experience that is worth making the muesli in the first place! The brazil nuts add a wonderful creaminess.

It keeps in an air-tight container for ages. Whenever you feel like a snack grab a handful add some fruit, milk and off you go. Personally I think banana is a must!

Homemade millefiori honey and carrot soup

2008-01-22T07:26:00.000Z

This Post was written by Licia Accorsi from Del Sole

Happy New Year!

How full of hopes, dreams and lists of good things these three little words are.

We only have the chance to say them once a year so let’s make the most of them!

To get things off to a great start I am sure many of you have on your list to get healthier, perhaps to eat healthier food - maybe even to learn how to cook in this way.

Well, if you cannot come to the store on a day I make this wonderful, fragrant soup, you will need my recipe to make it for yourself. Fortunately, it’s quick, easy and has a fantastic flavour!

This soup is made with some of my favourite ingredients - carrots and millefiori honey - and is also suitable for people who need, or simply prefer, their food to be gluten-free, dairy-free and wheat-free.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 finely chopped, medium-size, golden onion
500g cleaned and chopped carrots
1 chopped celery stalk
700ml hot water with 1 heaped tablespoon of gluten-free or yeast-free vegetable bouillon. Alternatively use 700ml of fresh vegetarian stock.
3 generous tablespoons of millefiori honey
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Warm the oil in a medium pot over gentle heat. Add the onions and cook until golden, then add the celery.
When the celery is cooked, stir in the chopped carrots and cook until golden on all sides for (normally about 5 minutes).
Next add the hot water with bouillon or fresh vegetarian stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the carrots are tender throughout but not falling apart.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the millefiori honey.
Pour the soup into a blender and blend to a smooth consistency. Add extra water if too thick.
Adjust with salt or pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

This soup is an excellent winter warmer, and is complemented beautifully by a little heart-shaped multiseeded roll.

Just the right food to nourish you and set you off on your journey to conquer the world!

At Last, a Gluten Free Food Blogging Event!

2008-01-20T13:09:00.000Z

This Post was written by Naomi from Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried

Just when you thought the blogosphere couldn't handle another food event, here I am hopefully proffering another for your participation.

This one's for all you gluten free gourmets out there, all you daring bakers who fancy the extra challenge of leaving the wheat, barley and rye flour in the cupboard and anyone else who would like to support my fledgeling food event.

The very first theme is 'Teatime Treats'; those tasty little morsels we bring out when folk drop round for morning coffee, the children come home from school or a maiden Aunt is visiting. From a buttered slice of the plainest Madeira cake to the fanciest pastel coloured macaron; teatime is for settling back with a smackerel of something fresh from the oven and enjoying some pleasant conversation.

The only restriction is that your recipe is gluten free, so let your hair down (actually, tie it back) and get baking!

Post about your entry on your own blog and email me the link and a photo (if possible) to naomidevlin at f2s dot com by Feb 21st. I will post the round upat my blog on Feb 28th.

I look forward enormously to your contributions - anyone who would like to host another month, please let me know. x x x

Wholesome Lunchbox

2008-01-17T17:58:00.001Z

This Post was written by Margot from Coffee and Vanilla.
Here is a post from my blog, that I thought would be of interest for some UK food bloggers.

Recently I have been looking for some lunchbox ideas for kids and I could not find that many of them. So I decided to announce this event to collect some of the recipes in one place. I don't want to limit entries to kid's lunchboxes, so even if you don't prepare lunch for children, you can enter any recipe that is good to put in a box and take as a lunch with you. I will post summary with links to all entries on the weekend 16th-17th of February.

Please send all entries by 15th of February (midnight, UK time)at:
coffeeandvanilla(at)416studios(dot)co(dot)uk with “Wholesome Lunchbox” in the subject line, including:

- link to your post
- your name
- your blog name
- location

1. Your entry has to be lunchbox food, preferably easy to prepare and healthy.

If it is a lunch for kids it should contain one item from each of five categories:
- Tummy fillers (sandwich, wrap, muffin, quiche, pizza slice, pasta salad, rice salad, couscous salad etc.),
- Five-a-day options (fresh, tinned or dried fruits, nuts, seeds, fruit salad, jelly made with fruit pieces and natural juice, raw vegetables),
- Dairy products for growing bones (yogurt, fromage frais, rice pudding, custard, cottage cheese, raita, cream cheese),
- Snacks / Treat (small piece of cake, chocolate bar, mini pastry, cookie, flapjack, crackers, bread sticks),
- Drinks (water, milkshake, smoothie, juice).

