Joomla! site syndication http://paulagoddard.com Sun, 06 Jul 2008 02:07:00 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://paulagoddard.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://paulagoddard.com Joomla! site syndication http://paulagoddard.com/blog/food/marmalade-recipe-for-bears-and-writers.html Paddington bear is celebrating his fiftieth birthday. Yes it's been five decades since the Peruvian immigrant with a love for marmalade sandwiches arrived at a certain railway terminus and took up residence with the Brown family. Their housekeeper, Mrs Bird, instinctively knew that bears need plentiful supplies of that bitter-sweet breakfast jam if they're to maintain the shine on their fur. And so a message was sent to the local grocer for top up supplies. How times have changed. Now finding and purchasing a decent pot of marmalade suitable for south American bears and Wiltshire-born writers with a penchant for chunky, dark and sour marmalade is virtually impossible. Blog - Food Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:09:16 +0100 http://paulagoddard.com/blog/food/macaroni-cheese-and-all-that.html Despite having a diverse culinary heritage inspired through invasion, it seems we British are more interested in mastering Italian cuisine than our own traditional dishes. A new European-wide survey by Apetina cheese (http://www.apetinacheese.co.uk/) found that 61% of the Brits that responded would prefer to cook as Pietro and Paola rather than Peter and Paulas. But I've got news for those pasta throwing wanna-bes – ravioli and macaroni have been part of British culture for centuries. Blog - Food Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:51:16 +0100 http://paulagoddard.com/blog/wine/englands-green-and-pleasant-wine.html It's English Wine Week (http://www.englishwineweek.co.uk/), so of course it must be raining. That pretty much captures the essence of what it's like to be an English winemaker - great when the sun shines but for the other 300 days of the year it's just plain hard work getting grapes to ripen in less than ideal conditions. Luckily newer cross-bred grape varieties make it easier to produce an end product surpassing New World competitors. Blog - Wine Tue, 27 May 2008 11:05:25 +0100 http://paulagoddard.com/blog/wine/three-quid-bargain-wine.html Many wine experts predicted the extinction of the three pound bottle from Britain's supermarket wine aisles following the Chancellor's recent duty increases. But rummage among the expensive named chateau in the 'French' wine aisle of your nearest Somerfield (http://www.somerfield.co.uk/) supermarket and you'll find a great bargain hiding behind a sepia monstrosity of a wine label. Mont Tauch Corbières 2006 may not look much from the outside but the young and vibrant wine inside will get you excited. Blog - Wine Sun, 25 May 2008 14:17:22 +0100 http://paulagoddard.com/blog/wine/got-the-blues.html The red was fruity and pleasant, but not something I’d want to pay more than £3.99 a bottle for. The dry rosé tasted of strawberries, but little else. Both had an easy-drinking nature which hinted that they might be French or Italian. But I was only half right. France and Italy make good mass-market wines and, yes, that red turned out to be a French Merlot. But the rosé was Spanish – and there’s a good chance you’d find them both on the shelves under ‘Germany’. Because these two wines are branded Blue Nun (http://www.bluenunwines.com/). Blog - Wine Wed, 21 May 2008 10:36:28 +0100