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The Blushing Owl
In just a few days time it will be the Malton Food Lover’s Festival; a three day event that sees producers and patrons filling the streets of this pretty Georgian market town to celebrate fine food and drink from around the country. Over the last few years I’ve watched as this annual event has helped…
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Lilac Cordial
So unassuming for most of the year, lilac trees bursts into floriferous brilliance for the month of May, their branches bowed by the abundance of their flowers that tremble in the rough breezes of late Spring and fragrance the air with their sweet scent. I’ve been planning to create a recipe for a lilac cordial…
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Beautiful Things to Pick and Arrange Now
From the garden Alliums As the narcissi begin to fade, the alliums reach their crescendo, bursting over the flower beds in drifts of purple and white and pink. I love the large globe varieties en masse in a tall vase – an explosion of floral fireworks that never fail to dazzle – but also their…
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
I have to confess that in my pre-mamma days I wasn’t really a cupcake person but there’s something about that swirl that just drives my five year old wild, so I’ve adapted! I think in the past the major turn-off was simply the overwhelming sweetness of the cakes on offer, loaded with so much standard…
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Eat the Seasons: May
While April gives us the first fresh tastes of Spring, May is when the vegetable garden gathers speed and there are new treats to harvest with each passing week. Here are some of our favourites to enjoy now. Vegetables Asparagus. Tossed in olive oil, lemon juice and Maldon salt and grilled in a searing hot…
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Jobs for May
While May is my favourite month of the year it may also be the busiest! I’ve been ardently gardening for years now and yet the sudden vigour of the month always creeps up on me and I find myself rushing to prick out, pot on and plant out while trying to stay on top of…
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Rhubarb & Strawberry Collins
If there’s one taste that epitomises the British summertime then it must be that of a perfectly ripe strawberry, bursting with sun-sweetened juice. Some of my earliest memories are of going strawberry picking at our local farm and of the sheer delight of finding the fruit, red and gleaming beneath trefoil leaves. We would fill…
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Wild Garlic & Mushroom Ramen
Every April I walk in the woods with a positive spring in my step because wild garlic season has returned! While it’s a time of quiet beauty with it’s own special charm winter can seem to last for an age in these spaces. When the undergrowth has died back to a tangle of brambles and…
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Lovage Cocktail
Lovage is a herb that seems to be rather out of favour at the moment. It occasionally appears as a component in restaurant dishes but I rarely see it in recipes and can’t recall ever finding it in a grocer’s shop or supermarket. Fortunately it’s pretty easy to grow from seed (or if you’re pressed…
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Rhubarb Ramos Gin Fizz
I’ve been intrigued by the Ramos Gin Fizz for some time, but until now have had trouble wrapping my head around the idea of mixing gin with cream. I couldn’t imagine how the balance of flavours and textures would work and worried about bitterness and curdling. However, a few weeks ago I was eating a…