My diary
 

DELPHINIUMS AND GIANT PARSNIPS                                                                                                        9 March 2010

I well and truly broke the back of the garden this weekend, digging out new flower beds and getting the vegetable patch ready for the seeds, which are frustratingly yet to arrive-but at least everything is ready to start planting. I’ve decided to go for a somewhat chaotic, traditional English flowered border across the front of the house with lupines delphiniums and hollyhocks being the backbone. In the vegetable garden I thought we’d eaten everything from last year’s planting, but surprisingly came across some enormous parsnips which would challenge many a roasting tin-no wonder the rabbits left them be! So I think it’s going to be parsnip and apple soup and maybe building on last weeks success with beetroot cake, I will explore parsnip cake, but I suspect the stronger flavour of the parsnip will prove more challenging in a sweet mix.
I’ve written an article for this week’s special Mother’s issue of Hello magazine, so if you fancy putting your feet up and indulging yourself with some catching up with the Celebrities- reading, you’ll find me in there.

BOOK'S FINISHED AND MAYA'S ANIMAL HABITS                                                                                   2 MARCH 2010

Gosh it really feels as if Spring is here in the garden-the snow drops are popping up everywhere and Maya was delighted to see the first lambs of the season leaping in the fields.
This bright, warmer weather couldn’t have come at a better time because at long last I’ve finished my book-so I don’t feel at all guilty taking long walks or making plans for new projects and holidays. This does seem to have been a mammoth of a book to have delivered, but I suspect it feels more so this time because I’ve been writing it whilst juggling travelling backwards and forwards to London during some pretty tough wintry conditions and the every day things of taking Maya to school and travelling to see patients through the snow has made it somewhat challenging. But I have enjoyed being able to get my teeth into a real big book and to not to have to, as is so often the case when writing newspaper articles, to shrink everything down to a few hundred words. So now the fun starts with all the design and photography which if we’re lucky enough will be shot in the next few weeks mainly outside-I just hope the wintry weather holds back.

This spring like weather has also spurred me into action with ordering this years vegetable garden seeds and sets, so I’d better get Maya hunting for the plant pots which have mysteriously been converted into all sorts of animal ‘homes’ throughout the garden, as I suspect many of their decorative styles may have been a little too avante garde for Rutland wildlife! But I can’t tell Maya that as she loves making all sorts of nests and homes-so thinking more about it maybe actually it’s new planting pots we need this year and the creations can stay put!

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG AND BEETROOT CAKE!                                                                            18 February 2010

It's Mayas half term Holiday this week yet it only just feels as if we've got back into some semblance of routine this side of the festive season - how time flies.

Whilst Maya is having fun (which has included going to see Chitty Chitty bang bang in Nottingham with her grandparents and cousins which apparently is amazing) I'm finishing the book - hence the late posting of this week’s diary. Almost there now, just finalising the recipes, which I'm finding somewhat hard to choose which ones to leave out, as I think we will be pushed for space.

However Maya is giving me her opinion as to her favourites so I'm hoping that between us we can find a good selection which embraces the sentiment and nutrients needed across the various chapters. Beetroot cake (made with the last of the home grown beetroots) has proved popular which might sound strange, but like carrot cake you don't taste the beetroot you just glean its moist nutritious sweetness which makes a delicious cake. I do think I need to find another name though for this cake as I'm sure Maya isn't the only child to think urgh until she actually tastes a slice with its orangey mascarpone topping!

SPONSORED BIKE RIDE TRIUMPH AND RHUBARB!                                                                              8 February 2010  

Oh no, it’s snowing again as I sit here finishing my book-please don’t let it settle for I’ve had enough already of anxious school runs and sitting with endless layers of woollies on waiting for trains that seemingly only need a sprinkle of snow to grind into chaos. But I shouldn’t moan as the cold weather didn’t put Maya and her friends off riding a staggering 13 miles on Saturday in their small but dynamic effort to raise some money for Haiti, although I don’t think I’ve seen as big a dish of macaroni cheese and sausages disappear so quickly afterwards as they ate their way to replenishing their glycogen stores!

And staying in the kitchen I’m awaiting some rhubarb from what’s known as the Rhubarb triangle to test out with some recipes for the book-this pink rhubarb is slightly less tannic than the rhubarb we grow later in the year so it should make a good compote and base for crumbles but I’m also going to see whether some more chutney could be made with the cooking apples which are sitting in the shed but I suspect some of it will be simply blanched and put in the freezer as it’s half term holiday at the end of this week (already!) so I’m hoping to be able to grab some time off with Maya once I’ve put this book finally to bed.

SWISS CHARD-FUELLED SPONSORED BIKE RIDES                                                                                1 February 2010

Maybe I’m being a touch optimistic but it does appear now that January and the long spell of snow is out of the way that we can look forward to sunnier if albeit still cold times ahead. After a weekend of pruning back the garden it feels as if the blank canvas is set for what I hope is going to be a good year vegetable and fruit growing wise, although I am feeling somewhat confused by which varieties of produce to go for this year as the catalogue is awash with different choices. Perhaps I’ll do some local research with the gardeners in the village to see what they find works best.

