For the Love of Crumpets

Who doesn't love a good, hot, buttered crumpet?

I'm talking about the snacks, you naughty things.

English crumpets are irresistible at any time of the day. They're great smeared with Marmite for breakfast, topped with fried, scrambled or poached eggs for lunch, or served with a little honey or jam for afternoon tea. They're one of those foods that are like a great big culinary hug; especially good for a grey, drizzly day.

Crumpets are similar to pancakes but more like a bread - they're made with yeast - and they have a sponge-like texture with deep holes in the top; perfect for soaking up delicious butter as it melts into them.



But back to the innuendoes. I could forgive you for thinking bad thoughts when you read the first sentence of this post, crumpets are, after all, just full of smutty and comic possibilities. Just think of their hot, rough tops slathered in melting butter that oozes over your lips and dribbles down your chin as you bite into them. OK, I'm sorry, I'll stop. But just to prove my point I asked my friends on Twitter to give me their best 'food porn' words about crumpets and told them to do their worst. And my goodness, did they! Many were unprintable, but here are the rest (bordering on ok!):

@direbonappetit unctious, drizzling, hot butter

@france_normandy Moist and ready buttered.

@glamah Cant resist... There once a Strumpet that loved Crumpets. The holes filled with butter, made her heart all aflutter

@johnonfood fulsome and unctuous

@MoreMangetout how about some softly yeilding flesh? Or warm butter dribbling down chins? Now I want some crumpets!

@goingwithmygut I trumpet that a hot oily salty crumpet could turn me strumpet (how's that for abysmal poetry)

@ginandcrumpets Crumpets are a bread sieve for butter, which fortunately does not sieve that well. So more of a butter sponge really.

@MaisonCupcake Poke 'em with your toasting fork!

@josordoni Ooh Matron your holes are all buttery...

@goingwithmygut There once was a young lady food strumpet // Who from restos and kitchens would trumpet // Said a hater "she's a 'ho"... Said a fan "Oh I dunno..." // "I think she's quite a thinking man's crumpet"

@johnonfood squelchy

@meemalee Big, oozing holes.

@suzler Haha! Hot buttered buns to sink your teeth into ...

@Farctum spreadable, juicy, just waiting for the application of a little honey (ooo er missus did I really just tweet that?)

@oliverthring Rumpy-pumpy with my crumpy.

@suzler Ooh, smearing butter into every nook so it'll dribble out all over your fingers with the first bite.

Discover the Origin - Winner Announcement

Thank you to everyone who entered the 'Discover the Origin' competition to win a fabulous hamper. Earlier today I put the name of everyone who entered into a hat and pulled out the winner...

...Claire Packham!

Many congratulations Clare.

Embracing Autumn

I do love this time of year. The colours outside are so incredibly beautiful, it's sometimes hard to believe that they come from nature and not a painter's palette. On my morning walk to the station my path is carpeted with russet leaves and the tree outside my office window has slowly turned through greens, golds and reds over the past few weeks. We've been blessed with blue skies and bright sunshine on some days and seen darkening grey clouds and rain on others. It's been a glorious autumn.

As the nights draw in I like the gradual retreat back indoors, the closing of the curtains, the pulling out of the blankets and the lighting of the candles. It's time to snuggle up in oversized jumpers and read classic books. And I've started one of my favourite autumn and winter hobbies: jigsaws. I can lose hours on a Sunday afternoon pondering over the pieces as the rain hits the window.



The festivities of Halloween and Bonfire night bring fun for children young and old. Little witches and ghouls cry "trick or treat?" as carved pumpkins glow in the dark night, and cold, pink faces light up by the glow of the bonfire as electric fireworks explode in the sky.





I'm baking potatoes and I'm caramalising onions, pot roasting game birds and stewing beef. I've made pear and blackberry tarts and baked apples stuffed with brown sugar and sultanas. I don't think I want this autumn to end.

Farewell Floyd: The Round-up

James and I have had such a hard time choosing three winning entries from all the fantastic ones that came in for our tribute to Keith Floyd, the 'Farewell Floyd' food blogging event. We asked you to cook a classic or adapted Floyd recipe or a recipe of your own design inspired by Keith Floyd. Here's a round-up of all the posts:

'White Onion Soup - A tribute to Keith Floyd' from Annes Kitchen



'Chicken Breast with Beetroot Sauce - Farewell Floyd!' from Maison Mattmoo



'Keith Floyd tribute: Welsh rarebit makeover' from Weekend Carnivore



'Shrimp, Mango and Ginger Stir Fry' from Apple Crumbles



'Floyd's Tabbouleh' from A Wee Bit of Cooking



'Farewell Floyd' from The Princess and the Recipe



'Keith Floyd's Beef Bourgignon' from Them Apples



'Farewell Floyd - Jambalaya' from Foodycat



'Farewell to Floyd' from Jo's Kitchen



'Chicken Tagine with Butternut Basmati Rice' from Pan Gravy Kadai Curry



'Coq au Vin - A Tribute to Keith Floyd' from Anyone for Seconds?



'Kenyan Goat Feast - For Farewell Floyd: Food Blogging Event' from Going With My Gut



'Keith Floyd's Lapin aux pruneaux (Sauté of wild rabbit with prunes and Armagnac)' from Joanna's Food



Aren't they all brilliant posts? We found it incredibly difficult to judge, I can tell you. I wish we could give prizes to everyone but we can at least give three people a prize. The winning entries are:

'Kenyan Goat Feast - For Farewell Floyd: Food Blogging Event' from Going With My Gut

'Farewell Floyd - Jambalaya' from Foodycat

'Coq au Vin - A Tribute to Keith Floyd' from Anyone for Seconds?



Well done to everyone. The winning bloggers will receive a copy of the newly re-printed 'Floyd's Food', Keith Floyd's first ever cookbook, published by Absolute Press. With thanks to Absolute Press for donating the prizes.