I’m the person who often picks the dish he doesn’t recognise on the menu. The person who then sits wondering what’s going to be delivered to the table. Hoping for a new food experience, eager to be the envy of my dining companions, running the risk of leaving them thinking ‘will he never learn’. It …
Author Archives: David Burbidge
Too much time, too little to do.
I forgot it was my fathers birthday at the beginning of this week, or perhaps I should say I momentarily overlooked it. Ever since lockdown started back in March I’ve been calling him regularly to see how he is and when I did on Monday it went to answerphone so I left a message. I …
Great British Bake Off 2020 week 4
Week four and we’ve reached chocolate on Bake Off. The temptation at this point is to ask ‘who doesn’t like chocolate’ and assume no one will put their hand up. I suppose there must be people who don’t but I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who’s made that claim. This particular week in the …
Great British Bake Off 2020 week 3
There’s something about making bread that almost acts as a dividing line between bakers. There aren’t many amongst us who won’t make the occasional cake, maybe now and again have a go at some scones and if feeling really adventurous there might be a special occasion pie. Bread is different though, no one just seems …
Spur of the moment baking.
Some days my baking is a project, the result of great planning and cookbook scanning. Other days it’s spur of the moment, what’s in the cupboards, what needs using. Yesterday was one of those. A ‘let’s see what we’ve got ‘day. Like so many people during lockdown, and the strange semi lockdown we’ve drifted into, …
Great British Bake Off 2020 week 2
Bake Off week two and it’s biscuits..or is it. For the second year running this round had bakers taking to social media and questioning whether the bake picked as the technical challenge actually qualified as a biscuit. Last year it was fig rolls lighting up Twitter, this year it was macaroons. My take is that …
Writing prompts
As much as I enjoy putting this blog together, I do sometimes struggle with knowing what to write about. Sometimes I’ll sit down with a clear idea in my head and the words come fairly easily, other times it’s with a hope of inspiration but a realisation that Twitter or Spotify may soon distract me. …
Great British Bake Off 2020 week 1
It’s Bake Off time again. After assuming all summer the show was going to be another 2020 corona casualty they’ve defied all of our expectations and the new series started on Tuesday evening. A ninety-minute baking extravaganza and I’m hooked for the next ten weeks. Yes I know it’s all a bit cliched, but there’s …
Baking buzz
With the nights drawing in and the coronavirus news getting bleaker by the day there has never felt like a better time for the return of Bake Off. For the next ten weeks on a Tuesday evening, we can pull the curtains, pour a cup of tea, cut a slice of cake and collectively all …
Baking with fruit from the garden.
I’m beginning to discover the joys of cooking with ingredients which I’ve been involved with growing. Gardening has never been one of my strong points, mowing the lawn is about as far as it normally gets. Beyond that, I tend to think of the garden as somewhere to sit in the sun with a good …
David in the kitchen. 