Maya is warming up her muscles for this week’s sponsored bike ride to raise money for World Vision to hopefully get some more resources over to Haiti, so I think I’ll be doing some sports nutrition little chats with her friends to see if we can get them rocketing around the circuit although I suspect the bait of a post bike ride party with cakes will probably do the trick!

There’s one very frustrating fact about cooking in an Aga-you don’t smell the food cooking so this morning I was greeted by a tray of charcoal vegetables I’d forgotten to take out last night-what a waste and I’d really been looking forward to tucking into what is a bit of a favourite supper at the moment-roasted vegetables with hummus and a big tomato and rocket salad on the side-utter comfort food. I was asked last week what to do with Swiss chard as there seems a lot of it around at the moment-I would do one of two things either serve steamed with the afore mentioned combination as the dark green /cabbage style of vegetable works very well with both tomatoes and hummus but also if you add it torn up into a Thai style soup with ginger and noodles this is delicious too.

I’m finalising the recipes to appear in this next book so you may well see me scouring the supermarket and deli shelves for some new ideas and spices. Although I suspect that in this book they will largely be reassuringly simple recipes, which we can adapt for so many occasions whether you’ve got the hearty appetite of a seven year old or need small delicate portions to tempt a jaded palate.

SO MUCH MORE TO BE DONE BEFORE TICKLING THE IVORIES                                                        28 January 2010

I am loving meeting all the new consultants and ward staff at the Leicester Spire Hospital where I’ve opened a branch of my practice. It makes me realise how, on one hand there is so much written and talked about nutrition out in the wider public domain in newspapers etc, when we get down to the grass roots of health care there is so much more we can do to ensure that people suffering from health problems (be this a minor complaint or something more serious such as cancer) are better nourished.

Back to finishing my book, 3 weeks to go and counting. I’m already thinking about the next book which I think might be something completely different and not nutrition related which could be good to shift into another writing style and subject. But I’m going to give myself a few weeks off before I throw myself into that project as there’s the vegetable garden to plan for and get ready for growing this year’s produce and Maya (who has loved seeing her mum in this week’s Hello Magazine as have many of her friends at school!) is wanting to start piano lessons, so I think there’s more fun to be had away from the computer!

TEA WITH GANESH                                                                                                                                        19 January 2010

Hooray the snow has gone and life is slowly starting to return to some normality. Maya has settled back into school which I’m sure is extra easy this week as the special topic is India so she has lots to contribute- be this taking in Indian bells adorned with Hindu God Ganesh or tales of travels and ‘spicy food’!

These last few days I have been carrying out some tea tasting which is incredible-having heard Henrietta Lovell the creator of The Rare Tea Company on BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme it spurred me on to update my palette and to indeed include a section on teas in my book as whilst as a nation are huge tea consumers the spectrum of quality is enormous and it’s about time this changed. For me tea is like good bread-they’re both worth investing a little time and effort into sourcing good quality because you will glean so much more enjoyment and satisfaction from them-they’re a couple of cupboard staples to get right.

We’re lucky to live near a bakery which uses not only locally milled flour but also they use a slow fermentation and a sourdough traditional bread making method which produces a loaf which is not only delicious on the first day but it lasts albeit turns a little dry but then all you need to do is freshen with a little water and pop in a hot oven to bring it back to life or alternatively make into crunchy croutons to transform a soup.

Another cup of something white tipped and warming awaits me so have a great week.  Also, If you fancy an indulgent bit of escapism catching up with the celebrity news read, then buy this weeks Hello magazine as you will find me there!

THE NOVELTY HAS WORN OFF!                                                                                                               11 January 2010  

The novelty has worn off-sorry if this week’s diary has a grumpy tone to it and I am trying to look out of the window and think beautiful thoughts, but bar the thrill of sledging at the weekend and the enforced nights in front of the log fire, trying to juggle school slides aka runs, writing and pretty constant worrying about parents and Maya being safe and without fractured limbs is just a touch tiresome!

But I’m just finishing this chapter of the book and have only one more to go and have had some exciting news about the photographer who’s going to be turning my writing into something wonderful-which is just what I’ve needed to give me the impetus to keep tapping away on this key board.

Cooking wise, soups are the order of the day; from traditional British ham and pea concoctions to what Maya seems to be particularly enjoying Won Ton soup (you can buy Won Ton wrappers in most supermarkets and stuff with anything from minced left over chicken or pork to a spinach and mushroom filling). If you haven’t already purchased a hand-held blender which means that you can literally pop it into the pan to blend up soups, then invest in one as you’ll wonder why on earth you didn’t do it sooner-it makes soup making so easy-no more sloshing hot liquids into blenders etc. One thing which seems to be working for packed lunches is to pack the usual flask of soup but to add some extra rice and/or cooked beans/lentils as this literally takes 10 minutes to cook the fresh rice in the morning and it means that your child gets something warm and pretty substantial-it’s almost a cross between a risotto and a soup.


