Eileen Hardy (by Lord Snowdon) Earlier this week, I went for dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Now, I’m not a huge cricket fan (remember my Andrew Strauss story?) but you don’t say no to dinner at Lord’s along with a bunch of cricketing legends during The Ashes. I was there as …
Yesterday, I spent the day at the London Wine Fair. It’s an annual trade fair that I’ve been to almost every year since I began working in the wine industry 20 years ago. Obviously things have changed enormously in that time, not least the fact that I now no longer have the energy to go …
Ah, the school Show & Tell letter. Normally, it goes on the fridge, stuck on with the only remaining magnet with less than three pieces of paper already underneath it. Finding out which magnet to pick involves a game of fridge magnet russian roulette: one wrong move and you’ve got papers all over the kitchen …
I started a post last night, then suddenly remembered I was supposed to be baking something for today’s Sports Day. It was 10pm. I went to the fridge, took out a solid block of butter and realised it just wasn’t going to happen. And so it was I started my day with a sprint of …
Credit: id-iom The funny thing about wine is that, despite being one of the perks of life, it’s often treated very seriously indeed. Which is why things like this (points to the picture) really make me laugh. And if you’ve ever wondered just how to pronounce Chateauneuf-du-Pape properly, watch this*. But if I can be serious for a …
Last week, a reader emailed to ask if I could help with some wine recommendations for her wedding in June this year. Something lovely but not too pricey. And in return, being the beauty editor of a really famous women’s magazine, she offered tailor-made beauty tips. Genius. Kate’s top three tips for Knackered Mothers everywhere: …
“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.” So said a friend, or rather so said her shared photo on Facebook. My immediate response was lovely idea, but if I do that nowadays I slightly wee. Then I thought some more and given the …
No, not a reference to the catalogue that might give me house envy but whose clothes always make my arse look the size of a small country. (And yes, I am blaming the clothes. It’s easier that way). I’m talking about Toast, the foodie crew who organise events (I believe they are called happenings, nowadays) …
My, how time flies. It’s School Fete time again and the ‘call to arms’ letter glares at me from beneath the fridge magnet, asking for cake & biscuit donations, scones for cream teas, unwanted toys for the toy stall, decorated jam jars filled with sweets and prizes for the tombola. Now, as some of you know, I have …
So, in the words of Barry Manilow, looks like we made it. Our family half-term trip to Scotland, returning via Alnwick Castle and Ironbridge, that is. There was laughter, there were tears and there were loo stops. So. Many. Loo stops. But for all that, it was lovely. Admittedly, the children have not really had …
Instead of kittens. Here’s me, standing next to the very lovely Claudia Winkleman (I know!). The occasion was the inaugural Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards and I was shortlisted in the Online Drinks Writer category. Anyway, thing is, I won. Yes, I did. And I’m holding a little F&M silver hamper with my name …
An article celebrating 15 years of Red magazine in the latest issue looks at changes in society, technology, fashion and culture among other things during that time. And as someone who loves a celebrity – a friend of mine lovingly refers to me as her favourite star f*cker, such is my appetite for entertaining tales …
Still on me but I have made something I think some of you might find useful. Ahead of this Friday’s twitter wine tasting with Mumsnet (I KNOW!) at 8.30pm – all details here – here’s a short video about how to taste wine. Do excuse the sweatshirt and slippers and the fact that my face is …
So, I did have a lovely evening last night, with these two on the right and about 200 others. We were speaking at the latest Red Network event about being your own boss. Clare, on the left, founded Howies and now runs Hiut, an incredible denim company based in Wales. Kathryn, on the right in …
Apparently, it is still January. Remember that wonderful wedding I mentioned a few weeks ago? Feels like it was months ago. But, I have developed a coping strategy to get me through and it seems to be working. It goes like this: 1. Make risotto. Spend half an hour at the stove one evening, glass of …
Someone asked me today why I thought the wine industry was such a male-dominated one. When I went for my first ever job interview with a wine company almost 20 years ago, I was asked if I could type before they looked at my qualifications (I couldn’t). Actually, there are lots of brilliant women in …
OK, so perhaps a tad overstated but I do intend to do more (or less) of the following in 2013: 1. Drink more wine from left-field places. I’m talking Romania, Croatia, Brazil, Mexico…I’ll report back on the good ones, obvs 2. Not drink any wine at least two days a week (I know, so worthy) …
