April 2015

Skiing, Easter, Bobbie and Books!

The end of shooting was followed by a wonderful week skiing in my most favourite of places in the Swiss Alps. A tiny village where you can have an entire mountain to yourself for hours at a time.

Replete with cheese and wine I came back home to celebrate a wonderful Easter with my family. The highlight of which is always The Egg. This egg comes from Arbois, in the Jura. It is made by Monseiur Hersinger http://www.chocolat-hirsinger.com/ a true genius when it comes to all things chocolate and confectionary. The egg in question is a hand made shell of praline, hiding inside it the most delectable chocolate and marzipan morsels.

The week after Easter I went to collect my little Bobbalina!! Looking at the lolloping hound she has become I can't believe she was ever small enough to pick up!

One of her first outings was to come with me to shoot the food for talented and lovely Donal Skehan's new book, Fresh.

Full on and furious paced we managed a whopping 10 shots a day... well near enough! It was the first time Donal and I had worked together on a shoot, although I know him well from my days on delicious. And what a fabulous time we had! Giggles, near tears, hysteria, giggles again and lots and lots of glorious food!

Here is a little Vlog that Donal took whilst we were shooting....

Stick your questions for my Q&A in the comments below and let me know your food recommendations for: Budapest, Amsterdam, Ikaria - Greece, Basque - Spain & Lisbon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmm5ziHzqv0

March 2015

Snow, cheese and Princess Bobbalina. 

March really was a month of two halves.

Shooting for Winter Cabin Cooking was in full swing. This book really has me SO excited and I loved every second of writing and shooting it. Recreating a chalet in my living room was not perhaps the easiest thing I have ever done, though we did some epic fake snow creations and the results are astounding. My lovely Nassima (photographer extraordinaire) and Polly noodle my sister genius props wizard excelled themselves and Lo, the Alps came to Balham.

As it was early March we kept hoping for the real deal, to wake one morning to a sparkling whiteness of crisp fresh snow. It was not to be sadly, so we hatched a cunning plan. We moved the last 3 days of the shoot to the Swiss Alps where we were due to start a family holiday the moment we finished shooting.

To be on location for a mountain book, with access to all the amazing cheese and scenery we could want. The snow worked its magic and the book was complete. I cannot wait to share it with you! Watch this space!

The second half of March (and lets face it, pretty much every second since then) was about one thing and one thing only. I coerced my husband into getting a puppy!!! Not just any puppy, oh no! My Bobbie, Princess Bobbalina or Bob (as in Kate) is a hugemogous girl of bizarre parentage. Half standard Poodle, half Doberman Rottwieller. Don't ask!

I fell in love instantly and she has been taking centre stage ever since. Bobs is a dreamy scatterbrained pup with a very naughty streak. Not that I could possibly have foretold that when I picked up this innocent looking bundle of curls.

Apologies for too many Bobbie pics but I just couldn't decide on one!!

January 2015

A post Christmas lull was somewhat bypassed by the excitement of WRITING MY NEW BOOK!! My first book away from the wonderful GBBO brand and I was so excited about it.

The theme - Winter Cabins - specifically the cabins of the mountains and all the amazing food and recipes that you eat when you are skiing and hiking in the Alps and how to recreate them when you get home.

Käsespätzle - little cheese sparrows

Eighty recipes of cheese cheese cheese, with a healthy dose of cream, bread, potatoes and bacon to boot. January sped by in a haze of writing and testing.... Blissfully surrounded by some of the ingredients I love the best.