I’m opening my Leicester and Notting Hill nutrition practices over the next couple of weeks which is very exciting-it’s good to start a new year with new projects. But for now I must get back to finishing the book. So I hope you all have a safe and warm week.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL                                                                                                                         4 January 2010

Happy New Year to all! I hope you had a lovely festive season and aren’t feeling too in need of a rest-although I have to say with the snow as beautiful as it was( we even had fresh snow fall on Christmas Eve which made Maya’s Christmas) I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing it would now disappear so that we can get back to normality! I had a more stressful time cooking wise than I’d planned as the snow played havoc with deliveries and as to a certain delivery company who promises to deliver from city to city-well it’s amazing that so many other delivery companies make it through the snow on a regular basis and they use this lame excuse! But that’s my only gripe-we had a truly gorgeous Christmas as Maya was blown away with the magic of Father Christmas seemingly knowing what she would love and by all the puddings oozing out of the fridge! Puddings were even more popular this year as the song ‘All I want is my two front teeth’ couldn’t have been more apt-so puddings were rather conveniently very easy to devour!

This year holds so many exciting things in store most pressingly the start of my two practices in Notting Hill and Leicester-see my practice page for the details and I also deliver the book in it’s entirety in a month so I start this year at a flying pace.

I wish you all the happiest of years and will keep you posted with my new projects.

ALL CHANGE                                                                                                                                                14 December 2009

I have a feeling that this will possibly be my last diary entry before Christmas as the pressure is on (as is the case for every parent) to get everything done in time for the descending Father Christmas. Why, despite knowing when Christmas will arrive, every year do I always get to this point and feel panicked?! But there is part of me which loves all this last minute excitement and I suspect I won’t change as, for me, the whole task of going to get the tree just a couple of days before the 25th and the secretive wrapping of presents once Maya is in bed adds to the occasion.

I’ve decided to cook a rib of beef this year and to make the main meal very much in the style of the wonderful Yotam Ottolenghi’s cooking - lots of big plates of interesting vegetable dishes and salads to dip into. I just want us to be able to go out for a big walk beforehand and to come back and tuck into plentiful plates of food that I’ve largely been able to prepare before hand; none of this sitting primly chasing a prawn around a small plate stuffiness. And of course Maya’s eyes will pop out when she sees the puddings I have planned. I just hope that the Aga’s lower oven doesn’t brown the meringues. I’ve been assured this shouldn’t happen but think maybe I should do a test run before hand which I doubt Miss Maya will object to as she gives me her critique!

After Christmas I’ll be moving my Private Nutrition Practice slightly west to Notting Hill just off the Portobello Road which I’m very excited by. This change in the practice is largely brought about by my desire to see my outpatients in great premises, working alongside other wonderful doctors and therapists within the Portobello Clinic, but also I want to be able to offer home visits and to see and look after patients when they’re in hospital. In essence I want to bring back the old fashioned community style nutritional care, which I think is sadly lacking.

And as if this wasn’t enough to keep me out of mischief, I’m also opening a branch of my Private Nutrition Practice in Leicester (just 10 minutes from the main line train station) and seeing patients there on a Tuesday. See the Contact Me page for more details.

You will also see that I have a new literary agent Georgia Garrett. Jo Milloy is now looking after my PR, so all in all I leave this year feeling thrilled to have some great projects to work on and a fantastic small group of women to work with.

So I wish you all the happiest of Christmas’s and look forward to being back in touch in the New Year.

 CHRISTMAS PLANS                                                                                                                                      1 December 2009

The first day of December brings another level of Christmas fever in our house as Maya opens the first advent calendar window - oh the simple things in life! Rather fittingly, the frost has made a stark appearance this morning so that the fields are sparkling, making long
morning walks a necessity in which to set my mind in the right space for writing the next chapter of my book. I’m determined to finish this by the time Maya breaks up from school in three weeks time. I don’t envisage having many peaceful moments in which to write thereon –so head down and dig deep. I’m writing about diseases which hit us in middle age which ironically has just come after my birthday - too close for comfort if you ask me!

On a much brighter note, I’ve started planning our Christmas menu which most definitely isn’t going to be turkey this year as the thought of it leaves me cold. The possibilities are endless, therefore, but I’m thinking at the moment of making beef the centre piece and am most
likely to have an Italian theme around a lot of the festivities. All in all, it will make it as far removed as it could possibly be from our experiences last year over in Calcutta where we sat as part of an enormous gathering in the dappled sunshine tucking into Dahl and rice.  Where has this year gone?...

NEW LIFE                                                                                                                                                       17 November 2009

It is a good job that now is the time of year for planting broad beans into small pots so that they germinate in time to be planted out at the end of the year. This weekend I found it rather depressing clearing the canes and the old vegetable and fruit plants out of the vegetable patch; it all felt so final and dead.

