Following my chat just yesterday on BBC Radio Kent I thought I would write my blog today about cookery books. The story came about as Delia Smith headlined in The Telegraph on 14th November 2017 with ‘the cookbook is dead, just get your recipes online’. Delia Smith has been made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour and had an article in the daily paper declaring that ‘the cookbook is dead and she will not be writing another… Printed recipes are pointless now that

At last nights Autumnal supper demonstration at the Little Bull pub in Brenchley I made a homemade pesto. I was slightly surprised that nobody had made pesto themselves before and had always bought it in a jar. This prompted me to have a look at pesto in a little more depth, as I do both cheat and particularly when I have lots of basil in the garden or an abundance of a particular vegetable I make a pesto with it. Pesto is a sauce but be more generous with the olive oil (favo

Wow, its been a scorcher this week hope you haven’t all melted… as we all agree it is beautiful if you are lying by a pool sipping a G&T but if you are working, running errands and generally doing things, or even travelling it is miserable. I have spent quite a bit of time in the cool surrounds of my air-conditioned car these past few days and taken some time to visit a few locations on my list in Kent. I do wonder what we did before air conditioning in cars? I remember never

Interesting read and quite timely as my blog last week was questioning the future of our cookery skills.  Waitrose Weekend newspaper – 27th April 2017  “Youngsters are learning the benefits of cooking from scratch earlier than ever…” I teach at several local schools in Surrey and Kent and completely agree with the article in the Waitrose newspaper. Cookery classes are becoming as popular as swimming and ballet! However the reason I agree with the article is that it is not all

List of events in the diary, constantly being added and amended. So check back frequently. **** Date: Wednesday 4th October Event: Monthly ‘hands on’ supper club –  ‘Choctails – An evening of chocolate’ Venue: Crockham Hill Village Hall. Time: 7.30-9.30pm. After a popular evening at ‘Temper Temper’ in Tunbridge Wells we will be running something similar here in Crockham Hill. An evening of chocolate with two chocolate cocktails made in front of you (even a chance to have a go

This time we will be making some summer recipes : picnic ideas, preparing seasonal fruit and vegetables and summery sweets! “Cookery is a life skill and a subject I feel very passionate about! I have two daughters and I feel the more children can be involved in preparing food – from the beginning – the more likely they will enjoy eating and exploring adventurous tastes and flavours.” Date:  Friday 25th August 2017 Time: 10-3pm Cost:  £40 includes all ingredients and lunch Age

This time we will be making some summer recipes : picnic ideas, preparing seasonal fruit and vegetables and summery sweets! Date:  Wednesday 26th July 2017 Time: 10-3pm Cost:  £40 includes all ingredients and lunch Age Group: Boys & Girls aged 8-12 years Location: Crockham Hill Village Hall, TN8 6RP Please REMEMBER to bring a snack/drink and a container for you to take your goodies home in! For further details email jobanks@alivewithflavour.com Places are limited and need to

Riverford boxes of organic fruit and vegetables have been available for many years, delivered to your door. I would say they were the first company I remember and now they are one of many. I used to have a weekly Riverford delivery when the children were a little younger but cancelled due to work, school and supper time chaos! I loved the fact that I got lots of different vegetables in particular.  In the supermarket I would tend to stick with the usual comfort of carrots and

Thursday 19th April – Hazelwood School, Art Room After 8 years dedicated to food, Jo Banks brings creative recipe ideas together through fun, clear, interactive presentations and hands-on workshops/classes. “Cookery is a life skill and a subject I feel very passionate about! I have two daughters and I feel the more children can be involved in preparing food – from the beginning – the more likely they will enjoy eating and exploring adventurous tastes and flavours.” This time

Another week has whizzed past, sticking with no alcohol and watching the calories, who said this was a good idea? I have had to look harder at hardy winter vegetables that are in season and thinking about more adventurous recipes in the kitchen. Love all the swede and turnips particularly butternut squash, sweet potatoes and of course carrots, cauliflower, chard, kale, leeks, and parsnips. So easy just simply roasting these vegetables and I do like Brussel sprouts but you may

