Category Archives: Feasts & Fancies

Using senses instead of scales.

FEASTS & FANCIES: Spaghetti with Artichokes – my favourite comfort food.

There is something about pasta that warms the cockles of my heart.  I reach out for pasta the way some people reach out for chocolate or a glass of wine.  I eat pasta when I’m feeling sad or vulnerable, when … Continue reading

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FEASTS & FANCIES @ CHOCOLATE NOTES: Chocolat à l’Orange

It sounds unmistakeably early Franco-Flemish, but as I am nearer the ignorance end of the musical knowledge gamut, I hesitate to hazard a guess that might land me not only in the wrong country, but the wrong century all together.  … Continue reading

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FEASTS & FANCIES: CHICKEN SOUP WITH SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS

My acupuncturist  takes a quick look at my tongue. “You’ve got a low blood count,” she says.  I smile with admiration: my GP had to draw blood, bruise my arm and have the lab process the sample for a whole … Continue reading

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FEASTS & FANCIES: OMELETTE à la Gregoryan

In Lasse Hallström’s heartwarming film, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Helen Mirren plays Mme Mallory, a Michelin-star restaurant owner with very definite ideas about what cooking should be.  Before she decides whether or not to employ a new cook, she sets them … Continue reading

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FEASTS & FANCIES: VEGETABLE STOCK

Another thing that never ceases to surprise me in England is the amount of processed food consumed.  I remember that it struck me even when I first arrived here, nearly forty years ago.  In most homes, the world-famous English custard … Continue reading

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Feasts & Fancies: Chocolate Notes

One of my favourite haunts is Chocolate Notes.   Norwich, where we live, could possibly be described as the city that always sleeps, in that – unless you resort to a chain (and I prefer independent cafés) – it’s near … Continue reading

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Feasts & Fancies: Polenta Cobbler

When I first came to England as a late teenager, in 1984, the biggest culture shock I experienced was undoubtedly the natives’ frugal attitude towards food.  It seemed to be perceived as an undeserved luxury rather than a basic right.  … Continue reading

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Feasts & Fancies: Miscellaneous Potato Rösti

Back in the days when my metabolism could happily burn six meals a day and I indulged in a full English breakfast every Saturday at our local greasy spoon, I would always ask for an extra helping of hash browns.  … Continue reading

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Feasts & Fancies: The Magic of Bread

If anything makes me believe in magic in the kitchen it is making bread.  The verb make is, of course, somewhat inappropriate in the context of magic, since you are not, alone, in control of the process.  As in any … Continue reading

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New Blog: Feasts & Fancies

No Scales or Measuring Jugs – Just Imagination and Senses Welcome to my new blog, Feasts & Fancies and the first recipe.  When I moved away from my family, to another country, I asked my grandmother to write down the recipes … Continue reading

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