So, to lift our spirits, we went straight round to the garden centre to buy white crocus bulbs to plant so that we will hopefully get them appearing in time for Christmas, which I can’t believe is fast approaching. I was given a very old copy of The Garden - for expert and amateur - written by E.T Ellis F.R.H.S which is very amusing to read. It tells you about not only plant and insects that you need to be familiar with, but also the etiquette of exhibiting at fruit and vegetable shows and points out even the basics of arriving on time. How the written text has changed over the years! I can just imagine Joyce Grenville reading it out loud on Radio 4…

Excuse the short entry this week but I am dashing to sort out the launch of my new practice which I will tell you all about once the paperwork is finally sorted. This is all very exciting for early next year.

GINOURMOUS GRUB                                                                                                                                  10 November 2009

The thermals are being aired as I type - is it me or has the wintery weather suddenly crept up on us? Luckily the 5th November Bonfire Night festivities were spared from the cold rain so Maya and I had a great party at our local school’s site which thankfully allowed us to light our own sparklers. I’ve heard that several towns stopped people from doing this for health and safety reasons, which is ridiculous. What’s bonfire night for if our children can’t safely wave a sparkler around and bite into a toffee apple? They’ll be stopping those next! Mind you, even with Maya’s sweet tooth the whole of the apple covered her face.

Talking of giant food , this last weekend I was up in Lancashire. Although the food was delicious - I ate at Paul Heathcote’s restaurant in Longridge on Friday evening; a particular highlight - the portions were enormous in the pubs. It’s no wonder we have such an obesity crisis in this country. Why do they pile so much on our plates? It makes it far too tempting to abide by the old doctrine of finishing everything on our plate – serving sensible sized portions would be one simple way to help us not over eat. And I don’t buy the notion that people want large portions to make them feel they’ve got their money’s worth. And as to the restaurants such as Taybarn which encourage people to go back for plate after plate after plate. Well…

But back up North, as we drove past the Blackpool tower I was tempted to pop in and sneak a look at the Strictly Come Dancing cast, but I was happy to see their amazing dancing whilst sitting in front of a log fire with a warming bowl of soup later that evening. Perfect as it didn’t stop raining all day so we got soaked as we braved a walk up on hills. I am happy to say that my portion of soup was of a sensible size!

BONFIRE CHUTNEY, ANYONE?                                                                                                                   5 November 2009

I didn’t know 16 pounds worth of green tomatoes would make so much chutney! Even Maya looked at the countless jars and wondered how we would ever eat it all. But I reassured her that it wouldn’t be a case of everything served with spicy tomato and apple (the apples are still falling thick and fast from the trees) over the next year. More that everyone would be receiving a jar of Christmas chutney!

Another chapter of the book is being delivered this week, so that’s four down and two to go, which is a relief. The book is far larger than I’d envisaged so it’s all consuming; in a good way, I might add. I forget how buried I tend to get when I’m writing a book as opposed to an article, which is far easier to deliver and forget. I tend to hold the book constantly in my mind.

I can’t believe we’re about to enter the final half term of Maya’s school calendar year as this year seems to have flown by so quickly. Maya is planning our Christmas party already with such excitement. I can all but try to stop her from hanging up the decorations. But with my Mum having made our Christmas cake and pudding already, I’m realising that I’d better get my act together toute suite to keep up with them!

Perhaps when I’m sitting in the depths of Lancashire this weekend I’ll be able to think more clearly about life outside the book and enjoy planning what sort of Christmas we’d like to have. Having been in Calcutta last year in the sunshine, I think a traditional theme will be the starting point.

But back to November and bonfire night - sausages and sparklers are the priority today.

REMEMBER, REMEMBER                                                                                                                Monday 26th October

Luckily we’re escaping the much dreaded, on my part, Halloween festivities this week as there is a clash with my nephew Tom’s 18th Birthday celebrations in Jersey. I’d far rather Maya was watching fireworks and was all excited about being at a party with cakes coming out of her ears(as this is one of my sister’s culinary fortes!) than getting all wrapped up in trick or treating. I just hate the over-Americanisation of what, in essence, should be a pretty harmless festival.  When we lived in London I certainly dreaded the knocks on the door from not-seen-before teenagers with their hired gang of little ones who gave the distinct impression that unless you gave them money, something would happen to your house. No thanks!

Back to much less stressful activities.  This week is the first week of Maya’s half term so I’m planning some excursions to the Norfolk beaches.  For me there is nothing better than walking in wooly jumpers and wellies when the Autumnal weather surrounds us. The green tomato chutney needs making, as does some ratatouille and roasted green tomato pasta sauce.  We’ll have plenty to keep us occupied if the weather doesn’t work in our favour.
 
And of course there is Bonfire night next week which is much more my thing.  As a child, I remember attending the tennis club’s bonfire parties, always burning my tongue on the boiling Heinz tomato soup and trying to juggle that with holding our sparklers.  Strange what we remember!

