tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73146519363225267172012-02-16T19:54:09.093-08:00Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-60739032930312106872008-12-18T04:09:00.000-08:002008-12-18T04:52:08.188-08:00

Every year christmas evokes memories of such delights as the festive ham, pies, pastry and other such indulgent treats. I therefore thought I'd share with you a recipe for a pie at christmas, a christmas ham and how the two interlink.To start with the pie (which is based upon a spiced pork pie recipe) is made with hot water crust pastry. Do not be afraid. I was fearful the first time I made

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-87994068298437016232008-08-29T07:01:00.000-07:002008-08-29T07:03:21.437-07:00

Thought I'd share this recipe with you. It was recently entered in the UKTV Food's Market Kitchen 'Bake a Cake' competition, and I'm pleased to say has won. This lovely cake will be made on an episode of Market Kitchen to be aired soon.LEMONGRASS AND GINGER CAKELemongrass, although unusual in a cake gives a lovely perfume to the cake, and the ginger provides the necessary kick. Due to the

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-37751910250354153402008-08-04T04:16:00.000-07:002008-08-04T04:33:51.507-07:00

For me, smoked food has always been a favourite. I'll happily pay a little extra for smoked duck breast, chicken, cheese and fish. Maybe its memories of campfires whilst in scouts as a teenager, but I jut can't get enough of that lovely earthy flavour. For Christmas, I bought my husband a day smoking course at Smoky Jo's in Shap (www.smokyjos.co.uk) , and managed to buy a place for myself and

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-44915174479400584132008-07-14T06:35:00.000-07:002008-07-15T02:34:56.744-07:00

At last, came back from a weekend in Edinburgh and received a letter confirming that the telly programme Eating with the enemy (see earlier blog in March 2008) will finally be aired from Monday 21st July 2008, 4.30pm on bbc2. The north west heats are the first.So back to Edinburgh. Well being a foodie it wouldn't be a weekend unless it involved eating and drinking and this weekend certainly did.

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-84791423548996942972008-06-19T04:45:00.001-07:002008-06-19T04:59:46.244-07:00

For many a year my nickname amongst friends has been Barbara, aka felicity kendal from the Good Life. Not that I resemble her in any way possible, but more because I've always loved living life with a nod to the alternative and environmental way. I've composted for many years, attempted to grow fruit and vegables (as per my previous post). I've finally met my 'Tom'. Thats my husband Mark, who is

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-41594809284611514342008-06-06T06:30:00.000-07:002008-06-06T06:45:17.833-07:00

Ok, ok so to some people it may be that I'm just jumping on the bandwagon of celebrity chefs and their desire for us all to grow our own - in reality, its probably because I have a bit of a thing for Hugh Fearnley Whittingstal, but one thing's for certain, he's absolutely right, and growing your own thing is the new black!I've always had a dabble in veg growing, but have stayed close to the odd

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-8580841656539992982008-05-06T09:29:00.000-07:002008-05-06T09:51:30.814-07:00

I'm having a bit of a mad ice cream time at this moment in time - losing patience with the weather, I decided to declare summer as truly arriving in mid April, dig out my ice cream maker (attachment for the kitchen aid), that hubby had bought for a christmas present and set about making ice cream. So out came the sheet of paper and away went the inspiration...... until Mark my hubby once again

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-88958100589119251662008-03-25T06:30:00.000-07:002008-03-25T06:51:31.179-07:00

Hello there foodies,I've been a bit quiet lately, been on holiday, and just had lots to do, most of it cooking, so thought I'd save lots of information and post it all at once.My husband Mark and I have just returned from a 2 week holiday in south africa - its my third time and his 6th, his parents emigrated there a little over a year ago, after much time spent in the country, so it was nice to

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-56545514762279853972008-02-04T12:17:00.000-08:002008-02-04T12:28:33.636-08:00

Those of you who may have read a couple of the posts on this blog will remember that I hinted at a TV programme that I'd been involved with.Well, after several months of waiting it appears that the programme is finally due to be aired - woohoo. The show is called Eating with the Enemy, it was filmed in June/july 2007, and is (according to the production company) a cross between masterchef and

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-74312500353074967682007-12-21T05:35:00.001-08:002007-12-21T05:48:41.175-08:00

Is is just me, or does the festive period bring forth thoughts of traditional food, ingredients and a dickensian christmas packed full of culinary delights? What better way to cement this than to visit a Christmas Farmers' Market. Now, I tend to visit these all year round anyway and frequent local farm shops throughout the year, but for my Christmas purchases, it takes something a little

