Sourdough
Sourdough So it turns out that having a baby can throw you off your blog game for a while. Like 4 years a while. Tonight I felt the urge to write. To write about sourdough. In the little corner of the internet where I hang out everybody is a sourdough baker. It’s easy to think that everyone in real life is too. In real life though, it’s not so much the case and I find two types of people, those who understand binary and those who don’t. Err… wait. That’s the punchline for a different audience! Sorry, I digress. Some folk are absolutely amazed by the fact that I...
Read MoreSummer antics
How’s that for a summer. It’s flown by here at Tŷ Paned. There’s been foraging, feasting, fun, family, food, village shows, baking days, family baking days and there’s been a foray into cheese making and meat curing! One of the highlights of the early summer was the invasion of the Canadians to West Wales. There are a troop of my in-laws who hail from Canada for whom a trip to Pembrokeshire is an occasion for celebration. In fact it was a 40th wedding anniversary celebration that brought them over. It wouldn’t have been right to send them home without a Tŷ Paned feast and boy, did they...
Read MoreBread, cinnamon buns, hygge and fika
Have you ever had that feeling of coziness, feeling relaxed, enjoying good company, good food and drink but not had the right words to explain it? Or found yourself asking a friend out for coffee but there’s more to it and wished there was a word for it? I was fortunate enough to spend 10 days travelling Denmark and Sweden a few weeks ago and came across two concepts we don’t have words for in English or Welsh but completely encapsulates the feel of Tŷ Paned. Hygge and fika. Copenhagen is a beautiful city and for someone who’s not mad keen on cities it was small enough to feel comfortable...
Read MoreHow to make a salad from half a cos lettuce
Ah, the forager’s delight. Being able to create something from nothing. Well, not nothing but something free! A quick look in the fridge at the weekend revealed half a cos lettuce, which was going to make quite a sorry salad on it’s own if we’re honest. Instead of rushing out to the shops I took a leisurely stroll to a local park and collected all I needed for a considerably more interesting salad. This time of year is fantastic for wild food and one of the simplest to recognise and most abundant is wild garlic. I’ve heard people say wild garlic goes well in salad....
Read MorePancake Day
We love food. Good food. This can mean lots of fancy preparation and pretty plates but on pancake day we forget the pomp and show and glitz and glamour and just make as many pancakes as we can eat! How can something as simple as a pancake give us so much joy? It is a culinary mystery. Nobody knows why we all go mad for pancakes on pancake day but they have that effect on all of us. I’m telling you now, the best and most seductive cover of a cookbook is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on the front of the River Cottage Everyday making pancakes. Every time I look at that book I want to eat...
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