A DELIGHTFUL DIWALI                                                                                                              Wednesday 21st October

This last weekend Maya decided that she wanted to celebrate Diwali by decorating the house, placing candles outside and baking what we have now named Diwali cake - a delicious orange cake adapted from a recipe I found in my all time favourite classic cookbook; Constance Spry’s Cookery book. Her cookery book, to me, is how all cook books should be; simple to follow yet complex and in-depth enough to find cooking inspiring. It is also accurately useful when you’re wanting to find a classic way to cook something simple. Whilst I stuck to the recipe until it was baked and just out of the oven, I decided to make it more like a lemon drizzle cake by making a castor sugar and orange syrup and pouring it over the pierced top of the cake whilst it was still warm. If you pour syrups over cakes in this way, whilst they’re warm, you’ll find that the top turns crunchy and just below, you get a delicious, slightly gooey, hit. Needless to say it didn’t last long when Maya’s friends descended on us for a Diwali tea!

I’m well in the thick of writing the second half of the book. Although at the beginning it felt a somewhat daunting task, the other day I just had to remind myself (one of those days when the book has grown to such a size that at times it seems unmanageable) that this is in a way the painful part of the marathon and if I can just push through, then the endorphins will kick in and the finish line doesn’t seem too far away. Luckily the endorphins have started to materialise so I can once again enjoy sitting for hours putting more words to paper. Mind you, I don’t know how writers who spend every working day writing manage the solitude. I find after a couple of days that I need to get out and see the world in order to become inspired.

This weekend’s culinary task is to make a green tomato chutney. Having espoused the virtues of Constance’s recipes, I won’t be using her chutney recipes as they’re stuck back in the era of when Indian chutney meant simply adding cayenne pepper and sultanas! How the Asian cuisine we eat over here has thankfully changed over the last couple of decades. I think for us this year it’ll be a green tomato and cooking apple chutney as I’m still collecting yet more apples from the trees. I just need to decide what else to add.

WARM, FROM THE INSIDE OUT                                                                                                     Monday 12 October 2009

Another bright sunny start to the week-what more could we want? However after another weekend of apple and pear collecting, I don’t think I can face making any more chutney or pureed fruit for a good while. I think Maya, who has always been a great consumer of anything I put in front of her, is starting to show signs of apple fatigue as yet another version of an apple cake is placed on her plate. For a real pudding fiend this is saying something! So I think it’s time to wrap them up in their newspaper coats and lay them down to store for the winter and hope that my best efforts to pick only the unblemished ones means that we’ll be enjoying them for months to come.

I can’t believe that I’m still having to water the beans but we are well and truly struggling from lack of rain up here. For those of you who have a surplus of runner beans and apples, try putting them together in a salad with fresh mint and feta cheese along with the smallest amount of finely chopped shallot to break across the sweetness of the mint. It’s delicious.
But I think as we fast approach half term holidays and therefore the donning of the winter school uniforms, soups are going to be called for in Maya’s lunch box instead of the cold lunch option she’s been happy to eat up until now. I must get a group of like minded mums together at her school as I think it’s mad that we expect our children to get through the day with nothing warm inside their stomachs.

I close with some exciting news. I’m launching a new additional practice up in the Stoneygate area of Leicester in the next couple of weeks. So if Leicester is a convenient location for you to pop and see me on a Tuesday, my new premises are only about 10 minutes from the main-line station. I will continue to see patients in London on a Wednesday. See my contacts page for details. 

                                                                                                                                                     

AUTUMN'S ARRIVAL                                                                                                                               Monday 5 October 2009  

I’m realising why my house is called Beech House as the deluge of fallen beech leaves over the last couple of weeks has turned our surroundings into a golden Autumnal hollow. But there is nothing more invigorating than having a weekend raking up leaves in the bright sunlight. Although I have to say that I’m somewhat concerned that the wheel barrow-loads of fermenting rotten pears and apples which have sadly gone by the way side since the trees have produced so much fruit this year, (far too much to bottle or make into pies and jams) is going to turn the bottom of our garden’s compost area into a brewery. I tried out a new cinnamon apple cake recipe yesterday with ground almonds dates and yoghurt which was delicious - a cross between a bread and butter pudding type consistency and a crumbly buttery cake. This is definitely one for the new book. I wish Agas would give us some sort of warning that we’ve left something inside as I annoyingly ruined a whole tray of roasted beetroots which I just forgot were there. I guess the alarm clock is the only way forward.
Sadly at the weekend I had to back out of speaking at the Feastival event down at Kilver Court as Maya was full of cold and it was unfair to take her out but for those of you who went I hope it was great.
This week I’m starting to think about half term which is already around the corner and is on Maya’s mind as the Autumn term whizzes by and talk of Christmas I’m sure is soon to follow. It’s incredible how quickly the summer shifts into Halloween and bonfire talk to what are we doing for Christmas? I just don’t want to think about it as I much prefer leaving the excitement to build last minute so I’m purposely not walking past the supermarket shelves full of decorations. Though I am tempted to book some tickets for Maya and a few friends to go on a steam train Father Christmas ride in Norfolk in December as it sounds like a child’s fantasy.

