Last night, it rained. Really rained. I was lying in bed, hoping to fall asleep, suffering my nightly ritual of tossing and turning when I heard a distant rumble. It filled me with hope. I'd had about all I could take of hot, sticky weather and being at the tail end of October, a rumble in the distance could only mean one thing. Within minutes of the outpouring, there was a perceptible nip in the air and I found myself reaching for the hardly used and up till now, mostly decorative blanket, f...

Quickies Cocktail Challenge Update : I am pleased to announce that we've now received  3  very interesting entries! Thank you very much, and please, keep them coming.  Send in as many entries as you like, just remember to get them in by midnight of  September 27 2010 (ET)  - we're looking forward to shouting out the winner and showcasing a fantastic line up of entries on September 28 2010 (ET)  !! What's your motivation? A gorgeous cookbook! (take a detailed peek here) And now for today's pos...

I've been a tortured soul since I saw this at Apple Crumbles. Beautiful isn't it? Home made bread issues from my oven on a regular basis but I'm nothing if not impatient. Make that pathologically impatient. Now, I know greatness takes time and great bread can't  be rushed. I love the results of a slow rise and often leave my dough overnight in the fridge for spectacularly flavoured loaves the next day. But when I saw that mustard, beer and caraway loaf (have you clicked on that link yet?) I k...