Raindrops keep falling…

Anyone who knows me knows that I find it difficult to switch off. Whenever a holiday approaches I always find myself doing the same thing: I promise that I will take a break this time, that I will put away the laptop, tidy away the notes, stop thinking about work for a while and rest up. Of course, this never happens – or at least it only does so for a day or two. Believe me, I’ve found myself lying awake in a cool bed in an air-conditioned room in everywhere from Miami to Jamaica, my mind swimming with ideas for cookery books, television programmes and new forms of cooking technology.

Let’s hear it for New York – London, Belfast and …..

Looking back through old blogs, and reflecting upon the thousands of words scribbled here, I’ve begun to realise something. There are two recurrent themes in my writing: food and travel. These, one could argue, are your most basic human imperatives. I might complain about it, but I’ve always felt the need to go exploring, to discover new worlds – brave or otherwise.This urge gives my life a strange, often frustrating propulsion: I get twitchy if I stay in the same place for too long, yet I get homesick when I’ve been away for too long. And I’m away from home a lot.

Of course, the reason that I find myself in a state of perpetual motion is because of food and kitchen appliances. If I had never chosen the profession in which I am now ensconced, I sorely doubt that I would have trotted as much of the globe as I have. People all over the world need food and kitchen appliances, and in most instances they like their food to be tasty and not too much hassle to prepare. It’s that need which has led to me demonstrating cooking techniques from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, and from The Great Wall Of China to Toronto’s CN Tower.

YouTube

Hey there.

Just popping by with a quick update. No need to put the kettle on or fetch the French fancies from that biscuit tin you keep for special occasions.

You might already know that I have my very own channel on YouTube. If you grow tired of looking up viral videos of cats playing the piano or celebrities falling over, you can see clips featuring me cooking and the other things I get up to.

cheese, muck and radio

Question: what do a Jewish radio station, a new pair of wellies (green) and over 2,000 flavours of cheese have in common?

Answer: they were all on my “to do” list first thing this morning.

I know you were probably expecting a much funnier punch line after such a teasing build-up, but at least it’s factually accurate. Believe me, the past twenty-four hours arguably rank amongst the most surreal of my life. If you want funny, how about me running through one of my trademark in a set of Chef’s whites and a pair of wellington boots?

A Week in the life of an Aga demonstrator

Here’s hoping you will never be unfortunate enough to find yourself in a supermarket at yawn o’clock…  Imagine me, wandering like a lost waif around the store at the wrong side of dawn. I’m neither bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed, the lights suspended overhead are blinding, and the whole place smells of fruit and cleaning product. Not [...]