The Caledonian Hotel has been revived and revitalised and is now a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It’s sleek in its new colour scheme somehow makes it seems larger, more spacious. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the carpets – when you visit, you’ll see what I mean – but…
The inspiration for this recipe came from Lovecrumbs chocolate brownies and also a sample I received from Sopexa who are promoting French glacé cherries. There’s a recipe leaflet you can download that’s really aimed at the catering industry as it assumes you have a Thermomix! Being a sucker for beautifully wrapped gifts (the cherries came…
Vanessa Kimbell, author of Prepped, started a cooking meme: random bakes of kindness. You bake for someone else, ideally someone who isn’t expecting it. I really liked the idea and signed up quickly but it has taken me a while to come up with a good baking idea. I tried making…
It’s National Baking Week this week. Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night are also getting closer. It’s that time of year where you yearn for some good wholesome home baking. In this post cake and toffee apples. What a combination! I love baking. I find it therapeutic. I am probably most at…
As a gardener, I particularly like this time of year when the seed catalogues come through the door. I love flicking through the pages and dreaming of the garden I could have, if only the weather were better/I had more time/I were more green fingered. As a cook, what catalogues…
On a Sunday afternoon, I go for coffee. Not every Sunday, but most. Coffee and cake, to be truthful: the cake is very important. Recently, I’ve been eating cup cakes but there are other places for cake and joy in Edinburgh. When you’re up for something a little more normal in size, there are…
My weekend guest who is avoiding gluten is back. I made some more bread using the Phil Vickery app I reviewed which has turned out well – adding some fine cornmeal gave it a delicious taste. But what for tea? I was keen to try out Dove Farm’s self raising…
We love visiting the Edinburgh College of Art degree shows each year. This time, as I walked round, a distinctly foodie edge to the displays emerged. Andrew Summers uses typography to enhance a 3-dish menu for his imaginary restaurant, Typo Bistro. He uses fonts, body copy and composition to build…
Since this post was written, the location for tea has changed to the Peacock Room in the newly named Waldorf Astoria. You might have guessed by now that Caroline and I really love a good tea and of course particularly enjoy the in-depth research it requires to find just the…
I had a golden syrup pudding from Burtree Puddings the other day. It was too good. The pack I’d bought – 360gr – was for three greedy servings or four normal ones. After a light dinner of soba noodles with garlic I found it made four servings. Four servings shared…