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-11509597556911682562007-12-09T12:47:00.000-08:002007-12-09T12:59:34.303-08:00

Well what did you expect?! Surely any foodie would have also been hot-footing it down to birmingham from 29th November to go to the Good Food Show at the NEC.I went with a friend of mine Gaynor, a fellow foodie, and armed with rucksacks (vital for carrying home bottles of millers gin), comfy shoes and some cold hard cash we set off for a day of foodie fun, and it was not disappointing.So what did

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-57510312972714677392007-12-03T11:32:00.000-08:002007-12-03T12:05:45.212-08:00

Ok ok, so i'm suggesting this a little bit late, as I made my christmas cake at the end of September and have been 'feeding' it every few weeks with the contents of the drinks cabinet - but at least that's given me time to try this new recipe, and see how good the chrimmy cake is. So where did the recipe come from, well thats just it, I simply don't know, and may need the power of "t'internet" to

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-43514752316946954102007-11-19T05:23:00.000-08:002007-11-19T05:42:03.908-08:00

A couple of weeks ago friends came over from Taiwan and my husband and I decided this would be a great opportunity to go out for dinner, catch up on gossip and generally have a good time, and indeed it was a good time. However, the evening did provoke a discussion, and that is, if you're not entirely happy with food or service in a restaurant should you complain and potentially receive food

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-24967938295000195852007-10-14T09:24:00.000-07:002007-10-14T09:40:55.038-07:00

Just come back from a week in cornwall where the weather can only be described as glorious - I mean come on, vest tops in the UK in october, must be a minor miracle. We hired a cottage in Mevagissey a lovely little fishing village not too far from St Austel. Anyway I have to say that my husband (Mark) and I were probably more excited about the proximity of our cottage to several pubs and the

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-88625231820307041012007-09-23T04:27:00.000-07:002007-09-23T04:45:17.805-07:00

Don't worry this blog isn't about anything sinister.This blog is about a TV series that I managed to become a contributor on, well I and many other passionate home cooks. Eating with the Enemy is the title of a TV series that will hit BBC2 some time in the early new year. Think of it as a cross between masterchef for home cooks and dragons den. So how did it begin...In May Good Food magazine

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-71781317784652197572007-09-07T04:00:00.000-07:002007-09-07T04:06:07.999-07:00

As the weather wasn't particularly sparkling at the weekend (well sunday at least), and feeling in a bit of a fanny craddock sort of mood, I decided to dig out a recipe for chicken soup. Now, before you think so what, I don't mean the thin, smooth chicken soup that we often enjoy...oh no...this was gut-busting, full of lentils and barley, home made stock, chicken and most of all, lots of

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-11938295080137124682007-08-28T02:52:00.000-07:002007-08-28T03:12:07.424-07:00

Woohoo. Opened the October edition of Good Food magazine to find out that a letter I'd written in June about Mutton had been printed. How fabulous.Seriously though, whilst we're on the subject of mutton - how come its as difficult as hen's teeth to find? Methinks that the wonderful indian, caribbean and bangladeshi restaurants have realised for many years the virtue of this wonderful

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-43232447253106264712007-08-20T12:37:00.000-07:002007-08-20T13:00:02.079-07:00

In Eccleston, lancashire where we live there isn't a great underswell of excitement - the local paper does often report the odd cat stuck up a tree, the price of fish increasing by tuppence a pound, not to mention a queue at the local bakers. However,what Eccleston does have to note is a reasonable number of good real ale pubs, and its very own little Bistro - The Vine Bar. (www.sugarvine.com

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-23813903538105789902007-08-15T03:47:00.000-07:002007-08-15T04:07:32.629-07:00

For those of you in the North West of England, you'll probably be au fait with North West Fine Foods, a project funded by small to medium food producers/retailers, european funding and north west development agency. Website www.nwfinefoods.co.uk. If you're a foodie in the region then I'd recommend you log onto the site - its full of excellent producers, categories according to location and

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314651936322526717.post-2297609805236702462007-08-13T22:27:00.000-07:002007-08-13T14:27:11.287-07:00

Way back in September 2006. First thought...yum, lemon meringue pie. Second thought, why don't people eat food like this any more...third thought, hmmm maybe I could try to bring some of the old favourites back into everyday kitchens. Plus it'd be a great excuse to try to exorcise some of the old memories of bad school dinners. Final thought - oh pants, that means I'll have to start going to

Catherine Hudspithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10957590702454261657noreply@blogger.com0