But back to October writing and cooking for the new book. Let’s just hope I remember what I’ve put in the oven today! 

SUGAR AND SPICE

Wednesday 24 September 2009                                                                                                                                          Wednesday 24 September 2009

How lucky Maya and I were with the weather this last weekend. The sun shone from dawn till dusk on her 7th birthday, so that my big plans for her nature party could all go ahead. It was quintessential little girl bliss I think; to have six close girl friends around to play dressing up games and beetle drive in the garden. Luckily for me, the AGA at last got its act together at 10 pm the night before so there was time for me to make the cakes. I just couldn’t bring myself to buy one, despite my Mum telling me I was being ridiculous and that Maya would understand that lack of cooker meant lack of home made cake! But for me, making her cake is one of the highlights of my year as I can just unleash all my creativity and hopefully create something she will adore.
This week the house seems empty without the balloons and streamers up but luckily, now that the party is over, I can get my brain around writing and other projects without that ridiculous thought of ‘what kind of sandwiches shall I make?’, in the back of my mind. This evening I’m giving a talk in aid of The Lavender Trust which raises money to fund Breast Cancer Care’s support and information services for younger women, held at Aspreys in London. My chosen subject is how to nourish your body to counteract the signs of ageing, which is a fascinating area of nutritional research. I’m hoping to dismiss many of the misconceptions and pseudo-science which is constantly written in dubious media articles, and hopefully inspire at least one person to nourish their body well.
Talking of nourishing foods, I’m glad that the evenings are turning a little cooler as I’m in the mood for making hot roasted vegetables with butternut squash and harissa, which I crave at the moment. For those of you who don’t know the Spice Shop on Portobello Road, check them out as I think they do a very good, just-the-right-level of heat Moroccan harissa.
www.thespiceshop.co.uk

MUSIC TO MY EARS

Wednesday 16 September 

We have a new addition to our family- a recorder which Maya is well and truly loving to blow with gusto! I have to say it’s lovely to let history repeat itself. My Mum started me off on the piano and violin at the same age as Maya and to be able to play an instrument for friends, and as a source of relaxation, is something I will forever feel indebted to her for. I’m sure the screeching that came out of the violin for many a year was far worse than the squeals Maya is currently making so I will bite my tongue and just hope that these initial months on the recorder will enable her to feel as passionate about music as I did as a child.

Unbelievably it’s Maya’s seventh birthday this Friday so I’m busy planning the beetle drives and what sort of birthday cake I’ll be making. She made me laugh the other day when she asked which shop I would be buying it from - as if! However I may have to swallow my words as my Aga has just decided to become a fridge instead so unless the mechanic can sort it in the next 24 hours, I may have to resort to a plan B. I do hope not, as making birthday and butterfly cakes the night before the party with Radio 4 on in the background to keep me awake is somewhat of a favourite tradition.

Unbeknown to Maya, who quite rightly thinks that her Mum’s sole task this week is to prepare for her birthday party I’m sneaking some time to write not only the book (which is thankfully going well this week) but also a speech for the Lavender Trust which I am giving on September 23rd about anti ageing. It’s a huge area so I’m struggling to keep it to 20 or so minutes but hopefully,by the time I’ve edited all my thoughts, it should be inspiring for at least one guest. I’m also presenting at a new Food and Wellbeing ‘Feastival’ at Kilver Court at the beginning of October for my very dear friends Roger and Monty Saul creators of my favourite Spelt brand Sharpham Park. It’s looking as if it’s going to be a wonderful weekend. I’ll keep you posted in case any of you want to come and join us.

BACK TO WORK
Tuesday 8 September 2009

I know all good things must come to an end, but it’s a pity the summer holiday, spent largely pottering at home, is over. It felt such a wonderful holiday simply not having to have my mind juggling mothering and work - just being able to fall into organising nature hunts, picnics, etc with no other agenda than having a fun time together seemed the best vacation. We were lucky, though, to also have a hot sunny week down on the Peloponnes coast of Greece so our bodies don’t feel too deprived of sunlight.

The vegetable garden has thrived in the warm showery climate. I have so many cooking apples and pears that I think even with the freezer full of frozen pie fillings and the chutney jars replenished once again, I’m going to have boxes full to store down wrapped in newspaper for the winter. The bad news is that we have tragically lost all of the bees from the hives in Norfolk. We were just about to start removing what looked to be about a 100 pounds of honey from the hives last week, when we turned up to find that wasps had decimated our colony. We think that the bees must have swarmed and this enabled the wasps to overpower them and, not only inhabit their hives, but destroy all of the honey. After what appeared to be such a good year seeing the bees happy building the comb, we’re devastated to have lost them. However we will try again both over there and in our new home next spring to see if we have better luck.

