Girlie Bliss

It’s been one of those weekends I love so much. You know the ones. The lazy, slow, pottering ones. Rob was working on Saturday and I had a bit of a lie in, missing the postman. There on my doorstep was a little red calling card telling me there was a parcel at the sorting office for me. Ooh fabulous, it was my Amazon order which I wasn’t expecting until Monday at the earliest! My weekend had just got even better. Because there in that box was a selection of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe films. One girlie Saturday coming up for me! So in between filling the washing machine, hanging the washing out on the line, and ironing my pyjamas I watched those Hollywood legends while dreams of a bygone era enveloped me.


(Picture from "The Seven Year Itch", 20th Century Fox)

I managed to tear myself away from the screen long enough to prepare our dinner, which consisted of succulent little lamb chops with roasted vegetables; courgettes, red peppers and new potatoes. Of course I should have remembered to put the courgettes in towards the end rather than at the beginning, because they are softer and take much less time, but I didn't, so they ended up rather mushy in the middle. How appetising. The Hollywood mist was still in my head. It was time to give in to it completely and put on a face mask and open a box of chocolates.



This afternoon we attended our beautiful God Daughter’s first birthday party where we were treated to a barbecue and cake. I told her I'd bake little cakes with her when she's older. Perhaps I'll be a fairy God Mother. Yes, I think I'd like that very much indeed.



Back home there was some dusting and tidying to be done before I could sink into a hot bath full of bubbles and my little rubber duck. Well, some things you never grow out of.



And now, slipping between the covers of my bed with honey-sweetened hot chocolate, a book, and my laptop to write to you on, the weekend draws to a close. Ahh….sweet dreams.

In the Bag: Cooking the month of September

We're back!!!

After a break last month (due to holidays and work and degrees and...), here we are again with another great bag of ingredients for you to go cook with.

I love this month's bag as we've chosen seasonal fruits, and better still, you get to choose them!

Scott's hosting this month, so take a trip over to his place, Real Epicurean, for entry details. Have fun!

One Blog, One Year

Exactly one year ago today I plunged into the world of blogging with ‘A Slice of Cherry Pie’ and my very first post. When I first dipped my toe into the water I felt all the excited and nervous feelings you get when you do something new for the first time.

I first discovered food blogging by clicking on a link from a website to the now iconic Chocolate & Zucchini and from there I found all these other amazing food blogs. I was thrilled to find this world that up until that point I hadn’t known about and I was completely awed by what I saw. It was these blogs that gave me the inspiration to start my own and I’m so pleased that I did. Where else would I have been able to pour out all my enthusiasm for food and cooking? Where else would I have met (both virtually and in real life) such wonderful people who share my interest?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being a food blogger over the last year. I’ve written 212 posts in that time and just for fun I thought I’d pick one from each month to reminisce over (bear with me here, I’m getting a little sentimental..). Here we go:

September ’06 – Breaking Down the Casserole
If there’s one thing I love to make throughout Autumn and Winter it’s a casserole. I get so much pleasure in transforming cheaper cuts of meat into something special. And to me a casserole really is special. It’s hearty, family-sized, warming and comforting, home-cooked food that's full of love. Who wouldn’t want to come home to that after a long walk home on a cold, dark evening?

October ’06 – Plum and Blackberry Crumble
I was thinking about this only yesterday when I was deciding whether or not to make a crumble. I came across this combination accidentally and it’s definitely one to try again. Soon.

November ’06 – Simplicity at it’s Best
If you have eggs you have a meal. Simple.

December ’06 – A Recipe to Evoke the Spirit of Christmas
Oooh Christmas! I so love it and I could go on and on about it but I won’t. It’s only September and you might slap me.

January ’07 – Mmm….Marmite
That fabulously sticky brown goo in a pot that is oh so British. Do you love it or do you hate it?

February ’07 – Self-Catering
We took a Valentine’s holiday in a log cabin down in gorgeous Summer set (I know I’m cheating here by choosing two posts but they are linked), and cooked some lovely food. I wish I were back there now!

March ’07 – Hearty Irish Fare
I embraced the Irish in me for St Patrick’s Day with this traditional, homely dish that’s very tasty and very filling.

April ’07 – Easter Cake Bake Round Up!
I had so much fun hosting my first ever food blogging event, Easter Cake Bake. I had 29 fantastic entries that quite frankly blew me away. You’re a talented lot!

May ’07 – Patience is a Virtue
Risotto is fabulous food, isn’t it? Comforting and very versatile - throw in what you like.

June ’07 – A Gastro Tour of Borough Market
I’ll never forget the first time I met fellow bloggers for the first time. I had such a great time and it was so nice to finally meet people I’d been communicating with through our blogs.

July ’07 – Chorizo and Canellini Bean Soup
I love soup and this is a really punchy one with the great Spanish chorizo sausage.

August ’07 – Proper Burgers
You just can’t buy ‘em like this!

Phew, well there you have it – 12 months of food blogging! When I look back over the last year and all my posts I’m reminded of how much time and energy, and how much of myself, I put into this blog. And that is not a complaint - I enjoy every aspect of it. I enjoy the food, the cooking, taking the photographs, writing and putting it all together on a post. Perhaps most of all I love to see how the blog is evolving over time. I spent a lot of time, particularly in the early days, tinkering with the HTML (blame my IT background for that!), choosing a colour scheme, playing with the layout and the fonts – making it my own. It has evolved in other ways too, I now have a monthly newsletter (which you can sign up for by entering your email address in the box on the navigator on the left), I run a monthly food blogging event with Cherry from Cherry's English Kitchen and Scott at Real Epicurean (by the way we took a break last month but will be back very soon with another bag of goodies) and I have a list on the left hand navigator of all the fantastic sites that link to 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'. Best of all I can look back on what I’ve cooked, the recipes I’ve created, the reasons for cooking what I did when – a diary of food, food, food!

Now, I would be lying if I said there were never times when I just feel too tired to blog, times when it feels like an effort, times when I just don’t have the energy. Thankfully those times are the exception rather than the rule. And then they pass and I get another bolt of energy and inspiration; I read a new cookbook, I get excited about an ingredient or a new dish and I’m posting again to tell you about it.

At the end of the day, it's you who makes it all worthwhile. You visit me from all over the world and tell me what you think of my recipes and pictures, you explain how ingredients are used in your part of the world, you share your ideas, you make me smile. I know you’re there reading what I write and that, my friends, is simpy wonderful. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Julia x

Dover Sole with Warm New Potato and Runner Bean Salad

Rob’s uncle gave us some runner beans fresh from his allotment today. They looked and smelt amazing; vibrantly green with a fresh aroma. There’s nothing like vegetables that fresh and they’re best eaten as soon as possible.



To go with the beans for dinner I picked up some Dover Sole, new potatoes and sweet cherry tomatoes on the vine.

I cut off the frills, head and tail from the fish and skinned it (the skin can be pulled off easily) then lightly seasoned each side and fried it gently in a little olive oil and butter, turning half way through. This is a beautifully and delicately flavoured fish that really needs no other flavouring, which is likely to overpower it anyway.

I left the tomatoes on the vine and fried them in the same pan as the fish, and I halved the new potatoes and boiled them until tender in salted water with a few sprigs of mint. The runner beans simply needed a little trim each end, cutting diagonally and boiling for just a few minutes in the same pan as the potatoes. I served them mixed together with a squeeze of lemon and drizzle of olive oil.

I can’t tell you how delicious it all was; proof on a plate that fresh, seasonal ingredients need no frills, just simple cooking.