Happy Birthday Tara’s Busy Kitchen & Other Stories! Can you believe that it’s been three years since I first put pen to paper so to speak? I couldn’t possibly celebrate a birthday without cake and this Banana and Jujube Fruit Cake with a Honey and Walnut Glaze fits the bill very well in my eyes.Read more
Welcome to my April roundup. Once again my month has been full to bursting with wonderful opportunities and experiences. I feel very blessed. April has been pretty chilly on the whole. Everybody I know including myself are desperate for warmth in the sun so we can ditch the bobble hats and coats. It seems likeRead more
You might be fooled when walking in through the door of NGNG on Fore Street in Exeter that you have entered one of the biomes at The Eden Project. Full to bursting with amazing greenery in all shapes and sizes on the floor, hanging from the ceiling and adorning the walls. This surely has toRead more
My love of cheese is legendary. In fact, there was a murmuring that I was the second most influential person on the local cheese scene!! I still don’t know who was number one but I really hope it was the Queen of cheese, Mary Quicke. So, as you can imagine, having an opportunity arise whereRead more
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Le Vignoble, Bath and I have to say it was a gem of a find. From the moment I stepped through the glass doors into the bar area, I knew I was in for a treat. The smart, modern interior complete with velvet covered chairs, wooden tables andRead more
Magdalen Road is one of the few roads in Exeter with a predominately independent shopping scene. You can get pretty much anything there from a ukulele to bright pink rhubarb. It’s a real gem of a street and only a ten-minute walk from Exeter’s city centre. I think many people visiting Exeter don’t know itRead more
A last-minute invitation to The Salutation Inn was too good to pass up. Thankfully I was still on my Easter break from teaching so I hot footed it home from a coffee and cake date with a friend to get my glad rags on, surprise Steve with the news and jump on the next trainRead more
The Uprising Bakehouse is the newest addition to Exeter’s thriving independent coffee shop scene. Nestled comfortably between Leela, a shop selling ethical clothing, homewares and gifts and the wonderful Ben’s Farm shop on Magdalen Road. It is certainly keeping good company. Not only is The Uprising Bakehouse a coffee shop, it’s an all-round foodie gem.Read more
The Arabs brought this dessert to Sicily and the name “cassata” is said to come from the Arabic meaning bowl. The dessert was adapted in the sixteenth century by nuns, who were fabulous pastry cooks, from the many convents on the island. I visited Sicily a couple of years ago with my sister Estella onRead more
My homage to the Commonwealth Games comes in the form of these delicious Anzac Biscuits. With this years games being held on Australia’s Gold Coast I wanted to create something that would highlight this. I may not be a sporty gal myself but I do enjoy watching all those talented sportsmen and women do whatRead more