Welcome

Reaching the final of Masterchef 2007 was a rollercoaster of emotion, with huge highs and lows, but I loved every minute and learnt a huge amount. I owe a great deal to John and Gregg who had faith in my ability when I did not believe in myself. Since competing on the programme my life has changed considerably. I now write cookery columns for two magazines, give cookery demonstrations and am just working on my 13th cook book - unlucky number for some but not for me!!! I love all forms of country cooking, using seasonal and locally sourced produce. This blog is to enable me to share with you a few of my recipes and baking ideas. Enjoy Hannah xxxx

Sunday 25 December 2011

I know that at Christmas I usually post a picture of a jolly Father Christmas or something similar on my blog but I thought that nothing quiet summed up the meaning of Christmas joy and innocence as this picture of Baby Hunter - just perfect in every way.  I wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas with yummy food, all the presents you wished for and most importantly spending time with your loved ones
Hannah
xxxx

Friday 23 December 2011

I am so pleased to be able to share this joyous photo with you - the perfect Christmas present for our family - my lovely brother with his new baby girl Hunter Miles, born yesterday at about 6pm UK time weighing 6lbs something! Mum and Baby doing well. Isn't she a peach? Too cute for words. Welcome to the world baby Hunter xxx

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Well it is an exciting day - I am about to become an Aunt. My brother's wife Amy is in hospital and baby Hunter is being induced as I type. They joys of modern technology mean that my brother is sending through blow by blow photos so far of the delivery room (am hoping that these will stop during the actual birth!!!!) including the wall posters he has put up! Love the "Picture the Rose" poster which made me chuckle! Good luck guys and I will of course share a photo of baby hunter with you lovely blog readers as soon as I have one!






I will be in BBC Radio 3 Counties at 1.30 today talking about the delights of the mince pie - there is a phone in so feel free to ask any (easy) questions!!!!

Tuesday 13 December 2011

I had never been to a baby shower before the one we attended in New York. It was such a nice party - pretty baby favours, a few pink cakes and cake pops made by yours truly and lots and lots of presents for baby Hunter - she is going to be one very lucky girl when she arrives. Gareth and Amy had asked for everyone to bring their favourite childhood book as a present to start her library. What a nice idea! There were even little rubber ducks in the ice bucket - so cute! As you will see from the photo at the bottom, Amy is now looking very very pregnant. Any day now I hope to be able to introduce you to my new niece! Good luck Gareth and Amy xxx









































Monday 12 December 2011


We have just been on a lovely holiday to New York and Boston for the last 10 days. Firstly to visit my brother and his wife Amy who are expecting their first baby any day now!!!!! Very exciting! It was lovely to see them and to attend the baby shower (even if my brother did make me bake a LOT of cakes for it!) We then travelled to stay with friends in Fairfield (the 9th prettiest town in the USA apparently) which was truly lovely - Chuck and Martha made us feel so welcome in their home and every house in Fairfield was decorated for Christmas - it puts us to shame in the UK. My favourite decorations were the pine swags that lined most of the white picket fences (so American and perfectly quaint). On returning to the UK at the weekend I decided that I would try my own version - now the jet lag meant that I didn't go quite as OTT as I would have liked but I think the gates to our cottage are looking very festive. They were very easy to do, with just some pine branches and holly, some wicker hearts and ribbon and plenty of floristry wire to attach it to the fence. I feel like we have a little of New England Christmas at our cottage now! Now what are the odds of pursuading Sacha that we need to paint the fence white for next year....!

Thursday 1 December 2011

My cake pop book is available to pre order on Amazon now - it is going to be a flurry of book releases in spring next year as I have 4 books coming out between Feb and March - whoop whoop! This book is published by Lorenz Books (an imprint of Anness) who have been lovely to work with and the book contains lots of easy peasy recipes for sweet things on sticks, including three of the recipes I demonstrated at the Good Food Show last weekend. Hope you like it!