I embroidered this rose in the absolute certainty that it was a dog rose, Rosa canina, the wild rose that clambers around English hedgerows to such delightful effect during glorious June. Nicholas Hilliard’s miniature painting, Young Man  among Roses (13.5 by 7.3 cm; watercolour on vellum, c.1587) comes into my mind when I think of […]

Last week I bought Biscuit by Miranda Gore Browne (Ebury Press 2012). I’ve plumbed the crumby depths of all my existing cookery books and this one looked full of new recipes and and interesting ideas. This is the first recipe I’ve tried and I was a bit surprised at not being given a temperature specifically for […]