John Steinbeck’s “A Russian Journal” is definitely worth the time. He captures Ukraine soon after WWII, the destruction of Stalingrad, the attitudes of Americans and Russians towards each other (both as suspicious as each other and equally ill-informed). Lovely relaxed…
No, not what you think. No royalty but helping the bees produce more new queens to keep the hives strong and active. The knack is to remove a very young larva about the size of a small grain of rice…
Hear about my prizewinning international cooking tour, swap tips and discover some useful kitchen equipment at 1415 on Wednesday 28 September at the free Open Sight Eye Contact exhibition. The exhibition will be open 1000-1600 at St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton. …
I don’t often get incensed but was listening to a glibly naïve and patronising piece on the BBC Radio 4 “Today” programme about the million people who decided not to go back to work after Covid. They’re part of the…
The sous-chef has just extracted his summer harvest from the hives. The trick is detailed preparation and delicate choreography: clearing bees from the honey boxes (known as supers), lifting wooden frames of sealed comb to a special tray for removing…
Summer vegetable free cooking demo 1030 Monday 8 August Turn those tomatoes, cucumbers and other bounty into ratatouille and gazpacho soup. Sign up for free at:
Super-moist boiled fruit cake free demonstration 1030 Monday 11 July. Register at: Even blind people can design buildings: three house extensions, a house façade and an internal redesign to my name. I just need someone expert in the materials…
Following publication of the globe-trotting recipe book www.pennymelville-brown.com I’ve been nominated for the National Diversity Awards (lifetime achievement) I can share this apparent accolade without boasting, confident that there’s no chance of winning. My nomination scraped in on the…
The Baking Blind book www.pennymelvillebrown.com has some great chocolate recipes (the easiest French mousse; a wickedly indulgent Australian “mud cake”). Next week’s free on-line demo at 1030 Monday 13 June will star more naughtiness with a vegan chocolate cake and…
It was a super long Bank Holiday weekend: a jazz afternoon at Catisfield Memorial Hall amongst many friends and neighbours for our community Jubilee event. A signed copy of my bookwww.pennymelvillebrown.com was an early prize in the tombola (apparently…
