The Damson Gin Story

This time last year I didn't even know what a Damson was...until a chance encounter in the Lake District last Christmas (but that's ANOTHER story...) that changed my view on Gin forever (note - this still doesn't make me a G&T fan).

So we did our research and learned that Damsons have a very short season (around 2 weeks in September), which coincidentally is when you should prepare your Damson Gin in time for Christmas celebrations.

Fostering the competitive spirit that we have, Ben and prepared our gin to different recipes - which are quite basic and the main difference is that my Tanqueray Gin has less fruit and more sugar, and Ben's Londons Beefeater Gin more fruit and less sugar - stay tuned!

Day 1 - 12 September 2010 - My Tanqueray Damson Gin

One week in... Tanqueray on the left!

Drunk Damsons

Week 3...what gorgeous colour!

A little smile on my face...

How can these little bundles of loveliness NOT put a smile on your face - especially on a drizzly autumn london day...

Add the Hummingbird Bakery to my list of things I will miss about London!

Bill's Basics

I'm not usually one to brag (well, not too much), but when you get to spend a night with Bill Granger, you can't NOT share the love!  There is quite the air of "Bill Mania" in London at the moment - you can't open a magazine or read a blog without seeing his name.  And never has it been such a good thing!

hanging with bill

Bill's latest promo for his new book Bill's Basics (a collection of his favourite 100 recipes, all pared down literally to the "basics"), was a cooking demonstration/book signing at Waterstones Piccadilly and what a lovely time we all had.  Bill really is as lovely and friendly in the flesh as he seems on TV and to have him here in London, sharing him with only 30 or so others was quite a special feeling.

in the kitchen

Tonight he wowed us with Lemon Chicken, Fish Cakes and Plum & Blackberry pudding.  Being the basic recipes that they are, all 3 dishes were prepared within an hour and all delicious in their own right - but personally, the fish cakes blew my mind - who would have thought the humble salmon fishcake could be so fresh and zingy!  It will be straight to Waitrose for me tomorrow stocking up on ingredients. 

what was left of pudding...yum!

Finally...

I have been dreaming of this first post for a long while, after spending many a day drooling over the likes of Emma Bradshaw (http://emmabradshaw.blogspot.com/) and Gourmet Chick (http://www.gourmet-chick.com/).  But first things first, I need to figure out how to make this page just as beautiful - stay tuned!