The Best French Food is Slow FoodPumpjack & Piddlewick

French food

The French do food really well. They especially do slow food exceptionally well. Take the Boeuf Bourguinon. Slow cooking not only makes your meat so very very tender, it also gives you the opportunity to try tastier (not to mention cheaper) cuts of meat. Yet the most important thing, is it gives you time. You prepare and let it cook, and cook, and cook. Whilst you do something else. Very French.

Champagne Currants

This year I am awash in strawberries and raspberries from my garden. But sandwiched in between, along my back garden stone wall, are four bushes of currants. One is a red currant, one is black and the other two are Champagne currants. Champagne currants are my favourite of the three,Continue Reading

Why would someone drink horse milk? Let alone even make it. Only in France. Or is it? We delve here at PumpjackPiddlewick

Horse milk ~ have you ever tried it?

‘Only in France‘ are the words that pop into my mind when I came across Horse Milk (Chevalait) in my local French market. And of course, because I didn’t even know that you could get milk from horses (though, yeah, if you think about it… duh, cows, goats…mares), I hadContinue Reading

What is a typical breakfast in France? Is it really croissant? Or is it something else. We delve at PumpjackPiddlewick

On Baguettes, Croissants and Breakfast in France

Let us talk about Breakfast in France. This of course means delving into the life of baguettes and croissants and how they play a part in French life. There is a particular, worldwide fascination with French bread, and particularly the baguette. And for all the right reasons. It is delicious.Continue Reading

Don't panic if you have to cook for a vegetarian. We've got your back and can help make it easy here at PumpjackPiddlewick

Don’t Panic! How to Cook for a Vegetarian (or Vegan)

I remember when I was 17 and I declared to my mother that I was going to be a vegetarian. She said of course I was, and proceeded to ignore me. She wasn’t going to go out of her way, as she put it, “for a phase” and learn howContinue Reading

Turns out mustard can easily grow wild or by planting in your garden. So let's see what we can do with it here at PumpjackPiddlewick

Ode to Mustard – A Learning Experiment

It’s time to talk condiments. Because honestly, it’s not something that gets much thought. At least I for one take them for granted. So let’s talk… mustard. If you’ve read my post on Weeds, there was the discovery in my garden that various ‘weeds’ were in fact only sort ofContinue Reading