All posts filed under: Food News & Ramblings

Summer in Provence at Aubaine

Last Monday, I was lucky enough to travel all the way to sunny Provence (through the medium of food and drink) for ‘a celebration of Summer in Provence’ at French restaurant, patisserie and boulangerie Aubaine. I was invited by fellow food blogger and Indian food extraordinaire Binny, of Binny’s Kitchen. One of my favourite Indian inspagrammers (inspirational instagrammer!), her website has recipes for the most delicious, homecooked Indian dishes you’ve ever seen. We only met recently at a Find Your Feet charity event, where I picked her brains about her own food blogging and supper club experience. I love meeting like-minded foodies at foodie events, over conversations about food – it’s a topic I will never be bored of! We were introduced to loads of different little tasters that bursted with the flavours of summer. From brioche buns filled with mushroom duxelles (like a creamy mushroom pate), steak and chips on skewers, chicken terrine wrapped in ham and plenty of fine French wines. Below are some of my personal favourites from the night, and some ideas I will definitely be taking home …

The Big Food Fight

Of the 481 accounts I follow on Twitter, aproximately: 200 are chefs 150are  restaurants 81 are food writers 50 are food fanatics and a fair few MasterChef contestants are thrown in there too. I am bombarded with tweets about new places to eat and new things to try. From the short-lived ‘Cronut’ hype of 2013 to the recent gravy-dipped burger trend that I keep bloody hearing about, its safe to say nobody’s stuck for choice when deciding what’s for dins. Take the beloved beefburger: Cool person 1: ‘Have you been to (restaurant title including one or more of the following words: dirty, bun, burger, cow, liquor, meat, patty). It’s the best burger in London!’ Cool person 2: ‘I beg to differ.. you’ve gotta try (another restaurant title including one or more of the following words: dirty, bun, burger, cow, liquor, meat, patty). Cool person 3: ‘What about (yet another restaurant title including one or more of the following words: dirty, bun, burger, cow, liquor, meat, patty)? It’s the bomb!’ Well, which is it then people?! Are these new places ‘WE’VE GOT TO TRY’ actually that special? Are …

Food styling: my charity shop treasures

I’ve recently started to poke my head into every charity shop I pass looking for new plates and tableware to style out my recipes. So if I am ever late for work or miss my bus, I blame the British Heart Foundation! Buying weird and wonderful plates is an amazing way of kitting out your dining table without spending a fortune and I find new dishes give me inspiration for new recipes to try. My bargain hunting tips: Gumtree is filled with people trying to get rid of their old kitchen junk that they might think is worthless or outdated. Often, these sellers don’t realise how much money they could be getting from their old stuff! Ebay is a great way of checking if you are getting a bargain or not. Check how many people are bidding for certain items and how much they are selling for, so that you always get a good prices. Be aware of chips and cracks in tableware that you buy online. If you are taking photographs this is not …