Now that Maya is back at school, I can get back to writing my book which having had a few weeks off, I feel inspired to get into again - just hope it lasts!

Hope you’ve all had good summers too.

ESCAPE TO GREECE
Wednesday 29 July 2009

My continual drive to recycle more and live more self sufficiently reached new depths this weekend. I chopped a tree, we sadly had to fell, into logs ready for the winter. I’m not so keen on using an electric saw though - I kept on imagining the possible injuries as I tried to keep my arm and the blade steady! With this lousy weather it’s not hard to imagine wanting to build a fire to keep warm - what’s happened to the scorching summer we were promised?

I am relieved to have some time in Greece to look forward to soon as my body is just craving the sunshine and early morning swims before everyone else awakes. There’s nothing quite like waking up and creeping down to the pool; it’s as if I sneak in a few extra hours of tranquillity. The plan is that we bring the Greek sunshine back with us so that Maya and I can enjoy the rest of her summer holiday doing the quintessential British vacation activities, such as camping out in the back garden and having hose-pipe-water fights.

I also envisage that the apples will be ripe enough to pick by then, as will the runner beans which, unlike my carrots and beetroots, have been a little slower off the mark than our runner beans we have growing in Norfolk. Its strange how different soils and micro climates play such a large part in how home grown produce thrives…Or maybe it’s just that it’s the first year we’ve grown produce to any great extent away from Norfolk.

I wish you all the happiest and, I hope, sunniest of summers and I will be back at my desk in September.

JOIN THE CLUB
Monday 20 July 2009

There’s something infectious about having Maya on holiday - all I want to do is join her! But I’m determined to finish another section of my book before I don the bikini and head off to Greece in 12 days time…Not that I’m counting!

I’m just discovering, since the seedlings have reached sufficient growth to withstand being picked, the joys of collecting herbs from the garden and turning a simple lettuce and tomato salad into a delicious accompaniment or a meal in one, if I throw in other ingredients. The taste is so vibrant and unlike any supermarket bought herbs. Maybe it’s just the psychological effect of knowing where the ingredients have come from and all the effort (which isn’t much) that’s gone into growing them.

I’ve already got behind with the courgettes as the recent rains seem to have spurred them on ad infinitum so it’s been roasted vegetables and buffalo mozzarella this weekend. I can see that the below recipe for herby courgettes will also be on the menu this week - ideal with cold roast chicken or simple cold cuts like prosciutto ham.

This week, Maya is on a Nature Detectives course which I think involves building nests, pond dipping and bug hunting so who knows what will come back with us in her pockets at the end of the day!

Excuse the short entry this week but juggling work and clubs is taking over. I hope you have a good week and let’s hope some more sun will shine down on us. Where are those balmy July evenings we were promised?!

Herby courgettes

450g courgettes
Maldon sea salt
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tblsps freshly squeezed lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
4 tblsps virgin olive oil
1 tsp each of fresh chives, tarragon, parsley, rosemary leaves and dill

Trim the courgettes and, if they are small, simply slice them in half lengthways; if they are larger, cut them in 4 lengthways. Place them in the top of a steamer, sprinkle with a little salt, pour in some boiling water and let them cook, covered, for about 10 minutes, until firm but tender.
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing. Crush the garlic with 1 teaspoon of salt in a pestle and mortar until it forms a creamy paste. Work in the mustard, then the lemon juice and a generous amount of black pepper. Pour in the oil and give everything a good stir, then add the fresh herbs.

When the courgettes are ready, remove them to a shallow serving dish and pour over the dressing. Leave to cool, then cover with cling-film and put in a cool place or the fridge for several hours, turning them over in the dressing once or twice.

HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS
Monday 13 July 2009

The holiday has begun and so my mind has started to wander towards bikinis and paddling pools…Although this changeable weather isn’t tempting us to start having water fights in the back garden just quite yet!

We’ve picked the first carrots and beetroot much to Maya’s amazement, so we’re well on the way to a summer full of salads and herbs grown in the garden.

We visited my brother at the weekend who has just moved into a new house with a vegetable garden they hadn’t yet spotted.  So they were chuffed to see that the funny looking plants yielded a bucket-full of new potatoes.

I hope what seems to have been a real renaissance in growing one’s own vegetables and fruits keeps going, as it seems to have provided a lot of happiness in so many households and judging by a new study out this week, concerning the relationship between an overweight mum being far more likely to bring up an overweight daughter, the more we can do to get young people in particular to have a better relationship with food, the better chance we have to changing this statistical trend. I do believe that the more children see and appreciate what goes into growing and preparing food, the more enjoyment they’ll glean from eating healthy food and the less likely they are to want to binge and over-eat on the overly processed snack food that so often is packed full of salt sugar fat and additives.

