Best roast goose and recipe
What do Heston Blumenthal and I have in common? Apart from the fact that we both wear glasses. We buy our geese from Clerkesgeese. Decorating other peoples’ houses has wonderful benefits. Generally the conversation turns to food and information is shared. A young client (‘mother‘ of the mischievous Freddie) mentioned that she had tasted one of the Clerkes Farm Geese last Christmas and had ordered one this year. When she added that Heston Blumenthal had voted their geese the best in his goose taste test, the die was cast. The prices were...
read moreOh Mistletoe where do you grow? By Steve Kirk editor of The Bushcraft Magazine
This article was published in a past edition of The Bushcraft Magazine. We are friends of this superb bimonthly. A subscription to this periodical could be the perfect Christmas present for anyone who likes some contact with the Great Outdoors, even if they live in a high rise in Walthamstow. Each issue is packed with really interesting articles, photographs and great ideas. It’s subscription only like most smaller magazines and arrives in the mail. You cannot buy it on the news stands or WH Smith. And that’s what makes it so special....
read moreAdvent Calendars
When I was a small child someone sent us three Advent Calendars from Germany. One for each child. I can still remember the anticipation as we opened the windows each day and looked at the pictures behind the doors on all three. These Advent Calendars were deluxe, with a really good image behind each door and loads of detail in the scenes. One has stuck in my mind forever. The door was a window shutter and when I opened it there was a lady smiling down at someone below. I followed her gaze to the man and the little dog standing on the snowy...
read moreTransform leftover pastry scraps into deluxe cheese Christmas snacks
If Danny loads the dishwasher when I get back from work and the cycle finishes before supper has reached the table, I know that I’m running a bit late. The cycle is 108 minutes. This morning I discovered some chicken and ham pie filling in the freezer – all that I had to do was make the pastry. Anne Mary’s recipe for Magimix pastry works perfectly each time. Danny was amazed that I had made pastry in five minutes in the food processor. It normally needs to rest and chill in the fridge for an hour but I decided to speed up the process....
read moreHow to eat your own new potatoes on Christmas Day
As a woman, I move in a strange world. Filled with ladders, vans, dust, men and the occasional dog that observes me closely as I pass by. There are very few women at the builder’s merchants where I buy my paint. In fact I have never seen one buying anything alone. A woman is always accompanied by a man. So my progression in the builder’s merchants from Oddity to UBOK (Unusual But OK) has been a bit of a rocky one. Finally, after five years, I know and like the guys behind the desk. We chat when I need to have paint mixed. Sometimes...
read moreHolly
“Holly is at a premium this year. Especially holly with berries.” Alistair was laying branches of holly on the lawn of the house where I was working last week. All the holly that was removed was to be given to me. David, the owner of the house, had left detailed instructions for Alistair. Our eyes drifted to the small pile of holly on the lawn “A small bunch like this,” he rounded his arms loosely to underline his point, “would fetch £80 wholesale if it had berries on.” I was astonished. I checked for...
read moreReindeer decoration
I used to pull out all the stops for Christmas and decorate the house from top to bottom. I loved doing this but it took weeks to set up and there was always a scramble to get everything down before twelfth night. Christmas is a now a quieter celebration in every way. I bought this pretty reindeer decoration at the church féte a couple of years ago. It is the one piece that is not packed away in the attic in January as it sheds its candles to double as a stamp rack for Danny through the rest of the year. I love the placid reindeer heads and...
read more‘Twas the night before Christmas
“‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;” Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) Except me and a small Min Pin companion who had discovered a plate of delicious crumbs when taking a midnight stroll in the sitting room. Happy Christmas...
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