Having tea with Violet.

In the Scottish town of Grantown on Spey, there lives an old lady named Violet. Violet used to live in a castle and loved to entertain. She baked homemade goodies for those who came to visit. Although the eats she made for tea weren’t very exotic by today’s standards, they were made with love and

Quick fix

OK, OK, don’t start criticising my heading if you have skimmed through the recipes. Let’s just say that these dishes are for the times you don’t want to spend more than a hour in the kitchen preparing them. These are perfect dishes when the wife drops a bomb and says you must prepare supper and

Weekend delights, aka Second helpings.

A friend of mine has three children, two girls and a boy. They play well together but often one of the children will ask if a school friend may be allowed to come for a sleepover. The girls are especially big on sleepovers. They don’t need much excuse to arrange something like that. My friend’s

Saucy Puds for Dessert connoisseurs.

If you have reached the stage in your life where, after a good meal, ice-cream and chocolate sauce just doesn’t cut it as a dessert to match the sophistication of the food you have just enjoyed, then you will probably expect to find the following puddings on the menu. If they are not served at

Citrus for Cooler days and Covid

During the peak of the Covid pandemic, a friend of mine was tested positive. He went to hospital and when the worst was over, he was discharged. It was before the vaccination was made available. I was very curious to hear what sort of treatment he had received so I phoned him. I was a

Sweets for my Sweet, Sugar for my Honey

This clip of the Searchers reminds me of my matric year. Three of my friends and myself formed a pop band. We had a spot at the Waldorf Restaurant on a Sunday evening. They had a permanent band but gave up and coming bands a chance to play on a Sunday evening. The best times

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker’s manBake me a cake as fast as you canPat it and prick it and mark it with “B”Put it in the oven for baby and me

Saturday was my granddaughter’s 5th birthday. Jess, a very good friend of the family, and loved by my granddaughter (who calls Jess her sister) baked her a beautiful birthday cake. Picture of the cake above. Jess is a great baker. She surprises everyone with her creations. Especially her icing skills. She is self-taught and has

Angels and Devils

I suppose the reference to the two kinds of cakes, as far as the names go, is the fact that one is light, nearly white, and the other dark (chocolate coloured). It was interesting to discover that there is a difference between an Angel Food cake and an Angel cake. The first mentioned uses only