So January is quite a dull month. Short of money as we are paying off credit cards and Christmas expenses, weather is very cold and then in this country very wet… and certainly in our house we are trying to be good with cutting back on sugary, fatty snacks and its the 19th and I have not had one glass of wine, which has to be a record… With this I have had a busy week of looking at healthier after school snack options. Both of my daughters come in starving after school and of

Ingredients: A little butter 4 slices of bread 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons milk a handful of fresh mint leaves 2 handfuls of frozen peas or corn kernels small handful of cheddar or parmesan cheese Turn the oven on to 375F (190C) Gas 5. Put a little butter on a piece of paper towel and rub it inside 4 of the holes in the muffin pan to grease it. Lay a piece of bread on chopping board and use the round cutter to cut out a circle of bread. Press it into the muffin pan. Do the same

I love this recipe as its a throw in one pot and pop in the oven. You add the sliced pieces of smoked salmon to serve with a little fresh dill. Ingredients: rapeseed oil for frying 500g leeks, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, crushed 300g risotto rice 500ml vegetable stock 750ml milk 100ml creme fraiche juice of 2 lemons 200g smoked salmon pieces fresh dill Heat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Using a oven/flameproof casserole dish with a lid, fry the oil and leeks for a few minutes un

So today the girls break up from school and the routine all changes as we have a couple of weeks of well earned holidays. Last night we went up to Kew Gardens to see the Christmas lights and they really are magical. Some displays are with music and others are just a feature like the ‘beehive’ – beautiful and if you are already booked in this Christmas to visit, I hope you enjoy as much as we did! Christmas presents are nearly all wrapped and I have posted all my cards (that w

Our teenage daughter was born in the states, Tennessee to be precise so we used to celebrate Thanksgiving in a big way. It was a good time of year for family to come from the UK and visit away from the Christmas holidays and we found Thanksgiving was more popular than Christmas for bringing American families together. Falling on the fourth Thursday of November the festival dates from 1621, when a group of New England pilgrims served a feast to their Native American neighbours

A few years ago I went on a course to learn how to master macaroons. It is not an easy skill and quite time consuming but if you have time and energy a fun way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. Ingredients: 350g icing sugar 250g ground almonds 215g egg whites (use older eggs) 150g caster sugar 5g powdered food colour For the macaroon shells: Preheat the oven to 155’C. Sift the ground almonds and the icing sugar together. Whisk the egg whites until white and fluffy and then

These work for any round cheese brie or camembert. Chilli-Pecan Camembert Ingredients: 50 g pecan halves, coarsely chopped 1 fresh jalapeño chilli (or other fresh green chilli), seeded and finely chopped 70 g apricot jam 1 round (250 g) Camembert cheese (about 10-11 cm in diameter) 1/2 large French baguette (about 200-225 g total weight) Olive oil Directions: Preheat oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/Gas 5. Coarsely chop pecans. Finely chop jalapeño using Food Chopper. In small bowl, c

A quick easy, one pot risotto made in the microwave. I use a stone dish but any microwave proof bowl or serving dish would work. 175g Arborio risotto rice 1 onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, pressed 1 tablespoon olive oil 100g dry cured Spanish chorizo sausage, diced 800ml boiling stock made with 2 chicken stock cubes 65g sun dried tomatoes, drained and diced 40g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley Place rice, onion, garl

These rich chocolate flavour cupcakes with beetroot added have a moist, fluffy light texture and a fresh raspberry hidden inside. Ingredients: 200 ml sunflower oil plus extra for greasing 175 g self-raising flour 75 g unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted 250 g golden caster sugar ½ teaspoon baking powder 250 g vacuum-packed cooked beetroot in natural juices (total weight), drained and juice reserved 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 24 fresh raspberries (about 85 g total weight),

Ingredients: 2-3 vacumn packed beetroot 2 ripe bananas 120ml cooking oil 160g coconut cream 275g plain flour 50g cocoa powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 150g caster sugar Method: Preheat oven to 180C. Pop into a blender your beetroot, bananas, oil, bicarbonate of soda, and coconut cream. Pulse to a pink paste. Scrape pink mixture into mixing bowl with flour, cocoa powder and sugar, mix well. Grease a loaf tin and scrape the batter mixture in. Pop into the oven on the middle sh