It was Middle Boy’s first ever nativity play today. As always, we were asked to bring mince pies to be handed out to parents & grandparents afterwards. And for once, instead of resorting to my usual bribery accepting of donations from my mother/mother-in-law I thought I’d make my own. Bad decision: pastry went wrong, pastry cutters …
Last week, at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) annual banquet at the Guildhall, I was named Blogger of the Year* along with the properly brilliant Jamie Goode from wineanorak.com. It was quite the do, and I would share the official photo with you but my lipstick was a horrible colour and my arm …
Funny how things turn out sometimes. Yesterday, I got a flat tyre on the way to school. I had to kill an hour in town whilst waiting for a lift home: cue blissful time in the local bookshop, followed by a coffee and browse in my very favourite clothes shop, leaving in a pair of …
The proofs for my FORTHCOMING BOOK arrived last week (sorry, didn’t mean to shout), a final chance for me to read it through and make sure everything is as it should be. To be honest, I’ve still got my doubts. Not about the book, rather the fact that I might be, in fact, dreaming this …
No, this is not about Bond. But it is about secrets and at the moment I’ve got – count them – three. That’s three things that people have told me and then said I’m not to tell anyone (yet). And they are all really good secrets, which makes it even harder, because when I’ve got …
I made jam last night for Youngest Girl’s nursery cake & chutney sale on Saturday. Actually, I didn’t make jam. A group of us got together and I chopped a few peppers and chillies, whilst mostly chatting over a glass of wine and a bowl of crisps. Here’s what Jules did with the results: Wine-free …
So, if you know that Gris is the name of a grape, that joke is funny-ish. Actually, the grape is better known as Pinot Grigio, but I digress. Point is, I’ll be discussing Fifty Shades this week at Book Club. Over the Summer we also read Nora Ephron’s Heartburn – a brilliantly funny/heartbreakingly sad book …
Turning 40, that is. Yes, in a couple of weeks I will be passing that particular milestone with the music up and the windows down. I’m either absolutely fine about it or in complete denial. Not sure which. Whatever, here’s what I’ve learnt so far: 1. Face creams don’t make you look younger. They can …
Opening Ceremony? I cried. Lizzie Armitstead’s cycling Silver? Cried again. Rebecca Adlington’s 400m freestyle Bronze? More waterworks. Men’s team gymnastics? Equestrian team? FFS, that too. And then there’s the GB women’s football team…the whole thing is quite amazing. Best of all, it is happening here. Lordy, seems I have been possessed by the Olympic spirit. Just …
Last Saturday, I went to New York for work for a few days. I ate banana pancakes, sushi and steak. I drank a ginger mojito and glasses of German Riesling, Ribera del Duero and Albarino. I walked the Highline and shopped in the West Village. And for that time, it was bliss. But the best …
There are a good few thought-provoking posts about having it all around at the moment, sparked in part by a session at that blogging conference I told you about. I thought I might post about it too, but to be honest I had four hours sleep last night and a full day’s work today and …
So I didn’t win the blogging award as mentioned last week but I did win a Wii at the same event, thereby making me the most popular parent in our house by quite some margin. The week’s other cheering news is that according to a new report, drinking wine (in moderation, of course) improves your …
“Please can you tell me if there are any good lower alcohol wines I should try?” so asked the lovely Reluctant Launderer (she’s up the duff, and slightly in shock). Until recently I’ve found most lower-alcohol-than-normal wines (I’m talking less than 9% alcohol by volume, the legal limit for most wine to be called wine) about …
24 years ago today, at 6.05pm, I met a boy in the fields behind our respective houses. We walked to a nearby lake, where he smoked a Turkish cigarette and I tried not to appear too keen. As we climbed the gate that led back home, I could bear it no longer. Me: “So, are …
I posted about wine speak a while ago, specifically about how much of it sounds too flowery, some of it just downright ridiculous. Which got me thinking: I’d like to include your tasting notes in the KMWC book. I’ll pick a couple of wines a month for you to try (once I’ve tasted them, obviously), something delicious …
I can’t sit still. No, not because of those (although memories of postpartum you-know-whats make me shiver to this day). I’m just not very good at doing nothing. If I’m in an empty house and I’m not working, I’m cleaning or picking stuff up and moving it from one room to another. And, ever the …
This last week has been both marvellous and meh. On the one hand, I taste wine for a living. Thumbs up. On the other hand, I have to work away from home for two weeks every year at a wine competition in London. Not a big deal pre-children, but a very big deal post-children. Not …
