Category Archives: Drinks

several hours before the mast ……

Posted on August 3, 2017 by

As an archivist I would make an excellent document shredder. I have been a professional photographer for 50 years yet, from the paucity of hard evidence confirming that boast, it would be easier to believe that there is intelligent life … Continue reading →

Posted in 2017, Art photography, Drinks, Excellence, Excess, fashion, Humour, lifestyle, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

smoke and sorcery….

Posted on May 18, 2017 by

This morning I awoke to the scent of wood smoke; a scent so filled with memories that I wished it could somehow be preserved. On inspection it was clear that some red hot ashes, all that remained of last night’s log fire, had metamorphosed … Continue reading →

Posted in 2017, apples, Calvados, cherries, Cherries in Kirsch, desserts, Digital photography, Drinks, Excellence, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, Fruit, Herbs and Spices, Memory, Mirabelles, Pears, Photography, photography course, Photography holiday, Plums, Poire William, Poire William, Recipes, Uncategorized, vanilla, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

taking the piss….

Posted on April 21, 2017 by

Manneken Pis, Pissenlit, Pisse-Dru, Tant Pis, Pissaladiere…there’s something very French about pissing; about not searching for a convenient bush or shady corner but just having a piss when the moment takes you.  I should make it clear that this is singularly, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2017, anchovies, Baking, Bay leaves, capers, Cooking, Digital photography, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, Mediterranean food, Olive oil, olives, onions, photography course, Photography holiday, Pissaladiere, summer, tart, Thyme, Uncategorized, Wine, wine, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

lunch…alone…

Posted on February 10, 2017 by

“…lost to almost everything but a vague sense of jam and idleness”*  Although, pace Maggie Tulliver, in my case “jam” was supplanted by “lunch”. This perfectly conceived emotion had caught my imagination as I was reading last night and had come flooding back … Continue reading →

Posted in 2017, Cuisine bourgeoise, Digital photography, Drinks, Eggs, Excellence, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, Humour, oeufs meurette, Photography, photography course, Photography holiday, poached eggs, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

a bunch of whoppers….

Posted on July 1, 2016 by

Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head. Radishes have an unmistakable affinity with untruths  or, as they’re more commonly known, lies. Good ones are well formed and attractively packaged in bunches which seductive combination is irresistible, even if you don’t know … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Cuisine bourgeoise, Digital photography, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, Humour, Photography, radishes, Shopping, Uncategorized, wine, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

on retaining one’s paddle when up that creek…

Posted on June 13, 2016 by

There is a creeping despondency in the air that is almost tangible. This glum onset of what should be bright summer is eerily apposite. I am truly grateful not to live in the mainstream of life any more and to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Alistair Little, Art photography, Cookery Writers, Cooking, Digital photography, Drinks, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, peppers, Photography, tomatoes, Vegetables, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

bored of the flies…..

Posted on June 9, 2016 by

The sun has finally, if temporarily, ceased its curmudgeonly behaviour and has had the good seasonal grace  to put on its hat and come out to play.Summer’s forte lies in promises rather than foreplay and as these promises are so … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Art photography, Digital photography, Drinks, Emotion, Expectation, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, Humour, lifestyle, Photography, summer, Uncategorized, wine, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

..a rude awakening….

Posted on May 31, 2016 by

When I was first awakened by the black cock it would be fair to say that I was not ready for it. I sleep deeply, maybe not the sleep of the just but, having never experienced that, in a sleep that is … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Bistro, Chicken, Chicken, Cookery Writers, Cooking, coq au vin, Cuisine bourgeoise, Digital photography, Drinks, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, Humour, Meat, Poultry, Recipes, Stephane Reynaud, Uncategorized, wine, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

‘aving a larf..

Posted on May 16, 2016 by

It is not unusual for children to dislike, and to take extreme steps to avoid, both vegetables and Shakespeare. I prefer vegetables to either children or Shakespeare which preference may well be blamed on their parallel and equally irritating proclivity to tell jokes that aren’t funny; it … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Cookery Writers, Cooking, Digital photography, Elizabeth David, fennel, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, Herbs and Spices, Humour, onions, peppers, Photography, Recipes, Saucisses a la Navarrais, Uncategorized, Vegetables, wine, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

too Little too late….

Posted on April 20, 2016 by

There was a time, not all that long ago, when quantity and quality were unlikely bedfellows. It would be rare indeed for them to be seen together, even just holding hands, let alone snuggled up together under the duvet where it … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Alistair Little, asparagus, Asparagus risotto, Cookery Writers, Cooking, Digital photography, Excellence, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, friendship, Humour, Martini, Parmesan, Photographic Prints, Photography, Recipes, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments