Many years ago, when we had a website called Didsbury Life, promoting independent businesses in Didsbury and West Didsbury, we had a beautiful office, right on Burton Road. We designed the logo for this business and commissioned our very talented friend, Amanda, to...
Well, that's almost a Christmas wrap. We've spent the last few days hunkered down, with the wood-burners on, lights twinkling, candles flickering and eating all manner of luxurious food at the most inappropriate times of the day. Chocolates for breakfast, with a tot...
The base recipe for this soup is exactly the same as the one I posted last year, but this time I did a couple of things differently. I decided not to whizz the soup this time, keeping the vegetables a bit more chunky - this made the final broth a little less creamy in...
As the temperatures have started to plummet - the fires have been lit just recently for the first time this year, so this chilliness, even in December, has caught us on the hop - and so our thoughts are turning very much to food that is winter warming. And just...
Kozlović winery is one of the best-known wineries in Istria. The family has been producing wines since 1904, and today, the winery is run by its fourth generation. We are lucky that it's about twenty minutes from our house and so we can visit at less busy times -...
San Servolo is a well renowned independent craft brewery in Buje, in northern Istria, producing excellent beers and pale ales. I'm not a beer fan, but have been known to have a bottle or two of the gorgeous red beer, so that's a recommendation in itself. As well as...
Our renovated kitchen is small, but with everything we need, and is painted in a soft grey to maximise the feeling of space. Worktops are kept largely clear of clutter, again to ensure that we don't feel hemmed in. We carefully worked on the design of the room, to...
Although it seems like no time since the long, heady days of summer, we're well into October now and only a week away from the clocks going back an hour. Usually, we've had the wood-burner lit by now, and our logs delivered. But not this year. Since early April, we've...
We're not short of places to buy food here. Istria is stuffed to the gills with supermarkets - Lidl, Spar. Kaufland, Konzum, Studenac, Eurospin, Tomy, Plodine, Butiga Ultra. They come in all shapes and sizes from the small convenience store (think Tesco Express) to...
As summer has passed, so too have overly summery dinners. Gone are the cool, green salads and light dishes and in come the more hearty recipes. Eating outdoors isn't really an option any longer - although we still have sunshine, there's a chill in the air and it all...