Feeling cold and wintry and trying hard to get the onion sets planted before the end of the week. The ground has been dug twice and fed well with manure. But there is so much to do for the book launch! What is good is that, locally, there is a general air of excitement. Mandy,…

Is the shortage of ground cinnamon universal or just local to Bath? Waitrose have had none for weeks and a trip to Sainsbury’s yesterday also showed an empty space where the little pots should be? Bad harvest? Sudden demand from watching Mary Berry? Have written to both supermarkets to ask. My own demand for cinnamon…

The weather has changed and it is time for a winter dish. On Saturday, I had gone to Bath Farmers’ Market specially to see Peter Hurman who runs Somerset Venison. This recipe is a firm favourite. It is based on one in The Robert Carrier Cookbook, first published in 1965 and still a treasure trove…

This recipe came from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Saturday column in The Guardian and could qualify as my ‘Dish of the Year’. Delicious at home and good to take to a party as all the elements can be made in advance and put together before serving.  I was especially delighted that Erling, who is from Norway and…

The beans are in good supply and this is my favourite way of serving Blue Lake beans. It is a much simpler recipe than Yotam Ottolenghi’s great bean dish that I give a version of in The Allotment Kitchen. No surprise there!. 500g Blue Lake beans 500g ripe tomatoes (preferably plum tomatoes) 1 clove garlic, crushed Olive oil…

Picking the damsons was the easy part. I found as many as I needed along the hedge as I walked back from talking to Nathan who trims the horses’ hooves. It was Petroc’s turn. He is now three and in the same field as Jinx and Ernie. Old enough for better manners but, on the…

William looked crestfallen when I said we were having a Spanish omelette for supper. ‘Only one onion and no ham?’ To my joy, dear Claudia Roden writes at length on Spanish omelettes in her book,’ Claudia Roden: The Food of Spain’. Of course there are lots of regional variations but a little onion and diced…

Lamb with aubergines is one of my favourite things and moussaka my perfect comfort food. It is a dish I have made so many times without deciding which herb to put into the meat sauce. Coriander is good, so is rosemary. Parsley with mint is listed in one of my favourite cookbooks, The Real Greek…

We have a bumper crop of crab apples this year. I made crab apple jelly, but enough of the strained juice was left to make chilli jelly too! -Susan Chilli Jelly 1 litre crab apple juice 800g granulated sugar 6 or 7 red chillies, tops removed and finely sliced 175g cider vinegar Have ready four…

I gave my friend Penny a copy of The Allotment Kitchen. She was immediately disappointed that my ‘default’ Cheltenham cake was not included. This is the cake I make every year for our picnic at the end of our day at the Cheltenham Festival. I am sure I had written it down but Apples was…