Speaking of additives, below is a recipe for home-made honey ice cream which is a good one to try this holiday if you’re after a delicious, simple ice cream with not an e-number in sight. You can buy all sorts of ice cream makers - from the simple ones you can place in your freezer to the more expensive ones which has its own refrigeration unit on the side so therefore freezes the ice cream as it churns. If you’re a big ice cream/sorbet fan then think about investing in one of the latter machines as they earn their keep.  Home- made ice cream is very easy to make and great fun for children to watch and learn.

Bon appetit!

Honey Ice Cream
5 lion mark egg yolks
500ml semi skimmed milk
250ml double cream, un-whipped
3 tablespoons runny honey
1/2tsp vanilla essence

First, make the custard by beating together the egg yolks and honey in mixing bowl. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it reaches a warmth that is still comfortable for you to dip a clean finger into.  Then remove from the heat and stir into the egg yolks/honey mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat gently, stirring all the time, until the custard thickens-but try to avoid getting lumps! Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Once cool, stir in the cream and the vanilla essence and then transfer the whole mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

VERITABLE VEGETABLES
Wednesday 8 July 2009

I think I’ve truly left all my urban roots behind now - I look at the torrential rain we’ve had these last few days and think ‘oh good this will be good for the vegetables!’ This last weekend, Maya and I picked our first courgettes and rhubarb and have the carrots and beetroots ear marked for their inaugural picking this Saturday. I always used to be lousy at looking after houseplants, it was my sister and mum who had the green fingers of the family, but it seems that vegetable growing is my forte. Luckily, the rabbits that have been spotted hopping around the garden haven’t yet discovered the carrots and long may this continue.  I’d be upset to lose them after plying them with so much TLC over the last few weeks. And Maya and I have plans for them.  Although I’m not so sure about Maya’s latest suggestion that we make a big salad with everything that comes out of the vegetable patch, all on one plate!  Not convinced rhubarb will work with tomatoes, but who knows.

I’m missing Wimbledon this week.  It’s rather like when the Chelsea Flower Show has passed. It seems that the best of the summer has come and gone so quickly, but maybe we will be lucky this year and have a classic not too hot, not too wet British summer. Maya breaks up for 8 or so weeks this Friday, so school days are being ticked off as we speak. I still remember that end of term feeling of weeks and weeks of easy time ahead.  I’m being very European this year and taking the whole of August off.  There’s nothing quite like not reading emails nor checking the work phone for a period such as this. It just gets life back to simple enjoyment of summer at home.

But a couple more weeks to go before I start feeling that end of term glow.

HARRY AND MURRAY MANIA
Tuesday 30 June 2009

The downside of this blissful weather; the sun and the odd thundery shower, is that the grass and garden just won’t stop growing. It can be worse than house-work at times no sooner have you cut the lawn and picked out the weeds, they come leaping back! But the vegetables are capitalising on these perfect growing conditions, so fingers crossed. Before too long we’ll be plucking out the carrots and picking courgettes.

We have a new arrival. Harry the hedgehog made his first appearance in Maya’s newly acquired hedgehog box. Good old Harry is all I can say. I was dreading the box just lying empty with a tearful, disappointed Maya obsessively looking for signs of life. But he has been caught on camera, so Maya is delighted.

This week it’s Maya’s sports day, so I’m hoping that it cools down as, whilst Maya blossoms in the heat, the pale blonde school friends are finding every day school life a challenge in this temperature, let alone having to hop up and down in a sack. I hope we don’t have to participate in a parent race, as I fear this pale skinned Mum will wilt. I’ll have to take off my enormous floppy hat, which I’m hoping will be just small enough to wear at Wimbledon on Friday, where I’ll be watching the Men’s Semi Finals. But last night’s Murray match will take a lot of beating -a great, exciting game with both of them fighting tooth and nail to win every point. Well done Murray - I hope I’ll be watching you on Friday.

THE WANDERER RETURNS
Monday 22 June 2009

Oh to be on the back of the bike again! A week of holding tight, winding through the Umbrian Tuscan Piedmonte and Swiss countryside stopping for simple lunches and warming coffees in small, back of beyond cafes is my idea of bliss.

It was the perfect time of year to go as the flowers are out and the heat wasn’t quite as fierce so that the hills were still luscious and there were hardly any other tourists vying for the tables with views. A house in Italy still remains my dream - it’s where my heart slows and I just feel I belong amongst a society where food and the simple things in life seem to be far more of a priority.

But I was equally happy to be home, which is a first. This just tells me how much Maya and I have settled into our new home and surroundings. I’m just hoping that I’ve brought some sunshine with me so that Wimbledon (to which I’m addicted) can proceed with ease. I just wish the women would stop grunting; so off putting! Talking of wishes, what a shame Nadal has had to pull out - it just won’t be the same without seeing him move around the court!
So having eaten so much delicious food this last week, which has included quite a lot of new combinations, Maya is set to have a few different dishes come her way. Her reactions will dictate whether they make it into my new book which, thankfully, I feel well and truly inspired to continue writing…Which is always a relief as one never knows how each book is going to progress but it’s clear that the more motorcycling holidays I have, the better the book will be!