2. Your entry can be post from your blog archive, or posted especially for this event.

3. Please use event banner in your entry linking back to: http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=1429

Looking forward seeing your entries.... Margot

Banana Nut Bread - perfect with a cup of coffee, especially on rainy mornings

2008-01-14T22:31:00.000Z

This Post was written by Margot from Coffee and Vanilla.

Banana Nut Bread

5 medium bananas - mashed roughly (about 700g)
200 g unsalted butter (melted)
½-⅔ cup of walnuts (chopped or not)
2 eggs (beaten)
3 tbs of vanilla sugar (30g)
1 tbs of baking powder
1 cup of soft dark brown sugar
2 pinches of salt
3 cups plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg

Stir everything together and place in 2 medium size buttered tins or layered with teflon sheets.
You can use also 2 medium size bread loaf tins.
Bake in 140°C (248°F) for an hour – an hour and half.

Leave to cool down before serving. Taste even better the next day.

Makes about 15 servings.

* Make sure that you don’t put too much bananas, or you don’t mash them too much because cake will not grow like on the first picture.
I use my fingers to mash bananas

** When my daughter was younger I used to chop nuts, right now I add them almost not chopped what is adding texture to the cake.

Introductory post

2008-01-09T11:30:00.000Z

This Post was written by Nilmandra from Soy & Pepper.

It's great to see so many UK-based foodies and I'm looking forward to keeping up with what's going on with the food scene in the UK (and the big-wide-internet-world).

1. Where are you based?

Nottingham.

2. How long have you been blogging?

I have been blogging for years but decided to start a food blog after seeing how food posts are taking over my personal blog. It's only been a few months but I'm enjoying it a lot.

3. What's the best thing about food blogging?

The best thing for me is sharing the recipes and photos and receiving helpful comments and suggestions from like-minded folks. It also makes me think more creatively about my cooking and presentation and drives me to try out recipes from the cook books I have or dishes from childhood. It also helps me to organise my recipes and makes it easy to look something up.

4. What's the worst thing about food blogging?

Making the husband wait for his dinner while I am taking photos of the food!

5. What inspires you to cook and write?

Having somewhere dedicated to my food experiences, thoughts and photos, and sharing ideas with other foodies.

6. Where do you like to blog?

At home. I try not to do it at work, although I have the bad habit of pursuing other people's food blogs and posting comments at work!

7. What's your signature dish?

I don't really have one yet, I think. Perhaps honey and rosemary chicken? Penne with sausauge, peas in mustard cream sauce? Cottage pie? Oyako don? Wonton noodles? I'm too busy trying out different recipes to settle on one yet!

Chicken Out!

2008-01-08T23:19:00.001Z

This Post was written by Scott from RealEpicurean

Hi all,
Happy New Year! Most of you might have already seen the email I'm about to post, but for those that haven't, take note please...

Dear Friend of River Cottage,
Here’s a quick reminder that our new River Cottage series, Hugh’s Chicken Run starts tonight (Monday 7th Jan) at 9pm. We are really excited over the next three days that we can really drive this campaign hard.
So far, we've got over 19,000 sign-ups before the show has even aired, so it’ll be great to see how far we can push this. We’ve got loads of celebrity support too including Rosie Boycott, Jamie Oliver, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Ross and even the Chickens of Aardman Animations ‘Chicken Run’! Who are all helping to spread the campaign to the widest possible audience. A full list can be seen here.
You may well also of seen plenty of press activity too, with major pieces in the Independent, Sunday Times and Saturday Mail. The RSPCA and Compassion In World Farming have all made their own direct pleas to get this top of the publics new years wish list.
But there’s still more you can help us with, if you’ve not already, please help...
1. Sign Up! Please.
2. Send the campaign to all your friends, family and colleagues – get them to sign up and get them to pass it on to their address list too
You can do that easily by either forwarding this mail or go to our send to a friend feature.
3. Display our campaign banner(s) and ‘pledgometer’ on your website, facebook pages or blogs, or hassle website owners to do so, or tell us where we should be putting them – the pledgometers are all linked together so they will all count into the same total, the more running the better!
Please see here for details of how to add the bannners to your site. Website suggestions to campaign@chickenout.tv.
4. Ask your local free-range poultry supplier to display one of our posters – available here and upload your free-range supplier to the list at www.freerangereview.com.

For full show details please here.
Once again, many thanks, we hope you enjoy the shows
Hugh and the River Cottage Team.

