2014 has been a bit of a whirlwind. All-time highs have been accompanied by unexpected lows, but as the year draws to a close I’ve got my sights on nothing less than an epic 2015. Exciting things are afoot – not least the release of my very first cookbook (look out for a cover reveal in January) – but before we get there, here’s a little round up of my ten favourite recipes and posts from the year just gone. Continue reading
Are you bored of these photoshoot updates yet? I couldn’t resist sneaking in a few final pictures from the week just gone. So that’s a wrap, the final Homemade Memories photograph has been taken, the last prop carefully washed up, crumbs cleared away and leftovers distributed to my nearest, dearest and hungriest. On Thursday I got the first round of printed pages to proof read and this weekend just gone – in between packing up our whole flat and moving in with my parents for renovation work to begin (phew!) – I set to work on marking up those final little amends.
We spent the last week under alternating blankets of sunshine and stars on an island that, in places, resembles the moon. Barren, sun-baked yet somehow incredibly beautiful – with views across the Aegean sea which make you feel like you’re standing at the edge of the world – Folegandros was exactly the antidote to everyday life we had both been craving.
Writing a cookbook while you have a full time job is a lot of hard work. Over the last month I’ve spent alternate weeks in the office and at the studio in Acton, with the weekends spent writing lists, shopping and prepping for the shoots whilst somehow also managing to squeeze in a trip to Yorkshire, a family wedding and our first year anniversary celebrations. You know what they say about giving a job to a busy person . . . Continue reading
One year ago yesterday, this happened. In front of 150 of our nearest and dearest, I promised my favourite person in the whole wide world that I’d love and be there for him forever. We kissed and ate and drank a lot, danced ourselves silly and ended the night running from the room through a tunnel of arms, the love of friends and family so tangible that I couldn’t help bursting into hot, happy tears in the taxi on the way to our hotel. The next day we jetted off to Bali and two weeks later we returned from one adventure to embark on this brand new one, as husband and wife.
While I don’t have a new recipe for you this week, what I do have is a little insight into what I’ve been up to during my absence from this space. Last week we spent four days shooting the first set of photographs for The Little Loaf: Homemade Memories (my first cookbook (!), coming out next year). With four photoshoot days down and six to go, I’m by no means any kind of expert, but am learning a lot, fast, so I thought it would be fun to share a few photos, insights, observations and general excitement about the whole process. Continue reading
My first book deadline is just a couple of weeks away and my fridge and freezer are groaning with food, my recipes are out with an army of testers and I’m finalising the ingredients and anecdotes in every spare moment. For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram, here’s a sneak preview of some of what I’ve been working on. Continue reading
Life has been hectic lately, to say the least. Beyond the book – which is the best kind of busy – we’ve been up and down the M1 for family reasons and I’m afraid I don’t have a new recipe for you today. What I do have, however, is a selection of my favourite Easter recipes – just click on each picture to take you to the post. A hot cross bun isn’t just for Easter, so although I should probably have posted this a week ago, I hope you’ll try them out anyway.
The last couple of weeks have really hammered home to me the importance of family, and Easter feels as good a time to give that some recognition. Wherever you are, I hope your weekend is filled with friends and family, love and laughter. Plus an endless supply of speckled chocolate eggs, of course. Continue reading
Ever since I was tiny, I’ve loved to write. Before I was old enough to be left in the house on my own during school holidays, my Mum would take with me with her to the office. She’d sit me at a computer (one of those ancient black screens with a flashing cursor, I’m turning 30 this year and I fear it’s beginning to show) and the day would be spent writing stories, lost in my own little world and limited only by my imagination. Continue reading
Last week, reading this post, I realised that I’d managed completely miss my blog birthday. Again.
On 23rd February 2011, I published my very first post. Three years later, although there’s so much more I want to learn about photography and recipe writing (and life), I’m extremely proud of how far I’ve come. Those original photos make me cringe just a little (look them up, you will laugh), my enthusiasm for what is clearly not the lightest of loaves is unbounded, but it’s a record of where I was, a marker for where I am now, and for what, in three years’ time or more, I could be. Continue reading