With summer on its way

It's not too early to start planning for cold dishes. If I may suggest one of our favourites Vitello Tonnato, chilled veal with a tuna sauce. It is one of the Italian summer classics.

Delia Smith has a new recipe for it on line.


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Now playing: Simple Minds - Someone Somewhere In Summertime
via FoxyTunes.

Winter warmer

French Onion Soup. Delia Smith does it best. Though she seems to have left out the sprig of fresh thyme and the bay leaf.



Ovenproof soup bowls are essential for the grilling stage.

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Now playing: The Beautiful South - A Little Time
via FoxyTunes

Winter warmer

FrenchEntrée: A Favorite Recipe for Mussels


There is nothing simpler or more satisfying than moules mariniere on a cold winter's night.

Saute in butter/olive oil: finely chopped onion, garlic, fennel, sprigs of thyme, salt and pepper. Add the cleaned mussels, then the white wine (or juice of half a lemon), and very finely chopped parsley. Simmer for 5 minutes. Strain liquor through a fine sieve into a saucepan, add single cream and heat thoroughly. Place mussels in soup plates and add piping hot liquor. Serve with warm crusty French bread.




How To Make Moules Mariniere


How To Eat Mussels Like An Islander

And this is how one eats them.

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Now playing: Mel Tormé - Putting on the Ritz
via FoxyTunes

No particular reason

Other than the fact, I love it when a girl looks as if she could snap Anna Wintour in two without even so much as breaking a nail. This is the divine Miss Immodesty Blaize, Britain's very own Queen of Burlesque.





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Now playing: Ethel Merman - Everything's Coming Up Roses
via FoxyTunes

Send and give

Why don't you join ChristmaSee and send a video message for free. With every message 20 pence is donated to charity.

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Now playing: Pearl Bailey - Hello Dolly
via FoxyTunes

I think...

A George III mahogany three tier dumb waiter playing host to a collection of old fashioned scented geraniums (Pelagoniums) in simple antique terracotta pots could be just the thing.

When I put her out, once, by the garbage pail,
She looked so limp and bedraggled,
So foolish and trusting, like a sick poodle,
Or a wizened aster in late September,
I brought her back in again
For a new routine -



MABEL GREY - Serrated rough foliage with a very strong sherbet lemon scent.


OLD SPICE - Compact plant with small dull green, spice scented leaves with tiny white flowers.


LILLIAN POTTINGER - Small, lacy, nutmeg scented, low growing plant with small white flowers.


CAMPHOR ROSE - Camphor rose scented leaves and a prolific flowerer.


ATTAR OF ROSES - Rose scented.


LADY PLYMOUTH - Golden variegated leaves with a citrus scent.

Fir Trees Nursery



Scented Geraniums: Knowing, Growing, and Enjoying Scented Pelagoniums


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Now playing: Cocteau Twins - Persephone
via FoxyTunes

I think...

A LATE VICTORIAN TAXIDERMY CASED SWAN (Cygnus)
LATE 19TH CENTURY
Mounted in a floor standing glazed display case with reeds and foliage.


This would make a wonderful hall table or serving table in a dining room.

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Now playing: Camille Saint-Saëns - The Swan
via FoxyTunes

When in doubt look to the masters

Las Meninas painted in 1656 by Diego Velázquez
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain


Detail of the Infanta Margarita



Infanta Margarita Teresa of Spain, painted in 1656 by Diego Velázquez
Museum of Art History, Vienna, Austria

Colour palettes are not just about the obvious choices of paints and fabrics. They are also about balance, light, texture, and mood. Why don't you do the unexpected and take colour out of its usual context.

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Now playing: Snap! - Colour of Love
via FoxyTunes