SnackShots #1: Potato

2008-01-08T00:18:00.000Z

This Post was written by Michelle from Greedy Gourmet

A brand new food blog photo event for a brand new year. The theme this month is the humble Potato.

Can you prepare fabulous french fries or make the world’s greatest gratin? How do you like your potato? Baked, roasted, sautéed, fried, steamed, boiled? What’s your favourite potato dish? Aloo gobi, Bubble and Squeak, Moussaka or Shepherd’s Pie?

Your photo doesn’t need to be of a recipe you made; it can be abstract too. Maybe you went to your local farmer’s market and couldn’t resist taking a photo of a mountain of freshly dug up tubers. Maybe you planted your own and want to show off your harvest. Have you come across those funny looking purple potatoes? The possibilities are endless.

Write about your unpretentious potato dish or experience if it takes your fancy.

Give it your best shot!

What Must I Do?

Take a photo of anything potato.

Pictures should be no more than 400px in length or width.

Only one photo per person or blog is allowed.

The deadline is on 4 February 2007.

Please send an email to michelleATgreedygourmetDOTcom and include the following:

Your name
The name and URL of your blog
The name of your dish OR a descriptive title of your photo
Which camera and lens you used
The permalink to your entry posting with a link to Snackshots’ entry details, i.e. this page.

If you don’t have a blog, you can still participate; just email us your entry with a photo attached.

Potato should be the main (50% or more) ingredient in your dish/photo.

What Happens After That?

A roundup of all entries will be posted a few days later. Readers will be able to vote for their favourite entry. A panel of judges will judge all entries and the winners will be announced soon after.

Further details can be found here.

Children and obesity...

2008-01-06T14:30:00.000Z

This Post was written by (French) LaurieLorette from Yummy Homely Food

Bonne Annee 2008 to everyone on UKFBA!

On the news yesterday: The problem of obese children is rising fast...in France. Now I know it's a real issue here (you only had to watch Jamie's dinners...) but (perhaps because I don't keep in touch a lot with what's up in my country these days- 10 years here) I wasn't aware of the importance of the problem in France. That particular bit of news was all about how they tackle the problem of rising obesity in children in France: Small producers come to primary schools showing what their products look and taste like (they were having proper food tastings!). They also do that at pre schoool level getting kids to try anything from asparagus to blue cheese. Importantly, there is no mention of dieting/fat/...the approach is all about enjoying new tastes and everything in moderation. they showed kids at school at lunch time: they have a 3 course meal everyday (and this was an ordinary school, not some posh mega bucks private place). ...but the speaker said the portions were small.
I loved watching that (not the bit about children getting overweight but what people do to curb the trend) and it has got me back to thinking how I can help by doing my bit here.

I have 2 kids, a 3 year old boy and a 1 year old girl. I am not faced YET with the problem of them being fussy eaters, I know it might be coming soon.So,at the moment I try to focus on getting them to try everything and also see where food comes from. I hope that 4 or 5 years of good habits will eventually resurface once they have gone through the fussy teenage years? fingers crossed.
It does help that I only work part time and live in the countryside I agree. But even without saying that everyone who has the space should have a little vegetable patch and spend their days going to watch pigs in muddy fields, why has the matter of food become what it is? People work harder yes, have less time yes but still. I dont' think cooking fresh meal has to be a slaving chore if you get a bit organised and think about it in advance. During the week we mainly eat stews in winter (I just bang everything in a big ovenproof casserole in the evening for a few hours and reheat it the next day), soups (again, 5 minutes job, and it uses all the leftover vegetables) and pasta dishes. It doesn't cost a lot neither(you can use how much meat/fish you have, no on will be able to check but it will still taste meaty).
My husband says I don't understand because I am French and cooking is in my nature, so I have the willpower to give food an important part in our everyday life .

Really wanted to share this thought with other people. To see what you think and more importantly, what "non celebrity led" initiatives have been started by people like you and me to tackly this issue. If you know of any, especially in the South East of England, please let me know. I feel very strongly about it. I want to get involved , do SOMETHING. What? How? or why not- do you think i am looking at this the wrong way round? Do you think it's a matter of where you are born and that's it? comments eagerly awaited :)

The Great British Pudding Challenge

2008-01-05T20:37:00.000Z

This Post was written by Rosie from Rosie Bakes A 'Peace' of Cake

The Great British Pudding Challenge for this month is underway. I have selected a delicious pudding called, Sussex Pond Pudding. This is a suet steamed pudding revealing in its centre, golden buttery sugar syrup that trickles out from the pudding on cutting open to form a pond! This Challenge is open to any Blogger, Wordpress etc, who wish to partake.

