Nature's Cocktail Cabinet 1

Now, I know that technically, there is no such thing as blackberry cassis ... Cassis is traditionally made from blackcurrants, and I am perfectly aware that blackberries are not blackcurrants. But I rather like the romance of it. Blackberry liqueur sounds like a perfectly sensible name for Blackberry Vodka, but Blackberry Cassis sounds darker somehow. A little more mysterious. Like something you might find in an old Somerset kitchen, written in faded ink in the back of a rec

A refreshing taste of summer beneath the apple trees ... There are some places that quietly become part of your story. For us, Wady's Cider Orchard and Taproom is one of them. On warm summer afternoons, it's one of our favourite places to escape for an hour or two. Sitting beneath the apple trees with a chilled drink in hand, watching the light filter through the orchard, you can't help but slow down. There's something wonderfully simple about it all ... the scent of apples

The Black Nebula Spritz ... An elegant aperitif inspired by a heritage carrot, an old family recipe and a neighbour's garden. Some recipes begin with a carefully planned shopping list, The Black Nebula Spritz begin with a message from a neighbour ... Whenever Beverley invites me round to try something from her garden, I know I'm in for something a little out of the ordinary. This week, she shared a photograph of freshly pulled Black Nebula carrots on Facebook and casually ann

A Somerset Fairy Tale (With a Cocktail at the End) Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin... Every fairy tale contains an element of truth. As with all stories handed down through the years, however, they have a habit of acquiring a little extra sparkle in the retelling. Such is the tale of the Fig Leaf & Gooseberry Spritz. And like every good story ... Every recipe has a beginning. Sometimes it's a scribbled idea in a notebook. Sometimes it's inspired by a memora

The drink I nearly didn't make ... This drink almost never existed, but then ... While making my Blackberry & Mangelwurzel Jelly ( Deliciously Unique Blackberry and Mangelwurzel Jelly Recipe to Try ), I found myself standing over a pan of the most beautiful ruby-red juice I'd ever made. It seemed almost criminal to watch every last drop disappear into the preserving pan. So I quietly poured 100ml into a jug. No plan. No recipe. Just curiosity. What followed was one of those

There are certain things growing in the garden that you look at every year and think, surely I could do something with that. Fig leaves are one of mine. We all get terribly excited about the figs themselves. We wait for them to ripen, eat them with cheese, put them in tarts, roast them, turn them into chutney and generally make a great fuss of them. Meanwhile, the poor leaves are just standing there. So I started wondering what would happen if I brought them into the kitchen