Sun on skin. A sea breeze. Clinky drinks with ice and a slice. A chapter read in the bath (uninterrupted). Fish & chips. Champagne. Fish & chips served with Champagne. Dancing in the kitchen. An empty laundry basket. Clean plates. My one and only matching set of underwear. Having chicken stock in the fridge. Singing …
“We’re looking for a female drinks expert for our new TV show…” said the email. Would I be interested? First reaction was YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING. Closely followed by well, you know, I suppose I could. Nothing to lose. How hard can it be? Turns out, really f*cking hard. All I had to …
I think it was Elizabeth Taylor who once said that she and her at-the-time beloved Richard Burton used to see so little of each other when they were both appearing in different plays that most of their time together was spent as they crossed in the hallway of their home, ‘like hips that pass in …
Perhaps it is the influence of London Fashion Week but this weekend I became absolutely sure that a pair of bright pink jeans from Zara would complete my life. Tonight it is the turn of a pair of wide-legged sailor trousers from Boden (I know, I know. I have resisted). What is it about fashion …
If you fancy doing the same – combining cake and wine that is, not behaving badly in a tearoom – then here’s your chance! Enter English Mum’s Baked With Love Bakeoff and the winner gets pink fizz. I’ve heard that the judge is open to bribes and that my her favourite cake is coffee & …
Two booze-free days a week, that’s what we’ve been told by a group of MPs. I think that’s a sensible idea, not least because it gives us time to plan – on the wine-free days – exactly what we are going to enjoy a glass of on the non-wine-free days. In fact, a friend asked …
I had planned a short post about my new year’s resolutions, but given that mine are hideously unoriginal (eat less/move more/shout only when absolutely necessary) I point you to Potty’s declarations of intent. I love them, especially the one about chocolate and wine, where she suggests a little of the good stuff is usually better …
Last night, as I shoved unsolicited advice about sparkling wines down your throats, Tara tweeted asking for some still wine recommendations, especially reds, for Christmas. So, since she asked, here’s what I’ve got in for next week: Whites in the fridge: Tesco Finest Argentinian Chardonnay 2010, £5 on offer, Tesco I shipped in some NZ …
Last week I mentioned the Call My Wine Bluff wine quiz I took part in the week before that. The one where I had to guess what the wine in my glass was – out loud – in front of 200 people and five celebrities. Here’s the photo taken at the end with me, my …
Last Friday night, I was asked to do a wine tasting in the village hall for 60 people to raise funds for the village twinning association. We’re twinned with Hautvillers, a beautiful village in the Champagne region. In fact, Dom Perignon, the monk who ‘discovered’ Champagne is buried here (even though technically the whole bubbles-in-wine …
No, I don’t mean whether K-Mid’s up the duff, or whether K-Kard’s wedding was a fake, or whether I’ve bought the right kick-ass winter boots (which I know I have, btw). No, what really matters this week is wearing a poppy, donating if possible and thinking about the people affected by war; past, present and …
I never did see the Kevin film. Turns out The Help started at the same time so we chose schmaltz over shootings. Cried on and off for two hours and loved it. What we do need to talk about, however, is how to broach the subject of booze with our children. How young is too …
Actually, I can’t talk about Kevin because I haven’t seen it yet but I am off to see it tonight, at the lovely cinema I told you about where you can take your wine glass in with you and the seats don’t make you feel like your head will be itching by the end of …
Fancy Dress parties and me do not have a happy history. There was the time Bearded Husband decided we should go as Derek & Clive to a New Year’s Eve party. As other girls glowed in beautiful dresses, I sweated profusely in a Mac, flat cap and men’s shoes. I even had a ham sandwich …
I love this time of year. Yes, of course I love the falling leaves, scrumping, resulting apple cakes and all that. But what I really love is the fact that the weather demands a fairly generous glass of red. A close second is the TV schedule and the fact that leaving the sofa on a Saturday night is …
Next week, after 16 years of continuous employment (bar three maternity leaves), I am going freelance. It is either going to be the best thing I ever did, or a really, really silly thing to do. Let’s see, shall we? With huge thanks and a bear hug to Hugh MacLeod. Current white in the fridge: Porcupine …
When I was six I stepped on Mickey Mouse’s tail accidentally (on purpose) to increase my fancy dress chances at the local village fete, only to come second. From that day, I resigned myself to the fact that I am just not one of those competition-winning type people. Until now, that is. Since I started …
