Holidays, book news & a catalogue of veg-filled Christmas recipes from the archive
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Hello you lovely lot.
I’m abandoning the crispy bean canes and the mushy courgette plants; Ignoring the sludgy spring onions and slug-nibbled beetroot and leaving for Australia. In fact, I’m already here. The tidying up can wait for a couple of weeks. But don’t fret, I’ll be sharing my feasts and recipes from my Aussie trip here - more on that below.
There’s also news of another holiday in this edition, to France. And you’re invited. Come hungry and ready to cook.
In the meantime, I’ve more book news and a huge great feast of Christmas recipes from the archives. t’s never too early to start planning the menu.
Can we put the carols on now…
(TECHNICAL NOTE: There are a LOT of recipes here and they might not all fit in your email. If so, just hit VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE at the end of the email, or head to the app or online version.)
Tales from the Veg Patch in Australia
I’m away in Australia for a couple of weeks this month. So, rather than leave you with pre-programmed recipe posts (which I think can be a bit soulless sometimes), I’ll drop (as the kids say) one big post whilst I’m away sharing some of the recipes I’m cooking and what I’m eating. This means you’ll hear from me a bit less regularly over the next 3 weeks, but you’ll still be well fed.
We can all marvel at the bedraggled-ness of the veg patch on my return. And don’t even mention the allotment…
And if you feel like coming with me, follow my Aussie feasting on my Instagram too.
Food and Photography trip to France - June 2025
More holiday plans!
My long time collaborator
and I have been invited to Manoir Mouret, a stunning rural farmhouse in South West France (think vineyard, kitchen garden, swimming pool, famous nearby market - a film set, basically) to run a 4-day food and photography break 19-23 June 2025.Think of it as the most delicious French house party experience during which you learn to create mouth-watering, seasonal dishes & capture them beautifully on your phone.
Our hosts, Margaret and Jack, escaped the UK rat race a decade ago and moved to France where the have become pros at running retreats (and, just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, making wine as well) from their unfeasibly lovely farmhouse.
Here we are talking about the plans:
It’s filling up quite quickly (which is lovely, and a relief) so if it sounds like your bag, do get in touch with Margaret soon.
Rough Patch update
It’s all feeling very close now. Just over 2 months, give or take, to publication day on 6th February 2025. I’m wading through proofs, recording the audiobook, and fretting over the acknowledgements and dedication (it’s to the dogs, obviously, but how and which and in what order?)
I’ll be sharing some sneak previews with you soon. But you bagsy your copy here:
In the meantime, is my cookbook on your Christmas list?
Or perhaps you’d like a personalised and signed copy posting to a loved one as a gift? Like this:
Drop me a message and I’ll get it sorted (£25 + postage):
Christmas from the archives
Nope, it’s not too early to be menu planning. I’ll have lots of new festive recipes for you in December, but for now, here’s some I’m cooking from the archive.
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