sushi & sashimi workshop at billingsgate seafood school, london.

A few weekends ago, I went down to London for a rather special cookery class - a sashimi and sushi workshop at the famous Billingsgate Seafood School. Although I suppose no cooking was to be involved for this one; instead we were led by talented sushi chef Silla Bjerrum through lessons in handling and sourcing seafood, flavour combinations, how to roll and all important knife skills. I couldn't wait to get started...

plum and ginger jam.

when life gives you plums, make plum jam. or rather, when i went over to my dad's for his birthday and he handed over a bucket of approximately 2.5kg of wild plums from his garden, it was probably a good time to learn how. i found this rather fantastic flexible jam recipe and as suggested, adapted it to suit me with a sprinkle of ginger for good measure.

macaron masterclass at l'atelier des chefs, london.

last weekend i donned my best floral dress, travelled down to sunny london and excitedly headed over to l'atelier de chefs cookery school by st pauls. for i was to become a master of macarons! or at least, that was the hope. with a fantastic line up of macaron flavours to make, we couldn't wait to get the sieves out, baking trays lined and mixers on to create the colourful treats.