Please view my Blog [link here] for the recipe and details. I do hope you will pick up the gauntlet and join with me in “keeping the traditional pudding alive in our households”.

Many thanks Rosie x

Seasonal Recipes

2008-01-05T14:36:00.000Z

This Post was written by Margot from Coffee and Vanilla.

Christmas and New Year's has passed so fast that I did not even realize it is already time to put all decorations back in the box for the next year. There was a time also to clean up my blog and replace Xmas recipes with some warming up dishes for the cold weather we have here in UK.

Here is a few of them...

Fruit, Cheese, Nut & Leaf Salad

very flexible winter salad where you can use ingredients that you have in your cupboard at the moment

Easy Celery Soup

very simple and delicious soup, perfect with fresh bread or mashed potatoes on a side

Green Pea Soup with Parmesan and Balsamic Vinegar

one of my favourite soups recently, originally from Running with Tweezers

Grandma Nina Pischinger (Polish wafer dessert)

delicious but easy to prepare dessert with hint of vodka

For the whole list visit my: Seasonal Specials.

Heston Blumenthal's Peking Duck

2008-01-02T14:17:00.001Z

This Post was written by Pete from This Edible Life

Epic.

It's not a word to be used lightly. Ben Hur is an epic. The Iliad is an epic. Aston Villa's 4-4 draw with Chelski on Boxing Day was an epic. Epics are filled with challenges to be faced, triumphs over adversity, and occasional lessons in car waxing by wise Japanese mentors.

Heston Blumenthal's Peking Duck recipe is epic. If these were ancient times, the Oracle of Delphi may well have given Hercules the choice of capturing Cerberus alive or making Peking Duck as his twelfth labour. Deal of no deal? No deal. Cerberus was a puppy in comparison.

It's Wednesday 2nd January 2008. I'm off the saline drip and out of the Bacofoil blanket. Light beads of sweat are still clustering around my temples but the worst of the palpitations are over. They say I may never be the same again, that the nightmares may persist into old age, that I may wake up in the middle of the night screaming about ice filtration. Please Mummy, let the pain stop. Bring back yeast and puff pastry. All is forgiven.

Here is my story. Let us never speak of it again.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T09:34:00.000Z

This Post was written by Raymond from Great British Grub!

Happy New Year!

I hope that 2008 brings lots of joy and prosperity to you all! I look forward to continuing my blogging and reading your blogs throughout the up-and-coming year!

Season's Greetings!

2007-12-23T14:06:00.000Z

This Post was written by Leigh from www.goodpeopleeats.blogspot.com

Happy Christmas and New Year, Guys!

2007 has been a pleasure and hopefully 2008 will be just as sweet! Keep blogging!

Forums

2007-12-16T17:35:00.000Z

Hi everyone,

The UKFBA discussion forums haven't really got off the ground, so I'm going to close them. However, you are all very welcome to join the forums over at 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' http://asliceofcherrypie.forumotion.com/index.htm. Hope to chat to you all soon!

This Post was written by Julia from 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'

Menu For Hope

2007-12-10T18:54:00.000Z

This Post was written by Wendy from A Wee Bit Of Cooking.

I’m sure you have all heard of the wonderful Menu for Hope event that is the brainchild of Pim and takes place once a year around Christmas. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, the campaign involves food bloggers (and others) from around the world each donating something to be raffled off on-line for charity.

Last year over $60,000 was raised for the UN World Food Programme (WFP). This year the WFP has allowed the event to earmark the funds to a specific program and all money raised will be going to a school feeding program in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho - which is situated bang in the middle of South Africa!

In aid of this very worthwhile cause I am donating this bottle of 15 year old, single malt whisky.

Located in the windswept central Highlands, the Dalwhinnie distillery has been producing spirits since the late 1800s. This traditional Scottish whisky has been matured for 15 years and is renowned for its mellow smokiness and heather honeyed sweetness.

Lot Number - UK07

And here’s how to bid for this or one of MANY other prizes:

1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at

http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2007/12/menu-for-hope-4.html (UK ONLY)

http://www.chezpim.com/blogs/2007/12/menu-for-hope-4.html (INTERNATIONAL)

2. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhope4 and make a donation.

3. Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code.
Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Check back on Chez Pim on Wednesday Jaunary 9 for the results of the raffle.