Spring 2019 Dangle a carrot and my kids will start running! Of course it’s not the vegetable they are after. It’s not wholly metaphysical either! The best carrot for Little E is entirely inedible in the form of gilded certificates or hard cash. Tiny E’s carrot is a sweeter food – and somewhat cheaper since ice…
Read MoreANYONE ELSE SUFFERING FROM FoMO?
SPRING 2018 Normally, my quarterly newsletter will give you the lowdown, keeping you ahead of the pack and in the loop, making sure that you don’t miss out! In this way, it remedies the latest behavioural affliction brought on by incessant social media feeds and email updates: FoMO – the Fear of Missing Out. Yes, my spring bulletin…
Read MoreBOOKSHELF ETIQUETTE AND THE FORGIVING PRACTICE OF TSUNDOKU
SPRING 2017 Books. Read and unread. Stacks of them. I’m no book hoarder, but you could perhaps ascribe a mild case of bibliomania to me. Since September, the wood-panelled independent bookshop on the school run has been nibbling away at my wallet and my conscience as I casually ship home the weight of a small…
Read MoreSARDINES, SNAKE OIL AND MONKEY SKIN
SUMMER 2016 Fact – by the age of five months, babies have good colour vision. So, as of last Thursday, I can’t pretend that our son’s puzzled look while drooling over colour swatches is anything but a speck of skepticism regarding our choice for home improvements. His sister has secretly circled Nancy’s Blushes, a venturous…
Read MoreCHE FA IL PIANO E IL FORTE
“Mettez votre tête au bout de vos doigts” (Put your head at the end of your fingers) (Isidor Philipp) A piano is a curious thing. To most people, Cristofori’s harpicembalo, che fà il piano e il forte, is merely one of many musical instruments heavily anchored within Western classical music. For those who are lucky…
Read MoreDE PISCIBUS, FORMICIS, AVIBUS PEREGRINIS APIBUSQUE VERE ANNI MMX LONDINII ET MANCUNII
Taking inspiration from Pliny the Elder’s tips for cooking larvae that can be found in Naturalis Historia, my vernal menu offers an electric ensemble of line-caught salmon bathed in its eclectic juices of tabla and hang, an assortment of hexagonal canapés of fresh larvae drizzled with a spoonful of Limehouse honey, a vegetable consommé of…
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