Pretty as a picture

June has been a busy month so far, and the blog posts are a little fewer and further between than I would like, but such is life. I'm pleased to say that I have received a few cake orders for the coming weeks, so I am busy baking and adorning my cakes with summery decorations. First off was a Courgette and Walnut Cake. The timing was excellent as it killed two birds with one stone. I needed to donate a cake for Lily's school Summer Fair this weekend just gone, and I also needed to bake a cake for photography, so this little beauty did both!

A new magazine called Edible is launching in early Autumn. It is a local publication for Brighton and Hove and will cover everything food related; from restaurant reviews and recipes to seasonal features and foodie event listings. I'm as pleased as punch to say that Louise's Kitchen will be featuring in the launch issue. To run alongside the piece, Edible's lovely photographer Emma Gutteridge (www.emmagphoto.com.)popped by on Friday to take some photographs of my Courgette & Walnut Cake. It's the first time I have ever had professional pictures taken of my work and I can't believe what a difference it makes when you have someone who knows one end of a camera from the other! I am so pleased with the pictures, they are stunning ... straight out of a Nigel Slater book, even if I say so myself!

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

Today is Friday and as of today that means 'recipe day'. In my new post as Food Editor for the newly launched blog ' The Beat That My Heart Skipped' (a daily website dedicated to interior and lifestyle products, run by London-based stylist and writer Rohini Wahi) I will be supplying a weekly recipe of either my own or a contributor. To launch with I am sharing my recipe for cupcakes, in fact, the very cupcakes I made for some recent dear friends birthday's, collectively known as 'The Madges' (that's the friends not the cakes!).
For my first introductory post I have written a piece on food and how for many years it has been an integral part of my life. Much to my delight I have some great recipes from some very inspiring contributors and amazing cooks, that I will post up over the coming weeks.
So I invite all readers, regular or occasional to pop by every Friday to 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped' and grab yourself a recipe for the weekend.
www.thebeatthatmyheartskipped.co.uk

Save our Flapjack!

WARNING! .... I'm about to go on my first blog rant.
I really do think that this country has gone mad. I have read in today's newspaper that the Food Standards Agency want to put a stop on flapjack being sold in supermarkets to help combat our countries growing obesity problem! Yes, flapjack is full of sugar. so you eat it as an occasional treat like you ought to with most sweet treats. What's next, shut down sweet shops, clamp ice-cream vans, tax people who take sugar in their tea! To me flapjack is very British and nostalgic. It's fudgy aroma transports me back to my childhood when my mum would bake a tray of it for us to indulge in. I would of course rather bake my own flapjack than buy a mass produced version from the supermarket - it's hardly rocket science to make - but for heavens sake Food Standards Agency, get a grip on reality, let people decide for themselves if they want to buy flapjack!

My Kitchen

I love my kitchen. I love any 'good' kitchen. Nothing too slick and minimal - I like a kitchen to be used, loved and lived in. I often come across a few 'finds' for my kitchen such as these vintage Biba food jars which I like to display. I am a huge Biba fan so these are my pride and joy. One once contained dried chickpeas, one dried onions and the other brown sugar ... and there is still some of the original sugar in it!

Pretty In Pink

My daughter Lily has a favourite cake - these pink cupcakes - I made them for the first time for her birthday party, which took place on a sunny day in late March. They were a hit with all the children - boys included!

So Good I Made It Twice!

With the arrival of Arthur 6 weeks ago, we've been welcoming friends and family into our home to meet the little lad. Life is somewhat chaotic at the moment so to cook a meal for visitors is a little ambitious, but a simple quick-to-prepare cake to serve with coffee .... I just couldn't help myself. This Almond and Orange Cake was so easy and tasty that I made it twice ...

A Cake for Sue

I can get buy with an icing bag, but prefer to decorate my cakes with seasonal fruits, herbs and flowers. I made this 'blueberry cake' last week for the wonderful Sue, Lily's playschool teacher.
It was for her surprise party to celebrate running See-Saw playschool for 20 years.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. Some people eat to live and others live to eat - I fall into the latter! I've loved food and cooking it from an early age. I grew up on my mum's home cooking and it rubbed off on me. Home cooking is the tastiest, most satisfying way to cook and eat. I love nothing better than cooking for loved-ones, friends and family - I will spend an age trawling through recipe books old and new creating a menu to suit the season and occasion. I like to cook in tune with the seasons and incorporate local and homegrown produce when I can. We're lucky enough to have an allotment and our now in our third growing season.

I hope to pass on my passion and knowledge for cooking to my children - it's a gift for life. Lily, aged 4, loves to help in the kitchen especially when I'm baking cakes, and I hope that our latest addition to the family, Arthur, just 6 weeks, will follow suit - he certainly has a great appetite for milk!

There is much I'd like to include in this blog - recipes (my own and others I love to cook), allotment updates, beautiful cookware and bits for the kitchen that I come across, children's food, food places I love .... this list goes on.

My real passion is baking, so to start things off, I am going to post some of my recent 'sweet treats' .... I've made lots of cakes for friends birthday's, plus a couple of weddings and would love to expand a little to selling my cakes in the very near future. Watch this space .....