meemalee

Better than IHOP Shrove Tuesday has been and gone, and apathy meant hubby and I totally failed to make any pancakes to mark the event. So last weekend, we decided we would finally do something about this. However, I've never really seen the point of traditional English pancakes (too flaccid) and sugar and lemon bores me. I'm only marginally more interested in Japanese uber-crepes . Crazy Nihonjin Crepes No, American-style pancakes , thick and oozing with maple syrup seemed much more attractive to greedy me and hubby didn't really mind either way. Thus we tootled down to Morrisons to purchase a Betty Crocker Shake To Make US Pancake Mix. Yes, I have to confess, this isn't really a recipe at all. Dear reader, we cheated. Betty Crocker's finest The instructions were dead simple - fill with water to line, turn upside down and bang on counter (seriously, that's what it said), shake till smooth and fry. Easy. A monkey could've made this We also frazzled some go...

How to cook a plum . Mmm, mmm, mmmmmm "I'm on a food adventure to the extreme". These solemnly intoned words kick off the next instalment of Heston Blumenthal's Feasts . This week it's Heston's Medieval Feast . According to our man Heston, in the Middle Ages , food was used as an escape from the "brutality of life". We skip to a pseudo Bayeux Tapestry whilst Heston explains that meals were a veritable spectacle to distract people from a time when 75 million people succumbed to the Black Death . This week, all the guests meet with my approval because Andi Oliver 's a proper chef, Bill Paterson's been my hero since Traffik (with a K), John Thomson is Fat Bob , Liz McLarnon proved adorable when she won Celebrity Masterchef last year, I'm quite fond of Germaine Greer, and Craig Revel Horwood ... well, okay, most of the guests meet with my approval. Look at my lovely plum So what's Heston got up his sleeve for the appetiser? Meat fruit!...

Last year, one of the best foodie events I went to was the Real Food Festival held at Earls Court in London. Unlike many other such events, the Real Food Festival seeks to showcase smaller or more obscure food producers and bring them to the masses, with an emphasis on quality and sustainability. I had a fab time, meeting loads of lovely people, learning about new products and trying oodles of delicious samples and I even took in a sheep-shearing show. I even bumped into Toby Young although I've never really been sure about him since Eating With the Enemy . The Real Food Festival 2009 is being held over the weekend of 8-10 May at Earls Court . As well as lots to eat, drink and buy, there'll be another Sheep Show and a Chef's Theatre and Cookery School starring Thomasina Miers (Masterchef Winner 2005), Raymond Blanc, Tom Parker-Bowles , Ollie Rowe and Geeti Singh . Real Food Festival Tickets cost £14.90, but you can get 25% off if you use any of these discount codes he...

Late last year, in a vague effort to impress my husband’s work colleagues we introduced them to Archipelago in Bloomsbury, officially one of the most fun places to eat . According to TopTable , “If Archipelago were a film, it would definitely be one of the Indiana Jones series” and it’s a fair assessment. The exotic interior (© Archipelago) From the moment we walked in, our feet crunching on the (indoor) gravel doormat, we knew this would be interesting. The décor is an eccentric mix of golden Buddhas, giant peacock feathers, palm trees and Greek statuary, and the crockery and cutlery are equally mismatched. Moreover, everything in the restaurant is for sale, from Hindu gods to African drums. Last time we went, I picked up a rather nice Burmese lacquerware pot in an old Bagan style. Even the menu (which came on a beautiful scroll of parchment) features alarming dishes such as “Gigolo’s Packet” and “Mouse in the House” and ingredients such as scorpions, frogs, and 24 carat gold. Scor...

I'm beginning to feel quite sorry for Heston Blumenthal. Bad luck, norovirus, 'fowl' play, whatever the cause, 400 diners have now reported sickness after dining chez Fat Duck . Personally I suspect scamsters may just be leaping onto the band-wagon , as Heston had rather sweetly promised a special Fat Duck experience to the initial 40 diners who were taken ill to make up for their vomity horror. Good luck Heston, hope everything works out for the best and I promise not to be so rude about next week's Feast ...

They were selling this down Leather Lane , eight months out of date. Seriously though, wtf ?