From stump to stalk, to plate!

4/23/2021

After the daffodils, and cherry blossom, the first sign of spring in my garden is the rhubarb. It Starts as tiny pale nubs thrusting through the soil, crowned with tightly curled spinach-green leaves and (unlike the blossom which teeters on the brink of flowering for weeks) unfolds with almost wild abandon until I am blessed with a giant clump of pink stalks that send me into delightful fantasies of crumbles, pies and galettes!

Tip: I always bake my rhubarb in the oven for about 15 minutes, with a sprinkle of sugar and a tablespoon of water rather than stewing in a pan. I’m easily distracted and the stewing method so often results in mush, and I like to know what I’m eating! Baking still softens the stalks, without disintegrating them. Up to you....

If you are making a galette, which is the word’s simplest dessert, serve with a generous dollop of ice cream.

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A Wedding Breakfast
It was my pleasure to photograph a wedding breakfast created by Colline Watt, owner of Colline's Kitchen recently. With a bubbly and nurturing nature, it's no suprise to me that this mother from Zimbabwe wants to feed us all with delicious, fresh and sustainable food, along with a decadent cake or two, and how typical that, on the first date that weddings were permitted in the UK after lockdown, she got the call and I found her in a pretty garden with spectacular views piling food and flowers on to a table in a high wind, and creating an edible work of art.
Colline's successful cafe business, set in the historic Town Hall in the market town of Newbury has been put on hold since Lockdown in March, but she maintains a service, delivering food as diverse as Afternoon Tea and Mongolian beef stir fry, sourcing fresh ingredients locally. Find her at www.collineskitchen.com

BUNTING
When Jo, owner of The Bunting Basket asked me to photograph her bunting, I read her bio, and discovered how the business began, and how it came to be named The Bunting Basket. After making bunting for a family christening, Jo was innundated with requests for it from her friends and aqaintances, and she soon began to sell it at craft fairs, carrying her stock in a wicker basket. When I read this, I knew a picnic basket had to feature in my photographs. I looked at the fabric designs, and thought about the premise for the business and then began to prepare my shoot. Find her at www.thebuntingbasket.co.uk

From stump to stalk, to plate!

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