‘See if there is any bacon, and if there is, ask the cook which pan to fry it in. Then ask if there are any eggs, and if so, try to persuade the cook to poach two of them. It is better not to attempt toast as it burns very easily’. This is a wonderful little article about a book, Favourite Recipes of Famous Women – a collection of recipes from women in the 1920s, famous for various reasons. The above quotation is from Zelda Fitzgerald. Sigh. If only one had a cook…

I love the sound of this programme at the University of Vermont, connecting food studies to practical food work in a kitchen setting.

I discovered the Eater Upsell podcast. Did you all know about this? I feel like I totally should have. It is a great series of food conversations with various food writers/cooks/chefs/TV personalities. My favourites so far include Yotam Ottolenghi (whose cafe in Notting Hill I finally visited at the weekend – the blackberry pistachio financier was a thing of beauty), David Lebovitz and Gabrielle Hamilton, whose book Blood, Bones and Butter is one of my favourite chef memoirs ever. I’m currently lusting after her Prune cookbook. On Saturday I listened to the conversation with Jessica Koslow, owner of Sqirl. I want to learn how to make jam like she does! Also this super short video about cooking and writing from the conversation they had with Dan Barber of Stone Barns.

How much does this story not make you want to shed a tear? Children reading to animals living in a shelter. (Shamelessly stolen from Sarah.)

‘It turns out there is no such thing as too much cheese’. A cheese bar to visit the next time you’re in NYC.(Thanks Jen!)

In case you are suffering from a feeling that you will never have enough to buy a house/start a family/function as a normal adult, you are not alone. Turns out, our whole generation is feeling the brunt of stagnating income and we are being cut out of wealth. And suffering seriously as a result.

Are you watching The Piglet tournament? I find it fascinating. I also don’t really understand how they make the initial round selections – how does a bakery book go up against a vegetable book? What is the algorithm? If you’re the reviewer, how do you get over your bias?

This week I’m reading Corvus: A Life with Birds. I’ve only really just started it, a few pages in but I love the descriptions of the doves and their dovecote. I borrowed it from my new favourite library in West Bridgford. It is new, light and bright with fantastically organised selections near the front (I am almost always overwhelmed by the choice in the fiction section so I appreciate smaller recommendations of books, or new reads etc). This one has a note in the front for you to write your thoughts on the novel as part of their ‘Better with Books’ reading chain. They also have Rachel Roddy’s cookbook Five Quarters: Recipes and Notes from a Kitchen in Rome which I’ve been wanting to read for ages. I will have to ask for it to be reserved as it is super popular but yay!

x