I am 39 years old on Sunday. Totally fine with that. What I am not fine with is my birthday wish list. I wrote it down earlier this week. It looked like this: 1. A wheelbarrow 2. A new roasting dish That was it. Pathetic. I am sharing it with you now in the hope …
Shortly after 12am this morning, at the International Wine Challenge Awards Dinner in London (click here for results), I was on the dance floor in high heels and Westwood. And I was actually Shakira. In bed by 2am, awake by 6am, back home from town by 8am ready for the school run. For just a little …
Watching the news this week has been shocking, depressing, awful. People’s lives and livelihoods have been wrecked. It felt just a little bit wrong but I was glued to the TV, distracted only by twitter. Last night found me bingeing on opinion pieces, with a Newsnight chaser. Tonight there is a Question Time Special. Cue …
The weekend before last, our school held a music festival to raise money for a new classroom they are building. Local bands played, most of which had at least one parent as a band member. My contribution was sourcing wine and volunteering to do a shift on the bar. How hard could it be? Turns …
I do love a quiet night in. Tonight, I am mostly loving the sofa, my bowl of pasta, quite good telly (hurrah for Jo Frost! And Alan Sugar!) and a little glass of red. This is in stark contrast to last night, which saw me screaming like a banshee at a Take That concert, with …
So there I was, standing in the middle of an H&M clothes shop and all I could think was I’VE LOST IT. I just didn’t ‘get’ the clothes. Everything looked too small, too trendy, too….too…teenager-y. Still, I refused to give in graciously and picked up something to try on. Then I saw the escalator and …
Every other week there is an alcohol-related story in the news – mostly the Daily Mail and their obsession with wine and the middle classes – but the last few days have seen a positive binge on bad booze stories. First, a major drinks company got slammed for funding midwives to educate pregnant women about …
Last night we had our latest Book Club meeting. Yet again, I failed to finish the book so had to ask a fellow BC member to fill me in on the details. I do try, really I do but in the evenings, once the children are done, food is cooked, a bit of telly is …
Tonight, the 6yo Boy had his school disco. It was a 5.45pm drop off, £1 entry, all drinks & snacks included and an hour of wall to wall dance floor fillers. He really did dance like no-one was watching. He and his friends went BONKERS; they busted moves, laughed their heads off and generally had …
I’ve been away from home for a few nights, spending the days working on a wine stand at the annual London International Wine Fair. Cue much swirling, sipping and spitting whilst surrounded by hundreds of bottles of wine. Now I’m home and have been cobbling a vicar’s outfit together for my son to take to …
I’m a born worrier. I’m the eldest sibling, a Virgo and a mother. Triple whammy. But there is a huge difference in my BC (before childbirth) and AD (after delivery) worries. BC was mostly me: namely money, weight, clothes, job, social & love life. There was a dalliance with existentialism vs. rationalism during the university …
Heroines, I’ve had a few: Nightingale (Florence & Annie), Nigella and any number of Jilly Cooper characters included (the ones who weren’t obviously pretty but then became ravishing once drenched in Diorissimo and tight on thunderous G&Ts). Another heroine is Jancis Robinson MW (Master of Wine), a walking wine authority. Jancis started Wine Relief in 1999 and has helped raise nearly …
I’m not a huge sports fan. I once asked Andrew Strauss if he was following the Ashes. I was making polite conversation, the Ashes was in the news at the time and I had no idea who he was. Obviously. But tonight, I watched The Arse whoop Barca’s backside and it was great fun. It was just …
I love a good book but had always found the idea of a book club rather awful. As a friend said, years of being told what to read at school can put a girl off. Then I was asked to join one by another friend who used to work for SOMEONE REALLY FAMOUS so I said yes thinking …
Maybe it is the harsh jute-like feel of January compared with the velvet comfort of December, but I am struggling to get going. It might be the extra weight I’m carrying (booze/food, not baby for once) but I think it is just January. I’ll go straight to the wines, that’ll cheer me up. This week’s white in the …
Here in the cyber-playground, I’ve been tagged by the Merlot-swilling loving Eh, Mummy? and asked to write about my Perfect Man. Actually, she says I’m allowed to write about my perfect wine, which is a great relief because I couldn’t top her description in which she references John Holmes, dirty cow. My perfect wine has been, at various times, …
There has been a lot of talk about wine talk recently. Among wine writers, that is. From what I can gather, they are arguing that one wine drinker’s blackberries are another wine drinker’s raspberries. Should we really be so aroma and flavour-descriptive when tasting wine is so subjective? Well, when I’m buying something that I haven’t tried before …
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